Monitoring of Switching Activity and Transition Times of Clock Signals in SoC Cells by Estimation of the Mean Value of IDD Current

In the paper an idea of monitoring of System on Chips operation by estimation of the mean value (MV) of I
DD
current (I
DDMV
) in SoC cells is shown. A special monitoring unit of the MV of the I
DD
current is presented as well as results of simulations relating to monitoring of switching activity and transitions times of clock signals in exemplary SoC cells designed in 0.35μm technology. Following up of the MV of the I
DD
current in individual cells of a given SoC seems to be an universal way of testing of mixed circuits, leading in consequence to increased reliability and production yield.