Muller C-Element Metastability Containment

Metastability is the source of many unexpected errors in synchronous circuits. Its mitigation is very well researched in this domain. In contrast, for asynchronous circuits it is normally assumed that the handshaking inhibits metastability. This is, however, only true within the timing closure of the circuit and in the absence of external faults. Metastability may well arise in asynchronous circuits when latching external input signals or when fault tolerance considerations require relaxing the timing closure. Therefore, this paper studies the vulnerability of asynchronous circuits to metastability at the example of a Muller-C element. Traditional mitigation techniques are applied to this kind of circuits and their fitness for Muller-C elements is analyzed.

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