Exploring technology alternatives for nano-scale FPGA interconnects

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are becoming increasingly popular. With their regular structures, they are particularly amenable to scaling to smaller technologies. On the other hand, there have been significant advances in nano-electronics fabrication over the past few years. In this paper we explore FPGA devices of the next decade using nano-wires and molecular switches for programmable interconnect, and compare them to traditional SRAM-based FPGAs that use pass transistors as switches (scaled to 22nm). We show that by using nano-wires and molecular switches, it is possible to reduce the area of the FPGA by 70% and improve performance. Categories and Subject Descriptors: B.7.1 [Integrated Circuits]: Gate Arrays B.7.1 [Integrated Circuits]: Advanced Technologies General Terms: Design, Performance

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: DAC
• Authors: Aman Gayasen, Narayanan Vijaykrishnan, Mary Jane Irwin
• Keywords: Computer Architecture, DAC 2005, Gate Arrays, Molecular Switches, Programmable Gate Arrays