A Simplified Summation Array for Cellular Logic Modules

A greatly simplified configuration is proposed for the array that performs summation in a cellular logic module. Such modules realize arbitrary, multioutput, combinational switching behavior as sums of products (or sums of other terms). Special cases of these modules are random-access and associative memories (conventional or READ-ONLY). The simplifications are achieved by taking advantage of the symmetries among the product (or term) buses and symmetries among the output lines, as well as the fact that extensive sharing of terms among output functions does not normally occur in practice. In many cases of interest, the simplified memory array can be reduced to a single column of cells.