NO CLOCKS: Most computing devices have one or more clocks that synchronize all
operations. When a conventional computer is powered up and waiting to respond
quickly to stimuli, clock generation and distribution are consuming energy at a huge rate
by our standards, yet accomplishing nothing. This is why “starting” and “stopping” the
clock is a big deal and takes much time and energy for other architectures. Our
architecture explicitly omits a clock, saving energy and time among other benefits.
The quote totes an advantage whilst waiting for input. I take that to mean having really good idle performance.
Miner ASICs don't make money when idle.
I don't know the details of the circuitry needed for bitcoin hashing, but it can contain steps that are not executed continuously and hence being idle until they have some work to do (i.e. they have some inputs). Reducing the power consumption of a miner directly translates into making more money.
I mean could doing away with the clock improve signal propagation time while reducing consumption while hashing in theory? Maybe even reduce chip size?
You're reading my thoughts. I'm thinking about usage of that chip for mining for 5 days already (since advertising it in another thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15249289
This chip has other good properties in addition to "no clock".
NO CLOCKS: Most computing devices have one or more clocks that synchronize all operations. When a conventional computer is powered up and waiting to respond quickly to stimuli, clock generation and distribution are consuming energy at a huge rate by our standards, yet accomplishing nothing. This is why “starting” and “stopping” the clock is a big deal and takes much time and energy for other architectures. Our architecture explicitly omits a clock, saving energy and time among other benefits.