PERFORMANCE INVERSION DETECTION CIRCUIT AND A DESIGN STRUCTURE FOR THE SAME

摘要

A circuit containing a parallel connection of a first sub-circuit and a second sub-circuit is provided. The first sub-circuit comprises a serial connection of a first field effect transistor having a first threshold voltage and a first voltage dividing device. The second sub-circuit comprises a serial connection of a second field effect transistor having a second threshold voltage, which is different from the first threshold voltage, and a second voltage dividing device. The voltage between the first field effect transistor and the first voltage dividing device is compared with the voltage between the second field effect transistor and the second voltage dividing device so that a signal may be generated at a temperature at which the ratio of a performance parameter such as on-current between the first and second field effect transistors crosses over a predefined value. The signal may be advantageously employed to actively control circuit characteristics.