Latency Estimation of the Asynchronous Pipeline Using the Max-Plus Algebra

This paper presents a methodology to estimate the latency of the asynchronous pipeline without choices. We propose modeling an asynchronous pipeline with the timed event graph and characterizing its specification via the max-plus algebra. An evolution equation of the event firing epoch can be obtained, which is linear under the max-plus algebraic formalism. In terms of the above-mentioned equation, we can formulate the latency of the pipeline successfully. The case study shows that our method is simple, fast and effective.