Method for modifying an integrated circuit
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorPaul A. LaBerge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An application specific integrated circuit has at least one standard cell, integrated circuit connection circuitry connected to the at least one standard cell and at least one programmable circuit that is selectively connectable to the integrated circuit connection circuitry. The connection is made by metal mask changes if and when it is desirable to change the logic of the application specific circuit. The programmable circuit is a general-purpose logic block.
Claims13
A method for modifying the original logic design of an application specific integrated circuit having integrated circuit connection circuitry and at least one semiconductor layer and at least one metal layer, comprising:
- determining what general purpose logic blocks will be used for programmable circuits included in the application specific integrated circuit but not connected to the integrated circuit connection circuitry;
- determining a location for the programmable circuits;
- preparing at least one completed application specific integrated circuit with all layers and a plurality of programmable circuits and at least one application specific integrated circuit without the at least one metal layer;
- testing the at least one completed application specific integrated circuit and identifying required design modifications;
- determining what additional logic is needed to make the required design modifications and which of the plurality of programmable circuits combined with what configuration signals are required to implement this logic;
- preparing a new metal mask to connect selectively the required programmable circuits to the integrated circuit connection circuitry;
- and
- providing a source for the configuration signals required for the selectively connected programmable circuits to cause them to implement the desired logic.
A method for designing an application specific integrated circuit comprising:
- locating a plurality of circuits on a die, wherein the plurality of circuits comprise a logic design;
- locating at least one programmable circuit on the die;
- determining whether modifications to the logic design are desired by examining a completed specimen application specific integrated circuit;
- if modifications to the logic design are desired, changing a metal mask of the completed specimen application specific integrated circuit such that the at least one programmable circuit is connected to the plurality of circuits thereby allowing the modifications to the logic design to be implemented;
- and
- providing configuration signals for programming the at least one programmable circuit such that the modifications to the logic design are implemented.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.