Integrated circuit and method for fabricating an integrated circuit

An integrated circuit, comprising:

• a first circuit section;
• and
• a second circuit section operatively connected to said first circuit section, said second circuit section being configured to be one of necessary for emulating said first circuit section and useful for emulating said first circuit section;
• said first circuit section and said second circuit section forming a circuit configuration;
• and
• said second circuit section being disposed within said circuit configuration for permitting said second circuit section to be omitted from said circuit configuration by partially covering exposure masks used for fabricating said integrated circuit configuration.

A method for fabricating an integrated circuit, the method which comprises:

• fabricating an integrated circuit by using exposure masks respectively including patterns for fabricating a first circuit section of the integrated circuit and patterns for fabricating a second circuit section of the integrated circuit;
• configuring the second circuit section to be one of necessary for emulating the first circuit section and useful for emulating the first circuit section;
• selectively covering a respective part of the exposure masks that serves for fabricating the second circuit section during a fabrication of a first variant of the integrated circuit, and leaving the respective part of the exposure masks that serves for fabricating the second circuit section uncovered during a fabrication of a second variant of the integrated circuit;
• and
• operatively connecting the first circuit section and the second circuit section to one another to cause the first circuit section to behave, when the second circuit section is not present, in exactly the same manner as when the second circuit section is present.