Designing Asynchronous Circuits using NULL Convention Logic (NCL) (Synthesis Lectures on Digital Circuits and Systems)

Description

Designing Asynchronous Circuits using NULL Convention Logic (NCL) begins with an introduction to asynchronous (clockless) logic in general, and then focuses on delay-insensitive asynchronous logic design using the NCL paradigm. The book details design of input-complete and observable dual-rail and quad-rail combinational circuits, and then discusses implementation of sequential circuits, which require datapath feedback. Next, throughput optimization techniques are presented, including pipelining, embedding registration, early completion, and NULL cycle reduction. Subsequently, low-power design techniques, such as wavefront steering and Multi-Threshold CMOS (MTCMOS) for NCL, are discussed. The book culminates with a comprehensive design example of an optimized Greatest Common Divisor circuit. Readers should have prior knowledge of basic logic design concepts, such as Boolean algebra and Karnaugh maps. After studying this book, readers should have a good understanding of the differences between asynchronous and synchronous circuits, and should be able to design arbitrary NCL circuits, optimized for area, throughput, and power. Table of Contents: Introduction to Asynchronous Logic / Overview of NULL Convention Logic (NCL) / Combinational NCL Circuit Design / Sequential NCL Circuit Design / NCL Throughput Optimization / Low-Power NCL Design / Comprehensive NCL Design Example Introduction to Asynchronous Logic......Page 11 NCL System Framework and Fundamental Components......Page 15 Transistor-Level NCL Gate Design......Page 19 Input-Completeness and Observability......Page 27 Dual-Rail NCL Design......Page 30 Quad-Rail NCL Design......Page 35 NCL Implementation of Mealy and Moore Machines......Page 43 NCL Implementation of Algorithmic State Machines......Page 49 Pipelining......Page 53 Early Completion......Page 55 NULL Cycle Reduction......Page 63 Wavefront Steering......Page 67 Multi-Threshold CMOS (MTCMOS) for NCL (MTNCL)......Page 68 MTCMOS for Synchronous Circuits......Page 69 Implementing MTCMOS in NCL Circuits......Page 72 Comprehensive NCL Design Example......Page 85 Bibliography......Page 93 Biography......Page 95