Decoded generic routing pool

Abstract

A method and system are provided which allows N programmable cells to be used to select one of 2N signals for routing to a desired destination, such as a programmable array logic (PAL), for further processing. N input selection signals are used to generate N selection signals and their corresponding complements using N programmable cells. These selection signals are then used to generate coded selection signals, which can be separated into groups of one or more. Each group of coded selection signals is then decoded, such as with K×1 tree decoders, where K is not greater than 2N. Tree decoders are typically cascaded such that the first stage or group of decoders select a portion of the 2N signals and then subsequent decoder(s) select portion(s) of the previous selected signals until the one desired signal is selected from the 2N signals. A different set of N input selection signals can be used to select a signal from the same 2N signals in order to select more than one of the 2N signals.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.