High-performance asynchronous intra-chip communication link based on a multiple-valued current-mode single-track scheme

This paper presents a high-performance asynchronous data-transfer circuit based on a multiple-valued current-mode single-track scheme for on-chip communication. Since one-bit data and control information are represented by using a multi-level signal in the proposed single-track scheme, one-bit data can be transmitted asynchronously using a single wire between modules. The use of current-mode signaling makes the voltage swing on wires reduced, which achieves high-speed data transfer. Moreover, as the number of current sources is reduced by the reduction of wires, it is possible to achieve low power dissipation. Using the proposed circuit, we achieve a throughput of 0.65 Gbps/wires with power consumption of 0.29 mW at 5mm wire length. This presents a 400% increase in throughput, a 57% decrease in power consumption with respect to a conventional asynchronous circuit, using a 90nm CMOS process.