CSC203 TUTORIAL QUESTIONS – 2019/2020

1. a. Write short notes on the following terms. Describe with the aid of diagram(s) where and if applicable.
(i). Logic gates (ii). Flip-flops (iii). Propagation delays (iv). Toggling (v). Race condition

b. Differentiate between combinational and sequential circuits.

c. With the aid of explicit diagrams and simplified characteristic tables, describe (very briefly) each of the following latches:

(i). S-R (with NAND and NOR gates) (ii). D (iii). J-K

2. Convert the hexadecimal number 2ED16 to binary and to decimal.

3. Given that A, B and C are 01110000, 10001100 and 00010100.1010 respectively.

a. Obtain the 2’s complement and the signed decimal equivalent of A.

b. What is the hamming distance between A and B?
c. Convert C to its equivalent in base 3 and 16.
d. Simplify the following Boolean function F( A , B ,C , D ) = ∑ ( 0 ,1 , 2 ,5 , 8 , 9 , 10) into
(i). sum-of-products form and
(ii). product-of-sums form

4. a. State and prove the Consensus theorem

b. By using algebraic manipulation, show that:

(i) A'B'C + A'BC' + AB'C' + ABC = A (B C)

(ii) AB+C'D = (A+B+C) (A+B'+C) (A'+B+C) (A'+B+C')

5. The dean, the department chair, the teaching assistant, and the dorm social chair each use the auditorium from time to time.
Unfortunately, they occasionally conflict, leading to disasters such as the one that occurred when the dean’s fund-raising meeting with
crusty trustees happened at the same time as the dorm’s black light, twinkles and drinks party. You have been called to design a room
reservation system. The system has four inputs, A3, …, A0 and four outputs Y3, … Y0. These signals can also be written as A3:0 and Y3:0.
Each user asserts his input when he requests the auditorium for the next day. The system asserts at most one output, granting the
auditorium to the highest priority user. The dean, who is paying for the system, demands highest priority (3). The department chair,
teaching assistant, and dorm social chair have decreasing priority.
a. Write a truth table and Boolean equations for the system
b. Reduce the truth table to reflect the priority truth table with don’t cares (x).
c. Sketch a circuit diagram that performs this function.

6. a. Differentiate (with the aid of annotated diagrams) between Mealy and Moore machines.

b. Suppose we require a sequence detector that has an input X and an out Y. If a sequence of bits appears at the input of the detector,
the output goes TRUE. Design a sequence detector that produces true output Y whenever it detects the sequence 010 at its input
using the state diagram. For example, if the input sequence is 000110011010110001011, the output sequence will be
000000000001000000100.

7. A circuit has four inputs D, C, B, A encoded in natural binary form where A is the least significant bit. The inputs in the range 0000 = 0
to 1011 = 11 represents the months of the year from January (0) to December (11). Input in the range 1100 - 1111(i.e.12 to 15) cannot
occur. The output of the circuit is true if the month represented by the input has 31 days.
Otherwise the output is false. The output for inputs in the range 1100 to 1111 is undefined.

(i) Draw the truth table to represent the problem and obtain the function F as a Sum of minterm.
(ii) Use the Karnaugh map to obtain a simplified expression for the function F.
(iii) Construct the circuit to implements the function using NOR gates only.

8. A circuit has four inputs P, Q, R, S, representing the natural binary number 0000 = 0, to 1111 = 15. P is the most significant bit. The
circuit has one output, X, which is true if the input to the circuit represents is a prime number and false otherwise (A prime number is a
number which is only divisible by 1 and by itself. Note that zero (0000) and one (0001) are not considered as prime numbers)

i. Design a true table for this circuit, and hence obtain an expression for X in terms of P,Q,R,S.
ii. Design a circuit diagram to implement this function using NOR gate only.
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9. A combinational circuit is defined by the following three Boolean functions: F1= x'y'z'+xz, F2 = xy'z'+x'y, F3 = x'y'z + xy. Design the
circuit that implements the functions.

