Method for designing application specific integrated circuits
US6334207A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1998 |
| Grant date | Dec 25, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F30/30
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An ASIC design methodology in which portions of the ASIC are implemented in silicon or other suitable semiconductor technology at an early stage in the design flow through the use of a series of interim devices. The invention provides a method in which additional portions or subsystems of the integrated circuit are incorporated into successive versions of the interim device. In this manner, the invention provides for the gradual incorporation of a plurality of architectural subsystems into the integrated device such that the synthesis and verification of each iteration is broken into manageable pieces. In the preferred embodiment, this design method is facilitated by incorporating a programmable portion into the design flow of each interim device such that each interim device includes a custom portion into which the subsystems that have been implemented in silicon are fabricated and a programmable portion. The programmable portion is useful in permitting the designer to make modifications to the subsystems implemented in the custom portion or to simulate the subsystems of the target device that have yet to be implemented in the custom portion.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.