The Digital System Hierarchy

Systems (e.g., computers)

Functional Units
(e.g., Registers, Memories, Arithmetic units, etc.)

Gates and Flip-Flops

Circuits
David Buchla modified by Weiqiang Sun. - Shanghai Jiao Tong University

The Digital System Hierarchy

Systems (e.g., computers)

Functional Units
(e.g., Registers, Memories, Arithmetic units, etc.)

Gates and Flip-Flops

Circuits
David Buchla modified by Weiqiang Sun. - Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Digital Concepts
Digital Systems
Digital and analog signals (levels)
Digitization of Analog signals (values)

Digital representation of information, pulses

Binary digits, logic levels and digital waveforms
Effect of noise on the digital signal

Integrated Chips (ICs) packages

Basic logic operations

Why This Course?

Isnt other courses great
enough?

Just Digital is far from enough

Phone Lines, Cables
(DSL, Cable Modem)

E&M Waves
(Cellphone, Radio,
GPS)

Digital Storage
(DVD, Hard Disk, Flash)

Analog World
(CT, CA)

Audio
(MP3, Hearing Aid)
Video
(Dig. Camera, LCD TV,
TFT Display)

Digital World
(DT, DA)

Mechanical Transducers
(Car/Airplane Sensors,
MEMS, Nanopore)
Biochemical Sensors
(Hazard detection, Drug
Delivery, Lab-on-a-Chip)

Paul Grays eggshell diagram

From: Professor Y. Chiu - EECT 7327 Data Converters

Advantages of Digital

Advantages of Digital

Noise immunity, robustness

Unlimited precision or accuracy

Flexibility, programmability, and scalability

Electronic design automation (EDA) tools widely available and successful

Benefiting from Moores law The number of transistors on a chip

doubles every 18 months, IEDM, 1975

Cost/function drops 29% every year

Thats 30X in 10 years

Chapter 1

Digital Concepts

Whats the temperature?

Ref: http://bit.ly/wrgSSF

Graph of an analog quantity

analog quantity: has continuous values

most natural quantities that we experience are analog:
temperature, speed, force, sound intensity,

10

Sampling and quantisation

Sampling takes snapshots of signal (generally at regularly spaced time intervals)

Quantisation rounds the amplitude to the nearest predefined value
11

Sampling and quantisation

A digital signal takes one of a finite number of values at
each sampling interval
Analog

Quantisation

Sampling

Digital

12

Data Converters
EECT 7327

Data Converter Basics

Professor Y. Chiu
Fall 2014

ADC and Quantization

A/D

...

Vref

Analog input

bn
b1
Digital output

DAC and Quantization

bn
b1
Digital input

...

Vref

D/A

Vout
Analog output

13

Analog-to-digital conversion

An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) converts an analog

signal to a series of 1s and 0s

14

Analog-to-digital conversion
4-bit ADC

How many discrete quantization levels

for this 4-bit ADC? 16 levels (0,1,,15)
How many levels for an n-bit ADC? 2n levels
15

and from digital back to analog

Digital-to-analog converter (DAC)

Digital audio (CD): 44.1 kHz sampling,

16-bits on each stereo channel
Digital information stored on compact disc
Scale at bottom of figure shows 1m intervals
1 m = 10-6m = 0.000001m
Ref: M. G. Carasso et al., Compact disc: Digital audio, Philips
Tech. Rev., 40(6):151180, 1982

http://bit.ly/y8Ug2t

16

The digital advantage

Immunity to noise
Can reconstruct a digital signal even if it is contaminated by noise, by
rounding to the nearest level
Works for small amounts of noise

Flexibility
Can treat data, audio, video, images etc in the same way as each other
Can process, compress, store, and transmit data more efficiently than
analog

Cost
Digital equipment is cheap, and getting cheaper
17

Introductory concepts
Digital and analog quantities
Binary digits, logic levels and digital
waveforms
Basic logic operations

18

Binary digits
Binary system has just two digits: 1 and 0

Each digit is called a bit = binary digit

digital signal value

Binary Signal

High
(only 2
values)
Low

time
19

Logic levels
Digital electronics uses circuits
that have two states
These states are represented by
two different voltage levels
called HIGH and LOW
The voltages represent numbers
in the binary number system

HIGH=1

and

LOW=0

20

Logic levels
Range of LOW and HIGH
voltages depends on the digital
circuit technology being used
One type of circuit technology is
CMOS
CMOS = Complementary MetalOxide Semiconductor

+3.3V
Logic HIGH (1)
+2V

Undefined logic
+0.8V

0V

Logic LOW (0)

For CMOS:
LOW range: 0V to 0.8V
HIGH range: 2V to 3.3V
21

Digital waveforms
Positive-going pulse: LOW logic level to a HIGH
level and then back again

