Counters and
its types
Engr Muhammad Nouman
Lecturer at Electrical Department
MUET SZAB Campus
A digital logic circuit is defined as the
one in which voltages are assumed to
be having a finite number of distinct
value. Types of digital logic circuits are
combinational logic circuits and
Introduction sequential logic circuits.
of Digital These are the basic circuits used in
Circuits most of the digital electronic devices
like computers, calculators, mobile
phones.
Introduction of Digital Circuits
Digital logic circuits are often known as switching
circuits, because in digital circuits the voltage levels
are assumed to be switched from one value to
another value instantaneously. These circuits are
termed as logic circuits, as their operation obeys a
definite set of logic rules.
There are two main types of digital circuits
• Combinational circuits
• Sequential circuits
1. Combinational logic circuit
In a combinational logic
Combinational digital logic
All these gates are combined circuit, the output at any
circuits are basically made up
to form a complicated instant of time depends only
of digital logic gates like
switching circuit. The logic on present input at that
AND gate, OR gate, NOT
gates are building blocks of particular instant of time and
gate and universal gates
combinational logic circuits. combinational circuits do not
(NAND gate and NOR gate).
have any memory devices.
Combinational digital logic
circuits are classified into
three major parts – arithmetic o
r logical functions
, data transmission and code
converter.
The following chart will elaborate
the further classifications of
combinational digital logic
circuit.
2. Sequential digital
logic circuits
A Sequential digital logic circuit is
different from combinational logic
circuits.
In sequential circuit the output of
the logic device is not only
dependent on the present inputs
to the device, but also on past
inputs.
In other words, output of a
sequential logic circuit depends on
present input as well as present
state of the circuit
2. Sequential digital logic circuits
• Unlike combinational circuits, the sequential circuits have memory
devices in order to store the past outputs. In fact, sequential digital
logic circuits are nothing but combinational circuit with memory.
• These types of digital logic circuits are designed using
finite state machine.
• Examples of sequential logic circuits are counters, flip flops,
constructed using digital logic gates and memory.
Introduction Of Counters
• A special type of sequential circuit used to count the pulse is known as a
counter, or a collection of flip flops where the clock signal is applied is
known as counters.
• The counter is one of the widest applications of the flip flop. Based on
the clock pulse, the output of the counter contains a predefined state. The
number of the pulse can be counted using the output of the counter.
Like shift registers and other combinational circuits, there is another important
element in digital electronics which we use most. They are counters. Counters are
used not only for counting but also for measuring frequency and time ; increment
memory addresses .
Counters are specially designed synchronous sequential circuits, in which , the
state of the counter is equal to the count held in the circuit by the flip flops.
Counters calculate or note down the number that how many times an event
occurred.
Counters are the crucial hardware components and are defined as “The digital
circuit which is used to count the number of pulses”. Counters are well known to
us as “Timers”.
Counter circuits are the best example for the flip flop applications. Counters are
designed by grouping of flip flops and applying a single clock signal to them. In
simple words, the counters are those, which have the group of storage elements
like flip flops to hold the count.
A counter is a sequential circuit, which counts the number
of pulses produced by the clock input. The counter is one
of the major applications of flip-flops. There are also
several types of the counter.
A counter can count the pulses and so an n-bit binary counter can
count up to n bits. The n-bit counter will have n number of flip flops
and has 2n distinct output states.
The total number of counts that a counter counts is called the modulus
of counter.
It is also the number of distinct states that a counter can have. For
example, the mod-3 counter has 8 stable states and it has a total count
of 8. It indicates that the modulus of the 3-bit counter is 8.
Types of Counters
There are two main types of counters:
Asynchronous Counters
Synchronous Counters
Asynchronous or ripple counters
The counters in which the change in transition doesn’t depend upon the clock signal input is
known as “Asynchronous counters”. In these counters, the first flip flop is connected to the
external clock signal, and the rest are clocked by the state outputs (Q & Q’) of the previous flip
flop.
The Asynchronous counter is also known as the ripple counter. Below is a diagram of the
2-bit Asynchronous counter in which we used two T flip-flops. Apart from the T flip flop,
we can also use the JK flip flop by setting both inputs to 1 permanently.
The external clock pass to the clock input of the first flip flop, i.e., FF-A and its output, i.e.,
is passed to clock input of the next flip flop, i.e., FF-B.
• Condition 1: When both the flip flops are
in reset condition.
Operation: The outputs of both flip flops,
i.e., QA QB, will be 0.
• Condition 2: When the first negative clock
Operation Of edge passes.
Operation: The first flip flop will toggle,
Asynchronou and the output of this flip flop will change
from 0 to 1. The output of this flip flop will
be taken by the clock input of the next flip
s Counters flop. This output will be taken as a positive
edge clock by the second flip flop. This input
will not change the second flip flop's output
state because it is the negative edge triggered
flip flop.
So, QA = 1 and QB = 0
• Condition 3: When the second negative clock edge is applied.
Operation: The first flip flop will toggle again, and the output
of this flip flop will change from 1 to 0. This output will be
taken as a negative edge clock by the second flip flop. This input
will change the second flip flop's output state because it is the
negative edge triggered flip flop.
Operation Of So, QA = 0 and QB = 1.
• Condition 4: When the third negative clock edge is applied.
Asynchronou
Operation: The first flip flop will toggle again, and the output
of this flip flop will change from 0 to 1. This output will be
taken as a positive edge clock by the second flip flop. This input
s Counters will not change the second flip flop's output state because it is
the negative edge triggered flip flop.
So, QA = 1 and QB = 1
• Condition 5: When the fourth negative clock edge is applied.
Operation: The first flip flop will toggle again, and the output
of this flip flop will change from 1 to 0. This output will be
taken as a negative edge clock by the second flip flop. This input
will change the output state of the second flip flop.
So, QA = 0 and QB = 0
• In the Asynchronous counter, the present counter's output
passes to the input of the next counter. So, the counters are
connected like a chain. The drawback of this system is that it
creates the counting delay, and the propagation delay also
occurs during the counting stage. The synchronous
counter is designed to remove this drawback.
Synchronous • In the synchronous counter, the same clock pulse is passed
to the clock input of all the flip flops. The clock signals
counters produced by all the flip flops are the same as each other.
Below is the diagram of a 2-bit synchronous counter in
which the inputs of the first flip flop, i.e., FF-A, are set to 1.
So, the first flip flop will work as a toggle flip-flop. The
output of the first flip flop is passed to both the inputs of the
next JK flip flop.
Ripple Counter
• Ripple counter is a special type of Asynchronous counter in which the clock pulse ripples through
the circuit. The n-MOD ripple counter forms by combining n number of flip-flops. The n-MOD
ripple counter can count 2n states, and then the counter resets to its initial value.
• Features of the Ripple Counter:
• Different types of flip flops with different clock pulse are used.
• It is an example of an asynchronous counter.
• The flip flops are used in toggle mode.
• The external clock pulse is applied to only one flip flop. The output of this flip flop is treated as a
clock pulse for the next flip flop.
• In counting sequence, the flip flop in which external clock pulse is passed, act as LSB.
Based on their circuitry design, the counters
are classified into the following types:
• Up Counter
• The up-counter counts the states in ascending order.
• Down Counter
• The down counter counts the states in descending order.
• Up-Down Counter
• The up and down counter is a special type of bi-directional counter which counts
the states either in the forward direction or reverse direction. It also refers to a
reversible counter.
Binary Ripple Counter
• A Binary counter is a 2-Mod counter which counts up to 2-bit state
values, i.e., 22 = 4 values. The flip flops having similar conditions for
toggling like T and JK are used to construct the Ripple counter. Below is
a circuit diagram of a binary ripple counter.
• In the circuit design of the binary ripple counter, two JK flip flops are
used. The high voltage signal is passed to the inputs of both flip flops.
This high voltage input maintains the flip flops at a state 1. In
JK flip flops the negative triggered clock pulse use.
