A system in which logic and/or memory elements are automatically placed on an integrated circuit ("floorplanning") taking into account the constraints imposed by the logic designer, not only increase the density of the integrated circuit, and the likelihood of routing interconnections among the elements on that circuit, but it also enables the user to quickly modify the floorplan manually, and then graphically display the results of such modifications. By conforming itself to the logic designer'...

A cache store is provided in conjunction with a main store. Each location of the cache has a changed bit. A list is maintained of the addresses of those locations in the cache store which have been modified. When the list becomes full, the entry at the head of the list is read out and the corresponding data item is transferred from the cache to the main store. Thus, there are never more than a limited number of items in the cache awaiting transfer. To clear the cache of all modified items, each ...

A hierarchical complex logic tester architecture is disclosed which minimizes the encoding of program information for testing. The architecture takes advantage of the fact that much of the information applied as test signals to pins of a device under test, changes little from test cycle to test cycle. In one aspect of the invention, run length encoding techniques are used for identifying the number of test cycles over which a given test pin is to be maintained in a particular signal state. In an...

A hierarchical data transmission system is comprised, on the transmitter side, of pre-group multiplexers and a main-group multiplexer and, on the receiver side, of a main-group demultiplexer and pre-group demultiplexers. The main-group multiplexer is fabricated as a parallel-serial converting unit, and the main-group demultiplexer is fabricated as a serial-parallel converting unit. Each of the pre-group multiplexers produces a pre-group data train having a sub-data signal which is also utilized ...

A hierarchical configurable gate array is disclosed and includes a plurality of cluster regions (10,20,30,40) arranged in different levels. The first level cluster (10) includes an integral number N multi-terminal components for providing canonical functions. The second level cluster (20) includes N first level clusters; and higher level clusters (30,40) each includes N clusters of the next lower level. Interconnect regions (13,15,17,19) are provided within each cluster for interconnections betw...

Hierarchical star or rooted tree networks have been implemented and have any desirable characteristics, including excellent performance, conceptual simplicity, and suitability for optical fiber implementations. However, they have a single point of vulnerability to catastrophic failure (the master or root hub) as well as vulnerabilities to single failures of links or hubs high in the hierarchy, which could disable large portions of the network. Redundant network components are added to eliminate ...

A hierarchy of multipath networks selectively provides connections between a plurality of sources and a plurality of destinations in a communications system. The hierarchy comprises a first multipath network without buffering which consists of two or more stages and constituting a fast path for connecting a source to a destination. At least a second multipath network with buffering and comprising a plurality of stages constitutes an alternate, slower path for connecting a source to a destination...

A binary data storage system of a data processing system is comprised of electrically independent storage modules, each module comprised of a matrix of electrically independent storage devices, with each storage device being an integral circuit element comprised of a first matrix of binary storage cells and associated selection circuitry, and a second matrix of binary storage cells and associated selection circuitry. The design of the binary storage cell of the first matrix and associated select...

A knowledge system has a hierarchical knowledge base comprising a functional decomposition of a set of elements into subsets over a plurality of hierarchical levels, a plurality of predefined functions or conditions of the elements within the subsets of a plurality of the hierarchical levels, and a predefined set of operations to perform on a user-defined set of elements responsive to the functional knowledge base. Preferably, the knowledge base is defined declaratively by assigning parent sets ...

A hierarchical communication system has multipaths for different levels of the heirarchy, each set of paths is assigned a criticalness to the successful operation of the system. Error rates for all of the paths are monitored. A threshold for defining an unusable data path is based upon the criticalness of the path to successful operation. That is, the more critical the path, the higher the error rate that will be sustained. A specific embodiment employs shift registers for indicating the error r...