Coding the States of a Finite Automaton

The lower bound of the number $n$ of internal elements (storage elements) of an automaton is deduced, subject to the condition that the automaton is stable to critical race conditions and to defects in its internal elements. A simple method of coding the internal states of the automaton is given; it enables the lower bound to be attained in a number of cases. For other cases an algorithm for coding the internal states of the automaton is deduced in which, although $n$ attains a minimal value, the inspection is not the last item.