ACTEL CORPORATION Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20130282943 | APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR A TAMPER RESISTANT BUS FOR SECURE LOCK BIT TRANSFER - A tamper-resistant bus architecture for secure lock bit transfer in an integrated circuit includes a nonvolatile memory having an n-bit storage region for storing encoded lock bits, A plurality of read access circuits are coupled to the nonvolatile memory. An n-bit tamper-resistant bus is coupled to the read access circuits. A decoder is coupled to the tamper-resistant bus. A k-bit decoded lock signal bus is coupled to the decoder. A controller is coupled to the k-bit decoded lock signal bus. | 10-24-2013 |
20130235678 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY ARRAY ARCHITECTURE OPTIMIZED FOR HI-RELIABILITY AND COMMERCIAL MARKETS - A sense amplifier arrangement includes a first sense amplifier having a first input and a second input. A second sense amplifier has a first input and a second input. A switching circuit is configured to selectively couple the first input of the first sense amplifier to a first bit line in the array and the second input of the first sense amplifier to a first bit line in the array to selectively couple the first input of the first sense amplifier to the first bit line in the array, the first input of the second sense amplifier to the second bit line in the array, and the second inputs of the first and second sense amplifiers to a reference voltage. | 09-12-2013 |
20110234258 | ENHANCED FILED PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - An enhanced performance field programmable gate array integrated circuit comprises a field programmable gate array and other functional circuitry such as a mask-programmable gate array in the same integrated circuit. A circuit interface provides communication between the field programmable gate array, the mask-programmable gate array and the integrated circuit I/O. | 09-29-2011 |
20100149873 | PUSH-PULL FPGA CELL - A flash memory cell includes a p-channel flash transistor having a source, a drain, a floating gate, and a control gate, an n-channel flash transistor having a source, a drain coupled to the drain of the p-channel flash transistor, a floating gate, and a control gate, a switch transistor having a gate coupled to the drains of the p-channel flash transistor and the n-channel flash transistor, a source, and a drain, and an n-channel assist transistor having a drain coupled to the drains of the p-channel flash transistor and the n-channel flash transistor, a source coupled to a fixed potential, and a gate. | 06-17-2010 |
20100100864 | FLEXIBLE CARRY SCHEME FOR FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAYS - A fast, flexible carry scheme for use in clustered field programmable gate array architectures is described. Each cluster has a cluster carry input node, a cluster carry output node, a cluster carry output circuit having an output coupled to the cluster carry output node, a first input coupled to the cluster carry input node, and a second input and a plurality of logic modules each comprising a logic function generator circuit coupled to a carry circuit. The logic modules are coupled in a series carry arrangement between the cluster carry input node and the second input of the cluster carry output circuit such that the least significant bit of an arithmetic logic circuit can be programmably placed in any of the logic modules. | 04-22-2010 |
20100038697 | NON-VOLATILE TWO-TRANSISTOR PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CELL AND ARRAY LAYOUT - A two-transistor non-volatile memory cell is formed in a semiconductor body. A memory-transistor well is disposed within the semiconductor body. A switch-transistor well is disposed within the semiconductor body and is electrically isolated from the memory transistor well. A memory transistor including spaced-apart source and drain regions is formed within the memory-transistor well. A switch transistor including spaced-apart source and drain regions is formed within the switch-transistor well region. A floating gate is insulated from and self aligned with the source and drain regions of the memory transistor and switch transistor. A control gate is disposed above and aligned to the floating gate and with the source and drain regions of the memory transistor and the switch transistor. | 02-18-2010 |
20100001760 | PROGRAMMABLE SYSTEM ON A CHIP FOR POWER-SUPPLY VOLTAGE AND CURRENT MONITORING AND CONTROL - A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device includes a programmable logic block, at least one user non-volatile memory block, and voltage-measuring and control analog and digital circuits on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip or a flip chip, face-to-face, or other multiple die configuration. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit with voltage-measuring, current-measuring and control circuitry performs voltage measurement and control functions and can be used to control and monitor external power supplies connected to external loads. | 01-07-2010 |
