MODULAR PARALLEL DECOMPOSITION OF FINITE AUTOMATA.

Modular parallel decomposition of finite automata is considered, i. e. , acceptors for regular languages consisting of copies of a single machine in parallel. Modular parallel networks present several desirable features in so far as design and maintenance are concerned; they are especially appropriate for realization by means of integrated circuits. The parallel modules are first characterized for a language and it is shown how to reduce the problem of modular parallel decomposition to that of ordinary parallel decomposition. Two special cases are then considered. The first one is that of modules with final states, the output logic of the network being OR or AND. The other special case is the single-letter alphabet.