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:
Nov. 18, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 20, 2001
Christopher M. Giles, Lafayette, CO (US);
LSI Logic Corporation, Milipitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A system and method are presented for using spare gates to repair logic errors in a digital logic IC with a hierarchical physical design. According to the system and method, the spare gates are organized as scalable modules, consisting of varying numbers of identical sub-modules. The scalable modules are not part of the functional circuitry of the IC, but the spare gates within their sub-modules may be incorporated into faulty functional circuitry to correct the logic error. This is accomplished by altering the metalization layer of the IC to reconnect the spare gates, and does not require changing the physical layout (i.e., adding more pins, relocating gates, etc.) of the IC.