20090212343 | NON-VOLATILE TWO-TRANSISTOR PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CELL AND ARRAY LAYOUT - A two-transistor non-volatile memory cell is formed in a semiconductor body. A memory-transistor well is disposed within the semiconductor body. A switch-transistor well is disposed within the semiconductor body and is electrically isolated from the memory transistor well. A memory transistor including spaced-apart source and drain regions is formed within the memory-transistor well. A switch transistor including spaced-apart source and drain regions is formed within the switch-transistor well region. A floating gate is insulated from and self aligned with the source and drain regions of the memory transistor and switch transistor. A control gate is disposed above and aligned to the floating gate and with the source and drain regions of the memory transistor and the switch transistor. | 08-27-2009 |
20090159954 | NON-VOLATILE TWO-TRANSISTOR PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CELL AND ARRAY LAYOUT - A two-transistor non-volatile memory cell is formed in a semiconductor body. A memory-transistor well is disposed within the semiconductor body. A switch-transistor well is disposed within the semiconductor body and is electrically isolated from the memory transistor well. A memory transistor including spaced-apart source and drain regions is formed within the memory-transistor well. A switch transistor including spaced-apart source and drain regions is formed within the switch-transistor well region. A floating gate is insulated from and self aligned with the source and drain regions of the memory transistor and switch transistor. A control gate is disposed above and aligned to the floating gate and with the source and drain regions of the memory transistor and the switch transistor. | 06-25-2009 |
20090141539 | RADIATION TOLERANT SRAM BIT - In an integrated circuit, a radiation tolerant static random access memory device comprising a first inverter having an input and an output, a second inverter having an input and an output. A first resistor is coupled between the output of the first inverter and the input of the second inverter. A second resistor is coupled between the output of the second inverter and the input of the first inverter. A first write transistor is coupled to the output of the first inverter and has a gate coupled to a source of a first set of write-control signals and a second write transistor is coupled to the output of the second inverter and has a gate coupled to said source of a second set of write-control signals. Finally, a pass transistor has a gate coupled to the output of on of the first and second inverters. | 06-04-2009 |
20090128186 | PROGRAMMABLE SYSTEM ON A CHIP FOR POWER-SUPPLY VOLTAGE AND CURRENT MONITORING AND CONTROL - A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device includes a programmable logic block, at least one user non-volatile memory block, and voltage-measuring and control analog and digital circuits on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip or a flip chip, face-to-face, or other multiple die configuration. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit with voltage-measuring, current-measuring and control circuitry performs voltage measurement and control functions and can be used to control and monitor external power supplies connected to external loads. | 05-21-2009 |
20090106531 | FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY AND MICROCONTROLLER SYSTEM-ON-A-CHIP - A system-on-a-chip integrated circuit has a field programmable gate array core having logic clusters, static random access memory modules, and routing resources, a field programmable gate array virtual component interface translator having inputs and outputs, wherein the inputs are connected to the field programmable gate array core, a microcontroller, a microcontroller virtual component interface translator having input and outputs, wherein the inputs are connected to the microcontroller, a system bus connected to the outputs of the field programmable gate array virtual component interface translator and also to the outputs of said microcontroller virtual component interface translator, and direct connections between the microcontroller and the routing resources of the field programmable gate array core. | 04-23-2009 |
20090094475 | DELAY LOCKED LOOP FOR AN FPGA ARCHITECTURE - A DLL provides a deskew mode for aligning a reference clock that passes through a clock distribution tree to a feedback by adding additional delay to the feedback clock to align the feedback clock with reference clock at one cycle later. A 0 ns clock-to-out mode is provided by adding additional delay to account for an input buffer into a feedback path. The feedback clock can be doubled by a clock doubler with 50% duty cycle adjustment disposed in the feedback path. Flexible timing is aligning the reference clock to the feedback clock is obtained with additional delay elements disposed in the feedback and reference clock paths. | 04-09-2009 |
