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:
Jan. 20, 2009
Filed:
May. 21, 2008
Clarence Rosser Ogilvie, Huntington, VT (US);
Charles B. Winn, Colchester, VT (US);
David Wills Milton, Underhill, VT (US);
Kenneth Anthony Lauricella, Colchester, VT (US);
Nitin Sharma, South Burlington, VT (US);
Paul Mark Schanely, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Robert Dov Herzl, South Burlington, VT (US);
Robert Spencer Horton, Colchester, VT (US);
Tad Jeffrey Wilder, South Hero, VT (US);
Douglas P. Nadeau, Underhill, VT (US);
Clarence Rosser Ogilvie, Huntington, VT (US);
Charles B. Winn, Colchester, VT (US);
David Wills Milton, Underhill, VT (US);
Kenneth Anthony Lauricella, Colchester, VT (US);
Nitin Sharma, South Burlington, VT (US);
Paul Mark Schanely, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Robert Dov Herzl, South Burlington, VT (US);
Robert Spencer Horton, Colchester, VT (US);
Tad Jeffrey Wilder, South Hero, VT (US);
Douglas P. Nadeau, Underhill, VT (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A design structure embodied in a machine-readable medium is disclosed in one embodiment of the invention as including a flexible logic block to facilitate engineering changes at selected locations within an IC. The flexible logic block has a consistent and identifiable structure such that a simple automated process may be used to reconfigure the structure to perform different logical operations. In certain embodiments, the flexible logic block includes a circuit, such as a multiplexer, having multiple inputs and at least one output. A metal interconnect structure is coupled to the inputs and enables connection of each of the inputs to one of several electrical potentials using a focused-ion-beam (FIB) tool. In this way, the circuit may be configured to perform different logical operations after components in the IC exist in hardware.