Chapter 10
Molecular Computing Systems
‘The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.’
Bertrand Russell
10.1 Introduction
Simple logic gates (cf. Chapter 9) can perform only basic logic operations. Practical application of any logic device requires a much more complex logic structure, including complex logic functions performed on large data sets, multiplexing and demultiplexing of data streams, arithmetic operations, encoding, decoding and so on. The molecular logic systems presented so far are not complex enough to fulfil these requirements and in most cases are not susceptible to concatenation. However, there are molecular systems capable of more complex data processing or processing of a larger number of input parameters in parallel. Moreover, there are some molecular systems capable of sequential data processing: this category includes flip-flops, latches and molecular keypad locks/security systems. Some other molecular systems are easily reconfigurable: the changed nature of inputs or some other external parameters can alter the logic functionality implemented in a simple molecular system.
10.2 Reconfigurable and Superimposed Molecular Logic Devices
Reconfigurable logic devices are very important components of modern electronic devices. They are usually large arrays of logic gates and the internal connections between particular elements can be changed on demand. ...
