Integrated circuit approach, with a serpentine conductor track for circuit configuration selection

摘要

An integrated circuit includes a serpentine conductor track extending through a plurality of conductor layers and having ends coupled to first and second circuit elements, the ends being in opposing outermost ones of the conductor layers. The serpentine conductor track can selectively be made to be (i) continuous and electrically couple the first and second circuit elements together or (ii) discontinuous so that the first and second conductor elements are not electrically coupled. In the latter case, the discontinuity can be formed in any one of the conductor layers and a bridging conductor track is further formed in that one conductor layer which is coupled to the serpentine conductor track and which bypasses either of the first and second circuit elements. This structure has the advantage that circuit changes can be made in any conductor layer. It has particular utility in the implementation of module ID circuits, where it is desirable to change the output of a module ID circuit to reflect a circuit revision in the integrated circuit. The change in the module ID circuit to alter its output can be made in the same conductor layer as that used to make the circuit revision, so that no additional mask changes are needed other than in the mask used for implementing the circuit change.