Xilinx Early Patent Information
Compiled by John Lazzaro
Article Discussing First Wave of Expired FPGA patents:
http://chipdesignmag.com/print.php?articleId=172?issueId=0
Early Xilinx Patents (by filing dates)
1984:
Special interconnect for configurable logic array: William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=eioBAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Bidirectional Buffer Amplifier: William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=Z9V9AAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=WS%20Carter&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1985:
Configurable logic element: William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=v04wAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1986:
Microprocessor oriented configurable logic element: William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=SyguAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Method of making a customized semiconductor integrated device: James A Rowson & Stephen M. Trimberger
http://www.google.com/patents?id=WMQ1AAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=Stephen%20M.%20Trimberger&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=Stephen%20M.%20Trimberger&f=false
1987:
Buffered routing element for a user programmable logic device: Hung-Cheng Hsieh & William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=ZNMyAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=WS%20Carter&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1988:
Configurable electrical circuit having configurable logic elements and configurable
interconnect: Ross H. Freeman
http://www.google.com/patents?id=J3M3AAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1989:
Distributed memory architecture for a configurable logic array and method
using distributed memory: Ross H. Freeman & Hung-Cheng Hsieh
http://www.google.com/patents?id=ZiYdAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1990:
Programmable connector for programmable logic device: Ross H. Freeman, Khue Duong, Hung-Cheng Hsieh, Charles R. Erickson, & William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=PO0iAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1991:
Logic placement using positionally asymmetrical partitioning algorithm: Stephen M. Trimberger, & Mon-Ren Chene
http://www.google.com/patents?id=0JkcAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1993:
Logic placement using positionally asymmetrical partitioning method: Stephen M. Trimberger & Mon-Ren Chene
http://www.google.com/patents?id=HmkhAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1994:
Distributed memory architecture for a configurable logic array and method
using distribution memory: Ross H. Freeman & Hung-Cheng Hsieh
http://www.google.com/patents?id=JhkiAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
1995:
Circuit for selecting a bit in a look-up table: Ross H. Freeman & Hung-Cheng Hsieh
http://www.google.com/patents?id=WTMlAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
Logic structure and circuit for fast carry: Hung-Cheng Hsieh, William S. Carter, Charles R. Erickson, & Edmond Y. Cheung
http://www.google.com/patents?id=lOEjAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=WS%20Carter&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false
2000:
Proprietary core permission structure and method: Stephen M. Trimberger & William S. Carter
http://www.google.com/patents?id=o3YSAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=William%20S%20Carter%20Xilinx&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=William%20S%20Carter%20Xilinx&f=false
2002:
Configurable logic block with and gate for efficient multiplication in FPGAS: Kenneth D. Chapman & Steven P. Young
http://www.google.com/patents?id=goCFAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=William%20S%20Carter%20Xilinx&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=William%20S%20Carter%20Xilinx&f=false
Finally, Trimberger has way too many to list, but most of
them are in the 90s and later. This search will bring
them all up:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Stephen+M.+Trimberger&hl=en&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2001&as_sdtp=on