Contents
| Logic Gates | Logic Converter | The Exercises |
Preparatory Exercises
Prior to the lab session, construct the truth table and Karnaugh map
for each of the exercises as appropriate.
Objectives
Gain experience with design of logic circuits
Exercise Karnaugh mapping
Combinational
Logic with EWB
In Electronics Workbench, the parts bin of logic gates includes both
schematic representation
of gates as well as integrated circuit packages of gates (the bottom
row of the parts bin).
For this exercise, rely on the first seven gates enclosed in the first
row: AND, OR, NOT, NOR, NAND, XOR, and XNOR.
Be careful to ignore the labeling on the gate packages in the second
row where the gates are ordered differently than the first row.
Logic gates dragged from the parts bin will have two inputs. Additional inputs may be added by right-clicking on the desired gate, selecting "Component Properties", then "Number of Inputs".
EWB Logic
Converter
Electronics Workbench conveniently provides an instrument called the
Logic Converter which will create a truth
table for a combination of gates. After the desired gate combination
has been assembled, connect the
inputs of the gates to the inputs A-H of the converter, followed by
connection of the output.
| After dragging the instrument to the worksheet, duble-click on the instrument icon to bring up the panel view; |
![]() |
| On the expanded front panel of the instrument, click on the gate-to-truth-table button to create or update the truth table. |
![]() |
Here is an example of a gate combination and its truth table constructed with the Logic Converter:
The Exercises
For Exercises 2 through 5, print out the schematic of the combination
of gates used along with the truth
table presented by the Logic Converter.
Next, construct an implementation of this truth table using only two-input NOR gates. Confirm that the truth table is identical using the Logic Convertor of EWB.
(For the NOR gate assembly, focus on the zeroes rather than the ones in the Karnaugh mapping, as suggested in E9.1 in the textbook. Also, do not forget about DeMorgan's theorems!)
(I have found a combination of five multiple-input gates that will do this. Can you construct one with fewer gates?)
(I have managed to do this with a single gate available in Electronics Workbench.)