Patents by Inventor William Plants

William Plants 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: 7616508
    Abstract: A flash-based programmable integrated circuit includes programmable circuitry, a flash memory array coupled to the programmable circuitry for configuring it, flash programming circuitry for programming the flash memory array, and an on-chip intelligence, such as a microcontroller or state machine, coupled to the programming circuitry to program the flash memory from off-chip data supplied via an I/O pad, or to refresh the data stored in the flash memory to prevent it from degrading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2009
    Assignee: Actel Corporation
    Inventors: Joel Landry, William Plants, Randall Sexton
  • Publication number: 20080048717
    Abstract: A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprises a programmable logic block, a non-volatile memory block, an analog sub-system, an analog input/output circuit block, and a digital input/output circuit block. A programmable interconnect architecture includes programmable elements and interconnect conductors. Ones of the programmable elements are coupled to the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, the digital input/output circuit block, and to the interconnect conductors, such that inputs and outputs of the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, and the digital input/output circuit block can be programmably coupled to one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Publication date: February 28, 2008
    Applicant: ACTEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Greg Bakker, Khaled El-Ayat, Theodore Speers, Limin Zhu, Brian Schubert, Rabindranath Balasubramanian, Kurt Kolkind, Thomas Barraza, Venkatesh Narayanan, John McCollum, William Plants
  • Publication number: 20080007288
    Abstract: 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).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2007
    Publication date: January 10, 2008
    Applicant: ACTEL CORPORATION
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20070189062
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2007
    Publication date: August 16, 2007
    Applicant: ACTEL CORPORATION
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20070182600
    Abstract: 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 with out being further connected to the SRAM bussing architecture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2007
    Publication date: August 9, 2007
    Applicant: Actel Corporation
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20070176631
    Abstract: A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprises a programmable logic block, a non-volatile memory block, an analog sub-system, an analog input/output circuit block, and a digital input/output circuit block. A programmable interconnect architecture includes programmable elements and interconnect conductors. Ones of the programmable elements are coupled to the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, the digital input/output circuit block, and to the interconnect conductors, such that inputs and outputs of the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, and the digital input/output circuit block can be programmably coupled to one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2006
    Publication date: August 2, 2007
    Applicant: ACTEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Greg Bakker, Khaled El-Ayat, Theodore Speers, Limin Zhu, Brian Schubert, Rabindranath Balasubramanian, Kurt Kolkind, Thomas Barraza, Venkatesh Narayanan, John McCollum, William Plants
  • Publication number: 20070103966
    Abstract: 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).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2006
    Publication date: May 10, 2007
    Applicant: ACTEL CORPORATION
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20060193181
    Abstract: 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 with out being further connected to the SRAM bussing architecture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2006
    Publication date: August 31, 2006
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20060145722
    Abstract: 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).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2006
    Publication date: July 6, 2006
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20060126376
    Abstract: The present invention comprises a device and a method for a deglitching circuit for a radiation tolerant static random access memory (SRAM) based field programmable gate array. The deglitching circuit for a radiation tolerant static random access memory (SRAM) based field programmable gate array comprises a configuration memory that has a plurality of configuration bits Read and write circuitry is provided to configure the plurality of configuration bits. A radiation hard latch is coupled to and controls a programmable element and an interface couples at least one of the plurality of configuration bits to the radiation hard latch when the write circuitry writes to the plurality of configuration bits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2005
    Publication date: June 15, 2006
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Publication number: 20060087341
    Abstract: A field programmable gate array architecture having a plurality of input/output pads 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; 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2005
    Publication date: April 27, 2006
    Inventors: William Plants, Arunangshu Kundu
  • Publication number: 20050257031
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2005
