CMOS Gate Arrays - Status, trends, design aids

The industry has begun wide introduction of CMOS Gate Array because of its excellent adaptability for electronic equipment. A new market segment is opened by utilization of CMOS Gate Array. CMOS Gate Array can handle the task where (1) high speed, (2) low power and/or (3) lower rate of production compared with conventional type of custom integrated circuit are essential requirements. Double layer metal wiring to CMOS IC has been a key technology for gaining such wide introduction. This technology easily allows CMOS circuit to have a switching speed performance as good as that of highly established TTL circuit in addition to much lower power consumption than that of TTL. This paper describes the status of CMOS Gate Array for its performance, typical design implementation procedure, examples of application in the market place, etc..