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Synchronizer analysis and design tool : an application to automatic differentiation

University of British Columbia

In 2007, Yang and Greenstreet presented an algorithm that enables the computation of synchronizer failure probabilities, even when these probabilities are extremely small. Their approach gives a single probability number for the synchronizer but does not explain how the circuit details within the synchronizer contributes to the final result. We present an extension of their algorithm that connects the time-to- voltage gain of a synchronizer to the propagation of metastability through synchronizer circuits. This allows the designer to see what circuit features are helpful or not for synchronizer performance. There exists abundant folklore about what helps or hinders multistage synchronizer performance. We use our analysis to examine and explain such synchronizer folklore and draw novel conclusions. A brief error analysis is presented to provide evidence that the machinery used to compute our new measure of synchronizer effectiveness is accurate. The tools are exercised to objectively evaluate a handful of industry used synchronizer designs in order to compare their effectiveness against one another.

Text

2020-01-20

Attribution 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/73349

Computer Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/