Samsung patents chip design tweak to fix errors after manufacturing
Samsung describes a specific layout for a small section of a computer chip used to correct design mistakes after the chip is already made. This section, called an engineering change order cell, uses a split design where one part sits above a power line and the other does not. This arrangement allows the chip to connect power from the back of the device to the front without interfering with the main circuitry.
In the filing’s own words
An integrated circuit device includes an engineering change order (ECO) transistor cell structure including a first region and a second region adjacent the first region, and a backside power rail extending in a first direction under the ECO transistor cell structure. The first region of the ECO transistor cell structure is free of overlap with the backside power rail in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction. The second region of the ECO transistor cell structure overlaps the backside power rail in the second direction, and includes one or more conductive elements that electrically connect the backside power rail to a frontside power rail. Related devices and revision methods are also discussed.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An integrated circuit device, comprising: an engineering change order (ECO) transistor cell structure comprising a first region and a second region adjacent the first region; and a backside power rail extending in a first direction under the second region of the ECO transistor cell structure, wherein the first region of the ECO transistor cell structure is free of overlap with the backside power rail in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- ENGINEERING CHANGE ORDER CELL USING DUAL POWER RAILS
- Publication number
- US20260271701A1
- Application number
- 19351702
- Filed
- Oct 7, 2025
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 5
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H10W 20/427 Electricity & electronicsH10W 20/42 Electricity & electronicsH10W 20/43 Electricity & electronicsH10W 20/435 Electricity & electronicsH02M 7/537 Electricity & electronicsH03K 19/0948 Electricity & electronicsMore from Samsung in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.