Part II(Digital Components)

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Objectives:
After completing this chapter you will be:
• Familiar with integrated circuit (IC)
• Familiar with common combinational circuits (Adder,
multiplexer, and decoder)
• Familiar with common sequential circuits (registers and
binary counters)
• Familiar with memory circuits (RAM and ROM)
• Able to appreciate the characteristics and applications
of different digital circuitry

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2.1 Integrated Circuits
• Integrated circuit (IC) is the basic building block of digital
circuits.
• It is a small silicon semiconductor crystal, called a chip,
containing the electronic components for the digital gates.
• The various gates are interconnected inside the chip to form the
required circuit.
• The chip is mounted in a ceramic or plastic container, and
connections are welded by thin gold wires to external pins to form
the IC.
• As the technology of ICs has improved, the number of gates that
can be put in a single chip has increased.
o Small-scale integration (SSI) devices contain several (usually
less than 10) independent gates in a single package.

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 o Medium-scale integration (MSI) devices contain
approximately 10 to 200 gates in a single package.
They usually perform specific elementary digital functions such
as decoders, adders, and registers.

• Large-scale integration (LSI) devices contain between 200 and a

few thousands gates in a single package. They include digital
systems such as processors, memory chips, and programmable
modules.
• Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) contain thousands of gates
in a single package. Example large memory arrays and complex
microcomputer chips.

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• Digital integrated circuits are classified not only by their logic
operation but also by the specific circuit technology to which they
belong. \
• The circuit technology is referred to as a digital logic family. Each
logic family has its own basic electronic circuit upon which more
complex digital circuits and functions are developed.
• The basic circuit in each technology is either a NAND, a NOR, or
an inverter gate.
• The electronic components that are employed in the construction
of the basic circuit are usually used for the name of the
technology.
• Many different logic families of integrated circuits have been
introduced commercially. The most popular are:
-TTL -Transistor-transistor logic
-ECL -Emitter-coupled logic
-MOS -Metal-oxide semiconductor
-CMOS -Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
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2.2 Common Combinational Circuits
A combinational circuit is an interconnected set of gates
whose output at any time is a function only of the input at
that time.
As with a single gate, the appearance of the input is
followed almost immediately by the appearance of the
output, with only gate delays. In general terms, a
combinational circuit consists of n binary inputs and m
binary outputs. As with a gate, a combinational circuit can
be defined in three ways:

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 - Truth table: For each of the 2n possible combinations of input
signals, the binary value of each of the m output signals is listed.
- Graphical symbols: The interconnected layout of gates is
depicted.
- Boolean equations: Each output signal is expressed as a
Boolean function of its input signals.
• A combinational circuit neither contains a periodic clock signal
nor has any provisions for storage. There are no feedbacks
involved and the output at all time is dependent on the inputs
provided.
• The name combinational is derived from the combinations of logic
gates used for such circuits.

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• A combinational system (device) is a digital system in which the
value of the output at any instant depends only on the value of the
input at that same instant (and not on previous values).
• The combinational circuits are include Adders, multiplexers and de-
multiplexers, decoders, encoders , and comparators.

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SOME POPULAR COMBINATIONAL CIRCUITS
1. Adders
• Binary addition differs from Boolean algebra in that the result
includes a carry term. Thus,Addition is the most common
arithmetic operation performed by processors.
• If a processor has hardware capable of adding two numbers, the
other three primitive arithmetic operations can also be performed
using the addition hardware.
• Subtraction is performed by adding the subtrahend expressed in
either 2`s or 1`s complement form to the minuend; multiplication is
repeated addition of multiplicand to itself by multiplier number of
times; and division is the repeated subtraction of divisor from
dividend.
• However, addition can still be dealt with in Boolean terms. we
show the logic for adding two input bits to produce a 1-bit sum and
a carry bit.
• A digital arithmetic circuit that carries out the addition of a pair of
bits is called a half adder. 9
 A. Half Adder
• Combinational logic circuits give us
many useful devices.
• One of the simplest is the half adder,
which finds the sum of two bits.
• We can gain some insight as to the
construction of a half adder by
looking at its truth table, shown at the
right.

• As we see, the sum can be found

using the XOR operation and the
carry using the AND operation.

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• The adder circuits provide the basic capability to perform arithmetic
operations.
• The simplest of the adders is called a half-adder, which adds two
bits and produces a sum and carry output.
• The problem with the half-adder is that we cannot use it to build
adders that can add more than two 1-bit numbers.

