Recent advances in multiple-valued logic have inspired research on the use and design of these new logic devices. The principal investigator has a specific interest in multiple-valued programmable logic arrays (PLA's), a standard building block of VLSI circuits. He has developed a PLA design in collaboration with a research group at the Twente University in Holland. They have implemented test circuits in the charge coupled device (CCD) technology, which is capable of extremely small circuits. The goal of the proposed research is to expand the principal investigator's research to the area of developing computer- aided design (CAD) tools for the design of multiple-valued logic PLA's and to find improved PLA designs. The research will devise minimization techniques especially well-suited for CCD PLA's, as well as new CCD/CMOS PLA's being considered. The principal investigator will also participate in the new Center for Integrated Microelectronics Systems at Northwestern. VLSI (very large scale integration) is a recent field that explores how to design highly complex integrated circuits and related electronic systems. Research is needed because VLSI devices have become increasingly complex and the industry more competitive. Development of the field is important to the nation's competitive lead in electronics. A research question that is becoming more important in this field as optical and superconducting materials are introduced is that of using multiple-valued logic (as opposed to the standard, binary logic). While there has been a significant amount of research on multiple-valued logic, results have been primarily theoretical. Now that the foundations are understood, the need is for investigations into tools for design of multiple-valued logic circuits. This is the focus of this proposal. The principal investigator has made important conceptual advances in this area and will further develop them toward practice in his research. The budget does not request funds for travel; the principal investigator has a separate grant.
