Teak: A Token-Flow Implementation for the Balsa Language

Abstract

This paper describes a new target component set and synthesis scheme for the Balsaasynchronous hardware description language. This new scheme removes the reliance on precise handshake interleavingand enclosure by separating out control `go' and `done' signalling into separate channels ratherthan using different phases of the asynchronous handshake. This leads to circuits in which optimisationand control overhead mitigation can be carried out by merging/separating control and data channels and byintroducing handshake-decoupling latches. This work aims to make Balsa descriptions implementable inthe more widely used and understood higher performance token-based asynchronous circuit styles.