A Formal Language for Describing Machine Logic, Timing, and Sequencing (LOTIS)

Abstract

An informal description of the LOTIS language is presented. LOTIS is intended for formally describing the logical structure, the sequencing, and the timing of digital machines. An effort has been made to produce a hardware notation that is convenient and lucid, precise and flexible. In a LOTIS machine description, every linguistic constituent corresponds to a unique machine element. Timing can be specified in the synchronous or asynchronous mode or in any combination of both. Autonomous control units have a notational counterpart by which, concurrency of several machine sequences, timesharing of facilities by several control units, and interlocks, can be concisely expressed. A machine description has a hierarchical structure with an arbitrary number of levels; this permits it to be readily segmented. Depending on the focus of interest, the level of descriptive detail can be varied over the different segments. Copyright © 1964 — The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.