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，其中X’和
可以是任意两个子系统，而
是两个子系统间的耦合关系。在论文中，作者研究了以下两种情况（见图2）：
。此时，编码器内各元件独立工作；
。此时，编码器内各元件协同工作（例如芯片中各计算单元由电路连接）；
，其任意子系统X’同样满足
。即，对于无内部耦合关系的编码器，系统整体的热力学损耗一定大于等于该编码器内部任意子系统编码的信息量。此时，编码器整体信息热力学效率（信息增益与热力学损耗之比）大于等于任意子系统元件编码的信息热力学效率。从另一个角度来说，此时编码器的冗余量很低。
。即，对于有内部耦合关系的编码器，该编码器内部任意子系统编码的信息量可能大于系统整体的热力学损耗。此时，可能存在子系统元件编码的信息热力学效率比编码器X整体信息热力学效率更高的情况。从另一个角度来说，此时编码器的冗余量很大。对于芯片等计算元件，可以通过搜索符合条件的子系统X’作为新的编码器，此时不仅降低了系统的复杂度和功耗，还可能编码更多的信息。
