| Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are flexible programmable devices that are used in a wide variety of applications such as network routing, signal processing, pattern recognition and rapid prototyping of designs. Unfortunately, the flexibility of the FPGA hinders its performance due to the additional logic resources required for the programmable hardware. Today's fastest FPGAs run in the 250 MHz range.; This research proposes a new family of FPGAs utilizing a high-speed SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) design, co-integrated with CMOS in an IBM BiCMOS process. This device would be bit-wise compatible with the Xilinx 6200, with operating frequencies in the 1–20 GHz range. All logic and routing in this new design is multiplexer based, eliminating the need for pass transistors, the main roadblock to high speed in today's FPGAs.; A 4 x 4 Configurable Logic Block (CLB) test design was created using differential Current Mode Logic (CML) with signal swings of 250 mV. Design innovations include the ability to program multiple personalities, switching between programming personalities in 1 ns, turning off unused parts of the FPGA, trading a 40% reduction in speed for an 86% reduction in power consumption, and integrating CMOS routing directly into CML trees without conversion circuitry. The speed of bipolar combined with power savings of CMOS can now be merged to produce a new family of high-speed FPGAs. |
