Pipeline optimization for asynchronous circuits: complexity analysis and an efficient optimal algorithm

This paper addresses the problem of identifying the minimum pipelining needed in an asynchronous circuit (e.g., number/size of pipeline stages/latches required) to satisfy a given performance constraint, thereby implicitly minimizing area and power for a given performance. The paper first shows that the basic pipeline optimization problem for asynchronous circuits is NP-complete. Then, it presents an efficient branch and bound algorithm that finds the optimal pipeline configuration. The experimental results on a few scalable system models demonstrate that this algorithm is computationally feasible for moderately sized models.