Routing and programming for resistive switch arrays
AssigneeAltera Corporation
InventorDavid Lewis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Various structures and methods are disclosed related to routing and programming circuitry on integrated circuits (“IC”) that have arrays of programmable resistive switches. In some embodiments, routing structures utilize densely populated resistive switch arrays to provide for efficient selection circuits that route into and out of logic regions. In other embodiments, programming circuitry is provided to help maintain relatively consistent programming current throughout an array of resistive switches to be programmed. In other embodiments, methods are provided for programming resistive switches without violating given power constraints. These and other embodiments are described further herein.
Claims20
A method of programming a column of resistive switches in a power constraint sharing region of a resistive switch array, the method comprising:
- during a first programming cycle, programming one or more resistive switches to be on-programmed if a power cost of on-programming the one or more resistive switches does not exceed a power constraint for on-programming switches during a programming cycle;
- and
- if, after the first programming cycle, any resistive switches are remaining to be on-programmed (“remaining switches”), programming the remaining switches during one or more subsequent programming cycles.
A method for determining one or more programming vectors for programming a column of resistive switches in a region of a resistive switch array that shares a power constraint, the method comprising:
- determining whether there are remaining on-programming bits designated for on-programming resistive switches in the column that have not yet been added to a programming vector and, if so, testing one or more successive bits of the remaining on-programming bits to determine if adding the one or more successive bits to a present programming vector will, in view of a power cost associated with the one or more successive bits, violate the power constraint;
- and
- for each successive bit that is tested, adding the each successive bit to the present programming vector if adding the each successive bit will not violate the power constraint.
A computer program product including executable instruction code in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the executable instruction code being for at least:
- identifying bits (“the identified bits”) in a column of row programming data corresponding to resistive switches to be on-programmed in a column of resistive switches within an array of resistive switches of an integrated circuit (“IC”);
- determining one or more programming vectors for programming resistive switches corresponding to the identified bits during one or more programming cycles of the IC such that a power constraint associated with programming the IC is not violated during the one or more programming cycles;
- and
- providing the one or more programming vectors to the IC for programming resistive switches of the IC using the one or more programming vectors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.