Functional Type Expressions of Sequential Circuits with the Notion of Referring Forms

Abstract: This paper introduces the notion of referring forms as a new metric for analyzing sequential circuits from a functional perspective. Sequential circuits are modeled as causal stream functions, the outputs of which depend solely on the past and current inputs. Referring forms are defined based on the type expressions of functions and represent how a circuit refers to past inputs. The key contribution of this study is identifying a universal property in multiple clock domain circuits using referring forms. This theoretical framework is expected to enhance the comprehension and analysis of sequential circuits.