Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) Counters

The BCD counter is just a special case of the MOD-N counter (N = 10). BCD counters are very commonly used because most human
beings count in decimal. To make a digital clock which can tell the hour, minute and second for example, we need 3 BCD counters
(for the second digit of the hour, minute and second), two MOD-6 counters (for the first digit of the minute and second), and one
MOD-2 counter (for the first digit of the hour).
Ring Counters
Ring counters are implemented using shift registers. It is
essentially a circulating shift register connected so that the
last flip-flop shifts its value into the first flip-flop. There is
usually only a single 1 circulating in the register, as long as
clock pulses are applied.

4-bit Synchronous Ring Counter
In the diagram above, assuming a starting state of Q
3
= 1
and Q
2
= Q
1
= Q
0
= 0. At the first pulse, the 1 shifts from
Q
3
to Q
2
and the counter is in the 0100 state. The next pulse
produces the 0010 state and the third, 0001. At the fourth
pulse, the 1 at Q
0
is transferred back to Q
3
, resulting in the
1000 state, which is the initial state. Subsequent pulses will
cause the sequence to repeat, hence the name ring counter.
The ring counter above functions as a MOD-4 counter
since it has four distinct states and each flip-flop output
waveform has a frequency equal to one-fourth of the clock
frequency. A ring counter can be constructed for any MOD
number. A MOD-N ring counter will require N flip-flops
connected in the arrangement as the diagram above.
A ring counter requires more flip-flops than a binary
counter for the same MOD number. For example, a MOD-8
ring counter requires 8 flip-flops while a MOD-8 binary
counter only requires 3 (2
3
= 8). So if a ring counter is less
efficient in the use of flip-flops than a binary counter, why
do we still need ring counters? One main reason is because
ring counters are much easier to decode. In fact, ring
counters can be decoded without the use of logic gates. The
decoding signal is obtained at the output of its
corresponding flip-flop.
For the ring counter to operate properly, it must start with
only one flip-flop in the 1 state and all the others at 0. Since
it is not possible to expect the counter to come up to this
state when power is first applied to the circuit, it is
necessary to preset the counter to the required starting state
before the clock pulses are applied. One way to do this is to
apply a pulse to the PRESET input of one of the flip-flops
and the CLEAR inputs of all the others. This will place a
single 1 in the ring counter.
J ohnson/Twisted-Ring Counters
The Johnson counter, also known as the twisted-ring
counter, is exactly the same as the ring counter except that
the inverted output of the last flip-flop is connected to the
input of the first flip-flop.

4-bit Synchronous Johnson Counter
The Johnson counter works in the following way : Take the
initial state of the counter to be 000. On the first clock
pulse, the inverse of the last flip-flop will be fed into the
first flip-flop, producing the state 100. On the second clock
pulse, since the last flip-flop is still at level 0, another 1 will
be fed into the first flip-flop, giving the state 110. On the
third clock pulse, the state 111 is produced. On the fourth
clock pulse, the inverse of the last flip-flop, now a 0, will
be shifted to the first flip-flop, giving the state 011. On the
fifth and sixth clock pulse, using the same reasoning, we
will get the states 001 and 000, which is the initial state
again. Hence, this Johnson counter has six distinct states :
000, 100, 110, 111, 011 and 001, and the sequence is
repeated so long as there is input pulse. Thus this is a
MOD-6 Johnson counter.
The MOD number of a Johnson counter is twice the
number of flip-flops. In the example above, three flip-flops
were used to create the MOD-6 Johnson counter. So for a
given MOD number, a Johnson counter requires only half
the number of flip-flops needed for a ring counter.
However, a Johnson counter requires decoding gates
whereas a ring counter doesn't. As with the binary counter,
one logic gate (AND gate) is required to decode each state,
but with the Johnson counter, each gate requires only two
inputs, regardless of the number of flip-flops in the counter.
Note that we are comparing with the binary counter using
the speed up technique discussed above. The reason for this
is that for each state, two of the N flip-flops used will be in
a unique combination of states. In the example above, the
combination Q
2
= Q
1
= 0 occurs only once in the counting
sequence, at the count of 0. The state 010 does not occur.
Thus, an AND gate with inputs (not Q
2
) and (not Q
2
) can be
used to decode for this state. The same characteristic is
shared by all the other states in the sequence.
A Johnson counters represent a middle ground between
ring counters and binary counters. A Johnson counter
requires fewer flip-flops than a ring counter but generally
more than a binary counter; it has more decoding circuitry
than a ring counter but less than a binary counter. Thus, it
sometimes represents a logical choice for certain
applications.