In an (self-timed), a component sends a signal to the next component the moment it finishes its job. It is like a relay race where the runner sprints as fast as possible, rather than waiting for a whistle. This results in chips that:
| Term | Nuance | |------|--------| | Non-synchronously | More literal, less technical | | Anachronistically | Implies being out of historical order (not same meaning) | | Independently timed | Descriptive phrase | | In a non-blocking manner | Programming-specific | asynchronically
: The quintessential asynchronous tool where messages are stored until the receiver is ready to download them. In an (self-timed), a component sends a signal
This paper is legendary in the systems programming community. It argues that the standard way developers had been reading and writing data to hard drives for decades was fundamentally flawed because it ignored the asynchronous nature of physical hardware. This paper is legendary in the systems programming community
