Electronic Circuit to perform standard software operations Electronic circuit: A circular path along which electrons (electricity) can

flow. The circuit must be complete for this to occur. Logic gate: An electronic circuit that transforms inputs into outputs based on strict logical rules. Integrated circuits are made up of combinations of logic gates.

Logic Gates There are six basic logic gates that are used in the construction of integrated circuits; AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR and XOR. Truth tables are used to summarise all the possible inputs and their resulting outputs for a particular circuit. The input to and the output from a logic gate is either a high or low voltage representing 1 (true) or 0 (false). This allows the output from one logic gate to be the input for another.

AND GATE The truth table contains two inputs, A and B, As a result there are 4 possible combinat6ions resulting in 4 rows ion the table. Each logic gate is represented on circuit diagrams as a symbol. AND gates use a rectangle with a rounded right hand side.

The logical expression A AND B is written in Boolean algebra notation as AxB or just AB.

OR Gate Either A or B must be true for the output to be true. It is possible to have more than two inputs into an OR gate. As long as one or more inputs are true (1) the output will also be (1). The logical expression A OR B is written in Boolean algebra notation as A+B.

Not Gate The NOT gate is used to reverse the input; as a result NOT gates are often called inverters.

If the input is false (0) then the output will be true (1) and vice versa. It is only possible to have on input into a NOT gate. NOT (A) is written in Boolean algebra notation as A (with a line on top) The symbol for a NOT gate is a small hollow circle. The Triangle preceding the circle is really a buffer. Buffers are used to synchronies timing, often your circuit will need to wait for the next input. Buffers can be used to accomplish this task. NOT gates required buffers to ensure correct timing.

NAND Gate NAND is short for NOT AND, in other words a NAND gate is logically the same as an AND gate followed by a NOT gate. The symbol for a NAND gate is the AND symbol followed by the NOT symbol or in Boolean algebra notation as AB (with line on top). NAND gates are perhaps the most useful logic gates. It is possible to simulate all other logic gates using combinations of NAND gates.

NOR Gate NOR means NOT OR, a NOR gate is equivalent to an OR gate followed by a NOT gate. In Boolean algebra notation NOR is written as A +B (with a line on top) All inputs must be false for the output to be true.

XOR Gate A 0 0 1 1 XOR is short for exclusive OR. This means that precisely one input must be 1 (true) for the output to be 1 (true). A XOR B is written in Boolean algebra notation as A+B (place a circle around the plus sign) Truth table and symbol B C 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0

Activity - Often staircases have a switch to turn on and off the light at the bottom of the stairs and another switch to turn the same light off and on at the top of the stairs. Which of the above circuits could be used to wire this light. Explain your answer. (hint: use logic circuit)