Improved control signal distribution for very wide VLSI data buses

Abstract

A new technique for distributing electronic signals by way of a conducting path across large spatial distances with minimal temporal dispersion is presented. It provides for the delivery of a common signal to any number of different receivers located along the signal path, with near zero skew and little degradation of the signal's rise/fall transition times. The method involves the placement of an active routing structure in parallel with, and appropriately strapped to, a conventional passive conductor. The concept is demonstrated in the paper, within the context of VLSI design, by a solution to the problem of distributing an on-chip control signal to the many lines of a physically very wide data bus.