A FUNCTIONAL VMOS CIRCUIT FOR IMPLEMENTING CELLULAR-AUTOMATON PICTURE-PROCESSING DEVICES

This paper proposes a design of cell circuits for implementing cellula r-automaton devices that perform morphological picture processing. To produce the complex cell functions required for the morphological proc essing, we present the idea of using the silicon functional device, v- MOS FET. We designed sample cell circuits for several morphological pr ocessings, and simulated their operation to show the expected cell ope ration. We also designed a sample cellular-automaton circuit using the proposed cell circuits, and demonstrated in simulation its example pr ocessing (noise cleaning and edge extraction in an Image). A low dissi pation of about 20 mu W per cell circuit can be expected at 1 MHz oper ation; therefore, 10(5) or more cells that operate in parallel can be integrated into an LSI. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.