Phase-Encoding for On-Chip Signalling

A novel self-timed communication protocol is based on the phase-modulation of a reference signal. The reference signal is sent on a number of transmission lines and the data can be recovered observing the sequence of events on the these lines. Employing several lines increases the number of states hence reducing the number of symbols required for a transmission. A new encoding algorithm is described which generates symbol-dependent matrices which are used to control the phase of transmission lines. The protocol concept, the algorithm and analysis of the system, together with simulation results, are presented.