Optimal metastability-containing sorting networks

Johannes Bund, Christoph Lenzen, Moti Medina

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

When setup/hold times of bistable elements are violated, they may become metastable, i.e., enter a transient state that is neither digital 0 nor 1 [1]. In general, metastability cannot be avoided, a problem that manifests whenever taking discrete measurements of analog values. Metastability of the output then reflects uncertainty as to whether a measurement should be rounded up or down to the next possible measurement outcome. Surprisingly, Lenzen & Medina (ASYNC 2016) showed that metastability can be contained, i.e., measurement values can be correctly sorted without resolving metastability first. However, both their work and the state of the art by Bund et al. (DATE 2017) leave open whether such a solution can be as small and fast as standard sorting networks. We show that this is indeed possible, by providing a circuit that sorts Gray code inputs (possibly containing a metastable bit) and has asymptotically optimal depth and size. Concretely, for 10-channel sorting networks and 16-bit wide inputs, we improve by 48.46% in delay and by 71.58% in area over Bund et al. Our simulations indicate that straightforward transistor-level optimization is likely to result in performance on par with standard (non-containing) solutions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2018 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2018
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages521-526
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9783981926316
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 Apr 2018
Event2018 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2018 - Dresden, Germany
Duration: 19 Mar 201823 Mar 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 2018 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2018
Volume2018-January

Conference

Conference2018 Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, DATE 2018
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityDresden
Period19/03/1823/03/18

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Software
  • Information Systems and Management

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