| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for accelerating the transmission of signals across an interconnect wire of an integrated circuit is presented. According to the method, a minimum charge level is maintained on the wire when it is driven to a low voltage level and a maximum charge level is maintained on the wire when it is driven to a high voltage level. In accordance with the apparatus of the invention, the minimum and maximum charge levels are maintained on the wire using a pair of clamping circuits which clamp the voltage level on the receiving end of the wire to a respective minimum voltage level and maximum voltage level. Accordingly, when the interconnect wire is driven to a high voltage level at a driven end of the wire, the charge level on the receiving end of the wire is already at a minimum level, resulting in less delay time to charge the wire to a high voltage level. Conversely, when the interconnect wire is driven to a low voltage level at the driven end of the wire, the charge level on the receiving end of the wire is already capped to a maximum level, which results in less delay time to drain the wire to a low voltage level.
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