Unifying synchronous/asynchronous state machine synthesis

We present a design style and synthesis algorithm that encompasses both asynchronous and synchronous state machines. Our proposed design style not only supports generalized “burst-mode” multiple-input change asynchronous designs [21], but also allows the automatic synthesis of any synchronous Moore machine using only basic gates (and no state-holding elements). Moreover, the synthesis method covers many circuit styles in the range between burst-mode and fully synchronous. We can easily specify and synthesize sequential circuits which change state on both rising and falling clock edges, have multiple-phase clocks, etc., and mixed synchronous/asynchronousdesigns,subject only to setup and holdtime constraints. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the design style and the synthesis tool, we present a modified version of a previously published large practical controller design — the SCSI data transfer controller [14] redesigned to improve performance and to eliminate preprocessingcir...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1993
• Where: ICCAD
• Authors: Kenneth Y. Yun, David L. Dill
• Keywords: Design Style, Hardware, ICCAD 1993, Synchronous Moore Machine, Synchronous State Machines