REUSABLE MODULES FOR COMPLEX INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICES

摘要

The design of an integrated circuit device is simplified by employing reusable modules to avoid or reduce the need to design special purpose glue logic otherwise needed to interconnect the modules. Functional modules comprise interface circuits that are interconnected by buses and operate according to prescribed bus-access protocols. In a preferred embodiment, bus access is arbitrated in an adaptive manner that may be controlled by a principal module in the device. In other embodiments, bus arbitration is not required. The operation of each functional module may be programmed under the control of the principal module.