Patent ID: 6088353
Filing Date: 2000-07-11
Classification: G06F,H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
A sorting network, comprising:N network input terminals for receiving N signals, said N signals representative of values;N network output terminals to which sorted signals are delivered, the sorted signals representing the N signals sorted according to their values;a plurality of comparison circuits, wherein:each said comparison circuit has two inputs and two outputs;each said comparison circuit has a network depth, said network depths having an order from minimum to maximum; anda plurality of links, wherein:a first portion of said plurality of links connect a network input terminal to an input of a comparison circuit having minimum network depth;a second portion of said plurality of links connect said two outputs of each said comparison circuit to the inputs of comparison circuits having greater network depth, if there are any;a third portion of said plurality of links connect the each outputs of a comparison circuit having maximum network depth to a network output terminal;characterized in that, in a layout of the sorting network:a first portion of the plurality of comparison circuits are arranged in grid columns, wherein comparison circuits within the same grid column have the same network depth, and not all comparison circuits having equal network depth are placed in the same grid column.