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US 5,900,743 AGranted
Programmable logic array devices with interconnect lines of various lengths
AssigneeAltera Corporation
InventorsCameron McClintock, William Leong, Richard G. Cliff, Bahram Ahanin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A programmable logic array device has a plurality of logic regions and conductors for conveying signals between the logic regions. Conductors of several different lengths are provided so that most connections between logic regions can be made using conductors which are close to the length required and not wastefully much longer than that length.
Claims26
A programmable logic array device comprising:
- a plurality of regions of programmable logic;
- a plurality of conductors adjacent to each of said regions;
- and
- connectors associated with each of said regions;
- wherein:
- each of said regions produces an output signal which is a programmable function of a plurality of input signals applied to that region;
- said conductors selectively convey signals between said regions;
- said conductors adjacent to each of said regions are grouped into at least three groups;
- the conductors in each group extend substantially continuously to an associated number of other regions, said number of other regions being different for each of said three groups;
- said number of said conductors in each of said groups increases as the number of other regions to which the conductors in that group extend increases;
- and
- said connectors programmably selectively connect conductors adjacent to each of said regions to said input and output signals of said region.
9 more elements
A programmable logic array device comprising:
- a plurality of regions of programmable logic disposed on said device in a row;
- at least three groups of conductors adjacent to each of said regions;
- input connectors associated with each of said regions;
- and
- output connectors associated with the output terminal of each of said regions;
- wherein:
- each of said regions has a plurality of input terminals for receiving input signals and at least one output terminal for outputting an output signal which is determined by the programmable logic of that region and the input signals received by that region;
- each of said groups of conductors extends substantially continuously adjacent to a different number of others of said regions, each of said groups adjacent to a region including an associated number of conductors;
- the number of conductors in each of said groups increases as the number of other regions to which the conductors in that group extend increases;
- one of said input connectors is associated with each input terminal of each of said regions and said input connectors programmably selectively connect each input terminal of each of said regions to at least one of the conductors in each of the three groups that are adjacent to that region;
- and
- said output connectors programmably selectively connect said output terminal of each of said regions to at least one of the conductors in each of the three groups that are adjacent to that region.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.