Automatic synthesis of extended burst-mode circuits: Part II (automatic synthesis)

We introduce a new design style called extended burst-mode. The extended bu rst-mode design style covers a,vide spectrum of sequential circuits ranging from delay-insensitive to synchronous. We can synthesize multiple-input ch ange asynchronous finite state machines and many circuits that fall in the gray area (hard to classify as synchronous or asynchronous) which are diffi cult or impossible to synthesize automatically using existing methods. Our implementation of extended burst-mode machines uses standard CMOS logic, ge nerates low-latency outputs, and guarantees freedom from hazards at the gat e level, In Part II, we present a complete set of automated sequential synt hesis algorithms: hazard-free state assignment, hazard-free state minimizat ion, and critical-race-free state encoding. Experimental data from a large set of examples are presented and compared to competing methods whenever po ssible.