A machine-learning accelerator system, comprising: a plurality of controllers each configured to traverse a feature map with n-dimensions according to instructions that specify, for each of the n-dimensions, a respective traversal size, wherein each controller comprises: a counter stack comprising counters each associated with a respective dimension of the n-dimensions of the feature map, wherein each counter is configured to increment a respective count from a respective initial value to the respective traversal size associated with the respective dimension associated with that counter; a plurality of address generators each configured to use the respective counts of the counters to generate at least one memory address at which a portion of the feature map is stored; and a dependency controller computing module configured to (1) track conditional statuses for incrementing the counters and (2) allow or disallow each of the counters to increment based on the conditional statuses.