Multilevel logic field programmable device

A programmable logic datapath comprising:

• a plurality of inputs;
• and
• a plurality of reduction networks, each of said plurality of reduction networks including,
• a first and second level one logic circuits each coupled to receive a first and second copy of data provided at a different set of said plurality of inputs, each level one logic circuit respectively performing an XOR and OR logic operation on said first and second copy to respectively provide a first and second logic output;
• an alignment and negation circuit, coupled to said first and second outputs of said first and second level one logic circuits, to selectively provide different combinations of one output from each of said first and second level one logic circuits at each of a first and second alignment output, as well as selectively negate at least one of the values provided on one of the first and second alignment outputs;
• and
• a level two logic circuit having a first and second input respectively coupled to said first and second outputs of said alignment and negation circuit, said level two logic circuit respectively performing an XOR and OR operation on data received at said first and second inputs.

An apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of sources each providing an output;
• a selector unit to separately select for each part of its output the corresponding part of the output from one of said plurality of sources;
• and
• a programmable logic datapath coupled to said selector unit including,
• a plurality of reduction networks each including,
• at least three logic levels coupled together in series including,
• a first logic level to group its inputs into mutually exclusive groups, separately perform a first and second logic operations on separate copies of the inputs within each group, and optionally switch the combined results within each group before provision to the next logic level, and
• each of the remaining logic levels to combine the groups provided to it from the previous logic level into mutually exclusive super groups, perform the first and second logic operations respectively on the first and second optionally switched combined results of the groups, and optionally switch the inputs in each of the groups before provision to the next logic level.

A machine-implemented method comprising:

• receiving an output from each of a plurality of sources;
• separately selecting for each part of a current output a corresponding part of the output from one of said plurality of sources, wherein the bits of said current output form a plurality of mutually exclusive groups;
• and
• performing the following in each of a plurality of reduction networks,
• duplicating said current output to form a first and second version of each group,
• reducing the first and second version of each group through logic operations to provide for each group a first and second output that are selectively switched and one of which is optionally negated, where the groups form mutually exclusive sets,
• reducing the first and second output of each group within each set through logic operations to provide for each set a first and second output that are selectively switched and one of which is optionally negated, where the sets form mutually exclusive supersets, and
• reducing the first and second output of each set within each superset through logic operations to provide for each superset a first and second output that are selectively switched and one of which is optionally negated.

A machine-implemented method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of inputs, wherein said plurality of inputs form a plurality of mutually exclusive groups;
• duplicating said plurality of inputs to form a first and second version of each group;
• reducing the first and second version of each group to provide a first and second output for each group by performing the following for each group,
• logically combining the inputs within the first version of that group with an XOR operation;
• logically combining the inputs within the second version of that group with an OR operation;
• selectively switching the result of the logic operation on the first and second version in that group between the first and second outputs for that group;
• and
• reducing the first and second output of each group to provide a first and second output for each set, where the groups form mutually exclusive sets, by performing the following for each set,
• logically combining the first output for the groups within that set with an XOR operation;
• logically combining the second output for the groups within that set with an OR operation;
• selectively switching the result of the logic operation on the first and second output for that set between the first and second outputs for that set.