Implementation of O(n) complexity max/min circuits for fuzzy and connectionist computing

O(n) complexity electronic circuits are proposed for maximum (minimum) selection/propagation of n analog input voltages. The proposed min/max circuits employ electronic amplifiers and diodes and are easily realizable with CMOS VLSI technology. Theoretical analysis and experimental results with off-the-shelf components are presented. These circuits are of low complexity in the sense that the number of transistors and/or connections required scales linearly in the number of inputs, n. An analytical expression for the accuracy of the proposed circuits in terms of the number of inputs and amplifier gain is derived. It shows that high-resolution low-complexity analog max/min modules are feasible. The authors´ results hinge on the ability to map a sequential algorithm for the computation of Max (Min) functions onto a simple collective computing architecture