Asynchronous Signal Arbitration With Acknowledged Action Triggering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing asynchronous circuits face challenges in efficiently comparing the relative timing of multiple input signals and triggering actions based on these comparisons, particularly when signals transition at different times, leading to inefficiencies and potential missed or repeated actions.
Innovation Solution
An asynchronous circuit that receives multiple input signals, selects the signal with the earliest transition, and triggers an action block to perform a task, with an acknowledgement mechanism to ensure actions are completed before repeating the process, allowing for independent treatment of signals and efficient action triggering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the circuit waits for all input signals to complete their transitions before initiating the next cycle, then the correctness of action triggering is ensured, but the circuit's responsiveness and speed are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit initiates the action triggering process as soon as the first transition is detected, without waiting for all other signals to complete their transitions. This preliminary action approach allows the circuit to respond immediately to the earliest event while still ensuring correctness through the acknowledgment mechanism that verifies the action is properly triggered before the system state is updated.
2Reliability
If the circuit processes multiple signal transitions in sequence waiting for acknowledgments, then the reliability of action completion is ensured, but the productivity and throughput are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit maintains continuous operation by allowing overlapping processing of multiple signal transitions. While one action is being executed and its acknowledgment is pending, the circuit can already detect and prepare for the next signal transition, ensuring that the processing pipeline remains active and productive without compromising the reliability of individual action completions.
3Measurement precision
If the circuit requires all signals to complete transitions before triggering any action, then the accuracy of timing comparison is ensured, but the loss of time and efficiency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit performs timing comparison and triggers actions based on the first detected transition without waiting for all signals to complete. The acknowledgment mechanism subsequently ensures that the timing comparison result is properly recorded and the system state is correctly updated, maintaining measurement precision while eliminating unnecessary waiting time.
Solution Approach 2:
The circuit uses the transition state of signals as copies or indicators of timing information, allowing it to determine the earliest transition by comparing the states of different signal lines without requiring all signals to complete their full transition cycles. This copying approach enables efficient timing comparison based on available state information.
Data Source
AI summary
An asynchronous circuit and methods for requesting that an action is triggered. The circuit performs the following steps: 1) receive a plurality of input signals, the input signals each having a first transition between states at a different time, 2) select one of the input signals based on the time of its first transition compared to the time of the first transition of the other input signals, 3) provide a request to an action block to: i) trigger the action in response to receiving the request, and ii) to provide an acknowledgement upon completion of the action, wherein the request and the action are dependent on the input signal that was selected, 4) receive the acknowledgement from the action block, and 5) initiate steps 1) to 4) for a second transition of the input signals after the plurality of input signals have undergone their first transitions.