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• Figure Half- Adders with truth tables
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 Figure -Half-adder circuits

• However, we are not interested in performing addition

on just a single pair of bits. Rather, we wish to add two
n-bit numbers along with a carry from a previous
bitwise addition. Such digital circuit is called a full
adder. 13
B. Full Adder
• We can change our half adder into to a full adder
by including gates for processing the carry bit.
• A combination of two half adders creates a full
adder. This can be done by putting together a set of
adders so that the carry from one adder is provided
as input to the next.
• The truth table for a full adder is shown at the
right.
• A full adder adds 3 bits, producing a SUM bit and
a CARRY bit as its outputs.

HALF ADDER FULL ADDER 14

A logic circuit which performs addition of three
binary bits is called a Full-adder. A full adder can be
built using two half adders and an OR gate.

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2. Decoders
• A decoder is a combinational circuit with a number of output lines,
only one of which is selected at any time, depending on the pattern
of input lines. In general, a decoder has n inputs and 2n outputs.
• An n-to-2n decoder is a circuit that converts the n-bit input data into
2n outputs (at the maximum).
• At any time only one output line corresponding to the combination
on the input lines will be 1; all the other outputs will be 0.
• The outputs are usually numbered from 0 to (2n -1).

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• Decoders find many uses in digital computers. One example is
address decoding. Suppose we wish to construct a 1K-byte memory
using four–bit RAM chips. We want a single unified address space,
which can be broken down as follows:

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• It is not usually necessary to draw a truth table for a
decoder.
• There would be a single 1 in each output column of the
truth table and the product (or SUM) term corresponding
to that 1 could be easily derived.
• The Figure below shows the circuit diagram of a 3-to-8
decoder.
• The 3 inputs are designated A, B, and C, with C as the
least significant bit (LSB). The outputs are numbered 0
through 7.
Code Converters
• A code converter translates an input code word into an
output bit pattern corresponding to a new code word.
• A decoder is a code converter that changes an n-bit code
word into a 2n-bit code word.
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 19
Figure 3-to-8 decoder circuit
3. Encoders
• Encoders perform the reverse operation of decoders. Encoders take
input lines and generate a -bit binary number on output lines.
• An encoder generates an n-bit code word as a function of the
combination of values on its input. At the maximum, there can be 2n
inputs.

• The design of an encoder is executed by first drawing a truth

table that shows the n-bit output needed for each of the 2n
combinations of inputs.
• The circuit diagrams are then derived for each output bit.

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4. Multiplexers
• A multiplexer is a switch that connects one of its several inputs to
the output.
• The multiplexer connects multiple inputs to a single output. At any
time, one of the inputs is selected to be passed to the output.
• A set of n control inputs/selectors is needed to select one of the 2n
inputs that is to be connected to the output.

• To select one of the four possible inputs, a 2-bit selection code is

needed, and this is implemented as two select lines labeled C1
and C0. 21
Figure A 4-to-1 multiplexer 22
5. De-multiplexers
• The de-multiplexer performs the inverse function of a multiplexer;
it connects a single input to one of several outputs.
• A de-multiplexer has one input and several outputs.
• It switches (connects) the input to one of its outputs based on the
combination of values on a set of control (select) inputs.
• If there are n control signals, there can be a maximum of 2n outputs.

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2.3. Sequential Circuits
• Combinational circuits and systems produce an output based on input
variables only.
• Combinational logic circuits are perfect for situations when we require
the immediate application of a Boolean function to a set of inputs.
• There are other times, however, when we need a circuit to change its
value with consideration to its current state as well as its inputs.
• These circuits have to “remember” their current state.
• Sequential logic circuits provide this functionality for us.
• Sequential circuits use current input variables and previous input
variables by storing the information and putting back into the circuit on
the next clock.
• A sequential circuit involves feedback and has memory (so it is
employed for designing RAM).
• It also has a periodic clock signal and hence the output is also a
function of time in addition to being a function of inputs and previous
outputs.
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• The name sequential is derived as the output is produced in sequences
as the clock circuit enables and disables the functioning.
• A sequential circuit consists of a feedback path, and employs some
memory elements.
Combinational outputs
Memory outputs

Combinational logic Memory elements

External inputs
Sequential circuit = Combinational logic + Memory Elements
• The defining characteristic of a combinational circuit is that its output
depends only on the current inputs applied to the circuit.
• The output of a sequential circuit, on the other hand, depends both on
the current input values as well as the past inputs. This dependence on
past inputs gives the property of “memory” for sequential circuits. 25
• In general, the sequence of past inputs is encoded into a set of state variables.
• There is a feedback path that feeds these variables to the input of a
combinational circuit as shown below.
• Sometimes, this feedback consists of a simple interconnection of some outputs
of the combinational circuit to its inputs. For the most part, however, the
feedback circuit consists of elements such as flip-flops.
• These elements themselves are sequential circuits that can remember or store
the state information.

