The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 06, 1999
Filed:
Feb. 23, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
David A Courtright, Richardson, TX (US);
David L Trawick, Plano, TX (US);
Assignee:
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ; H01L / ; H01L / ; H01L / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
257209 ; 257203 ; 257210 ; 257211 ; 257758 ;
Abstract
An integrated circuit is reprogrammable in metal using (a) a set of spare devices, and (b) separate arrays of spare rows and columns. The spare rows are formed in the top metal layer, and the spare columns are formed in the next to the top metal layer (for example, metal layers 4 and 5 of a 5 level metal process). Use of arrays of spare rows/columns facilitates silicon debug of the integrated circuit using FIB (focused ion beam) reprogramming without requiring FIB connections of more than 500 .mu.m.