Polzer, T., Handl, T., & Steininger, A. (2009). A Metastability-Free Multi-synchronous Communication Scheme for SoCs. In R. Guerraoui & F. Petit (Eds.), Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems: 11th International Symposium, SSS 2009, Lyon, France, November 3-6, 2009. Proceedings (pp. 578–592). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-05118-0_40
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Book Title:
Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems: 11th International Symposium, SSS 2009, Lyon, France, November 3-6, 2009. Proceedings
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Abstract:
We propose a communication scheme for GALS systems with independent but approximately synchronized clock sources, which guarantees high-speed metastability-free communication between any two peers via bounded-size FIFO buffers. The proposed approach can be used atop of any multi-synchronous clocking system that guarantees a synchronization precision in the order of several clock cycles, like our fault-tolerant DARTS clocks. We determine detailed formulas for the required communication buffer size, and prove that this choice indeed guarantees metastability-free communication between correct peers, at maximum clock speed. We also describe a fast and efficient implementation of our scheme, and calculate the required buffer size for a sample test scenario. Experimental results confirm that the size lower bounds provided by our formulas are tight in this setting.
