Real-Time without Clocks?

Steve Furber

Abstract

For the last 20 years digital design has been based on the use of a central clock, but it hasn't always been so, and it may not always be so in the future. Where ultimate power-efficiency, performance or electromagnetic compatibility are required, the clock may be the wrong answer. Recent work within the OMI and elsewhere has pointed the way to a future where VLSI devices can more readily be designed without clocks, and the advantages of so-doing are becoming increasingly apparent.

The article is here.