Microengines for Programmable Self-timed Control

本项目探索异步数字系统的实用架构、电路和工具支持。特别是，它试图填补一个设计利基，既需要在特定问题领域的高性能，又需要在计算过程中具有一定的灵活性。一个重点是异步微程序控制风格，称为微引擎。除了来自微编码执行风格的灵活性之外，异步微引擎方法还体现了与控制器的异步执行模型及其控制的电路直接相关的许多优点。本项目探讨了可以从异步微引擎中受益的设计问题类别，探索了使用专门的电路结构来增强性能，并在ACK高级合成框架中构建了一个用于微引擎自动合成的工具。

This project explores practical architectures, circuits, and tool support for asynchronous digital systems. In particular, it seeks to fill a design niche that requires both high-performance in a specific problem domain and some flexibility in how the computation proceeds. One focus is on an asynchronous microprogrammed control style called a microengine. In addition to the flexibility that comes from a microcoded execution style, the asynchronous microengine approach embodies many advantages related directly to the asynchronous execution model of the controller, and of the circuits that it controls. This project explores the classes of design problems that can benefit from asynchronous microengines, explores the use of specialized circuit structures to enhance performance, and constructs a tool for the automated synthesis of microengines within the ACK high-level synthesis framework.