20090058462 | FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY INCLUDING A NONVOLATILE USER MEMORY AND METHOD FOR PROGRAMMING - An integrated circuit includes a programmable logic unit and an on-chip non-volatile memory. A JTAG port, TAP controller circuit, and program/erase control circuitry provide user access to the non-volatile memory for storage of user data. The non-volatile memory may also be used to store device data such as a serial number, product identification number, date code, or security data. Portions of the non-volatile memory may be made unavailable to the user once programmed, while other portions of the non-volatile may remain available for user access. | 03-05-2009 |
20090057821 | REPROGRAMMABLE METAL-TO-METAL ANTIFUSE EMPLOYING CARBON-CONTAINING ANTIFUSE MATERIAL - A reprogrammable metal-to-metal antifuse is disposed between two metal interconnect layers in an integrated circuit. A lower barrier layer is formed from Ti. A lower adhesion-promoting layer is disposed over the lower Ti barrier layer. An antifuse material layer selected from a group comprising at least one of amorphous carbon and amorphous carbon doped with at least one of hydrogen and fluorine is disposed over the lower adhesion-promoting layer. An upper adhesion-promoting layer is disposed over the antifuse material layer. An upper Ti barrier layer is disposed over the upper adhesion-promoting layer. | 03-05-2009 |
20090045855 | APPARATUS FOR INTERFACING AND TESTING A PHASE LOCKED LOOP IN A FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - An apparatus for interfacing a phase locked loop in a field programmable gate array. The apparatus comprising a phase locked loop cluster. The phase locked loop further comprising a plurality of RT modules, a plurality of RO modules, at least one TY module, a plurality of receiver modules and at least one buffer module. A phase locked loop selectively coupled to the RT modules, the RO modules, the TY modules, the receiver modules and at least one buffer module in the phase locked loop cluster. | 02-19-2009 |
20080309393 | CLOCK-GENERATOR ARCHITECTURE FOR A PROGRAMMABLE-LOGIC-BASED SYSTEM ON A CHIP - A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprises at least one of a crystal oscillator circuit, an RC oscillator circuit, and an external oscillator input. A clock conditioning circuit is selectively coupleable to one of the programmable logic block, the crystal oscillator circuit, the RC oscillator circuit, and the external oscillator input. A real-time clock is selectively coupleable to one of the programmable logic block, the crystal oscillator circuit, the RC oscillator circuit, and the external oscillator input. A programmable logic block is coupled to the clock conditioning circuit and the real-time clock. | 12-18-2008 |
20080309371 | FACE-TO-FACE BONDED I/O CIRCUIT DIE AND FUNCTIONAL LOGIC CIRCUIT DIE SYSTEM - An integrated circuit system includes a first set of integrated circuit dice each member of the set having a different configuration of input/output circuits disposed thereon and a second set of integrated circuit dice each having different logical function circuits disposed thereon. Each member of the first and second sets of integrated circuit dice include an array of face-to-face bonding pads disposed thereon that mate with the array of face-to-face bonding pads of each member of the other set. | 12-18-2008 |
20080303547 | PROGRAMMABLE SYSTEM ON A CHIP FOR TEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CONTROL - A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device includes a programmable logic block, at least one user non-volatile memory block, and temperature sensing and control analog and digital circuits on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip or a flip chip, face-to-face, or other multiple die configuration. The programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit with temperature measuring and control circuitry performs temperature measurement and control functions and can be used to create an on-chip temperature log. | 12-11-2008 |
20080298116 | DEGLITCHING CIRCUITS FOR A RADIATION-HARDENED STATIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY BASED PROGRAMMABLE ARCHITECTURE - A method for providing a deglitching circuit for a radiation tolerant static random access memory (SRAM) comprising: providing a configuration memory having a plurality of configuration bits; coupling read and write circuitry to the configuration memory for configuring the plurality of configuration bits; coupling a radiation hard latch to a programmable element, the radiation hard latch controlling the programmable element; and providing an interface that couples at least one of the plurality of configuration bits to the radiation hard latch when the write circuitry writes to the at least one of the plurality of configuration bits. | 12-04-2008 |
