Altera Corporation

Altera Corporaton

Alok Shreekant Doshi

Bruce B Pedersen

Ting Lu

Brian L Wong

Yun Sum Wong

Jayabrata Ghosh Dastidar

Kalyana Ravindra Kantipudi

Binh Vo

Sergey Timokhin

An integrated circuit includes a control circuit and a one-time programmable circuit. The control circuit determines if the one-time programmable circuit is programmed in response to an attempt to access a mode of the integrated circuit after the integrated circuit powers up. The control circuit generates a signal to indicate to a user of the integrated circuit that the mode of the integrated circuit has been previously accessed if the control circuit determines that the one-time programmable circuit has been programmed to indicate a previous access to the mode of the integrated circuit.

Techniques for protecting security features of integrated circuits

An integrated circuit includes a control circuit, a one-time programmable circuit, and a security feature. The control circuit determines if the one-time programmable circuit is programmed in response to a request by a user of the integrated circuit to access the security feature. The control circuit generates a signal to indicate to the user of the integrated circuit that the security feature has been previously accessed if the control circuit determines that the one-time programmable circuit has been programmed to indicate a previous access to the security feature. The control circuit causes the one-time programmable circuit to be programmed in response to the request if the control circuit determines that the one-time programmable circuit has not been programmed.

Scan chain circuitry on an integrated circuit device includes a plurality of memory elements, and a plurality of control elements. Each of the control elements is located between respective ones of the plurality of memory elements for controllably connecting the plurality of memory elements into a scan chain. A plurality of respective scan enable activation elements controls a respective subplurality of the plurality of control elements for connecting a respective subplurality of the plurality of memory elements into the scan chain. Each scan enable activation element is actuated, to connect its respective subplurality of the plurality of memory elements into the scan chain, by a first enable signal common to more than one of the scan enable activation elements, and a second enable signal for that one of the scan enable activation elements. Such scan chain circuitry may be used for entering configuration data into a programmable integrated circuit device.

Method and apparatus for securing configuration scan chains of a programmable device

A programmable integrated circuit may contain multiple logic blocks. Computing equipment may be used to run automated tools that process a design for the programmable integrated circuit to perform corresponding circuit tests. A translation tool may translate a transistor-level description of circuitry on the programmable integrated circuit into a gate-level description. A block-level test configuration data generation tool may generate block-level test configuration data files. The test configuration data files may be used as constraints for an automatic test pattern generation tool that produces block-level test vectors. A full-chip propagation tool may use the block-level test vectors, block-level test configuration data files, and full-chip constraints to produce corresponding full-chip test configuration data and full-chip test vectors for testing the integrated circuit. A translation tool may convert the configuration data and test vectors into a tester file.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Alok Shreekant Doshi