Unit 4 Logic Gate
Digital electronic circuits operate with voltages of two logic levels namely Logic Low and Logic
High. The range of voltages corresponding to Logic Low is represented with ‘0’. Similarly, the
range of voltages corresponding to Logic High is represented with ‘1’.
The basic digital electronic circuit that has one or more inputs and single output is known
as Logic gate. Hence, the Logic gates are the building blocks of any digital system. We can
classify these Logic gates into the following three categories.
Basic gates
Universal gates
Special gates
Now, let us discuss about the Logic gates come under each category one by one.
Basic Gates
In earlier chapters, we learnt that the Boolean functions can be represented either in sum of
products form or in product of sums form based on the requirement. So, we can implement these
Boolean functions by using basic gates. The basic gates are AND, OR & NOT gates.
AND gate
An AND gate is a digital circuit that has two or more inputs and produces an output, which is
the logical AND of all those inputs. It is optional to represent the Logical AND with the symbol
‘.’.
The following table shows the truth table of 2-input AND gate.
A B Y = A.B
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
Here A, B are the inputs and Y is the output of two input AND gate. If both inputs are ‘1’, then
only the output, Y is ‘1’. For remaining combinations of inputs, the output, Y is ‘0’.
The following figure shows the symbol of an AND gate, which is having two inputs A, B and
one output, Y.
This AND gate produces an output Y, which is the logical AND of two inputs A, B. Similarly, if
there are ‘n’ inputs, then the AND gate produces an output, which is the logical AND of all those
inputs. That means, the output of AND gate will be ‘1’, when all the inputs are ‘1’.
OR gate
An OR gate is a digital circuit that has two or more inputs and produces an output, which is the
logical OR of all those inputs. This logical OR is represented with the symbol ‘+’.
The following table shows the truth table of 2-input OR gate.
A B Y=A+B
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1
Here A, B are the inputs and Y is the output of two input OR gate. If both inputs are ‘0’, then
only the output, Y is ‘0’. For remaining combinations of inputs, the output, Y is ‘1’.
The following figure shows the symbol of an OR gate, which is having two inputs A, B and one
output, Y.
This OR gate produces an output Y, which is the logical OR of two inputs A, B. Similarly, if
there are ‘n’ inputs, then the OR gate produces an output, which is the logical OR of all those
inputs. That means, the output of an OR gate will be ‘1’, when at least one of those inputs is ‘1’.
NOT gate
A NOT gate is a digital circuit that has single input and single output. The output of NOT gate is
the logical inversion of input. Hence, the NOT gate is also called as inverter.
The following table shows the truth table of NOT gate.
A Y = A’
0 1
1 0
Here A and Y are the input and output of NOT gate respectively. If the input, A is ‘0’, then the
output, Y is ‘1’. Similarly, if the input, A is ‘1’, then the output, Y is ‘0’.
The following figure shows the symbol of NOT gate, which is having one input, A and one
output, Y.
This NOT gate produces an output Y, which is the complement of input, A.
Universal gates
NAND & NOR gates are called as universal gates. Because we can implement any Boolean
function, which is in sum of products form by using NAND gates alone. Similarly, we can
implement any Boolean function, which is in product of sums form by using NOR gates alone.
NAND gate
NAND gate is a digital circuit that has two or more inputs and produces an output, which is
the inversion of logical AND of all those inputs.
The following table shows the truth table of 2-input NAND gate.
A B Y = A.B’
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
Here A, B are the inputs and Y is the output of two input NAND gate. When both inputs are ‘1’,
the output, Y is ‘0’. If at least one of the input is zero, then the output, Y is ‘1’. This is just
opposite to that of two input AND gate operation.
The following image shows the symbol of NAND gate, which is having two inputs A, B and one
output, Y.
NAND gate operation is same as that of AND gate followed by an inverter. That’s why the
NAND gate symbol is represented like that.
NOR gate
NOR gate is a digital circuit that has two or more inputs and produces an output, which is
the inversion of logical OR of all those inputs.
The following table shows the truth table of 2-input NOR gate
A B Y = A+B
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0
Here A, B are the inputs and Y is the output. If both inputs are ‘0’, then the output, Y is ‘1’. If at
least one of the input is ‘1’, then the output, Y is ‘0’. This is just opposite to that of two input OR
gate operation.
The following figure shows the symbol of NOR gate, which is having two inputs A, B and one
output, Y.
NOR gate operation is same as that of OR gate followed by an inverter. That’s why the NOR
gate symbol is represented like that.
Derived gate/ Exclusive gate
Ex-OR & Ex-NOR gates are called as special gates. Because, these two gates are special cases of
OR & NOR gates.
Ex-OR gate
The full form of Ex-OR gate is Exclusive-OR gate. Its function is same as that of OR gate
except for some cases, when the inputs having even number of ones.
The following table shows the truth table of 2-input Ex-OR gate.
A B Y = A⊕B
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
Here A, B are the inputs and Y is the output of two input Ex-OR gate. The truth table of Ex-OR
gate is same as that of OR gate for first three rows. The only modification is in the fourth row.
That means, the output Y is zero instead of one, when both the inputs are one, since the inputs
having even number of ones.
Therefore, the output of Ex-OR gate is ‘1’, when only one of the two inputs is ‘1’. And it is zero,
when both inputs are same.
Below figure shows the symbol of Ex-OR gate, which is having two inputs A, B and one output,
Y.
Ex-OR gate operation is similar to that of OR gate, except for few combinations of inputs. That’s
why the Ex-OR gate symbol is represented like that. The output of Ex-OR gate is ‘1’, when odd
number of ones present at the inputs. Hence, the output of Ex-OR gate is also called as an odd
function.
Ex-NOR gate
The full form of Ex-NOR gate is Exclusive-NOR gate.
The following table shows the truth table of 2-input Ex-NOR gate.
A B Y = A⊙B
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
Here A, B are the inputs and Y is the output. The truth table of Ex-NOR gate is same as that of
NOR gate for first three rows. The only modification is in the fourth row. That means, the output
is one instead of zero, when both the inputs are one.
Therefore, the output of Ex-NOR gate is ‘1’, when both inputs are same. And it is zero, when
both the inputs are different.
The following figure shows the symbol of Ex-NOR gate, which is having two inputs A, B and
one output, Y.
Ex-NOR gate operation is similar to that of NOR gate, except for few combinations� of inputs.
That’s why the Ex-NOR gate symbol is represented like that. The output of Ex-NOR gate is ‘1’,
when even number of ones present at the inputs. Hence, the output of Ex-NOR gate is also called
as an even function.
Applications of logic Gates
The range of usage of logic gates is quite extensive, however some of its
distinct applications are as follows:
1. In manufacturing more complex devices e.g. binary counters etc.
2. In decision – making regarding automatic control of machines and
different industrial processes
3. In calculators and computers
4. In digital measuring techniques
5. In digital processing of communications
6. In musical instruments, games and different domestic appliances