Asynchronous Design Aspects of High-Performance Logic

Architectural Modelling of a Bipolar Asynchronous Microprocessor


R. Kelly

Abstract

As VLSI process technologies develop and feature sizes shrink, the global clocking schemes currently employed in synchronous systems are beginning to experience difficulties in a number of areas. Asynchronous circuits have a potentially higher performance than synchronous circuits since an asynchronous circuit exhibits average-case performance, in contrast to synchronous systems, which must be specifically designed to accommodate worst-case conditions. However, asynchronous design techniques are not widely understood or developed, particularly in the context of a large, complex system.

Recently, an asynchronous design methodology, namely Micropipelines, has been presented which has proved useful in developing an asynchronous CMOS implementation of an existing commercial RISC architecture. A subsequent project has been initiated to develop architectural modelling and implementation tools for an asynchronous high-performance bipolar implementation of the same target architecture.

This thesis presents the issues involved in asynchronous logic design, the details of the particular asynchronous design methodology employed and an introduction to the architectural modelling environment used in the development of the bipolar asynchronous implementation. The development of the system model is illustrated, with reference to the underlying primitive components and the hierarchical composition of the complete design from asynchronous sub-functions communicating via a well-defined signalling protocol. A demonstration of how the architectural model can be used to generate information regarding the internal operation of the system, which is then used to improve the complete design is given. The suitability of modelling asynchronous systems with the modelling environment employed is discussed.


The thesis is available in postscript form by ftp