Patent ID: 8112681

Claim:
An integrated circuit comprising: circuitry; a fusebox for storing an array of data identifying faulty elements within said circuitry; a plurality of fusebox controllers for repairing said faulty elements in said circuitry in response to data received from said fusebox; a fusebox interface for controlling communication of said data between said fusebox and said plurality of fusebox controllers; a data communication path linking said plurality of fusebox controllers with said fusebox via said fusebox interface; wherein data stored in said fusebox is compacted data and said at least one fusebox controller comprises a data expander for expanding said compacted data received from said fusebox via said data communication path prior to repairing any faulty elements in said circuitry; and said fusebox interface comprises at least one external port for communicating data to a user, said fusebox interface being configured to read data from said fusebox and to permanently write data to said fusebox in response to instructions received from said at least one external port.