•New

Traditionally, the systems in our computers are synchronic, i.e., they have a clock that counts time so that all components work in a synchronized and coordinated way. This, however, leads to problems such as the clock having to notify all the components of the system and take into account the delays of the slowest components.

Also, new technology has reduced the size of integrated circuits tremendously and this greatly increases the distance the signal from the clock has to travel. Furthermore, the periodic impulses generated by the clock consume a lot of energy and generate a magnetic field that distorts the internal behavior of the circuits. Designers of synchronous systems are currently coming up against physical limitations, mostly caused by the clock.

Because asynchronous systems do not have a clock, they avoid these problems naturally, though they are more difficult to design.

Aware of the improvements offered by asynchronous systems, the company Elastix, which was set up a year and a half ago in Silicon Valley and has offices in Barcelona's 22@ district, is creating software to facilitate the transition from synchronous systems to asynchronous systems, with all the advantages that this entails, while still being able to take advantage of the benefits of designing in synchronous systems.

Using this idea, Elastix, which designs microelectronic circuits capable of doing the same work faster and with less power consumption, is leading a project with the participation of Jordi Cortadella, cofounder and scientific director of the company, and Josep Carmona, both from the Department of Software at the UPC. The team of Lluís Terres of the National Microelectronic Center of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona is also working on the project, entitled "R&D in CAD Techniques and Tools for Designing Asynchronous Integrated Circuits", funded by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce.