Asynchronous circuits design using quantum-dot cellular automata for molecular computing

The quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) implementation of digital logic circuits families has received popular attention. A QCA circuit because of its unique characteristics in terms of power consumption, speed and size of the circuit could be a great potential alternative for classical circuits. However, controls over the timing and fault-tolerance are significant issues in design and manufacturing. This paper describes the design of an asynchronous circuit as an example to discuss the rules for translating a classical circuit to its QCA counterpart. Besides the points should be taken into account for partitioning the circuit as well as a comprehensive defect tolerance analysis will be presented.