Computer Science 220
Assembly Language & Computer Architecture

Fall 2011, Siena College

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You will spend some time this week constructing some circuits in the lab, and drawing some others by hand for written submission.

In Lab: More Complex Circuits

The in-lab portion of this assignment is available only as a handout, not the online version.

Written Problems

Please complete the following problems on paper. You may verify your work using Logisim if you wish. Neatness is essential for me to be able to decipher and grade your circuits. You may discuss these problems with your classmates, but everyone should submit individually, and the work you submit must be your own.

1. As you saw in a recent lecture assignment, it is sometimes necessary to add 1 to a number - for example, a program counter. You constructed, for the lecture assignment, a device that is less expensive than a ripple-carry adder, that adds one to a value that is provided (D0..D3) and provides the result on the output (Q0..Q3).

   Now, construct a similar device for adding 1 to a gray-code value. (Hint: you may find the circuit from the lecture assignment to be a useful building block.)

2. In class we learned about clocked D-type flip-flops. Such a device has inputs D and CLK, and output Q. Occasionally, it is useful to explicitly set (S) or reset (R) Q without regard to D. For example, it might be useful to clear (reset) all of memory without explicitly providing data to each bit.
   • [a.] Suppose S and R only operate when the clock is going-high. Such inputs are called synchronous because their effect is synchronized with the clock. Draw a circuit that implements D-type flip-flops with synchronous set and reset.
   • [b.] Suppose S and R operate without regard to the clock. Such inputs are called asynchronous because their effect is not synchronized with the clock. Draw a circuit that implements D-type flip-flops with asynchronous set and reset.
3. Suppose you have several T-type clocked flip-flops with Q and Qbar and asynchronous set and reset.
   • [a.] Construct a 4-bit count-up counter. This device provides access to a 4-bit register (Q0-Q3) that counts upward every time a clock pulse (CLK) goes high. In addition, a 4-bit value (D0-D3) can be loaded into the counter if the load bit (LD) is high and the clock goes high.
   • [b.] Construct a decade count-up counter. This device provides access to a 4-bit register (Q0-Q3) that cycles through the values 0..9. Counting occurs when the clock pulse (CLK) goes high. In addition a single line CLR asynchronously clears the register.
4. Using any of the flip-flops, latches, and counters that we have discussed in class as building blocks, construct a circuit that takes input from a single switch and produces a single output. After the first, second, and third times that the switch goes from 0 to 1, the output is 0. The fourth time that the switch goes from 0 to 1, the output becomes 1. The fifth, sixth, and seventh times the switch goes from 0 to 1, the output should be 0. The eighth time, the output is 1, and so on. In other words, the output is 1 exactly when the switch has been moved from 0 to 1 a number of times that is divisible by 4.

Grading and Evaluation

This lab is graded out of 35 points.

By the start of your next lab session, submit the completed lab problem sheet (hard copy, one per group) and answers to the written problems (hard copy, handwritten or typeset OK).