20080297191 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ERROR DETECTION AND CORRECTION IN A RADIATION-HARDENED STATIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - The present system comprises a radiation tolerant programmable logic device having logic modules and routing resources coupling together the logic modules. Configuration data lines providing configuration data control the programming of the logic modules and the routing resources. Error correction circuitry coupled to the configuration data lines analyzes and corrects any errors in the configuration data that may occur due to a single event upset (SEU). | 12-04-2008 |
20080296688 | ESD PROTECTION STRUCTURE FOR I/O PAD SUBJECT TO BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE VOLTAGES - An ESD protection circuit is disclosed for an n-channel MOS transistor formed in an inner p-well of a triple-well process and connected to an I/O pad that may experience both positive and negative voltages according to the present invention. A first switch connects the p-well containing the n-channel MOS transistor to ground if the voltage at the I/O pad is positive and a second switch connects the p-well containing the n-channel MOS transistor to the I/O pad if the voltage at the I/O pad is negative. A third switch connects the gate of the n-channel MOS transistor to the p-well if it is turned off and a fourth switch connects the gate of the n-channel MOS transistor to V | 12-04-2008 |
20080284532 | VOLTAGE- AND TEMPERATURE-COMPENSATED RC OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT - An integrated temperature-compensated RC oscillator circuit includes an inverter having an input and an output. An RC network is coupled between the inverter and a pair of comparators. A first comparator has an inverting input coupled to a first reference voltage, a non-inverting input coupled to the RC network, and an output. A second comparator has an inverting input coupled to the RC network, a non-inverting input coupled to a second reference voltage, and an output. A set-reset flip-flop has a set input coupled to the output of the first comparator, a reset input coupled to the output of the second comparator, and an output coupled to the input of the inverter. Differential amplifiers in the comparators each have a diode-connected p-channel MOS transistor controlling a mirrored p-channel MOS transistor whose channel width is less than that of the diode-connected p-channel current mirror transistor. | 11-20-2008 |
20080279028 | FLASH/DYNAMIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - A circuit for selectively interconnecting two nodes in an integrated circuit device includes a memory array having a plurality of wordlines and a plurality of bitlines. A refresh transistor has a source coupled to one of the plurality of bitlines, a control gate coupled to a dynamic random access memory wordline and a drain. A switching transistor has a gate coupled to the drain of the refresh transistor, a source coupled to a first one of the nodes and a drain coupled to a second one of the nodes. An address decoder for supplies periodic signals to the wordlines and the dynamic random access memory wordline. | 11-13-2008 |
20080276030 | SRAM BUS ARCHITECTURE AND INTERCONNECT TO AN FPGA - An SRAM bus architecture includes pass-through interconnect conductors. Each of the pass-through interconnect conductors is connected to routing channels of the general interconnect architecture of the FPGA through an element which includes a pass transistor connected in parallel with a tri-state buffer. The pass transistors and tri-state buffers are controlled by configuration SRAM bits. Some of the pass-through interconnect conductors are connected by programmable elements to the address, data and control signal lines of the SRAM blocks, while other pass through the SRAM blocks without being further connected to the SRAM bussing architecture. | 11-06-2008 |
20080272804 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY CONFIGURATION SCHEME FOR VOLATILE-MEMORY-BASED PROGRAMMABLE CIRCUITS IN AN FPGA - A non-volatile memory configuration scheme is disclosed for volatile-memory-based programmable circuits in a programmable integrated circuit that includes an FPGA fabric, a plurality of first configurable circuit elements external to the FPGA fabric, and a plurality of second configurable circuit elements external to the FPGA fabric. A plurality of distributed configuration non-volatile memory cells is disposed in the FPGA, each one of the distributed configuration non-volatile memory cells coupled to a different one of the plurality of first configurable circuit elements. A non-volatile memory array stores configuration information for the second configurable circuit elements. A plurality of register cells is disposed with the second configurable circuit elements and is coupleable to the non-volatile memory array, each one of the register cells coupled to a different one of the plurality of second configurable circuit elements. | 11-06-2008 |
