On-chip rise-time measurement

The on-chip rise-time measurement method for an exponentially decaying signal is proposed. By employing a differentiator, the method circumvents the challenges associated with directly measuring a signalʹs rise time. The method can be used as the on-chip test instrument as part of a built-in selftesting (BIST) framework, or independently. CMOS circuits and layouts for implementation of the proposed method on a 0.25-(mu)m technology have been developed.