Computer Science 1000: Part #4

Digital Circuits

D IGITAL C IRCUITS : A N OVERVIEW

B OOLEAN L OGIC
D IGITAL C IRCUIT D ESIGN
I MPLEMENTING D IGITAL C IRCUITS
 Digital Circuits: An Overview
• Given binary memory, need to build digital circuits that
implement computational operations (cf. analog circuits).
• Digital circuit as n-input =⇒ m-output transformation:

• Focus here on combinatorial circuits that do not involve

feedback (cf. feedback-based sequential circuits).
 Digital Circuits: An Overview (Cont’d)
• Two types of circuits: arithmetic and control.
• Specify circuit in terms of input-output behavior, e.g.,

Inputs Outputs
A B C OUT1 OUT2
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0
0 1 0 1 0
0 1 1 0 1
1 0 0 1 0
1 0 1 0 1
1 1 0 0 1
1 1 1 1 1

. . . But how do we design circuits from specifications? . . .

 Boolean Logic: An Overview

• Self-taught mathematician.
• 1854 book The Laws of Thought
developed algebraic approach to
logic (Boolean logic); part of
algebraic formalization of other
areas of mathematics, e.g.,
geometry, probability.
• Based on variables with values
True or False and three operators:
AND (·), OR (+), and NOT (A).
George Boole
(1815-1864)
Boolean Logic: An Overview (Cont’d)

Specify behavior of operators as truth tables.

 Boolean Logic: An Overview (Cont’d)
• Operators and variables can be combined to create
expressions, e.g.,
((A · B) + C)
NOT ((A AND B) OR (NOT C))
• Each expression in turn has an associated truth table,
which is created by applying the operators in the
expression to each possible combination of values for the
variables in the expression, e.g.,
A = False, B = True, C = False =⇒ False
• What about deriving an expression for a given truth table?
 Boolean Logic: An Overview (Cont’d)
OR together the AND-expressions corresponding to variable
values in the rows of the truth table that yield result True, e.g.,

A B C RESULT
False False False False
False False True True ⇐=
False True False False
False True True True ⇐=
True False False False
True False True True ⇐=
True True False False
True True True False

=⇒ (A · B · C) + (A · B · C) + (A · B · C)
 Digital Logic Design:
Beginnings

Claude Shannon Electromechanical

(1916-2001) Telephone Switch
(1930s))
 Digital Logic Design:
Beginnings (Cont’d)
• Shannon MSc thesis (MIT, 1937): Boolean logic can be
used to design telephone switching networks!
• Let 0 and 1 in circuits correspond to False and True and
abstract logic gates to Boolean operators.
 Digital Logic Design:
Beginnings (Cont’d)
Represent network circuits as logic gate diagrams, e.g.,

Boolean expression ⇐⇒ logic gate diagram

Truth table ⇐⇒ logic gate behavior specification
 Digital Circuit Design:
The Sum-of-Products Algorithm

Get behaviour specification for circuit

for each output column in specification do
Construct AND subexpressions for rows
with output 1
Use ORs to combine the constructed AND
subexpressions
Create logic circuit diagram corresponding to
OR expressions
 Digital Circuit Design:
The Sum-of-Products Algorithm (Cont’d)
A B CIN SUM COUT
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 ⇐= SUM
0 1 0 1 0 ⇐= SUM
0 1 1 0 1 ⇐= COUT
1 0 0 1 0 ⇐= SUM
1 0 1 0 1 ⇐= COUT
1 1 0 0 1 ⇐= COUT
1 1 1 1 1 ⇐= SUM, COUT

SUM = (A · B · CIN ) + (A · B · CIN ) + (A · B · CIN ) + (A · B · CIN )

COUT = (A · B · CIN ) + (A · B · CIN ) + (A · B · CIN ) + (A · B · CIN )
Arithmetic Circuit Design:
1-Bit Adder
 Arithmetic Circuit Design:
1-Bit Adder (Cont’d)
Can dramatically decrease the number of gates by applying
rules of Boolean algebra and using advanced logic gates such
as XOR (Exclusive OR), e.g.,
Arithmetic Circuit Design:
n-Bit Adder
 Arithmetic Circuit Design:
1-Bit Compare-For-Equality
• This type of circuit returns 1 if the two given bits A and B
have the same value.

A B RESULT
0 0 1 ⇐=
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1 ⇐=

RESULT = (A · B) + (A · B)

• Again, there are several implementations of this circuit.

 Arithmetic Circuit Design:
1-Bit Compare-For-Equality (Cont’d)
 Arithmetic Circuit Design:
n-Bit Compare-For-Equality
 Control Circuits:
Overview
• Control circuits determine the order in which operations are
carried and select the correct data values to be processed
=⇒ they are sequencing and decision-making circuits.
• Two main types:
1. Multiplexor: Use N input selector lines to determine which
of 2N input value lines has its value copied to the single
output line (see Textbook, Figure 4.33, p. 211).
2. Decoder: Use N input selector lines to determine which of
2N output lines is set to 1 (with all others being set to 0)
(see Textbook, Figure 4.35, p. 213).
 Control Circuit Design:
Multiplexor (Abstract)
2^N Input Value Lines

Multiplexor
... 1 Output Line

...

N Input Selector Lines

 Control Circuit Design:
Two-input Multiplexor Circuit
Control Circuit Design:
Data-routing Multiplexor
 Control Circuit Design:
Decoder (Abstract)

N Input Lines 2^N Output Lines

Decoder
... ...
Control Circuit Design:
2-to-4 Decoder Circuit
Control Circuit Design:
Op-code Decoder
 Implementing Digital Circuits

• Invented by John Ambrose

Fleming (1849–1945).
• Basic component of early /
mid 20th century electronics,
e.g., radio, TV, radar.
• Require a lot of power and
output a lot of heat; prone to
burnout if used continuously.
Vacuum Tube (1904)
 Implementing Digital Circuits (Cont’d)

ENIAC (1945)
Used 18,000 vacuum tubes; did 5000 calculations / sec.
 Implementing Digital Circuits (Cont’d)

Transistor (1947) Transistor Board

Traditional electronics businesses based on US East Coast.

William Shockley (1910–1989) establishes first transistor
manufacturer on West Coast (Palo Alto, CA) in 1955; trend
continued by spinoff (Fairchild Semiconductor) in 1957.
 Implementing Digital Circuits (Cont’d)

Gordon Moore (1929–) and Robert Noyce (1927–1990)

Co-founders of Fairchild Semiconductor; in 1959, Noyce
develops planar process for creating integrated circuits.
 Implementing Digital Circuits (Cont’d)
• Silicon is a natural
semiconductor whose
electrical conductivity
can be chemically
modified by doping.
• In the planar process,
electrical components
based on silicon and
deposited metals are
“micro-printed”
photographically in
separate stacked layers
on wafers of pure silicon.
 Implementing Digital Circuits (Cont’d)

Integrated Circuit (IC) (1959) IC Internals (“Chip”)

M OORE ’ S L AW (1965): 2 X TRANSISTOR

DENSITY EVERY 18 MONTHS
 . . . And If You Liked This . . .
• MUN Computer Science courses on this area:
• COMP 1002: Introduction to Logic for Computer
Scientists
• COMP 2003: Computer Architecture
• COMP 4723: Introduction to Microprocessors

• MUN Computer Science professors teaching courses /

doing research in in this area:
• Miklos Bartha
• Rod Byrne
• Ashoke Deb
• Antonina Kolokolova
• Manrique Mata-Montero