Altera Corporation

Michael Chan

David Lewis

Paul Leventis

Ketan H Zaveri

Hyun Mo Yi

Andy Louie Lee

Chris Lane

Vaughn Betz

Christopher F Lane

Cameron R McClintock

Ryan Fung

David Edward Jefferson

Brian D Johnson

Triet M Nguyen

Aron Joseph Roth

Richard G Cliff

Srinivas T Reddy

David Cashman

Vikram Santurkar

Jeffrey Christopher Chromczak

Giles V Powell

Tim Michael Vanderhoek

Jeffrey Chromczak

An integrated circuit may have interconnect circuitry which may include a sequence of tiles. Each tile may include a predetermined routing of multiple wires on multiple tracks. Wires may change tracks within a tile through wire twisting or through via connections and wires in another metal layer. Wires that change tracks may reduce the overlap between pairs of adjacent wires, thereby reducing the coupling capacitance between the respective wires. Reducing the coupling capacitance may result in reduced crosstalk between the wires which may speed up the signal transition along those wires compared to the signal transition in conventional interconnect circuitry. At the same time, sub-optimal wire stitching in a routing tile that connects a wire that ends in the next routing tile to a wire that starts in the routing tile, whereby the two wires overlap each other may enable beneficial crosstalk, which may further improve signal transition time.

Methods and apparatus for reducing spatial overlap between routing wires

An integrated circuit may have interconnect circuitry which may include a sequence of tiles. Each tile may be associated with a given tile type, and each tile type may include a predetermined routing of multiple wires on multiple tracks. Wires may change tracks within a given tile, which is sometimes also referred to as wire twisting. Wire twists may reduce the overlap between pairs of adjacent wires, thereby reducing the coupling capacitance between the respective wires. Reducing the coupling capacitance may result in reduced crosstalk between the wires which may speed up the signal transition along those wires. At the same time, the twist region height (i.e., the region in the tile in which wires are twisted) may be reduced compared to conventional interconnect circuitry.

Methods and apparatus for reducing crosstalk and twist region height in routing wires

A programmable logic device includes an array of functional blocks and input/output elements disposed at the periphery of the programmable logic device. The programmable logic device also includes conductors configured to conduct signals between the functional blocks and between the functional blocks and the routing channels. The number of conductors that propagate signals in a direction toward the periphery and out of the array is greater than the number of conductors that propagate signals into the array in a direction away from the periphery.

Asymmetric signal routing in a programmable logic device

An embodiment of the present invention provides a programmable logic device ('PLD') including a redundancy architecture adapted to selective route signals via first or second staggered vertical lines. Other embodiments provide configuration logic and programs for determining routing selections. Other embodiments provide proximate grouping of vertical lines driven from a same row. Other embodiments provide definition of spare row locations once defective row locations are known.

Redundancy structures and methods in a programmable logic device

A method for connecting a first and second component in a logic device is disclosed. A path is generated between the first and second components with an appropriate amount of delay to satisfy short-path timing constraints that define a minimum delay on the path. A first interconnect line from a plurality of interconnect lines and a second interconnect line to connect with the first interconnect line sub-optimally from a delay minimization perspective are selected in order to satisfy the short-path timing constraints.

Method and apparatus for facilitating effective and efficient optimization of short-path timing constraints

Methods and apparatuses are disclosed to facilitate routing between a first and second component in a programmable logic device to generate a path with an appropriate amount of delay to satisfy short-path timing constraints efficiently and effectively.

A programmable logic device and associated method is provided with repairable regions. In one aspect, general routing interconnect lines are segmented within repairable regions. In another aspect, IO bus lines and associated circuitry are provided that accommodate redundancy in a staggered segmented architecture. In another aspect, a dedicated routing architecture between particular logic regions accommodates shifting to define and utilize repairable regions. Principles of other aspects are illustrated and described in the context of several exemplary embodiments of aspects of the invention.

Programmable logic device with redundant circuitry

An embodiment of this invention pertains to a wire that interconnects multiple function blocks within a programmable logic device ('PLD'). An electrically optimum physical length is determined for the wire. A wire having the electrically optimum physical length transmits a signal down the wire as fast as possible. Some of the wires used in the PLD have a physical length substantially the same as the electrically optimum physical length or an adjustment of the electrically optimum physical length to account for non-electrical considerations. The physical length, as used herein, is the measured length of the wire. A logical length of the wire, as used herein, is the number of function blocks that the wire spans. Given that the function blocks have a different height and width, the logical length of the wire varies depending on the orientation of the wire. A routing architecture is an array that includes rows and columns of function blocks. The columns of the array are connected with horizontal lines ('H-line') and the rows of the array are connected with vertical lines (&#x201c;V-line). The types of H-lines include a H4 line that spans four function blocks, a H8 line that spans eight function blocks, and a H24 line that spans twenty-four function blocks. The types of V-lines include a V4 line that spans four function blocks, a V8 line that spans eight function blocks, and a V16 line that spans sixteen function blocks.

System and method for optimizing routing lines in a programmable logic device

In one aspect, flexible routing resources provided are comprising an arrangement of staggered line segments on a periphery of an electronic device. In another aspect, I/O bus lines a re coupled to receive signals from and to provide signals to other bus lines, core routing, and I/O circuitry, thus facilitating the use of the I/O bus for a variety of routes that may include I/O-to-core, core-to-I/O and core-to-core routes. In another aspect, a length of I/O bus lines is optimized for speed over long signal routes with high fanout. In another aspect, the loading effects of high fanout are minimized by using a plurality of tapping buffers to couple lines to both core routing and to I/O circuitry. In another aspect, a spiraling technique is provided that allows a continuous bus having line segments of consistent length whether or not the number of I/O blocks is an integral multiple of the selected logical length for line segments.

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Scarborough, Canada

Michael Chan