MINAS : an algorithm for systematic state assignment of sequential machines : computational aspects and results

One of the central problems in the physical realization of sequential machines is the selection of binary codes to represent the internal states of the machine. The Method of Maximal Adjacencies can be viewed as an approach to the state assignment problem. This research report concentrates on simple, practical strategies to implement that method. A fully-described program in Pascal has been included and serves a two-fold purpose: (1) it exposes concrete practical solutions, which encourages the reader to try other strategies on his (her) own; (2) it has been conceived from a general standpoint that allows to check the correctness of different theoretic concepts emerging from the Method of Maximal Adjacencies. A set of industrial sequential machines has been chosen to test the program. Results from other existing methods have been also reported.