Combinational Circuits-

Analysis and Design Procedure

 Introduction
• Logic circuits for digital systems may be combinational or
sequential.
• A combinational circuit consists of logic gates whose outputs at
any time are determined from only the present combination of
inputs. A combinational circuit performs an operation that can
be specified logically by a set of Boolean functions.
• In contrast, sequential circuits employ storage elements in
addition to logic gates. Their outputs are a function of the inputs
and the state of the storage elements.
• Because the state of the storage elements is a function of
previous inputs, the outputs of a sequential circuit depend not
only on present values of inputs, but also on past inputs, and the
circuit behavior must be specified by a time sequence of inputs
and internal states.
 Combinational Circuits
• A combinational circuit consists of an
interconnection of logic gates.
• Combinational logic gates react to the values of the
signals at their inputs and produce the value of the
output signal, transforming binary information from
the given input data to a required output data.
• The n input binary variables come from an external
source; the m output variables are produced by the
internal combinational logic circuit and go to an
external destination.
 Combinational Circuits
• A block diagram of a combinational circuit is
shown below.
 Combinational Circuits
• For n input variables, there are 2n possible combinations
of the binary inputs. For each possible input combination,
there is one possible value for each output variable.
• Thus, a combinational circuit can be specified with a truth
table that lists the output values for each combination of
input variables.
• A combinational circuit also can be described by m
Boolean functions, one for each output variable. Each
output function is expressed in terms of the n input
variables.
 Analysis Procedure
• The first step in the analysis is to make sure that the given circuit is
combinational and not sequential. The diagram of a combinational
circuit has logic gates with no feedback paths or memory elements.
• A feedback path is a connection from the output of one gate to the input
of a second gate whose output forms part of the input to the first gate.
• Feedback paths in a digital circuit define a sequential circuit and must be
analyzed by special methods and will not be considered here.
• Once the logic diagram is verified to be that of a combinational circuit,
one can proceed to obtain the output Boolean functions or the truth
table.
• If the function of the circuit is under investigation, then it is necessary to
interpret the operation of the circuit from the derived Boolean functions
or truth table
 Analysis Procedure
• To obtain the output Boolean functions from a logic diagram, we
proceed as follows:
1. Label all gate outputs that are a function of input variables with
arbitrary symbols— but with meaningful names. Determine the
Boolean functions for each gate output.
2. Label the gates that are a function of input variables and
previously labeled gates with other arbitrary symbols. Find the
Boolean functions for these gates.
3. Repeat the process outlined in step 2 until the outputs of the
circuit are obtained.
4. By repeated substitution of previously defined functions, obtain
the output Boolean functions in terms of input variables.
Logic diagram for analysis example
 Example
• The circuit has three binary inputs— A , B ,
and C —and two binary outputs— F1 and F2.
The outputs of various gates are labeled with
intermediate symbols. The outputs of gates
that are a function only of input variables are
T1 and T2. Output F2 can easily be derived
from the input variables. The Boolean
functions for these three outputs are
Contd…
 Contd…
• The derivation of the truth table for a circuit is a straightforward
process once the output Boolean functions are known. To obtain the
truth table directly from the logic diagram without going through the
derivations of the Boolean functions, we proceed as follows:
1. Determine the number of input variables in the circuit. For n inputs,
form the 2n possible input combinations and list the binary numbers
from 0 to (2n - 1) in a table.
2. Label the outputs of selected gates with arbitrary symbols.
3. Obtain the truth table for the outputs of those gates which are a
function of the input variables only.
4. Proceed to obtain the truth table for the outputs of those gates which
are a function of previously defined values until the columns for all
outputs are determined.
Truth Table
 Exercise
Analyze the following Circuit:
 Design Procedure
• The design of combinational circuits starts from the specification of
the design objective and culminates in a logic circuit diagram or a
set of Boolean functions from which the logic diagram can be
obtained. The procedure involves the following steps:
1. From the specifications of the circuit, determine the required
number of inputs and outputs and assign a symbol to each.
2. Derive the truth table that defines the required relationship
between inputs and outputs.
3. Obtain the simplified Boolean functions for each output as a
function of the input variables.
4. Draw the logic diagram and verify the correctness of the design
(manually or by simulation).
 Example
• Design a 3-input combinational circuit that will
produce logic 1 output when more than one
input variables are logic 1.
• Let as consider the 3 input variables as A,B
and C and the output variable as Y.
• As there are 3 input variables,23 combinations
of inputs we will get.
Truth Table
K-Map
K-Map Simplification

Y=AC+AB+BC
Logic Diagram

Y
 Question
• Design a combinational circuit with three
inputs and one output.
• (a)The output is 1 when the binary value of
the inputs is less than 3. The output is 0
otherwise.
• (b) The output is 1 when the binary value of
the inputs is an even number.
 Code Convertors
• A conversion circuit must be inserted between the two
systems if each uses different codes for the same
information. Thus, a code converter is a circuit that makes
the two systems compatible even though each uses a
different binary code.
• To convert from binary code A to binary code B, the input
lines must supply the bit combination of elements as
specified by code A and the output lines must generate
the corresponding bit combination of code B. A
combinational circuit performs this transformation by
means of logic gates.
BCD to Excess-3 Code
K-Map
K-Map
Boolean Function
Logic diagram for BCD-to-excess-3 code
converter
 Binary to Gray
G1 = B1  B2; G2 = B2  B3; G3 = B3  B4; G4
= B4
Binary to Gray
 Gray to Binary
B1 = G1  B2; B2 = G2  B3; B3 = G3  B4; B4
= G4
Gray to Binary
THANK YOU