Digital-summation threshold-logic gates: a new circuit element

Threshold-logic gates are memoryless, multiple-binary-input single-binary-output circuits that operate by an arithmetic summation process to determine the 0 or 1 gate output state. The availability of such gates would be of great advantage to digitial system design. A new approach to the circuit realisation of such gates is presented here, i.e. to use digital-summation techniques within the gate circuitry, as distinct from the analogue-summation techniques previously employed. The adoption of digital summation removes the former circuit-tolerance problems, and allows gates with great potential usefulness to be readily designed.