Charles Darwin University

HIT235: Digital Systems and Computer Architecture

Circuit design and Simulation Practice Exercises 2

Instruments, TTL and CMOS and Combinational Logic

These Multisim Circuit Design and Simulation Practice Exercises are designed to further familiarise
you with Multisim. You will use hierarchical blocks, instruments and apply Boolean algebra. This
prepares you for the first Multisim Circuit Design and Simulation tutorial. Although the practice
exercises themselves will not be marked, timely completion and submission of these exercises will
count towards the “Preparation - Presentation” component of the first Multisim Circuit Design and
Simulation tutorial (tutorial 2). Important: please be aware that hierarchical blocks are saved as
separate files. Make sure all files are saved to the same folder and zip this together to submit on
Learnline. If files are missing you cannot get any credit for them.

Submission

For these Circuit Design and Simulation Practice Exercises to be considered as completed, you need
to:

• Do all the tasks

• Submit an appropriately named pdf file with screenshots of all your circuits and answers to
any questions in the exercises or tutorial. Show your circuits in the screenshots during
simulation where appropriate. Use your name in the filename (e.g. Smith_Jimmy_exer1.pdf)
and also type your name on each page.
• A zip file containing all your Multisim files, also with your name in the filename.

Important: Multisim files should be named according to the task. Example: exer1_task1. If you need
more than one file for a task, you may extend these names e.g exercises1_task2a, exer1_task2b etc.
Also make sure you include all files for any hierarchical blocks used. To submit on Learnline please
zip all your Multisim files together in a ZIP file. Rar files are not compatible with CDU systems and
will therefore not be considered. The name of the zipfile should include your surname (e.g.
Jones_exer_1.zip.
Save your files in a secure location and make a back-up. Don’t save files on the desktop of the
computers in the lab or the virtual desktop as they will be automatically deleted. Please be aware that
Multisim does not always automatically save files in the correct location so check that you have
included all files.

Task 1: Using instruments

Multisim has a number of virtual instruments which are useful to analyse your circuit. One of these,
the digital multimeter was used in the previous tutorial. Another instrument that is widely used for
general testing and troubleshooting is the oscilloscope. Read chapter 1, section 6 of the textbook for a
description of the basic operation of the oscilloscope. While the oscilloscope can be used to look at
the output signals of the circuit a function generator can be used to generate an input signal.

Start Multisim and create a new file and save it as task1a. Now place a function generator and an
oscilloscope. Both can be found by selecting Simulate»Instruments». Shortcuts for these
instruments are on the right-hand side of the screen. Now right click at an open area of your
workspace. The menu shown below should be visible. Select Place Schematic»New Hierarchical
Block as shown below. Hierarchical blocks are a way to divide your design into several hierarchically
organised files.
 Figure 1: Hierarchical Blocks
You need to name the hierarchical block and to specify the number of input and output pins. Call the
file TTL_inverter1. There should be 1 input pin and 1 output pin.

Figure 2: Hierarchical Block Properties

Wire the circuit as shown below.

Figure 3: Connection the Hierarchical Block

Select the ttl_inverter1 block. A new schematic becomes visible with the input and outputs shown.

Figure 4: Selecting the Hierarchical Block

Place the inverter shown below and connect it to the input and output. You can rename your input and
output if you wish.

Figure 5: TTL Inverter

Save your schematics File»Save all. Return to your main schematic and double click on the function
generator. Select a sinusoidal waveform with a frequency of 1 Hz and an amplitude of 2.5 V. Take an
offset of 2.5 V.

Figure 6: Function Generator

Run the simulation and double click on the oscilloscope. Start with the settings shown below and
adjust the timebase settings until you can clearly see the entire waveform.

Figure 7: Adjust oscilloscope settings

Describe what you see on the screen. When (at what voltage of the input signal) does the
output change?

Play around with the oscilloscope settings to see what happens when your change the Timebase or
the scale or Y position of Channel A and B. Describe what happens.

Stop the simulation. Make a copy of your main file and save it as task1b. Now replace your
hierarchical block by a new hierarchical block called CMOS_inverter1. Select the hierarchical block
and place the CMOS inverter shown below. Make a screenshot of the circuit inside the hierarchical
block.

Figure 8: CMOS Inverter

Restart the simulation using the settings shown in Figure 6 and 7..

Describe what you see on the screen. What is the difference with the previous simulation?
Task 2: CMOS gates

Close the previous files and create a new one. Build the circuit shown below and save it under a
suitable name. Note that the power supplies are the VDD power supplies.

Figure 9: CMOS Circuit

Connect the two inputs and the output of the and1 block to the 74HC08D_2V and gate. In the
nandand1 block use two 74HC00D_2V NAND gates to create an AND gate. Make a screenshot of the
circuit within this block. Save and run the simulation. Use the logic probes to verify that the truth table
for the two subcircuits is the same. Now modify the circuit by adding a third hierarchical block, called
nandand2. In this block use four 74HC00D_2V NAND gates to create an AND gate. Verify that the
truth table for all subcircuits is the same. Make screenshots of all circuits and also write down the truth
table.

Task 3: Schmitt-Trigger Devices and Oscilloscope

A Schmitt-trigger circuit exhibits a type of memory characteristic that makes it useful in certain special
situations. One of those situations is where a standard INVERTER is driven by a logic input that has
a relatively slow transition time. When these transition times exceed the maximum allowed values
(depends on the particular logic family), the outputs of logic gates and Inverters may produce
oscillations as the input signal passes through the indeterminate range.
A device that has a Schmitt-trigger type of input is designed to accept slow-changing signals and
produce an output that has oscillation-free transitions. The output of a Schmitt-trigger Inverter device
does not change from a HIGH to LOW until the input exceeds the positive-going threshold voltage,
VT+, also called the Upper threshold point. Once the output goes LOW, it will remain there even when
the input drops back below VT+ (this is its memory characteristic – also called hysteresis) until it drops
all the way down below the negative-going threshold voltage, VT-, also called the Lower threshold
point. The values of the two threshold voltages will vary from logic family to logic family, but VT- will
always be less than VT+.
The Schmitt-trigger Inverter, and all other devices that have Schmitt-trigger inputs, use a distinctive
symbol as shown in Figure 3, to indicate that they can reliably respond to slow-changing input signals.
Logic designers use ICs with Schmitt-trigger inputs to convert slow-changing signals to clean, fast
changing signals that can drive standard IC inputs.

Figure 10: Schmitt-trigger devicet

Take a 74LS04 Inverter and a 74LS14 Schmitt-trigger Inverter and connect as shown below. Use the
Tektronic oscilloscope. Connect the output of from the 74LS04 Inverter to Channel 1 input of the
oscilloscope and the output from the 74LS14 Inverter to Channel 2 input of the oscilloscope and the
input signal to channel 3 of the oscilloscope. Place a Sine wave to the input of the two gates with the
offset and the amplitude both equal to 2.5 V (as above) and the frequency equal to 150Hz.

Figure 11: Setup for comparing Normal Inverter with a Schmitt-trigger device: main schematic

Figure 12: Setup for comparing Normal Inverter with a Schmitt-trigger device: block

Save all your files and run the simulation. Make screenshots of the circuits and the oscilloscope
result.

How do you need to set the oscilloscope controls in order to see three waves which do not
drift across the screen?

Compare the two output waveforms. What are the Upper and Lower voltage threshold points of
the 74LS14 device?