Design of a multiple-valued rule-programmable matching VLSI chip for real-time rule-based systems

A multivalued VLSI processor design for fully parallel pattern matching is presented. It can be applied to real-time rule-based systems with large knowledge bases which are programmable. One-digit pattern matching based on direct multivalued encoding of each attribute can be described by only a programmable delta literal. Moreover, the literal circuit can be easily implemented using two floating-gate MOS devices whose threshold voltages are controllable. The inference time of an eight-valued matching processor with 256 rules and conflict resolution circuits is estimated at about 360 ns, and the chip area is reduced to about 10% of that of the equivalent binary implementation.