
20
Lucent Technologies Inc.
Data Sheet
June 1999
ORCA Series 2 FPGAs
Programmable Logic Cells
 (continued)
XL Lines.
 The long XL lines run vertically and horizon-
tally the height and width of the array, respectively. 
There are a total of eight XL lines per PLC: four hori-
zontal (HXL[3:0]) and four vertical (VXL[3:0]). Each 
PLC column has four XL lines, and each PLC row has 
four XL lines. Each of the XL lines connects to the two 
PICs at either end. The Series 2, which consists of a 
18 x 18 array of PLCs, contains 72 VXL and 72 HXL 
lines. They are intended primarily for global signals 
which must travel long distances and require minimum 
delay and/or skew, such as clocks.
There are three methods for routing signals onto the XL 
lines. In each PLC, there are two long-line drivers: one 
for a horizontal XL line, and one for a vertical XL line. 
Using the long-line drivers produces the least delay. 
The XL lines can also be driven directly by PFU outputs 
using the BIDI lines. In the third method, the XL lines 
are accessed by the bidirectional buffers, again using 
the BIDI lines.
XH Lines
. Four by half (XH) lines run horizontally and 
four XH lines run vertically in each row and column in 
the array. These lines travel a distance of one-half the 
PLC array before being broken in the middle of the 
array, where they connect to the interquad block (dis-
cussed later). They also connect at the periphery of the 
FPGA to the PICs, like the XL lines. The XH lines do 
not twist like XL lines, allowing nibble-wide buses to be 
routed easily.
Two of the three methods of routing signals onto the 
XL lines can also be used for the XH lines. A special 
XH line driver is not supplied for the XH lines.
Clock Lines. 
For a very fast and low-skew clock (or 
other global signal tree), clock lines run the entire 
height and width of the PLC array. There are two hori-
zontal clock lines per PLC row (CKL, CKR) and two 
vertical clock lines per PLC column (CKT, CKB). The 
source for these clock lines can be any of the four I/O 
buffers in the PIC. The horizontal clock lines in a row 
(CKL, CKR) are driven by the left and right PICs, 
respectively. The vertical clock lines in a column (CKT, 
CKB) are driven by the top and bottom PICs, respec-
tively.
The clock lines are designed to be a clock spine. In 
each PLC, there is a fast connection available from the 
clock line to the long-line driver (described earlier). 
With this connection, one of the clock lines in each PLC 
can be used to drive one of the four XL lines perpendic-
ular to it, which, in turn, creates a clock tree.
This feature is discussed in detail in the Clock Distribu-
tion Network section.
Minimizing Routing Delay
The CIP is an active element used to connect two lines. 
As an active element, it adds significantly to the resis-
tance and capacitance of a net, thus increasing the 
net’s delay. The advantage of the X1 line over a X4 line 
is routing flexibility. A net from PLC db to PLC cb is eas-
ily routed by using X1 lines. As more CIPs are added to 
a net, the delay increases. To increase speed, routes 
that are greater than two PLCs away are routed on the 
X4 lines because a CIP is located only in every fourth 
PLC. A net that spans eight PLCs requires seven X1 
lines and six CIPs. Using X4 lines, the same net uses 
two lines and one CIP 
All routing resources in the PLC can carry 4-bit buses. 
In order for data to be used at a destination PLC that is 
in data path mode, the data must arrive unscrambled. 
For example, in data path operation, the least signifi-
cant bit 0 must arrive at either A[0] or B[0]. If the bus is 
to be routed by using either X4 or XL lines (both of 
which twist as they propagate), the bus must be placed 
on the appropriate lines at the source PLC so that the 
data arrives at the destination unscrambled. The 
switching lines provide the most efficient means of con-
necting adjacent PLCs. Signals routed with these lines 
have minimum propagation delay.