A one-day chip: an innovative IC construction approach using electrically reconfigurable logic VLSI with on-chip programmable interconnections

Abstract

A new custom IC design methodology and the associated logic VLSI chip, which offer an ultimately fast turnaround-time logic IC construction method, are proposed. The chip contains various kinds of logic functional blocks, such as inverters, NORs, NANDs, flip-flops, shift registers, counters, adders, multiplexers, and ALUs. Up to 200 SSI/MSI standard logic blocks can be provided. The E/SUP 2/PROM-type MOSFET switch matrix is adjacent to the functional blocks, in order to connect any output to specific inputs of the functional blocks. It also offers a ready-to-test aid, obtained by monitoring the signal waveform developed inside the chip. These features have the advantage over the present custom IC design methods (gate array, standard cell, silicon compiler, programmable logic array) that the designer can easily redesign the logic to obtain a digital system in an IC in a single day.