II.
DIGITAL ELECTRONICS
Computers are digital systems. Digital systems manipulate information that is represented by binary
digits. The circuits in the computer manipulate signals that must have one of two discrete levels high
or low, where high is interpreted as 1 and low is interpreted as 0 called bits(BInary digiTS). A
combination of 8bits is known as a byte, a combination of 4 bits is known as a nibble and a
combination of 16, 32 or 64 bits is known as a word.
Digital circuits use transistors (on/off switches) to create logic gates in order to perform Boolean logic
which provides a convenient mathematical framework that serves as the foundation of digital
electronics and computer processing.
1. Boolean Algebra
Boolean algebra also known as the algebra of logic was developed by an English mathematician
called George Boole. It deals with binary (Boolean) variables and logic operators operating on these
variables. In other words, Boolean logic allows us to specify the relationship between Boolean
variables. A Boolean or binary variable takes the value either 0 or 1 only. This means that if a variable
doesn't have the value 0, then it must have the value 1. If it doesn’t have the value 1, then it must have
the value 0. Logic operators operating on binary variables are AND ( or ·), OR (+) and NOT (‘).
1.1: Boolean expressions
When Boolean variables and operators are combined, this results to a Boolean expression. A Boolean
expression is an expression that will evaluate to true (1) or false (0). Symbols can be used to represent
Boolean variables just like with ordinary algebra, typically a single upper case letter. For example: A,
B, C, X, Y, Z etc. examples of Boolean expressions are:
1.2. Truth Tables
If we list all possible inputs to a Boolean expression and the corresponding outputs we obtain what is
called a truth table. A truth table shows the output for all possible values of the input variables for a
given Boolean expression. To construct a truth table, we evaluate the Boolean expression for all
possible combinations of values for the input variables. The number of possible combinations is
always equal to where is the number of input variables.
2. Logic Gates
A logic gate is an electronic switch that implements a simple Boolean function. Most logic gates take
an input of two binary values and produce a single value of 0 or 1 as output. There are seven different
types of logic gates namely NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR and XNOR.
2.1. NOT gate
The NOT gate is a logic gate that takes a single input and produces an output that is the inverse of the
input. This means that when the input is 1, the output is 0 and when the input is 0, the output is 1. The
NOT gate is also called an inverter because it produces the inverted version of the input at its output.
If the input variable to the NOT gate is A, the inverted output is known as NOT A. This is also shown
as A', or A with a bar over the top, as shown at the outputs. The symbol for a NOT gate is given as
follows.
Every logic gate has a truth table that shows the output for all inputs to the gate. The truth table for
the NOT gate is given as follows:
A ̅
0 1
1 0
AND Gate: An AND gate is a logic gate with two inputs and one output that performs
logical conjunction. The output of an AND gate is 1 only when all of the inputs are 1. If one
or all inputs are 0, then the output of the AND gate is 0.
Logic symbol for AND gate
𝑸
=𝑨
𝑨 𝑩 ∙𝑩
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
OR Gate: An OR gate is a logic gate with two inputs and one output that performs
logical disjunction. The output of an OR gate is 1 when one or all of its inputs are 1. If
all of an OR gate's inputs are 0, then the output of the OR gate is 0.
Logic symbol for OR gate
𝑸
= 𝑨
𝑨 𝑩 +𝑩
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1
NOT Gate: The NOT gate is a logic gate that takes a single input and produces an
output that is the inverse of the input. This means that when the input is 1, the output is
0 and when the input is 0, the output is 1. The NOT gate is also called an inverter
because it produces the inverted version of the input at its output.
Logic symbol for NOT
� ̅
𝑸= �
0
� 1 �
1 0
NAND Gate: A Negated-AND (NAND) gate is a logic gate with two inputs and one
output with behavior that is the opposite of an AND gate. The output of a NAND gate is
1 when one or both of its inputs are 0. If all of a NAND gate's inputs are 1, then the
output of the NAND gate is 0. Simply stated, the NAND gate operates like an AND
gate followed by a NOT gate.
Logic symbol for NAND gate
𝑸
=
𝑨 𝑩 ̅𝑨̅̅∙̅̅𝑩 ̅
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
NOR Gate: A Negated-OR (NOR) gate is a logic gate with two inputs and one output
with behavior that is the opposite of an OR gate. The output of a NOR gate is 1 if all of
its inputs are 0. If one or both of a NOR gate's inputs are 1, then the output of the NOR
gate is 0. The NOR gate operates as an OR gate followed by a NOT gate.
Logic symbol for NOR gate
𝑸
=
𝑨 𝑩 ̅𝑨̅̅+̅̅̅̅𝑩 ̅
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0
XOR Gate: An Exclusive-OR (XOR or EX-OR) gate is a logic gate with two inputs
and one output that performs exclusive disjunction. The output of an XOR gate is 1 only
when exactly one of its inputs is 1. If all of an XOR gate's inputs are 0, or if all of its
inputs are 1, then the output of the XOR gate is 0. Another way of looking at this gate is
to observe that the output is 1 if the inputs are different, but 0 if the inputs are different.
Logic symbol for XOR gate
𝐐
=𝐀
𝐀 𝐁 ⊕𝐁
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
XNOR Gate: An Exclusive NOR (XNOR or EX-NOR) gate is a logic gate with two
inputs and one output that performs logical equality. It operates like an XOR gate
followed by a NOT gate. The output of an XNOR gate is 1 when all of its inputs are 1
or when all of its inputs are 0. If one of its inputs is 1 and the other is 0, then the output
of the XNOR gate is 0. Another way of looking at this gate is to observe that the output
is 1 if the inputs are the same, but 0 if the inputs are different.
Logic symbol for XNOR gate
𝑸
= ̅ 𝑨̅̅⊕̅̅̅̅̅𝑩
𝑨 𝑩 ̅
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
5.1. Logic Circuits: A simple Boolean operation such as AND or OR, can be represented by
a simple logic gate. A more complex Boolean expression can be represented as a
combination of gates, resulting in a logic diagram that describes the entire expression.
This logic diagram represents the physical implementation of the given expression, or
the actual logic circuit. A logic circuit is a combination of logic gates. It produces
output based on the rules of logic it is designed to follow for the electrical signals it
receives as input.
Example 1: Give the output of the following logic circuit.
Example 2: What is the output of the following logic circuit?
Example 3: June 2017, Q4.a.
Example 4: The figure below shows a logic circuit with inputs A, B and C, and output
Q.
a. Give a logic expression for the above circuit in terms of A, B, C and Q.
b. Construct a truth table for the above circuit.
c. Two of the gates in the above circuit could be replaced by a single gate. Identify
them and draw the new circuit diagram with the new gate.
Example 5: Given the Boolean expression 𝒁 = 𝑨̅ ∙ 𝑩 + 𝑨 ∙ 𝑩̅
a. Draw a logic circuit for the Boolean expression Z.
b. Complete the corresponding truth table below.
