Patent · US Expired

Configurable monolithic semiconductor circuit and method for configuring

US5898317A · kind A · utility

4Cited by
6References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 1996
Grant dateApr 27, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 23, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03K19/1778
  • WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A ferroelectric memory array (20) monolithically integrated with a field programmable gate array (32) into a semiconductor circuit (10). The ferroelectric memory array (20) is suitable for a semiconductor manufacturer to program the configuration data that is used in the field programmable gate array (32) prior to shipment and installation in an electronic system. The memory array (20) provides the data that configures the field programmable gate array (32) for functionality of the Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) in the field programmable gate array (32). Should the field programmable gate array (32) circuit lose power, the non-volatile memory array (20) provides a shift register (26) with the data to reconfigure the field programmable gate array (32).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.