Design of a Single Layer Programmable Structured ASIC Library

Abstract — A Structured Application-specific Integrated Circuit (SASIC) is a programmable fabric in which a small set of masks are customized for a particular application, serving to reduce the associated non-recurring engineering cost (NRE). In this paper we describe the implementation of a SASIC logic cell which is programmable via a single metal layer. A SASIC fabric prototype is fabricated and all implemented functions are verified on silicon. Experimental measurement verifies correct operation of our SASIC with a clock frequency of over 250MHz. Keywords-application specific integrated circuits; digital integrated circuits; field programmable gate arrays I. INTORDUCTION Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are the two main technologies for implementing digital designs. ASICs hav