Asynchronous implementation of the SCPP-A counterflow pipeline processor

The SCPP-A design problem posed by C.E. Molnar and H. Schols describes an abstraction of the Sproull counterflow pipeline processor which mainly concentrates on pipeline control. Although this problem can be specified concisely, it raises design issues that are intrinsically difficult to deal with. An asynchronous implementation of SCPP-A is presented, where the speed of the resulting circuitry is regarded as the main design criterion. It describes the complete design path, from the formulation of formal functional specifications of the high-level components down to the implementation of the basic components. A number of additional aspects of the problem and the design are discussed, including design alternatives at various abstraction levels and a performance evaluation of the resulting circuitry. Altogether, this offers a good illustration of asynchronous design concerns