7 Counter and Divider

In the group of finite state machines the so-called "counters" are forming the probably most important subgroup.

But the term "counter" should not be associated with a strictly numerically output of these FSMs. In a similar way in which the symbols '0' and '1' have a meaning in digital design that allows an interpretation going beyond pure numbers, the output signal of a counter device can control other switching elements.

Under this consideration FSMs will be developed in the following, that will run through predefined sequences and are able in their individual states to output corresponding bit patterns. These bit patterns can then be interpreted as counting sequences.