APPARATUS AND METHOD TO COMBINE PIN FUNCTIONALITY IN AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT

摘要

An apparatus and method are disclosed to combine pad functionality in an integrated circuit. A power, ground, or signal pad is connected to a power, ground, or signal source, respectively. The power, ground, or signal pad is additionally connected to an additional signal source, such as automatic test equipment in a testing environment. By temporarily disconnecting either the power, ground, or signal source, from the functional block within the integrated circuit to which the source is delivered, the same pad may pass in another signal to other portions of the integrated circuit. In the alternative, the same pad may pass in another signal to other portions of the integrated circuit without disconnecting the original signal by coupling the additional signal over the original signal. Further, combining pad functionality enables reuse of an input pad as an output pad for signals originating from within the integrated circuit.