AnARM - low power highly testable asynchronous processor

微处理器现在是许多电子设备的常见组件，从简单的微波炉到最强大的计算机。从这种无处不在的计算机化中，两个主要的应用领域以显著的增长率脱颖而出：移动的电子设备和数据中心。虽然它们在物理上相距甚远，但它们的扩张是以推拉动量联系在一起的。更多的移动的计算能力支持更高级的应用，而这反过来又需要配备越来越多服务器的更大数据中心。此外，先进的移动的应用是电子设备制造商和数据服务提供商的强大市场增长驱动力。 在处理能力不断提高的螺旋式上升过程中，人们决不能忘记对能源需求的影响。对于移动终端或服务器群，处理单元的功率/能量消耗已成为关键问题。作为移动的设备的固有结果，能量消耗受到电池容量的限制。 因此，便携式设备消耗的能量越少，其自主性就越长。在数据中心方面，当数千台计算机在一个服务器仓库中连接在一起时，即使单个处理器的功率节省很少，也会带来规模经济的重大收益。获得更节能的处理设备的持续竞争是当前大多数硅设计的中心。 在此提出的项目站在更多的处理能力和能源消耗之间的十字路口。 通过利用异步和自定时集成电路设计，我们打算开发新一代的微处理器，赋予更高的计算能力和更低的能源需求。

Microprocessors are now common components in many electronic devices, from simple microwave ovens to the most potent computer. From this ubiquitous computerization, two major fields of application stand out with remarkable growth rates: mobile electronic devices and data centers. Although physically afar from each other, their expansion are linked in a push-pull momentum. More mobile computing power enables more advanced applications which, in-turn, demands larger data centers equipped with more and more servers. Moreover, advanced mobile applications are powerful market growth drivers for electronic device manufacturers and data service providers. In the upward spiral towards ever increasing processing power, one must not forget about the impact on energy requirement. For a mobile device or a server farm, the power/energy consumption of processing units has become a critical issue. As an intrinsic consequence for mobile devices, energy consumption is limited by the battery capacities. Hence, the less energy is consumed by a portable device, the longer will be its autonomy. On the data center side, when thousands of computers are linked together in a server warehouse, even a little saving on power for a single processor will result in a major gain with the economies of scale. A constant competition to get more energy efficient processing devices is at the center of most current silicon designs. The hereby proposed project stands at the crossroad between more processing power and energy consumption. By leveraging asynchronous and self-timed integrated circuit design, we intend to develop a new generation of microprocessors granted with enhanced computing capabilities and lower energy requirements.