Fast Built-In Redundancy Analysis Based on Sequential Spare Line Allocation

Built-in redundancy analysis (BIRA) is widely used for memory yield improvement. However, increases in fault occurrence probability inevitably lead to the use of various spare lines to achieve a high repair rate. Generally, it is difficult to apply conventional BIRAs for memories with various spare lines because they focus on a simple spare structure. Therefore, this study examines a BIRA that focuses on a various spare lines structure. The proposed BIRA achieves a high repair rate through the use of various spare lines. Although long analysis time is typically required due to the use of various spare lines, the proposed BIRA solves the problem through sequential spare line allocation. Additionally, it achieves hardware overhead reduction through a simple analyzer. These advantages of the proposed BIRA are demonstrated experimentally.