Associative digital network theory: an associative algebra approach to logic, arithmetic and state machines

Nico F. Benschop9781402098284, 1402098286

Associative Digital Network Theory is intended for researchers at industrial laboratories, teachers and students at technical universities, in electrical engineering, computer science and applied mathematics departments, interested in new developments of modeling and designing digital networks (DN: state machines, sequential and combinational logic) in general, as a combined math/engineering discipline. As background an undergraduate level of modern applied algebra (Birkhoff-Bartee: Modern Applied Algebra – 1970, and Hartmanis-Stearns: Algebraic Structure of Sequential Machines – 1970) will suffice.

Essential concepts and their engineering interpretation are introduced in a practical fashion with examples. The motivation in essence is: the importance of the unifying associative algebra of function composition (viz. semigoup theory) for the practical characterisation of the three main functions in computers, namely sequential logic (state-machines), arithmetic and combinational (Boolean) logic.