q-ary

views updated

q-ary (q-valued) Having q values, where q is a positive integer not less than 2. In logic circuits, the treatment of q values is called multivalued logic, or binary logic for q = 2. In coding theory, some codes are restricted to the binary case; others can operate with arbitrary q or with q a prime number. Throughout switching and coding theory, the binary case is by far the most important. See also polynomial.