초록 ▼

Several inventions are disclosed. A cell architecture using hexagonal shaped cells is disclosed. The architecture is not limited to hexagonal shaped cells. Cells may be defined by clusters of two or more hexagons, by triangles, by parallelograms, and by other polygons enabling a variety of cell shap

Several inventions are disclosed. A cell architecture using hexagonal shaped cells is disclosed. The architecture is not limited to hexagonal shaped cells. Cells may be defined by clusters of two or more hexagons, by triangles, by parallelograms, and by other polygons enabling a variety of cell shapes to be accommodated. Polydirectional non-orthogonal three layer metal routing is disclosed. The architecture may be combined with the tri-directional routing for a particularly advantageous design. In the tri-directional routing arrangement, electrical conductors for interconnecting terminals of microelectronic cells of an integrated circuit preferrably extend in three directions that are angularly displaced from each other by 60.degree.. The conductors that extend in the three directions are preferrably formed in three different layers. A method of minimizing wire length in a semiconductor device is disclosed. A method of minimizing intermetal capacitance in a semiconductor device is disclosed. A novel device called a "tri-ister" is disclosed. Triangular devices are disclosed, including triangular NAND gates, triangular AND gates, and triangular OR gates. A triangular op amp and triode are disclosed. A triangular sense amplifier is disclosed. A DRAM memory array and an SRAM memory array, based upon triangular or parallelogram shaped cells, are disclosed, including a method of interconnecting such arrays. A programmable variable drive transistor is disclosed. CAD algorithms and methods are disclosed for designing and making semiconductor devices, which are particularly applicable to the disclosed architecture and tri-directional three metal layer routing.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A sense cell, comprising:a triangular structure fabricated on a semiconductor substrate;a first transistor formed as part of the triangular structure, the first transistor having a source region formed at one coner of the triangular structure, the source region of the fir

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A sense cell, comprising:a triangular structure fabricated on a semiconductor substrate;a first transistor formed as part of the triangular structure, the first transistor having a source region formed at one coner of the triangular structure, the source region of the first transistor being connected to ground, the first transistor having a gate electrode connected to a voltage V.sub.G3 ;a second transistor formed as part of the triangular structure, the second transistor having a drain region formed at one coner of the triangular structure, the drain region of the second transistor being connected to a first end of a first resistor, the first resistor having a second end connected to voltage V.sub.DD, the second transistor having a gate electrode connected to a voltage V.sub.1 ;a third transistor formed as part of the triangular structure, the third transistor having a drain region formed at one coner of the triangular structure, the drain region of the third transistor being connected to a first end of a second resistor, the second resistor having a second end connected to voltage V.sub.DD, the third transistor having a gate electrode connected to a voltage V.sub.2 ; and,the first transistor, the second transistor, and the third transistor having a common source-drain region.