Configuring data registers to program a programmable device with a configuration bit stream without phantom bits
AssigneeAltera Corporation
InventorsJun Pin Tan, Kiun Kiet Jong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Techniques and mechanisms dynamically configure shift registers among registers composing data registers in a circuit such as a Programmable Logic Device (PLD). A configuration bit stream used to configure the PLD may have a reduced size if “phantom bits” not corresponding to configuration elements are removed. Shift registers may be dynamically configured such that registers which do not correspond to physical configuration elements may be skipped. Thus, a PLD may be programmed with a configuration bit stream without phantom bits.
Claims18
A method for configuring a configurable circuit, the method comprising:
- receiving on the configurable circuit data from a configuration bit stream, the data including a first portion and a second portion;
- instantiating on the configurable circuit a first shift register among a plurality of registers, wherein a data path of the first shift register bypasses a register corresponding to a location in the configurable circuit without a configuration element;
- instantiating on the configurable circuit a second shift register among the plurality of registers;
- and
- sending on the configurable circuit the first portion of the data from the configuration bit stream into the first shift register and the second portion of the data from the configuration bit stream into the second shift register.
A circuit for configuring a configurable circuit, the circuit comprising:
- an input, the input configured to receive data from a configuration bit stream;
- a control block, the control block configured to instantiate a first shift register among a plurality of registers and a second shift register among the plurality of registers, wherein a data path of the first shift register is configured to bypass a register corresponding to a location in the configurable circuit without a configuration element;
- and
- an output, the output configured to send the data from the configuration bit stream into the first shift register and the second shift register.
A circuit for configuring a configurable circuit, the circuit comprising:
- means for receiving data from a configuration bit stream;
- means for instantiating a first shift register among a plurality of registers, wherein a data path of the first shift register is configured to bypass a register corresponding to a location in the configurable circuit without a configuration element;
- means for instantiating a second shift register among the plurality of registers;
- and
- means for sending the data from the configuration bit stream into the first shift register and the second shift register.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.