The maximum set of permissible behaviors for FSM networks

This paper is concerned with the problem of optimizing systems of interacting sequential circuit components. Specifically, we consider how one can find the set of sequential behaviors that can be implemented at a component while preserving the behavior of the total system. This paper proposes a method for computing and representing the complete set of permissible behaviors. We show that the complete set can be computed and represented by a single non-deterministic finite state machine, called the E-machine. The transition relation of the E-machine is obtained by a fixed point computation. The procedure has been implemented and initial experimental results are given.