Apparatus for emulation of electronic hardware system

• US 6,377,911 B1
• Filed: 07/12/1999
• Issued: 04/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Quickturn Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Original Assignee: Quickturn Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Inventors: Sample, Stephen P., Payne, Thomas S., DʼAmour, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): FREJD, RUSSELL WARREN
• Application Number:
  US09/351,997
• Time in Patent Office: 1,016 Days
• Field of Search: 703/24, 716/6, 371/22.2, 371/21.2, 371/21.4, 371/28, 371/21.5, 340/825.83, 340/825.86, 340/825.87, 340/825.79, 340/825.84, 326/36, 326/37, 326/38, 326/40, 326/41, 326/44, 326/45, 326/47, 365/94, 365/103, 365/104, 365/154, 365/189.07, 365/189.08, 365/201, 702/118, 702/119, 714/725
• US Class Current: 703/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/261 by simulating additional hardware, e.g. fault simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/331 with hardware acceleration, e.g. by using field programmable gate array [FPGA] or emulation

Abstract

A system for physical emulation of electronic circuits or systems includes a data entry workstation where a user may input data representing the circuit or system configuration. This data is converted to a form suitable for programming an array of programmable gate elements provided with a richly interconnected architecture. Provision is made for externally connecting VLSI devices or other portions of a user'"'"'s circuit or system. A network of internal probing interconnections is made available by utilization of unused circuit paths in the programmable gate arrays.

Claims

1. A hardware logic emulation system capable of implementing a digital logic design, said digital logic design comprised of combinational and sequential logic elements, said hardware logic emulation system comprising:

a printed circuit board having an emulation array disposed thereon, said emulation array comprising;

a plurality of programmable integrated circuits electrically affixed to said printed circuit board, said plurality of programmable integrated circuits having programmable functional logic elements and input/output terminals capable of being connected to at least some of said functional logic elements, said plurality of programmable integrated circuits further comprising reprogrammable electrical conductors capable of reconfigurably interconnecting selected input/output terminals of selected ones of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits, a subset of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits capable of being reserved for interconnecting others of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits such that selected functional logic elements said others of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits can be electrically coupled to selected functional logic elements in another of said others of said plurality of said first programmable integrated circuits;

a computer programmed to receive design input data and to partition and route said circuit information, said computer also being programmed to generate configuration information which is transmitted to said plurality of programmable integrated circuits and used for programming said plurality of programmable integrated circuits; and

an interface structure including circuitry which provides electrical paths for signals carrying signal information between an external system and said emulation array.

2. The hardware logic emulation system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of programmable integrated circuits comprise programmable gate array devices.

3. The hardware logic emulation system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of programmable integrated circuits comprise identical types of programmable gate array devices.

4. The hardware logic emulation system of claim 1 wherein said computer runs a partitioning program which determines which of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits are capable of being reserved for interconnecting others of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits.

5. An assembly comprising:

a printed circuit board;

a plurality of programmable integrated circuits electrically affixed to said printed circuit board, each of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits comprising input/output terminals, each of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits further comprising reprogrammable electrical conductors capable of reconfigurably interconnecting selected input/output terminals on each of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits such that input output terminals on one of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits can be electrically connected to input/output terminals of another of said plurality of programmable integrated circuits;

an interface structure including circuitry which provides electrical paths for signals carrying signal information between an external system and said plurality of programmable integrated circuits; and

a computer programmed to receive design input data containing circuit information and to partition and route said circuit information, said computer also being programmed to generate configuration information which is transmitted to said plurality of programmable integrated circuits to program said plurality of programmable integrated circuits.

6. The assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein said computer includes a routing computer program which assigns connections between said plurality of programmable integrated circuits, and a configuration computer program which generates configuration information after said circuit information has been routed, said configuration information serving to program said reprogrammable electrical conductors in said plurality of programmable integrated circuits.