Current-mode optimization circuits for minimax path problems

The current-mode approach for analog VLSI design in implementing a connectionist network, a binary relation inference network, to solve minimax path problems (MPP) is presented. Previous works focused on using current-mode maximum and minimum circuits as separate entities for fuzzy system applications. This paper proposes a network architecture and solution to the MPP by using the current-mode maximum and minimum circuits as basic building blocks in a uniform feedback arrangement. Conceptually, the network is able to obtain the global optimal solution in a time independent of the problem size. Practically, the current-mode connectionist network has been shown to give comparable performance to the conventional voltage-mode circuits, with a significant reduction in circuit complexity component counts, and power consumption