Multi-bit binary decoder based on Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Abstract

It is known that Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction can be applied to chemical computation, e.g., image processing, computational geometry, logical computation, and so on. In the field of logical computation, some basic logic gates and basic combinational logic circuits, such as adder, counter, memory cell, have already been implemented in simulations or in chemical experiments. In this paper, we focus on another important combinational logic circuit, binary decoder. Integrating AND gate and NOT gate, we first design and implement a one-bit binary decoder through numerical simulation. Then we show that one-bit decoder can be extended to design two-bit, three-bit, or even higher bit binary decoders by a cascade method. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of these devices. The chemical realization of decoders can guide the construction of more sophisticated functions based on BZ reaction; meanwhile, the cascade method can facilitate the design of other combinational logic circuits.