4.4 Circuits
Now that we know how individual gates work and how they are constructed, let’s examine how we combine gates to form circuits. Circuits can be classified into two general categories. In a combinational circuit, the input values explicitly determine the output. In a sequential circuit, the output is a function of the input values as well as the existing state of the circuit. Thus sequential circuits usually involve the storage of information. Most of the circuits we examine in this chapter are combinational circuits, although we briefly mention sequential memory circuits.
As with gates, we can describe the operations of entire circuits using three notations: Boolean expressions, logic diagrams, and truth tables. These notations ...
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