Abstract
We propose a communication scheme for GALS systems with independent but approximately synchronized clock sources, which guarantees high-speed metastability-free communication between any two peers via bounded-size FIFO buffers. The proposed approach can be used atop of any multi-synchronous clocking system that guarantees a synchronization precision in the order of several clock cycles, like our fault-tolerant DARTS clocks. We determine detailed formulas for the required communication buffer size, and prove that this choice indeed guarantees metastability-free communication between correct peers, at maximum clock speed. We also describe a fast and efficient implementation of our scheme, and calculate the required buffer size for a sample test scenario. Experimental results confirm that the size lower bounds provided by our formulas are tight in this setting.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Metra, C., Francescantonio, S.D., Mak, T., Ricco, B.: Implications of clock distribution faults and issues with screening them during manufacturing testing. IEEE Transactions on Computers 53(5), 531–546 (2004)
Chapiro, D.M.: Globally-Asynchronous Locally-Syn-chronous Systems. PhD thesis, Stanford Univ. (October 1984)
Constantinescu, C.: Trends and challenges in VLSI circuit reliability. IEEE Micro. 23(4), 14–19 (2003)
Borkar, S.: Designing reliable systems from unreliable components: the challenges of transistor variability and degradation. IEEE Micro. 25(6) (November 2005)
Mavis, D., Eaton, P.: SEU and SET modeling and mitigation in deep submicron technologies. In: Proceedings 45th Annual IEEE International Reliability physics symposium, April 2007, pp. 293–305 (2007)
Nicolaidis, M.: Design for soft error mitigation. IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability 5(3), 405–418 (2005)
Fairbanks, S.: Method and apparatus for a distributed clock generator (2004)
Maza, M., Aranda, M.: Interconnected rings and oscillators as gigahertz clock distribution nets. In: Proceedings of the 13th ACM symposium on VLSI (2003)
Kleeman, L., Cantoni, A.: Metastable behavior in digital systems. IEEE Design & Test of Computers, 4–19 (December 1987)
Ginosar, R., Kol, R.: Adaptive synchronization. In: Computer Design: VLSI in Computers and Processors, ICCD 1998 (1998)
Panades, I.M., Greiner, A.: Bi-synchronous FIFO for Synchronous Circuit Communication Well Suited for Network-on-Chip in GALS Architectures. In: Proc. 1st Int. Symp. on Networks-on-Chip (NOCS 2007). IEEE CS Press, Los Alamitos (2007)
Dobkin, R., Ginosar, R., Sotiriou, C.: Data synchronization issues in gals socs. In: Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, ASYNC 2004 (2004)
Fuegger, M., Schmid, U., Fuchs, G., Kempf, G.: Fault-Tolerant Distributed Clock Generation in VLSI Systems-on-Chip. In: Proc. of the 6th European Dependable Computing Conference (EDCC-6). IEEE Comp. Soc. Press, Los Alamitos (2006)
Teehan, P., Greenstreet, M., Lemieux, G.: A survey and taxonomy of gals design styles. IEEE Design & Test of Computers (2007)
Semiat, Y., Ginosar, R.: Timing measurements of synchronization circuits. In: 9th Int. Symp. on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, 2003. Proceedings (2003)
Widder, J., Schmid, U.: Achieving synchrony without clocks. Research Report 49/2005, Technische Universität Wien, Institut für Technische Informatik (2005)
Ferringer, M., Fuchs, G., Steininger, A., Kempf, G.: VLSI Implementation of a Fault-Tolerant Distributed Clock Generation. In: IEEE International Symposium on Defect and Fault-Tolerance in VLSI Systems (DFT 2006), October 2006, pp. 563–571 (2006)
Lamport, L.: Arbitration-free synchronization. Distrib. Comput. 16(2-3) (2003)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Polzer, T., Handl, T., Steininger, A. (2009). A Metastability-Free Multi-synchronous Communication Scheme for SoCs. In: Guerraoui, R., Petit, F. (eds) Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems. SSS 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5873. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05118-0_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05118-0_40
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-05117-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-05118-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)