Design implementations of ternary logic systems: A critical review

Abstract

In the electronics industry, binary devices have played a critical role since the development of solid-state transistors. While binary technology associates devices' inherent ability to be either ON or OFF with two logic levels, it offers the least amount of information content per interconnect. There's a strong push to switch to a higher radix logic/number system, which can eliminate or reduce many of the limitations of the binary system, due to the exponential growth of data processing and storage needs. The beyond-binary logic systems are strongly motivated by the need to increase processing speed and information density in future micro and nanoelectronic circuits and systems, as well as the expectation that Moore's law will eventually reach saturation. Due to its ability to increase circuit efficiency, multi-valued logic is becoming more and more significant. Novel post-CMOS devices have been designed and made easier to implement ternary logic thanks to technological advances in material science and nanotechnology. When it comes to low power and energy consumption, low complexity, low on-chip and off-chip interconnections, and high speed, the ternary system outperforms the binary system. In order to provide as a starting point for future research and development in the field of ternary logic circuits, this paper provides a brief overview of the implementation of ternary logic systems and their related benefits for the design of digital logic circuit applications using CMOS and various emerging devices as design elements.