Quasi delay insensitive asynchronous circuits for low EMI

International audience

This paper presents a new design alternative for controlling/reducing electromagnetic emissions of integrated circuits. Our design approach is based on the exploitation of Quasi Delay Insensitive Asynchronous logic properties. In fact, by using a four-phase protocol combined with 1-of-N encoded data, we demonstrate how QDI circuits can be used for tuning and lowering electromagnetic emissions. The investigation is based on the characterisation of two DES crypto-processors an asynchronous and a synchronous version. The spectrum of the measured currents shows a significant reduction of the EMI of the asynchronous DES when compared to the synchronous one.