Exclusion relation of k out of n and the synthesis of speed-independent circuits [asynchronous circuits]

The mutual exclusion element (mutex) is a well-known hardware device used to fairly implement a mutual exclusion relation between concurrent entities, for instance in asynchronous circuit design. In this paper we generalize this notion introducing the exclusion relation of k out of n. We then propose a circuit construction, built up from mutex elements, of a hardware component implementing this exclusion relation. Finally, we present an example, in the field of speed independent asynchronous circuits, where this component is used.