ABSTRACT
1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we demonstrate the application of a precise mathematical notation to the design and manipulation of computational networks. This notation captures the concepts of arithmetic operations (such as addition and multiplication) and of timing (e.g., delay). Once a design is expressed by means of such a mathematical notation, it can be evaluated objectively against a predefined set of design objectives, such as performance and cost. Throughout this chapter the term "design" means the structure/architecture of the computational network. This term is the hardware equivalent of the software term "algorithm."
