Patent US 5,404,540

A multiple-input arbiter first mutually correlates groups of input signals for identifying a particular group, which includes at least one input signal that is a candidate for gaining the overall priority. Thereupon the priority winner is determined in that particular group. Such a hierarchical processing lends itself to an architecture wherein the processing in groups is implemented by cascaded levels of uniform logic blocks. The decomposition in uniform logic blocks considerably simplifies the design of arbiters that process large numbers of input signals.