US5524243A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Parallel programming of field programmable gate array devices
Assignee: Siemens Business Communication Systems Inc
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Filing: 1995-04-28
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Granted: 1996-06-04
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Expires: 2015-04-28
Abstract
Abstract Method and apparatus for rapidly configuring several field programmable gate arrays ("CFPGAs"), some of which FPGAs are of different sizes. In accordance with the present invention, the configuration is provided to each FPGA in parallel, on a bit-wise basis. Further, the different sizes of FPGA are accommodated by utilizing dummy bits in the configuration data. Still further, the configuration process can be completed at different times, i.e., the completion times of the configuration process can be staggered, by use of dummy bits in the configuration data.
Inventors
- 👤 Florin Gheorghiu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 21:08
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F30/00; G06F30/30; G06F30/34
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim
89 words
A system comprising: a plurality of devices, each device including a serial data input port; a storage device; loading means, coupled to the storage device, for loading data portions of data into the storage device; and, transfer means, coupled to the storage-device and each of the plurality of device, for transferring in parallel from the storage device one bit of the data to the serial data input port of each of the plurality of devices, wherein each device receives a different bit of the data from the storage device.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
89 words
A system comprising: a plurality of devices, each device including a serial data input port; a storage device; loading means, coupled to the storage device, for loading data portions of data into the storage device; and, transfer means, coupled to the storage-device and each of the plurality of device, for transferring in parallel from the storage device one bit of the data to the serial data input port of each of the plurality of devices, wherein each device receives a different bit of the data from the storage device.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
65 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of devices additionally includes a clock input and the transfer means includes a means for forwarding a first clock signal to the clock input of each of the plurality of devices each time the transfer means transfers one bit of data to the serial data input port of each of the plurality of devices.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as in claim 1 wherein the storage device is a single register.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
A system as in claim 3, wherein there are eight devices and the single register is an eight-bit register.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
128 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein: the data includes configuration information for each of the plurality of devices; and, each of the plurality of devices includes a means for ignoring dummy data so that when a first device in the plurality of devices requires a first amount of configuration information, a second device in the plurality of devices requires a second amount of configuration information, and the first amount is greater than the second amount, during data transfers in which the transfer means sends the first device the first amount of configuration data, the transfer means sends to the second device the second amount of configuration data plus first dummy data, so that the second amount plus the first dummy data is equal to the first amount.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
15 words
A system as in claim 1 wherein each device is a field programmable gate array.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
75 words
A method comprising the following step: (a) transferring first data to a plurality of devices, including the following substeps which are repeated until all the first data has been transferred: (a.1) loading a new data portion of the first data into a storage device, and (a.2) transferring, in parallel, one bit of the new data portion to each of the plurality of devices wherein each device receives a different bit of the new data portion.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
75 words
A method comprising the following step: (a) transferring first data to a plurality of devices, including the following substeps which are repeated until all the first data has been transferred: (a.1) loading a new data portion of the first data into a storage device, and (a.2) transferring, in parallel, one bit of the new data portion to each of the plurality of devices wherein each device receives a different bit of the new data portion.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method as in claim 7 wherein substep (a.2) includes forwarding a first clock signal to a clock input of each of the plurality of devices.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
17 words
A method as in claim 7 wherein in substep (a.1) the storage device is a single register.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as in claim 9, wherein there are eight devices in substep (a.1) the single register is an eight-bit register.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
103 words
A method as in claim 7 wherein: the information is configuration information; and, when a first device in the plurality of devices requires a first amount of configuration information, a second device in the plurality of devices requires a second amount of configuration information, and the first amount is greater than the second amount, then in step (a), during data transfers in which the first device is sent the first amount of configuration information, sending to the second device the second amount of configuration information plus dummy data, so that the second amount plus the dummy data is equal to the first amount.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as in claim 11 wherein in step (a) the second device does not store the dummy data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method as in claim 7 wherein each device is a field programmable gate array.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
129 words
A method to transfer information in parallel to be stored by a plurality of devices, the method comprising the steps of: (a) placing a first segment of the information into a single register; (b) in parallel, transferring a portion of the first segment to each of the plurality of devices wherein each of the plurality of devices gets a different portion of the first segment; (c) placing a second segment of the information into the single register; (d) in parallel, transferring a portion of the second segment to each of the plurality of devices wherein each of the plurality of devices gets a different portion of the second segment; and, (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) for new segments of the information until the information has been completely transferred.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
129 words
A method to transfer information in parallel to be stored by a plurality of devices, the method comprising the steps of: (a) placing a first segment of the information into a single register; (b) in parallel, transferring a portion of the first segment to each of the plurality of devices wherein each of the plurality of devices gets a different portion of the first segment; (c) placing a second segment of the information into the single register; (d) in parallel, transferring a portion of the second segment to each of the plurality of devices wherein each of the plurality of devices gets a different portion of the second segment; and, (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) for new segments of the information until the information has been completely transferred.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method as in claim 14 wherein in steps (b) and (d) each portion is one-bit.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method as in claim 15, wherein there are eight devices and in steps (a) and (d) the single register is an eight-bit register.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method as in claim 15 wherein in steps (b) and (d), each of the plurality of devices is in a serial input mode.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method as in claim 17 wherein: step (b) includes forwarding a first dock signal to each of the plurality of devices; and, step (d) includes forwarding a second clock signal to each of the plurality of devices.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
103 words
A method as in claim 14 wherein: the information is configuration information; and, when a first device in the plurality of devices requires a first amount of configuration information, a second device in the plurality of devices requires a second amount of configuration information, and the first amount is greater than the second amount, then in step (e), during data transfers in which the first device is sent the first amount of configuration information, sending to the second device the second amount of configuration information plus dummy data, so that the second amount plus the dummy data is equal to the first amount.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as in claim 19 wherein in step (e) the second device does not store the dummy data.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method as in claim 14 wherein each device is a field programmable gate array.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1999-06-04 | 1999-12-04 | 2000-06-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-06-04 | 2003-12-04 | 2004-06-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2007-06-04 | 2007-12-04 | 2008-06-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |