PROBLEMS

1. Write down the advantages of digital ICs over discrete

circuits
Answer
 Cost is low because the chips, with all their
components, are printed as a unit by
photolithography rather than being constructed one
transistor at a time. Furthermore, packaged ICs use
much less material than discrete circuits.
 Performance is high because the IC's components
switch quickly and consume little power (compared
to their discrete counterparts) as a result of the small
size and close proximity of the components
 Extremely small size—thousands times smaller than
discrete circuit. It is because of fabrication of
various circuit elements in a single chip of semi-
conductor material

 Very small weight owing to miniaturized circuit

 Very low cost because of simultaneous production

of hundreds of similar circuits on a small
 semiconductor wafer. Owing to mass production an
IC costs as much as an individual transistor

 More reliable because of elimination of soldered

joints and need for fewer inter-connections

 Low power consumption because of their smaller

size

 Easy replacement as it is more economical to

replace them than to repair them

 Increased operating speeds because of absence of

parasitic capacitance effect

 Close matching of components and temperature

coefficients because of bulk production in batches

 Improved functional performance as more complex

circuits can be fabricated for achieving better
characteristics

 Greater ability of operating at extreme temperatures

  Suitable for small signal operation because of no
chance of stray electrical pickup as various
components of an IC are located very close to each
other on a silicon wafer

 No component project above the chip surface in an

IC as all the components are formed within the chip

2. What are the four basic types of shift registers? Draw a block
diagram for each of them.
Answer
i. Serial-in serial-out shift register

ii. Serial In parallel Out shift register

iii.Parallel In Serial Out shift register

iv. Parallel in Parallel out shift register

3. A shift register has seven flip-flops. What is the largest binary

number that can be stored in it?
Answer
7-bit binary number

4. Which flip-flop is best suited for designing a counter and why?

Answer
J-K flip-flops are ideally suited for this task, because they have the
ability to "toggle" their output state at the command of a clock
pulse when both J and K inputs are made "high" (1)
5. Describe five specifications of Digital –to- analog (D/A)
converters
Answer
The following characteristics of D/A converters are generally
specified by the manufacturers.
1. Resolution.
It is defined by the smallest possible change in the output
voltage as a fraction or percentage of the full-scale output
range. If an 8-bit D/A converter are considered for an
example, there are 28 or 256 possible values of output
analog voltage. Hence the smallest change in the output
voltage is 1/255th of full-scale output range. Therefore, the
resolution is calculated as 1/255 or 0.4%. So a general
expression of resolution for an N-bit D/A converter may be
defined as below.

2. Linearity.
In D/A converters, it is desired that equal increments in the
numerical significance of the digital inputs should result in
equal increments in the analog output voltage.
3. Accuracy.
The accuracy of a D/A converter is determined by the
measure of the difference between the actual output voltage
and the expected output voltage. It is specified as the
percentage of maximum output or the full-scale output
voltage. For example, if a D/A converter is specified as the
accuracy of 0.1%, with full-scale of maximum output
voltage of 10 V, the maximum error at output voltage
corresponding to any input combination will be 10 ×
0.1/100 V = 10 mV.
4. Settling time.
 It is one of the important governing factors of a D/A
converter. For any change in digital input, the analog output
voltage does not instantaneously attain its expected value
corresponding to the digital input and takes some time to
attain the steady state output. This is due to transients that
appear at the output voltage and oscillation may occur
because of the presence of switches, active devices, stray
capacitance, and inductance associated with passive circuit
components.
5. Temperature sensitivity.
The analog output voltage for any fixed digital input varies
with temperature. This is due to the temperature
sensitiveness of various active and passive components like
reference voltage source, resistors, diodes, transistors, OP
AMPs, etc. The temperature sensitivity is defined by the
change in output voltage from its expected value in respect
to temperature and is specified in terms of ± ppm/°C.

6. Describe five specifications of analog –to- Digital (A/D)

converters

Answer
1. Range of input voltage.
This is the factor that specifies the minimum and maximum
analog input voltage that can be accepted by an A/D
converter.

2. Input impedance.
This is an important design criterion that limits the
maximum input current to the A/D converter without
deteriorating its performance or damage.

3. Accuracy.
 It is the error involved in the conversion process and is
represented in %.

4. Conversion time.
This characteristic specifies the maximum time required for
the conversion process and is very critical while interfacing
with other devices and synchronization with time. The
output is considered only after the end of conversion.

5. Format of digital output.

Digital output may be of various formats, like unipolar,
bipolar, parallel, serial, etc. The information is essential
while designing and interfacing with other networks.

7. How many bits are required at the input of a converter to achieve

a resolution of 1mV, if full scale is + 5 V?

Answer
Resolution= (1/ (2N-1))* VFS
2N-1= VFS/ Resolution
2N-1=5V/1mV=5000
2N=5001
N=log105001/ log102
N=13
8. List down any four different logic families basing on internal
construction and fabrication process involved in the integrated
circuits.
Answer
 RTL Resistor-transistor logic
 DTL Diode-transistor logic
 TTL Transistor-transistor logic
 ECL Emitter-coupled logic
 I2L Integrated-injection logic
  MOS Metal oxide semiconductor
 CMOS Complementary metal oxide semiconductor

The first two, RTL and DTL logic families have only historical
significance, since they are seldom used in new designs. RTL was
the first commercially available family to have been used
extensively. It is included here because it represents a useful
starting point to understand the basic operation of digital gates. A
TTL circuit is the modification of a DTL and hence, DTL circuits
have been gradually replaced by TTL. The operation of TTL will be
easier to understand after DTL gates are discussed. These families
have a large number of SSI circuits as well as MSI and LSI circuits.
I2L and MOS are mostly used for the construction of LSI functions.

9. Digital logic families are usually evaluated by comparing the

characteristics of the basic gates of each family. List down eight
governing parameters of digital logic families

Answer
1. Propagation delay (speed of operation).

2. Power dissipation.

3. Fan in.

4. Fan out.

5. Noise immunity.

6. Operating temperature.

7. Power supply requirement.

 8. Current and voltage parameters.

10. Write short notes on Transistor Transistor Logic (TTL)

Answer

Transistor–transistor logic (TTL) is a class of digital circuits

built from bipolar junction transistors (BJT) and resistors. It is
called transistor–transistor logic because both the logic gating
function (e.g., AND) and the amplifying function are performed by
transistors (contrast with RTL and DTL).

TTL is notable for being a widespread integrated circuit (IC) family

used in many applications such as computers, industrial controls,
test equipment and instrumentation, consumer electronics,
synthesizers, etc. The designation TTL is sometimes used to mean
TTL-compatible logic levels, even when not associated directly
with TTL integrated circuits, for example as a label on the inputs
and outputs of electronic instruments

TTL is the most popular of all the logic families. The original basic
TTL gate was a slight improvement over the DTL gate. As the TTL
technology progressed, more and more additional improvements
were carried out to make this logic family the most widely used
type in the design of digital systems. Gates of this family possesses
the highest switching speed when compared to other logic families
that utilize the saturated transistors. TTL family, or the
commercially available 74/54 series, evolved into five major
divisions.

(i) Standard TTL (74/54 series)

(ii) High-speed TTL (74H/54H series)

(iii) Low-power TTL (74L/54L series)

(iv) Schottky diode clamped TTL (74S/54S series)

(v) Low-power schottky TTL (74LS/54LS series)

Although the high-speed and low-power TTL devices are designed

for specific applications, all the groups of the family have several
common features, and are compatible and capable of interfacing
directly with one another. They have the following typical
characteristics in common.

(i) Supply voltage is 5V.

(ii) Logic 0 output voltage level is 0 V to 0.4 V.

(iii) Logic 1 output voltage level is 2.4 V to 5 V.

(iv)Logic 0 input voltage level is 0 V to 0.8 V.

(v) Logic 1 input voltage level is 2 V to 5 V.

(vi)Noise immunity is 0.4 V.

11. Write down nine steps that must be followed in designing

sequential circuits
Answer

i. The word description of a circuit may be given

accompanied with a state diagram, or timing diagram, or
other pertinent information.

ii. Then from the given state diagram the state table has to
be prepared.
 iii. If the state reduction mechanism is possible, then the
number of states may be reduced.

iv. After state reduction, assign binary values to the states if

the states contain letter symbols.

v. Then the number of flip-flops required is to be

determined. Each flip-flop is assigned a letter symbol.

vi. Then the choice has to be made regarding the type of

flip-flop to be used.

vii. With the help of a state table and the flip-flop excitation
table the circuit excitation and the output tables have to
be determined.

viii. Then using some simplification technique e.g., a

Karnaugh map or some other method, the circuit output
functions and the flip-flop input functions have to be
determined.

ix. Then the logic diagram has to be drawn.

12. Use the state diagram below to design a clocked sequential

logic circuit
13. The diagram shows three gates in which one input (CONTROL)
is being used to modify a signal at the other input (DATA).
Complete the timing diagram by drawing the waveforms of X, Y
and Z. Describe in words the effect each of the gates has on DATA
when CONTROL is low and when it is high.

Answer

14. The symbol in a gate generally indicates how many of the

inputs need to be high to make the output high. Guess the truth
tables of the following gates from their symbols. Explain why any
one of them could be considered as a 3-input XOR gate

Answer

15. The circuits below are a D-latch and a D-flip flop. Complete the
timing diagram by drawing the waveforms of X and Y assuming
that they are both low initially

Answer
16. In the six circuits below the setup and hold times of the flip
flops are 5ns and 1ns respectively. The propagation delay of the flip
flops may vary between 4ns and 7ns while the propagation delay of
the gates may vary between 2ns and 6ns. The signal C is a
symmetrical square wave. Write down the setup and hold
inequalities that relate to the second flip flop in each circuit. You
should measure all times from the rising edge of CLOCK. Identify
which of the circuits will not work reliably and determine the
maximum clock frequency for each of the others.

Answer