    Publication date: November 17, 2005
    Inventors: Arunangshu Kundu, Arnold Goldfein, William Plants, David Hightower
  • Publication number: 20050237083
    Abstract: A programmable system-on-a-chip integrated circuit device comprises a programmable logic block, a non-volatile memory block, an analog sub-system, an analog input/output circuit block, and a digital input/output circuit block. A programmable interconnect architecture includes programmable elements and interconnect conductors. Ones of the programmable elements are coupled to the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, the digital input/output circuit block, and to the interconnect conductors, such that inputs and outputs of the programmable logic block, the non-volatile memory block, the analog sub-system, the analog input/output circuit block, and the digital input/output circuit block can be programmably coupled to one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2004
    Publication date: October 27, 2005
    Inventors: Greg Bakker, Khaled El-Ayat, Theodore Speers, Limin Zhu, Brian Schubert, Rabindranath Balasubramanian, Kurt Kolkind, Thomas Barraza, Venkatesh Narayanan, John McCollum, William Plants
  • Publication number: 20050146354
    Abstract: A routing architecture in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) having a plurality of logic clusters wherein each logic cluster has at least two sub-clusters. The logic clusters are arranged in rows and columns and each logic clusters has a plurality of receiver components, a plurality of transmitter components, at least one buffer module, at least one sequential logic component and at least one combinatorial logic component. A first-level routing architecture is programmably coupled to the logic clusters and a second-level routing architecture is programmably coupled to the logic clusters and to the first-level routing architecture through at least one of the transmitter components and at least one of the receiver components.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2005
    Publication date: July 7, 2005
    Inventors: Arunangshu Kundu, Venkatesh Narayanan, John McCollum, William Plants
  • Publication number: 20050081177
    Abstract: 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-progamable gate array and the integrated circuit I/O.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2004
    Publication date: April 14, 2005
    Inventors: Samuel Beal, Sinan Kaptonoglu, Jung-Cheun Lien, William Shu, King Chan, William Plants
  • Publication number: 20050040844
    Abstract: 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).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2004
    Publication date: February 24, 2005
    Inventor: William Plants
  • Patent number: 5576560
    Abstract: An integrated circuit memory for a color lookup table for a display system. The memory has a video port and path for reading data identifying colors for pixels at >100 or even >200 MegaHertz, and a CPU port and path for reading and writing data identifying colors at locations in the memory.Each memory cell includes a flip-flop with true and complement terminals. The CPU port includes two pass transistors, each having a first channel terminal coupled to the true or complement terminal, a second channel terminal coupled to a bidirectional bit line of the CPU path, and a gate coupled to a word line of the CPU path. The video port includes an isolated sensing terminal and two transistors. A first transistor has a first channel terminal coupled to the isolated sensing terminal, a second channel terminal coupled to a reference, and a gate coupled to the true or complement terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 19, 1996
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas J. Runaldue, William Plants
  • Patent number: 5325338
    Abstract: An integrated circuit memory for a color lookup table for a display system. The memory has a video port and path for reading data identifying colors for pixels at >100 or even >200 MegaHertz, and a CPU port and path for reading and writing data identifying colors at locations in the memory. Each memory cell includes a flip-flop with true and complement terminals. The CPU port includes two pass transistors, each having a first channel terminal coupled to the true or complement terminal, a second channel terminal coupled to a bidirectional bit line of the CPU path, and a gate coupled to a word line of the CPU path. The video port includes an isolated sensing terminal and two transistors. A first transistor has a first channel terminal coupled to the isolated sensing terminal, a second channel terminal coupled to a reference, and a gate coupled to the true or complement terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 1991
    Date of Patent: June 28, 1994
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas J. Runaldue, William Plants
  • Patent number: 4092478
    Abstract: A dyestuff of the formula: ##STR1## wherein D is the residue of a colored compound of the 6,13-dichlorotriphendioxazine series, the triazine group being attached to a nitrogen atom in D, and wherein:Y is 1 or 2,R.sub.2 is Cl, Br, OH, lower alkoxy, NH.sub.2, a quaternary ammonium group or the residue of a primary or secondary amine,R.sub.1 is H or an alkyl or substituted alkyl group of up to 4 carbon atoms, andR is a hydrocarbon or substituted hydrocarbon radical.The invention provides a range of blue dyestuffs especially useful for reactively dyeing cellulose by heating in the presence of a carbodiimide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1976
    Date of Patent: May 30, 1978
    Assignee: Imperial Chemical Industries Limited
    Inventors: David William Plant, David John Williams