Multi-input/multi-output block diagram grammar

Abstract

A multi-input/multi-output block diagram grammar for a block diagram with multiple inputs and/or multiple outputs is formalized in terms of a context-sensitive graph grammar. This grammar is defined by adding to the single-input, single-output block diagram grammar we proposed previously dummy nodes and new productions for dealing with multiple inputs and/or multiple outputs. A parser based on the multi-input/multi-output block diagram grammar is also implemented; it uses a bottom-up parallel algorithm to parse diagrams with multiple inputs and/or multiple outputs. The block diagram grammar defined in this paper makes a fundamental and important formal model for system analysis and design using block diagrams on a computer.