20080272803 | SYSTEM-ON-A-CHIP INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INCLUDING DUAL-FUNCTION ANALOG AND DIGITAL INPUTS - An integrated circuit includes a plurality of inputs, a plurality of output pads, a programmable logic block, an analog circuit block, an analog-to-digital converter programmably coupleable to individual analog circuits in the analog circuit block, and an interconnect architecture programmably coupling selected ones of the plurality of inputs, the plurality of outputs, the programmable logic block, the analog circuit block, and the analog-to-digital converter. At least one of the inputs may be programmably configured as one of a digital input programmably coupleable to elements in the programmable logic block or as an analog input to an analog circuit in the analog circuit block. | 11-06-2008 |
20080266955 | SRAM CELL CONTROLLED BY FLASH MEMORY CELL - First and second complimentary static random-access-memory cell bit lines are coupled to first and second bit nodes through first and second access transistors controlled by a word line. A first inverter has an input coupled to the first bit node and an output coupled to the second bit node. A second inverter has an input coupled to the second bit node and an output coupled to the first bit node through a first transistor switch. A transistor switch is coupled between the output of a non-volatile memory cell and the first bit node. A control circuit coupled to the gate of the transistor switch. Either the drive level of the non-volatile memory cell is selected to overpower the output of the second inverter or the second inverter is decoupled from the first bit node while the output of the non-volatile memory cell is coupled to the first bit node. | 10-30-2008 |
20080258763 | BLOCK SYMMETRIZATION IN A FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - An FPGA architecture has top, middle and low levels. The top level is an array of B 16×16 tiles enclosed by I/O blocks. The routing resources in the middle level are expressway routing channels including interconnect conductors. At the lowest level, there are block connect routing channels, local mesh routing channels, and direct connect interconnect conductors to connect the logic elements to further routing resources. Each B1 block includes four clusters of devices. Each of the clusters includes first and second LUT | 10-23-2008 |
20080246510 | REPEATABLE BLOCK PRODUCING A NON-UNIFORM ROUTING ARCHITECTURE IN A FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY HAVING SEGMENTED TRACKS - A repeatable non-uniform segmented routing architecture in a field programmable gate array comprising: a repeatable block of routing tracks, the routing tracks grouped into sets of routing tracks, each set having a first routing track in a first track position, a second routing track in a last track position, a programmable element, and a direct address device for programming the programmable element; wherein at least one of the routing tracks is segmented into non-uniform lengths by the programmable element and the second routing track crosses-over to the first track position in a region adjacent to an edge of the repeatable block; and wherein a first plurality of the routing track sets proceed in a horizontal direction and a second plurality of the routing track sets proceed in a vertical direction. | 10-09-2008 |
20080238477 | TILEABLE FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY ARCHITECTURE - An apparatus includes an FPGA, which includes a first FPGA tile including a plurality of FGs, a first, second, and third set of routing conductors, and a plurality of IGs. The FGs are arranged in rows and columns with each FG being configured to receive tertiary and regular input signals, perform a logic operation, and generate regular output signals. The third set of routing conductors is coupled to the first set of output ports of the FGs and configured to receive signals, route signals within the FPGA tile, and provide input signals to the third set of input ports of the FGs. The IGs surround the FGs such that one IG is positioned at each end of each row and column. Each IG is coupled to the third set of routing conductors and configured to transfer signals from the third set of routing conductors to outside the first FPGA tile. | 10-02-2008 |
