Interconnection resources for programmable logic integrated circuit devices

US6525564B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Altera Corporation · US

Inventors

• James Schleicher · Los Gatos, US
• James Park · San Jose, US
• Sergey Shumarayev · Los Altos Hills, US
• Bruce B. Pedersen · Sunnyvale, US
• Tony Ngai · Campbell, US
• Wei-Jen Huang · Burlingame, US
• Victor Maruri · Mountain View, US
• Rakesh Patel · Cupertino, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 14, 2001
• Grant date: Feb 25, 2003
• Expiry date: Dec 14, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H03K19/17792
• WIPO field: Basic communication processes
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A programmable logic device has many regions of programmable logic, together with relatively general-purpose, programmable, interconnection resources that can be used to make interconnections between virtually any of the logic regions. In addition, various types of more local interconnection resources are associated with each logic region for facilitating the making of interconnections between adjacent or nearby logic regions without the need to use the general-purpose interconnection resources for those interconnections. The local interconnection resources support flexible clustering of logic regions via relatively direct and therefore high-speed interconnections, preferably in both horizontal and vertical directions in the typically two-dimensional array of logic regions. The logic region clustering options provided by the local interconnection resources are preferably boundary-less or substantially boundary-less within the array of logic regions.