Patents by Inventor Robert M. Balzli, Jr.

Robert M. Balzli, Jr. has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8786310
    Abstract: Approaches for partially reconfiguring a frame are disclosed. In one approach, a circuit arrangement includes programmable resources, frames of configuration memory cells, and partial configuration control memory cells. Each frame includes a plurality of subsets of configuration memory cells, and each subset configures one of the programmable resources. Each partial configuration control memory cell is coupled to a respective one of the subsets. Responsive to a first partial bitstream that includes a quantity of configuration data for all the subsets of configuration cells of a first frame of the plurality of frames, each subset of the configuration memory cells of the first frame is configurable or not configurable responsive to the state of the associated partial configuration control memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Xilinx, Inc.
    Inventors: Weiguang Lu, Paige A. Kolze, William W. Stiehl, Robert M. Balzli, Jr., Carl M. Stern, Chen W. Tseng
  • Patent number: 8719750
    Abstract: Approaches for placing and routing a circuit design on a programmable integrated circuit (IC) are disclosed. One partial reconfiguration (PR) resource portion of the circuit design is selected from a plurality of PR resource portions of the design. Uncontained resources in the PR resource portion is identified. The PR resource portion, less the uncontained resources, is placed in an assigned region, and the uncontained resources is placed on the programmable IC unconstrained by the assigned region of the PR resource portion. The design is routed from the placed PR resource portion to the placed uncontained resources, and the process is repeated for each unplaced PR resource portion. After placing the plurality of PR resource portions and routing to uncontained resources in the plurality of PR resource portions, unplaced portions of the circuit design are placed and routed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Xilinx, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert M. Balzli, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8633730
    Abstract: When a first sub-circuit of a programmable integrated circuit (“IC”) is to be deactivated, a global write enable (GWE) signal is deasserted. In response to deassertion of the GWE signal and a first memory cell associated with the first sub-circuit being in a first state, flip-flops in the first sub-circuit are disabled from changing state. In response to memory cells associated with sub-circuits other than the first sub-circuit being in a second state, flip-flops in the other sub-circuits are enabled to change state. When the first sub-circuit is to be activated, the GWE signal is asserted. Logic implemented by the first sub-circuit is preserved between the deasserting and the asserting of the GWE signal. In response to assertion of the GWE signal and the first memory cell associated with the first sub-circuit being in the first state, flip-flops in the first sub-circuit are enabled to change state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: Xilinx, Inc.
    Inventors: Chen W. Tseng, Weiguang Lu, William W. Stiehl, Robert M. Balzli, Jr., Carl M. Stern, Aditya Chaubal, Derrick S. Woods
  • Patent number: 8522185
    Abstract: Approaches for placement and routing of a circuit design are disclosed. Two or more modules of a circuit design are assigned to respective regions of a programmable integrated circuit. Placement and routing constraints are created for non-global resources of two or more modules of the circuit design. The placement and routing constraints restrict placement and routing of non-global resources of each of the two or more modules to respective regions of a programmable IC. Each non-global resource is used by at most one of the two or more modules. The two or more modules are placed. In response to the one of the placed circuit elements not being placed within the assigned region, the routing constraint on the one of the circuit elements is removed. The circuit design is routed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Xilinx, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert M. Balzli, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6150841
    Abstract: An improved CPLD includes a plurality of macrocell modules (MM's) where each MM can receive a relatively large number of independent inputs (at least 80) and can generate at least 5 different product term signals (PT's) therefrom. All 5 PT's may be used for generating a local sum-of-products (SoP). Any of the 5 PT's may be stolen (steered-away) to instead provide a local control for its macrocell module. Each module includes a local SoS-producing gate that can produce a sums-of-sums signal (SoS) that represents a Boolean sum of one or more of the local SoP signal, of SoP signals of neighboring macrocell modules, and of SoS signals of neighboring macrocell modules. Simple allocation and super-allocation may be used to produce sums-of-sums signals of relatively large, one-pass function depth, such as 160PT's in one pass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2000
    Assignee: Lattice Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Om P. Agrawal, Claudia A. Stanley, Xiaojie (Warren) He, Chong M. Lee, Robert M. Balzli, Jr., Larry R. Metzger, Kerry A. Ilgenstein