Editing Gate array (section)

{{Technical|date=April 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}
{{Short description|Type of integrated circuit}}
[[File:ZX81 ULA.jpg|thumb|Sinclair ZX81 ULA]]
A '''gate array''' is an approach to the design and manufacture of [[application-specific integrated circuit]]s (ASICs) using a [[semiconductor device fabrication|prefabricated]] chip with components that are later interconnected into logic devices (e.g. [[NAND gate]]s, [[Flip-flop (electronics)|flip-flops]], etc.) according to custom order by adding metal interconnect layers in the factory. It was popular during the upheaval in the semiconductor industry in the 1980s, and its usage declined by the end of the 1990s.

Similar technologies have also been employed to design and manufacture analog, analog-digital, and structured arrays, but, in general, these are not called gate arrays.

Gate arrays have also been known as '''uncommitted logic array'''s ('ULAs'), which also offered linear circuit functions,<ref name="ferranti_ula2000">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/FerrantiULA2000SeriesDatasheet/mode/1up |title=The 224 Cell Uncommitted Array Family |publisher=Ferranti Electronic Components Division |date=March 1977 |access-date=23 February 2021 |pages=1 }}</ref> and ''semi-custom chips''.{{cn|date=June 2022}}