Appeal No. 2001-2459
Application No. 09/277,281
integrated circuit which are connected to external pads during
the testing, the circuits behave as if they were activated and
are assessed as “pass” (specification, page 2). In order to
cause only those circuits that have been checked for their
functionality be assessed as “good” or “pass,” Appellants provide
for a pull-up or pull-down device for holding the corresponding
pad at a high or low potential (specification, page 4). Thus, if
contact is not made with a pin during testing, activating a
circuit section connected to that pin can be avoided (id.).
Independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. An integrated circuit configuration for identifying
contact faults during testing of the integrated circuit
configuration, comprising:
a semiconductor body;
pads disposed on said semiconductor body;
input buffers connected to said pads and defining a
connection node between each respective pad and a respective
input buffer;
a housing protecting said semiconductor body;
a multiplicity of pins protruding from said housing and
connected to said pads; and
a pull-up device connected to said connection node between
said respective pad and said respective input buffer, said
pull-up device holding said respective pad at a high
potential by impressing a holding current if contact has not
been made with a pin associated with said respective pad
during testing resulting in avoiding activating a circuit
2
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