Asynchronous speed-independent arbiter in a form of a hardware control module
H. Sechovsky, S. Jura · 1976
The attained parameters and the development trends of LSI circuits make possible the realization of untraditional computer structures with higher number of cooperating processor and control units or modules. The parallel processes realized in these modules are in majority mutually asynchronous and the length of duration of individual parts of these processes and their mutual time relation cannot be determined in advance. In hardware realization of such systems it is often most convenient when the individual modules behave toward each other like asynchronous speedindependent automata. For interconnection of such modules and for synchronizing the processes realized in them it is advantageous to use so-called arbiters (also called semaphores) whose formal description has been introduced in the theories of parallel processes.The text contains a detailed description of a hardware construction of the arbiter having the character of a universal control module guaranteeing the reliable function at arbitrary time sequence of input requests. This quality is important in view of the danger of metastability so that an arbiter cannot be excluded. In the design of the circuit the simplicity and speed of function have been especially considered and the measured time parameters of the arbiter are quoted.