Negative-going pulse: HIGH to LOW to HIGH

22

Non-ideal pulses

Rise time tr and fall time tf

Measured between 10% to 90% of pulse amplitude

Pulse width tw
Measured between 50% points on rising and falling edges

23

Digital waveforms
Digital waveforms: series of pulses, changing
between LOW and HIGH levels

These are ideal pulses: rising and falling edges

change in zero time
24

Waveform characteristics

Periodic pulse waveforms

Composed of pulses that

repeat in a fixed interval called
the period (T)

measured in seconds (s)

The frequency (f) is the rate it

repeats
measured in hertz (Hz)

1
f
T

1
T
f

What is the period of a

repetitive wave if f = 1 GHz?
(1GHz = 109 Hz)
Period = 1/109 = 10-9s = 1ns
25

A digital waveform carries binary information

In digital systems, all waveforms are synchronised with a

basic periodic timing waveform called the clock
Example: the speed of a computer is measured by the clock
frequency of its microprocessor, e.g. 3.5 GHz

26

Clock frequency = 1MHz

Time to transfer 8 bits in waveform A = 8s

27

Timing diagrams
A timing diagram is used to show the relationship between
two or more digital waveforms

A diagram like this can be observed

directly on a logic analyzer
28

Summar
Programmable Logicy
Programmable logic devices (PLDs) are an alternative
to fixed function devices. The logic can be
programmed for a specific purpose. In general, they
cost less and use less board space that fixed function
devices.
A PAL device is a form of PLD that uses a
combination of a programmable AND array and a
fixed OR array:
Programmable
AND array

Floyd, Digital

Fixed OR
array and
output logic

2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River,

Selected Key
Terms
Analog Being continuous or having continuous values.

Digital Related to digits or discrete quantities; having a set

of discrete values.
Having two values or states; describes a number
Binary
system that has a base of two and utilizes 1 and 0
as its digits.
Bit

A binary digit, which can be a 1 or a 0.

A sudden change from one level to another,

Pulse followed after a time, called the pulse width, by a
sudden change back to the original level.
30

Selected Key
Terms
Clock A basic timing signal in a digital system; a periodic
waveform used to synchronize actions.
A logic circuit that performs a basic logic
Gate operations such as AND or OR.

A basic logic function that performs inversion.

NOT A basic logic operation in which a true (HIGH)
AND output occurs only when all input conditions are
true (HIGH).
A basic logic operation in which a true (HIGH)
output occurs when when one or more of the
OR
input conditions are true (HIGH).
31

Selected Key
Terms
Fixed-function A category of digital integrated circuits having
logic functions that cannot be altered.
Programmable A category of digital integrated circuits capable
logic of being programmed to perform specified
functions.

32

1. Compared to analog systems, digital systems

a. are less prone to noise
b. can represent an infinite number of values

c. can handle much higher power

d. all of the above

33
2008 Pearson

Summar
y
Test and Measurement Instruments
The front panel controls for a general-purpose
oscilloscope can be divided into four major groups.
VERTICAL
CH 1

CH 2

HORIZONTAL

TRIGGER

BOTH

SLOPE

POSITION

POSITION

VOLTS/DIV

VOLTS/DIV

+
LEVEL

POSITION

SEC/DIV

SOURCE
CH 1
CH 2

5V

2 mV

5V

2 mV

5s

5 ns

EXT
LINE

COUPLING

COUPLING

AC-DC-GND

AC-DC-GND

TRIG COUP
DC

DISPLAY

PROBE COMP
5V

CH 1

CH 2

AC

EXT TRIG

INTENSITY

Floyd, Digital

2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River,

Summar
y
Test and Measurement Instruments
The logic analyzer can display multiple channels of
digital information or show data in tabular form.

Floyd, Digital

2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River,

Summar
y Instruments
Test and Measurement

0.01 V
OFF

V
Hz
V

The DMM can make three basic

electrical measurements.

mV

Range
Autorange
Touch/Hold

1s
1s

10 A
V

Voltage

40 m A

COM
Fused

Resistance
Current
In digital work, DMMs are useful for checking
power supply voltages, verifying resistors, testing
continuity, and occasionally making other
measurements.
Floyd, Digital

2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River,

Introductory concepts
Digital and analog quantities
Binary digits, logic levels and digital
waveforms
Basic logic operations

37

Logic
Propositions: statements which are true if certain
conditions are true
Example: The light is on is true if:
the bulb is not burned out AND the switch is on

Boolean algebra: formulate logic statements with symbols

named after Irish mathematician George Boole c1850

Three basic logic operations: AND, OR, NOT

Just the basics today lots more in Weeks 3 and beyond
Logisim: demo free software package for logic simulation
38

Basic logic operations and symbols

True only if all input conditions
are true
True only if one or more input
conditions are true
Indicates the opposite condition

True/false conditions are represented by voltages:

HIGH = true LOW=false

39

NOT

40

AND

41

OR

42