An atom-switch-based field-programmable gate array with optimized driving capability buffer

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 58; no. SB; p. SBBB04
• Main Authors: Bai, Xu, Miyamura, Makoto, Nebashi, Ryusuke, Morioka, Ayuka, Banno, Naoki, Okamoto, Koichiro, Numata, Hideaki, Hada, Hiromitsu, Sugibayashi, Tadahiko, Sakamoto, Toshitsugu, Tada, Munehiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.04.2019
• ISSN: 0021-4922; 1347-4065
• DOI: 10.7567/1347-4065/aaf899

An atom-switch field-programmable gate array (AS-FPGA) uses a simple crossbar switch structure for signal routing. An AS-crossbar switch enables a shorter delay thanks to single-stage routing and the low capacitance of the AS, unlike a routing block which uses multi-stage multiplexers in a conventional static random access memory FPGA. However, the output of a crossbar switch has a variable load capacitance for different fan-outs when the application circuit is mapped on an AS-FPGA. The buffer driving capability for the crossbar switch needs to be carefully designed since there is a trade-off relationship between energy and delay. An optimized buffer reduces the energy-delay product (EDP) of the AS-crossbar switch by 22.3% compared with a non-optimized buffer.