Pulse-mode macromodular systems

Pulse-mode handshaking is a form of 2-phase handshaking that uses pulses, instead of transitions, to represent events. It combines the conceptual simplicity of the 2-phase protocol (only two events per handshake) with the level based approach of 4-phase handshaking. Pulse-mode macromodules use a new, more concurrent form of operation than that of traditional pulse-mode systems, called Pulse burst operation (PBO). Pulse-mode handshaking is used in the design of a large set of macromodules that can be used to build cost-effective asynchronous systems. The set includes modules that efficiently implement control operations such as sequencing, selection, iteration, concurrency control and resource sharing. An arbiter and converter modules to interface pulse-mode to traditional 2-phase and 4-phase circuits are also included. A packet switch is designed to demonstrate the viability of pulse-mode macromodules to implement complex, high performance systems