Introduction to Computer Organization

7 Sequential Logic Circuits

In the previous chapter, you learned about combinational logic circuits, circuits that depend only on their current input. Another way of thinking about this is that combinational logic circuits are instantaneous (except for the time required for the electronics to settle): their output depends only on the input at the time the output is observed. Sequential logic circuits, on the other hand, depend on both the current and past inputs. They have a time history, which can be summarized by the current state of the circuit.

Formally, the system state is a description of the system such that knowing the state at time ...