TABLE OF CONTENTS Ian Grout
A digital circuit or system utilizes and manipulates binary data to perform a required operation. Essentially, groups of bits of data are converted from one value to another at a particular point in time. Software-programmed processors typically manipulate groups of 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 bits of data, although a custom design could manipulate as many bits as required.
Binary data is manipulated using the following:
Boolean logic provides a means to display the operations on input signals and produce a result in mathematical terms using AND, NAND, OR, NOR, EXOR, EX-NOR, and NOT logical operations.
Truth tables provide a means to display the operations on input signals and produce a result in table format.
Karnaugh maps provide a means to display the operations on input signals and produce a result on a K-map, which allows logic values to be grouped together with loops.
Circuit schematics provide a graphical representation of the Boolean logic expression using logic gate symbols for the logical operations and the connections between the terminals.
Boolean logic, truth tables, Karnaugh maps, and circuit schematics are used in the design and analysis of digital circuits and systems, and the designer must move between these different representations of circuit and system operation many times during the design process. However, these tools are really only suited for design by hand (as it were) for small circuits; for more complex circuits and systems, hardware description languages (HDL) are more commonly used. Understanding...
