Design of delay insensitive circuits using multi-ring structures

Abstract

The design and VLSI implementation of a delay insensitive circuit that computes the inner product of two vec.tors is described. The circuit is based on an iterative serial-parallel multiplication algorithm. The design is based on a data flow approach using pipelines and rings that are combined into larger multi ring structures by the joining and forking of signals. The implementation is based on a small set of building blocks (latches, combinational circuits and switches) that are composed of C-elements and simple gates. By following this approach, delay insensitive circuits with nontrivial functionality and reasonable performance are readily designed.<>