MINIMIZATION OF ENGINEERING CHANGE PADS

摘要

A specially designed module and integrated circuit chip therefor which permits the sharing of module EC pads between chip receiver and driver circuits. The chip has a direct normal input line to each receiver circuit therein and a direct normal output line from each driver circuit therein along with signal lines from each of those circuits to various EC pads. The chip further includes a switching and control circuit for switching the receiver circuits and driver circuits between their normal and EC lines to effect an electronic delete function. In a preferred embodiment, a majority of the EC pads are switchably connected via the switching and control circuit to different sets of three adjacent receiver circuits, driver circuits, or a combination thereof. The design permits the use of approximately half the EC pads normally required for a module, while permitting EC connections to be made in most cases to three adjacent receiver or driver circuits simultaneously.