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ABSTRACT

Asynchronous, self-timed, logic is often eschewed in digital design because of its ad-hoc methodologies and lack of available design tools. This paper describes a complete High Level Design flow for asynchronous circuits based on Register Transfer Level (RTL) VHDL using commercial simulation and synthesis tools. Contrary to previous asynchronous approaches, the proposed RTL methodology closely resembles familiar synchronous design styles.

REFERENCES

• Berkel99: 'Special issue on asynchronous circuits and systems' C. H. (Kees) van Berkel, Mark B. Josephs, and Steven M. Nowick, eds., Proceedings of the IEEE, 87(2), February 1999.
• Brayton90: R. K. Brayton, G.D. Hachtel, and A.L. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli. Multilevel Logic Synthesis. Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol.78, No.2, February 1990, pp. 264-300
• Fant96: K. M. Fant , S. A. Brandt, NULL Convention Logic/sup TM/: A Complete And Consistent Logic For Asynchronous Digital Circuit Synthesis, Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Application-Specific Systems, Architectures, and Processors, p.261, August 19-23, 1996
• Hauck95: Scott Hauck. Asynchronous design methodologies: An overview. Proceedings of the IEEE, 83(1): 69-93, January 1995.
• Lsi95: LCB500K Preliminary Design Manual, LSI Logic Corporation, Milpitas, CA, 1995.
• Nanya93: Takashi Nanya, 'Challenges to dependable asynchronous processor design', in Logic Synthesis and Optimization, Tsutomu Sasao, editor, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1993.
• Sia97: Semiconductor Industry Association, "The National Technology Road Map for Semiconductors', 1997 Edition
• Sims58: C. Sims and H. J. Gray. Design criteria for autosynchronous circuits. Proc. Eastern Joint Computer Conf. (AFIPS), volume 14, pages 94-99, December 1958.
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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.6 LOGIC DESIGN

Additional Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.4 INPUT/OUTPUT AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS
      B.4.3 Interconnections (subsystems)
          Subjects: Asynchronous/synchronous operation
  B.5 REGISTER-TRANSFER-LEVEL IMPLEMENTATION
  B.6 LOGIC DESIGN
  B.8 Performance and Reliability

  C. Computer Systems Organization

  J. Computer Applications
  J.2 PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
      Subjects: Electronics

General Terms:
Design, Languages, Performance, Theory