20080231319 | DEDICATED INPUT/OUTPUT FIRST IN/FIRST OUT MODULE FOR A FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - A field programmable gate array architecture having a plurality of input/output pads. The architecture comprising: a plurality of logic clusters; a plurality of input/output clusters; a plurality of input/output buffers; a plurality of dedicated input/output first-in/first-out memory blocks, the dedicated input/output first-in/first-out memory blocks having a first-in/first-out memory coupled to one of the plurality of input/output pads; an input/output block controller programmably coupled to the plurality of dedicated input/output first-in/first-out memory blocks; and a routing interconnect architecture programmably coupling the logic clusters, input/output buffers and the input/output clusters, wherein the dedicated input/output first-in/first-out memory blocks are programmably coupled between the input/output buffers and the input/output clusters. | 09-25-2008 |
20080224731 | NON-VOLATILE MEMORY ARCHITECTURE FOR PROGRAMMABLE-LOGIC-BASED SYSTEM ON A CHIP - A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device includes a programmable logic block. A digital input/output circuit block is coupled to the programmable logic block. A SRAM block is coupled to the programmable logic block. At least one non-volatile memory block is coupled to the programmable logic block. A JTAG port is coupled to the programmable logic block. An analog circuit block including an analog-to-digital converter may be coupled to the programmable logic block and an analog input/output circuit block may be coupled to the analog circuit block. | 09-18-2008 |
20080218207 | SYNCHRONOUS FIRST-IN/FIRST-OUT BLOCK MEMORY FOR A FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - The present invention comprises a field programmable gate array that has a plurality of dedicated first-in/first-out memory logic components. The field programmable gate array includes a plurality of synchronous random access memory blocks that are coupled to a plurality of dedicated first-in/first-out memory logic components and a plurality of random access memory clusters that are programmably coupled to the plurality of dedicated first-in/first-out memory logic components and to the plurality of synchronous random access memory blocks. | 09-11-2008 |
20080218206 | FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY LONG LINE ROUTING NETWORK - A multi-directional routing repeater has a plurality of buffers, each of the plurality of buffers has an input and an output. The output of each of the plurality of buffers is connected to a separate routing line for transmitting a signal in a separate direction of a first set of routing lines, and the input of each of the plurality of buffers is connected to one of a first set of programmable switches, one of a second set of programmable switches, one of a third set of programmable switches, and one of a fourth set of programmable switches, and each one of the first set of programmable switches is connected to a separate one of the second set of programmable switches and a separate one of the second set of programmable switches, none of which are connected to an input of a same one of the plurality of buffers. Each one of the first set of programmable switches is connected to a separate routing line for transmitting a signal in a separate direction of a second set of routing lines. | 09-11-2008 |
20080204074 | DEDICATED INTERFACE ARCHITECTURE FOR A HYBRID INTEGRATED CIRCUIT - An interface design for a hybrid IC that utilizes dedicated interface tracks to allow signals to interface distributively with the logic blocks of the FPGA portion providing for faster and more efficient communication between the FPGA and ASIC portions of the hybrid IC. | 08-28-2008 |
20080197905 | FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY LOW VOLTAGE DIFFERENTIAL SIGNALING DRIVER UTILIZING TWO COMPLIMENTARY OUTPUT BUFFERS - A low voltage signaling differential signaling driver comprising a first output line coupled to a delay circuit, a first multiplexer and a first output buffer. The first output line is also coupled to an inverter, a second multiplexer and a second output buffer. | 08-21-2008 |
20080197878 | ENHANCED FIELD PROGRAMMABLE GATE ARRAY - An enhanced performance field programmable gate array integrated circuit comprises a field programmable gate array and other functional circuitry such as a mask-programmable gate array in the same integrated circuit. A circuit interface provides communication between the field programmable gate array, the mask-programmable gate array and the integrated circuit I/O. | 08-21-2008 |
20080197450 | AMORPHOUS CARBON METAL-TO-METAL ANTIFUSE WITH ADHESION PROMOTING LAYERS - A metal-to-metal antifuse having a lower metal electrode, a lower thin adhesion promoting layer disposed over the lower metal electrode, an amorphous carbon antifuse material layer disposed over the thin adhesion promoting layer, an upper thin adhesion promoting layer disposed over said antifuse material layer, and an upper metal electrode. The thin adhesion promoting layers are about 2 angstroms to 20 angstroms in thickness, and are from a material selected from the group comprising Si | 08-21-2008 |