On the decomposition of generalized semiautomata

Abstract: Semi-automata are abstractions of electronic devices that are deterministic finite-state machines having inputs but no outputs. Generalized semiautomata are obtained from stochastic semiautomata by dropping the restrictions imposed by probability. It is well-known that each stochastic semiautomaton can be decomposed into a sequential product of a dependent source and a deterministic semiautomaton making partly use of the celebrated theorem of Birkhoff-von Neumann. It will be shown that each generalized semiautomaton can be partitioned into a sequential product of a generalized dependent source and a deterministic semiautomaton.