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• For sequential circuits, the process is not as simple due to their
dependence on the past inputs.
• This makes it even more imperative to develop a theoretical foundation
for designing arbitrary sequential circuits.
▪ There are two types of sequential circuits:
❖synchronous: outputs change only at specific time
A sequential circuit is said to be synchronous if the internal state of the
machine changes at specific instants of time as governed by a clock.
❖asynchronous: outputs change at any time
Clock Signal
• Digital circuits can operate in asynchronous or synchronous mode.
• Circuits that operate in asynchronous mode are independent of each other.
That is, the time at which a change occurs in one circuit has no relation to
the time a change occurs in another circuit.
• Asynchronous mode of operation causes serious problems in a typical
digital system in which the output of one circuit goes as input to several
others.
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• Similarly, a single circuit may receive outputs of several circuits as
inputs. Asynchronous mode of operation implies that all required
inputs to a circuit may not be valid at the same time.
• To avoid these problems, circuits are operated in synchronous
mode.
• In this mode, all circuits in the system change their state at some
precisely defined instants. The clock signal in a digital system
provides such a global definition of time instants at which changes
can take place.
• Implicit in this definition is the fact that the clock signal also
specifies the speed at which a circuit can operate.
• A clock is a sequence of 1s and 0s as shown in Figure below.
• We refer to the period during which the clock is 1 as the ON period
and the period with 0 as the OFF period.
• Even though we normally use symmetric clock signals with equal
ON and OFF periods as in Figure a, clock signals can take
asymmetric forms as shown in Figures b and c.
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Figure : Three types of clock signals with the same clock period. 29
• The clock signal edge going from 0 to 1 is referred to as the rising
edge (also called the positive or leading edge).
• The falling edge is also referred to as a negative or trailing edge.
• A clock cycle is defined as the time between two successive rising
edges as shown in Figure above.
• You can also treat the period between successive falling edges as a
clock cycle.
• Clock rate or frequency is measured in number of cycles per
second. This number is referred to as Hertz (Hz).
• The abbreviation MHz refers to millions of cycles per second.
• The clock period is defined as the time represented by one clock
cycle.
• All three clock signals in the Figure have the same clock period.

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• The clock signal serves two distinct purposes in a digital circuit.
1. It provides the global synchronization signal for the entire system.
• Each clock cycle provides three distinct epochs: start of a clock
cycle, end of a clock cycle, and an intermediate point at which the
clock signal changes levels.
• This intermediate point is in the middle of a clock cycle for
symmetric clock signals.
2. The other equally important purpose is to provide timing
information in the form of a clock period (e.g., time to complete an
operation such as logical AND).

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Figure

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State changes occur in sequential circuits only when the clock ticks
(it’s “synchronous”) – otherwise the circuit is “asynchronous” and
depends on wobbly input signals.
Circuits that change state on the rising edge, or falling edge of the
clock pulse are called edge-triggered.
Level-triggered circuits change state when the clock voltage reaches
its highest or lowest level.

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Examples Sequential Circuits
1. Flip-Flops
• The simplest form of sequential circuit is the flip-flop.
• The storage elements employed in clocked sequential
circuits are called flip-flops.
• A flip-flop is a binary cell capable of storing one bit
information.
• It has two outputs, one for the normal value and one for
the complement value of the bit stored in it.
• A flip-flop maintains a binary state until directed by a
clock pulse to switch states.

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• There are a variety of flip flops, all of which share two
properties:
• The flip-flop is a bistable device, i.e. has two stable
states. It exists in one of two states and, in the
absence of input, remains in that state. Thus, the flip-
flop can function as a 1-bit memory.
• The flip-flop has two outputs, which are always the
complements of each other. These are generally
labeled Q and Q .
• The difference among various types of flip-flops is in
the number of inputs they possess and in the manner in
which the inputs affect the binary state.

