1. A redundancy control circuit comprising:
an address fuse circuit including a plurality of first fuses,
wherein each of the first fuses is configured to be cut based on a result of comparing a number of bits of a defective input address having a first logic level with a number of bits of the defective input address having a second logic level, and
wherein the address fuse circuit is configured to generate a first address using the first fuses based on a cutting operation that depends on the result of comparing; and
a first circuit configured to output either the first address or a second address that is an inverted address of the first address as a repair address, wherein a logic level of each of the bits of the repair address is the same as that of the defective input address.
2. The redundancy control circuit of claim 1, wherein the address fuse circuit is further configured to:
cut fuses corresponding to bits having the first logic level when a majority of bits in the defective input address have the second logic level, or
cut fuses corresponding to bits having the second logic level when a majority of bits in the defective input address have the first logic level.
3. The redundancy control circuit of claim 2, further comprising:
a master fuse circuit configured to determine whether to output the first address or the second address as the repair address corresponding to the defective input address.
4. The redundancy control circuit of claim 3, wherein the master fuse circuit is configured to generate a first master fuse signal for outputting the first address and a second master fuse signal for outputting the second address.
5. The redundancy control circuit of claim 4, wherein the first and second master fuse signals and the first address are generated by using a power-up signal.
6. The redundancy control circuit of claim 4, wherein the first circuit includes:
a first transmission gate configured to output the first address as the repair address based on the first master fuse signal;
an inverter configured to invert the first address to provide the second address; and
a second transmission gate configured to output the second address as the repair address based on the second master fuse signal.
7. The redundancy control circuit of claim 3,
wherein the master fuse circuit includes a plurality of second fuses that store information about whether a normal cutting operation or a reverse cutting operation has been performed, the master fuse circuit being configured to detect program states of the second fuses to generate the first and second master fuse signals.
8. The redundancy control circuit of claim 1, further comprising:
a redundancy control signal generating unit that includes:
an address comparison block configured to compare the repair address with the defective input address; and
a redundancy enable signal generating circuit configured to perform logical operations based on the comparison result to generate a redundancy enable signal.
9. A semiconductor memory device comprising:
the redundancy control circuit of claim 8;
a first memory cell;
a second memory cell configured to replace the first memory cell when the first memory cell is defective; and
an address decoder configured to perform a decoding operation based on an input address and the redundancy enable signal to select the first memory cell or the second memory cell.
10. A redundancy control circuit comprising:
an address fuse circuit including a plurality of first fuses,
wherein each of the first fuses is configured to be cut based a result of comparing a number of bits of a defective input address having a logic level of 0 with a number of bits of the defective input address having a logic level of 1, and
wherein the address fuse circuit is configured to generate a first address using the first fuses based on a normal cutting operation when the number of bits of the defective input address having a logic level of 0 is greater than the number of bits of the defective input address having a logic level of 1, or to generate a second address using the first fuses based on a reverse cutting operation when the number of bits of the defective input address having a logic level of 1 is greater than the number of bits of the defective input address having a logic level of 0; and
a first circuit configured to output either the first address or the second address as a repair address, wherein a logic level of each of bits of the repair address is the same as that of the defective input address.
11. The redundancy control circuit of claim 10, wherein the normal cutting operation includes cutting fuses so that the output from the first fuses has the same logic level as the defective input address, and the reverse cutting operation includes cutting fuses so that the output from the first fuses has opposite logic levels from the defective input address.
12. The redundancy control circuit of claim 10, further comprising:
a master fuse circuit configured to determine whether to output the first address or the second address as the repair address corresponding to the defective input address.
13. The redundancy control circuit of claim 12, wherein the master fuse circuit is configured to generate a first master fuse signal for outputting the first address and a second master fuse signal for outputting the second address.
14. The redundancy control circuit of claim 13, wherein the first and second master fuse signals and the first address are generated by using a power-up signal.
15. The redundancy control circuit of claim 13, wherein the master fuse circuit includes a plurality of second fuses that store information about whether the normal cutting operation or the reverse cutting operation has been performed, the master fuse circuit being configured to detect program states of the second fuses to generate the first and second master fuse signals.
16. The redundancy control circuit of claim 10, further comprising:
a redundancy control signal generating unit that includes:
an address comparison block configured to compare the repair address with the defective input address; and
a redundancy enable signal generating circuit configured to perform logical operations based on the comparison result to generate a redundancy enable signal.
