Patent · US Expired

Method and system for breaking complex Boolean networks

US6397370B1 · kind B1 · utility

11Cited by
7References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 18, 1998
Grant dateMay 28, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 18, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F30/327
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and system reduces the complexity of functions within a Boolean network by breaking the network at certain nodes. Before the flattening phase of a technology independent optimization, the present invention estimates the on-set and off-set complexities of each node of the network. The complexities are estimated by considering the type of function represented by the node, the estimated complexities of any child nodes, and the number of variables in the support of the node. If a node's estimated complexity exceeds a defined complexity limit, then the network is preferably broken at that node. A new node of the same type as the complex node is created, and child nodes of the complex node are appended to the newly created node. In addition, an intermediate node is created as a child of the complex node and the child nodes are removed from the complex node. Removing the child nodes from the complex node reduces the complexity of the node and allows the minimization phase to better optimize the network.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.