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 a) SR Flip-flop or S–R Latch
• Figure below shows a common configuration known as the S–R
flip-flop or S–R latch. The circuit has two inputs, S (Set) and R
Q
(Reset), and two outputs, Q and , and consists of two NOR gates
connected in a feedback arrangement.

Figure : The S-R latch implemented

with NOR gate

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• First, let us show that the circuit is bistable. Assume that both S
and R are 0 and that Q is 0. The inputs to the lower NOR gate are
and Thus, the output meansQthat the inputs Q to the upper NOR gate
are Q = 0 and S = 0. Thus the output Q = 1 means that the inputs to
the upper NOR gate are Q = 1 and R = 0 which has the output Q =
0. Thus, the state of the circuit is internally consistent and remains
stable as long as S = R = 0. A similar line of reasoning shows that
Q
the state Q = 1, Q = 0 is also stable for R = S = 0.

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• Thus, this circuit can function as a 1-bit memory. We can view the
output Q as the “value” of the bit. The inputs S and R serve to
write the values 1 and 0, respectively,
Q
Qinto memory. To see this,

consider the state Q = 0, = 1, S = 0, R = 0. Suppose that S

changes to the value 1. Now the inputs to the lower NOR gate are
S = 1, Q = 0. After some time delay Δt, the output of the lower
NOR gate will be Q = 0. So, at this point in time, the inputs to the
Q
upper NOR gate become R = 0, Q = 0.

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Clocked S–R Flip-Flop
• The output of the S–R latch changes, after a brief time delay, in
response to a change in the input. This is referred to as
asynchronous operation. More typically, events in the digital
computer are synchronized to a clock pulse, so that changes
occur only when a clock pulse occurs. Figure below shows this
arrangement. This device is referred to as a clocked S–R flip-
flop. Note that the R and S inputs are passed to the NOR gates
only during the clock pulse.

Figure : Clocked S-R flip-flop

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B. D Flip-Flop
• One problem with S–R flip-flop is that the condition SR = 11 input
combination must be avoided. One way to do this is to allow just a single
input. The D flip-flop accomplishes this. Figure below shows a gate
implementation and the characteristic table of the D flip-flop. By using an
inverter, the non-clock inputs to the two AND gates are guaranteed to be the
opposite of each other.

Figure : D flip flop

• The D flip-flop is sometimes referred to as the data flip-flop because it

is, in effect, storage for one bit of data. The output of the D flip-flop is
always equal to the most recent value applied to the input. Hence, it
remembers and produces the last input. It is also referred to as the
delay flip-flop, because it delays a 0 or 1 applied to its input for a
single clock pulse. We can capture the logic of the D flip-flop in the
following truth table:
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C. J–K Flip-Flop
• Like the S–R flip-flop, it has two inputs. However, in this case all possible
combinations of input values are valid. Figure below shows a gate
implementation of the J–K flip-flop, and next Figure shows its
characteristic table (along with those for the S–R and D flip-flops).
• Note that the first three combinations are the same as for the S–R flip-
flop. With no input asserted, the output is stable. If only the J input is
asserted, the result is a set function, causing the output to be 1; if only the
K input is asserted, the result is a reset function, causing the output to be
0.When both J and K are 1, the function performed is referred to as the
toggle function: the output is reversed. Thus, if Q is 1 and 1 is applied to
J and K, then Q becomes 0.

Figure : J-K flip-flop

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Figure : Basic flip-flops 42
2. REGISTERS
• A register is a storage device capable of holding binary data; it is a collection
of flip-flops.
• An n-bit register is built of n flip-flops. Figure below shows a 4-bit register
built out of four D flip-flops.
• There are four input lines, IN1, IN2, IN3, and IN4, each connected to the D
input of the corresponding flip-flop.
• When a clock pulse occurs, the data from input lines IN1 through IN4 enter
the register.
• The clock thus loads the register.
• The loading is in parallel, since all four bits enter the register simultaneously.
• Q outputs of flip-flops are connected to output lines OUT1 through OUT4
and hence all four bits of data (i.e., contents of the register) are available
simultaneously (i.e., in parallel) on the output lines.
• Hence, this is a parallel-input (parallel-load), parallel-output register.

