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US 6,192,431 B1Granted
Method and apparatus for configuring the pinout of an integrated circuit
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsSanjay Dabral, Dilip K. Sampath, Christopher Cheng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for configuring the pinout of an integrated circuit. An integrated circuit includes an input/output structure including an input/output port. The input/output structure communicates a first signal in a first configuration and a second signal in a second configuration. The first and second signals are parallel signals of a bus.
Claims16
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a first input/output (IO) port to communicate a first signal in a first configuration and a second signal in a second configuration, the first and second signals being parallel signals of a bus;
- a first multiplexer coupled to the first IO port;
- a configuration IO port, the configuration IO port being an electrical connector disposed on a package of the integrated circuit;
- and
- a configuration signal line coupled between the first multiplexer and the configuration IO port to select between the first configuration and the second configuration.
2 more elements
A processor comprising:
- a parallel signal bus having a first signal line to communicate a predetermined first bit position of the bus and a second signal line to communicate a predetermined second bit position of the bus;
- a first input/output (IO) port selectively connected to the first signal line in a first configuration and to the second signal line in a second configuration;
- a second IO port selectively connected to the second signal line in the first configuration and to the first signal line in the second configuration;
- and
- a configuration IO port to select between the first configuration and the second configuration, the configuration IO port being an electrical connector disposed on a package of the processor.
2 more elements
An electronic component comprising:
- a printed circuit board (PCB);
- a power plane disposed in the PCB;
- a ground plane disposed in the PCB;
- a first integrated circuit (IC) connected to the PCB, the first IC having a first pinout configuration;
- a first electrical interconnect connected to a configuration input/output port of the first IC at one end and to the power plane at another end to place the first IC in the first pinout configuration, the configuration input/output port of the first IC being an electrical connector disposed on a package of the IC;
- a second IC connected to the PCB, the second IC being identical to the first IC and having a second pinout configuration that is a mirror image of at least a portion of the first pinout configuration;
- and
- a second electrical interconnect connected to a configuration input/output port of the second IC at one end and to the ground plane at another end to place the second IC in the second pinout configuration, the configuration input/output port of the second IC being an electrical connector disposed on a package of the IC.
5 more elements
A method of coupling a bus in a first integrated circuit (IC) to a bus in a second IC that is identical to the first IC, the method comprising:
- configuring the first IC to have a bus pinout in a first configuration using a first configuration input/output port of the first IC, the first configuration input/output port being an electrical connector disposed on a package of the first IC;
- and
- configuring the second IC to have a bus pinout in a second configuration that is inverted from the first configuration using a second configuration input/output port of the second IC, the second configuration input/output port being an electrical connector disposed on a package of the second IC.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.