Abstract
This paper proposes a high speed programmable controller which executes sequence control specified by Petri Net. The programmable controller can perform logical operations for checking and firing transitions in parallel using a special hardware unit, named Fire Unit. And it decreases scan time for picking up input signals by means of interrupt mechanism. As Fire Unit can check whether a transition is fireable or not in 2 memory cycles, the programmable controller can execute Petri Net control in six memory cycles. Assuming that it is implemented by memories of 100 nano second memory cycle, it performs Petri Net control in 600ns. It is more than 100 times faster than conventional programmable controllers. We designed Fire Unit in gate level logic, and showed that it can be implemented as an ASIC memory in the current VLSI technology.