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Figure :A 4-bit
register

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• At each clock pulse, a 4-bit data input enters the register from input
lines IN1 through IN4 and remains in the register until the next
clock pulse.
• The clock controls the loading of the register as shown in Fig.
below.
• LOAD must be 1 for data to enter the register.
• The CLEAR signal shown in Fig. below leads zeros into the register
(i.e., clears the register).
• Clearing a register is a common operation and is normally done
through the asynchronous clear input (RESET) provided on flip-
flops.
• Thus, when asynchronous inputs are used, a clearing operation can
be done independent of the clock.
• The CLEAR signal shown in Fig. below clears the register
asynchronously.
• In this scheme, the CLEAR input must be set to 1 for clearing the
register and should be brought to 0 to deactivate RESET and allow45
resumption of normal operation.
 Figure - A 4-bit register
with CLEAR and LOAD

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Shift Registers
• A shift register accepts and/or transfers information serially. Consider, for
example, Figure below, which shows a 5-bit shift register constructed from
clocked D flip-flops. Data are input only to the leftmost flip-flop. With each
clock pulse, data are shifted to the right one position, and the rightmost bit is
transferred out.
• Shift registers can be used to interface to serial I/O devices. In addition, they
can be used within the ALU to perform logical shift and rotate functions. In
this latter capacity, they need to be equipped with parallel read/write circuitry
as well as serial.

Figure : 5-bit shift register

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3. Counters
• Another useful category of sequential circuit is the counter.
• A counter is a register whose value is easily incremented by 1 modulo the
capacity of the register; that is, after the maximum value is achieved the next
increment sets the counter value to 0. Thus, a register made up of n flip-flops
can count up to 2n-1. An example of a counter in the CPU is the program
counter.
• Counters can be designated as asynchronous or synchronous, depending on
the way in which they operate.
• Asynchronous counters are relatively slow because the output of one flip-flop
triggers a change in the status of the next flip-flop.
• In a synchronous counter, all of the flip-flops change state at the same time.
Because the latter type is much faster, it is the kind used in CPUs.

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2.4. Memory
• The memory of a computer system consists of tiny electronic switches, with
each switch in one of two states: open or closed.
• It is, however, more convenient to think of these states as 0 and 1, rather than
open and closed.
• Thus, each switch can represent a bit.
• The memory unit consists of millions of such bits.
• In order to make memory more manageable, eight bits are grouped into a
byte.
• Memory can then be viewed as consisting of an ordered sequence of bytes.
• Each byte in this memory is identified by its sequence number starting with
0, shown in Figure below.
• This is referred to as the memory address of the byte.
• Such memory is called byte addressable memory because each byte has a
unique address.

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Figure Logical view of the system memory.
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Random-Access Memory
• In random access memory (RAM) the memory cells can be accessed for
information transfer from any desired random location. That is, the process of
locating a word in memory is the same and requires an equal amount of time
no matter where the cells are located physically in memory: thus the name
“random access.” RAM is made of sequential circuit components.
• Communication between a memory and its environment is achieved through
data input and output lines, address selection lines, and control lines that
specify the direction of transfer.
• The two operations that a RAM can perform are the write and read
operations. The write signal specifies a transfer-in operation and the read
signal specifies a transfer-out operation. On accepting one of these control
signals, the internal circuits inside the memory provide the desired function.

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Read-Only Memory
• Combinational circuits are often referred to as “memoryless” circuits,
because their output depends only on their current input and no history of
prior inputs is retained. However, there is one sort of memory that is
implemented with combinational circuits, namely read-only memory (ROM).
• Recall that a ROM is a memory unit that performs only the read operation.
This implies that the binary information stored in a ROM is permanent and
was created during the fabrication process. Thus, a given input to the ROM
(address lines) always produces the same output (data lines). Because the
outputs are a function only of the present inputs, the ROM is in fact a
combinational circuit.

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2.5. Physical Considerations

• Gate Delays:
Time taken by a gate to produce output after receiving input.
• Fan-In:
Number of inputs a gate can handle.
• Fan-Out:
Number of outputs driven by a single gate’s output.
• Minimizing delays and managing fan-in/fan-out ensures
efficient circuit performance.

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 Conclusion
• Computer circuits consist of combinational logic circuits
and sequential logic circuits.
• Combinational circuits produce outputs (almost)
immediately when their inputs change.
• Sequential circuits require clocks to control their
changes of state.
• The basic sequential circuit unit is the flip-flop: The
behaviors of the SR, JK, and D flip-flops are the most
important to know.
• The behavior of sequential circuits can be expressed
using characteristic tables or through various finite state
machines.

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