Patent ID: 8217700

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: an integrated circuit having a plurality of components integrated therein, wherein a portion of the plurality of components operate in a digital domain and another portion of the plurality of components operate in an analog domain; an I/O pad located on the integrated circuit and configured to provide an external device access to the plurality of components; and a programmable multifunction I/O interface cell comprising: a first analog programmable connection to selectively couple the I/O pad to a first analog component of the plurality of components that operate in the analog domain, wherein the first analog component is configured to generate an output signal and output the output signal on the I/O pad; and a second analog programmable connection to selectively couple the same I/O pad to a second analog component of the plurality of components that operate in the analog domain, wherein the first and second analog programmable connections are selectively connected to the same I/O pad at a first time during operation of the integrated circuit, and wherein the second analog component is configured to receive the output signal from the I/O pad.