Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!cica!ctrsol!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!mips!mark
From: mark@mips.COM (Mark G. Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Asynchronous cpu, self-timed cirtuits.
Message-ID: <28787@obiwan.mips.COM>
Date: 4 Oct 89 22:12:29 GMT
References: <5241@dime.cs.umass.edu>
Reply-To: mark@mips.COM (Mark G. Johnson)
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Sunnyvale, CA
Lines: 18

>... folks from CALTECH on using the self-timed (asynchronous) 
>circuits that they've been pushing to build a processor. 
>Any comments on this work out there? Any comments on self-timed
>circuits themselves?

Self-timed circuits have been included in commercially available
microprocessors for quite some time.  The R2000 has some, and I
doubt it was the first; probably the 8086 / 8088 used s.t. ckts
back in '81.
 
Of course, every time you buy a DRAM you're buying a temperature
and voltage-variable chain of about 60 self-timed circuits.  This
may make you feel {less, more} comfortable about the robustness
and reliability of s.t. circuits.
-- 
 -- Mark Johnson	
 	MIPS Computer Systems, 930 E. Arques, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
	(408) 991-0208    mark@mips.com  {or ...!decwrl!mips!mark}