One embodiment of the invention provides a
system that facilitates designing an
integrated circuit using a
mask-programmable fabric, which contains both
mask-programmable logic and a
mask-programmable interconnect. During operation, the
system receives a description of a mask-programmable
cell, wherein instances of the mask-programmable
cell are repeated to form the mask-programmable fabric. The
system uses this description of the mask-programmable
cell to generate a derived
library containing cells that can be obtained by
programming the mask-programmable cell. Next, the system receives a high-
level design for the
integrated circuit. The system then performs a synthesis operation on the high-
level design to generate a preliminary
netlist for the high-
level design, wherein the preliminary
netlist contains references to cells in the derived
library. Finally, the system converts the preliminary
netlist into a netlist that contains references to the mask-programmable cell with the logic appropriately programmed. The netlist is then placed and routed with the mask programmable constraints on the mask programmable fabric. The design, thus implemented on the programmable fabric, can be changed to accommodate logic revisions and bug fixes by changing only a few masks required for its fabrication.