17. A semiconductor memory device comprising:
the redundancy control circuit of claim 16;
a first memory cell;
a second memory cell being configured to replace the first memory cell when the first memory cell is defective; and
an address decoder configured to perform a decoding operation based on an input address and the redundancy enable signal to select the first memory cell or the second memory cell.
18. A method manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
determining one or more defective memory cells of the semiconductor device including a first memory cell having a particular address;
for the particular address, cutting a plurality of first fuses in a fuse unit, to create a first address that corresponds to the particular address,
wherein cutting the plurality of first fuses includes determining to cut one or more of the first fuses corresponding to bits having a first logic level when a majority of bits in the particular address have a second logic level, or determining to cut one or more of the first fuses corresponding to bits having the second logic level when a majority of bits in the particular address have the first logic level;
configuring the semiconductor device to determine whether to output the first address or a second address that is an inverted address of the first address as a repair address; and
configuring the semiconductor device to generate the repair address, wherein a logic level of each of bits of the repair address is the same as that of the defective input address.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first logic level is 0 and second logic level is 1.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of configuring the semiconductor device to determine whether to output the first address or a second address includes cutting additional fuses that select whether to output the first address or the second address.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A circuit breaker comprising:
a breaker enclosure containing internal components that include a trip unit;
a plurality of conductor connections for electrically coupling the trip unit to a plurality of power conductors;
a temperature sensor located to sense heat radiated by the conductor connections, the temperature sensor being positioned inside the enclosure and proximate to the plurality of conductor connections; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor, the controller being programmable to determine defective conditions of the conductor connection by distinguishing between a normal temperature increase due to higher load currents and an abnormal temperature increase characteristic of defective conductor connection.
2. The circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is selected from a group consisting of an analog temperature sensor and a digital temperature sensor.
3. The circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of conductor connections is selected from a group consisting of a screw-type lug, a compression lug, and a plug-in connection.
4. The circuit breaker of claim 1, further comprising another temperature sensor.
5. The circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to the temperature sensor via an analog-to-digital channel.
6. The circuit breaker of claim 1, further comprising a memory for storing temperature values, the memory being communicatively coupled to the controller.
7. The circuit breaker of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmable to send at least one of a trip instruction to the trip unit and a warning message to an end user.
8. A method of providing a circuit breaker for sensing temperature at a conductor connection, the method comprising:
enclosing internal components of a circuit breaker with a protective breaker enclosure, the internal components including a trip unit;
providing a plurality of conductor connections for electrically coupling the trip unit to a plurality of power conductors;
mounting the temperature sensor inside the protective breaker enclosure to sense heat radiated by the conductor connections; and
determining defective conditions by distinguishing between a normal temperature increase due to higher load currents and an abnormal temperature increase characteristic of a defective conductor connection.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising mounting a second temperature sensor inside the protective breaker enclosure to sense heat radiated by the conductor connections.
10. The method of claim 8, further comprising communicatively coupling the temperature sensor to a controller.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising retrieving temperature values from a memory communicatively coupled to a controller.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending at least one of a trip instruction to the trip unit and a warning message to an end user.
13. An electrical system comprising:
an electrical distribution equipment system;
a server mounted in the electrical distribution equipment system and communicatively coupled to a customer network, the server including a processor programmable to determine defective conditions of at least one breaker lug by distinguishing between a normal temperature increase due to higher load currents and an abnormal temperature increase characteristic of a defective breaker lug connection; and
a plurality of circuit breakers mounted in the electrical distribution equipment system and communicatively coupled to the server, each of the plurality of circuit breakers being electrically coupled to a plurality of power conductors, at least one circuit breaker of the plurality of circuit breakers including
the at least one breaker lug for electrically coupling the at least one circuit breaker to a corresponding power conductor of the plurality of power conductors, and
the at least one temperature sensor being positioned inside the at least one circuit breaker and proximate to the at least one breaker lug.
14. The electrical system of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of circuit breakers is communicatively coupled to an adjacent one of the plurality of circuit breakers.
15. The electrical system of claim 13, wherein the server includes a central communications processor, the processor including a memory for storing temperature values detected by the at least one temperature sensor.
16. The electrical system of claim 13, wherein the electrical distribution equipment system includes at least one of a switchgear, a switchboard, a panelboard, a control panel, a busway, and a motor control center.