Driver circuitry for programmable logic devices
AssigneeAltera Corporation
InventorsTony Ngai, Sergey Shumarayev, Wei-Jen Huang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Driver circuitry for programmable logic devices may include a module comprising a driver and associated hardware-programmable input and/or output routing connection. Instances of the generalized driver module may be included anywhere on the programmable logic device that driver circuitry having characteristics within the capabilities of the generalized module is needed. The circuitry of each instance of the module is hardware-customized to match the driver characteristics required for that instance. Driver circuits may be distributed throughout the interconnection conductor resources of the programmable logic device in such a way as to optimize re-buffering of signals propagating through those resources.
Claims33
Driver module circuitry comprising:
- driver circuitry having an input terminal and an output terminal;
- hardware-configurable input signal selection circuitry configured for hardware configuration to select for application to the input terminal any of a plurality of input signals to the driver module circuitry;
- hardware-configurable output signal routing circuitry configured for hardware configuration to select any of a plurality of output destinations of the driver module circuitry to receive a signal from the output terminal;
- and
- hardware-configurable bridge circuitry configured to hardware-selectively apply a signal from at least one of the output destinations as at least one of the input signals to the driver module circuitry.
A programmable logic device comprising:
- a plurality of regions of programmable logic;
- a plurality of interconnection conductors configured to selectively convey signals to, from, and between the logic regions;
- and
- a plurality of driver module circuitries, each driver module circuitry comprising:
- driver circuitry having an input terminal and an output terminal;
- hardware-configurable input signal selection circuitry configured for hardware configuration to select for application to the input terminal any of a plurality of input signals to the driver module circuitry;
- and
- hardware-configurable output signal routing circuitry configured for hardware configuration to select any of a plurality of output destinations of the driver module circuitry to receive a signal from the output terminal, the driver module circuitry configured to apply at least one signal from at least one signal source which is hardware-selected from the logic regions and interconnection conductors to at least one signal utilizer which is hardware-selected from the interconnection conductors, each of the interconnection conductors having one of the driver module circuitries disposed adjacent each end of that interconnection conductor and configured for hardware-selectable connection to the adjacent end of that interconnection conductor.
A programmable logic device comprising:
- a plurality of regions of programmable logic;
- a plurality of interconnection conductors configured to selectively convey signals to, from, and between the logic regions;
- and
- a plurality of driver circuitry modules, each of which is disposed adjacent a respective one of the logic regions and adjacent ends of at least two of the interconnection conductors, and each of which is configured to selectively drive at least one input signal to at least one output destination, the input signal being selectable from an output signal of the adjacent logic region and the adjacent interconnection conductor ends, and the output destinations being selectable from the adjacent interconnection conductor ends.
A programmable logic device comprising:
- a plurality of regions of programmable logic disposed on the device in a row;
- and
- a plurality of interconnection conductor channels extending substantially parallel to the row, the conductors in each channel being interrupted at spaced locations along the row by driver circuitry modules, each of the driver circuitry modules being configured to selectively drive at least one input signal to at least one output destination, the input signal being selectable from an output signal of one of the logic regions which is adjacent to the driver circuitry module and the conductors extending in each direction form the driver circuitry module along the row, and the output destination being selectable from the conductors extending in each direction from the driver circuitry module along the row.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.