10. A circuit implements the Boolean function F = A'B'C'D' + A'BCD' + AB'C'D' + ABC'D. It is found that the circuit input combinations
A'B'CD', A'BC'D', AB'CD' can never occur.
i. Find a simpler expression for F using the proper don’t care condition.
ii. Design the circuit implementing the simplified expression of F

11. A circuit has four inputs P, Q, R, S, representing the natural binary number 0000 = 0, to 1111 = 15. P is the most significant bit. The
circuit has one output, X, which is true if the number represented is divisible by three (Regard zero as being indivisible by three).

Design a true table for this circuit, and hence obtain an expression for X in terms of P, Q, R, S as a product of maxterms and also as a
sum of minterms. Design a circuit diagram to implement this function.

12. Plot the following function on K map and use the K map to simplify the expression.
(i) F = ABC + A'BC + AB'C + AB'C' + A'BC' + A'B'C'
(ii) F = AB'C' + A'B'C' + A'BC' + A'B'C

13. Simplify the following expressions by means of Boolean algebra

(i) F = A'B'C'D' + AB'C'D' + A'BC'D + ABC'D + A'BCD + ABCD + A'B'CD' + AB'CD'
(ii) F = A'B'C' + A'B'C + A'BC' + ABC' + ABC

14. The result of an experiment falls in the range -4 to +6. A scientist wishes to read the result into a computer and then process them. He
decides to use a 4-bit binary code to represents each of the possible inputs. Devise a 4-bit binary code of representing numbers in the
range of -4 to 6.

15. The (r-1)’s complement of a base-6 numbers is called the 5’s complement. Explain the procedure for obtaining the 5’s complement of
base 6 numbers. Obtain the 5’s complement of 32106.

16. What would the pulse train at the output of the XOR gate shown below look like? State and prove the Consensus theorem

17. Write the truth table and the Boolean expression for the logic circuit shown in the figure below:

18. Verify that a number in base b can be converted to base b3 by partitioning the digits of the base b number into groups of three
consecutive digits starting at the radix point and proceeding both left and right and converting each group into a base b3 digit. (Hint:
Represent the base b number using the power series expansion.)
Verify that a number in base b3 can be converted to base b by expanding each digit of the base b3 number into three consecutive digits
starting at the radix point and proceeding both left and right.

19. Consider the function F(A, B, C, D) = (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15), use Quine-McCluskey method to find the optimal (minimal)
equivalent.

20. A geothermal electricity generation facility uses a computer to monitor the temperature and pressure of four liquid storage tanks, as
shown in the figure below. Whenever a temperature or a pressure exceeds the danger limit, an internal tank sensor applies a 1 to its
corresponding output to the computer. If all conditions are OK, then all outputs are 0.

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Tank Tank Tank Tank
A B C D

P P P P
T T T T

PD T D PC T C PB T B PA T A
Computer
monitoring system

(a). circuit connections for temperature and pressure monitors at a geothermal electricity generation facility

PD TD PC TC PB TB PA TA
M L P = pressure sensor
T = temperature sensor
S S
B B

(b). layout of binary data read by the computer monitoring system.

a. If the computer reads the binary string 1110 1010, what problems exist?
b. What problems exist if the computer is reading 75H (75 hex)?
c. What hexadecimal number is read by the computer if the temperature and pressure in both tanks D and C are high?
d. Tanks B and C are taken out of use, and their sensor outputs are connected to 1s. A computer programmer must write a
program to ignore these new circuit conditions. The computer program must check that the value read is always less than what
octal equivalent when no problem exists?
e. In another area of the plant, only three tanks (A, B, and C) have to be monitored. What decimal number is read if tank C has a
low temperature and pressure?
20. In working with microcomputers, it is often necessary to move binary numbers from an eight-bit register to a 16-bit register.
Consider the numbers 01001001 and 10101110, which represent +73 and -82, respectively, in the 2’s-complement system.
Determine the 16-bit representations for these decimal numbers.
21. A seven-segment display decoder takes a 4-bit data input, D 3:0, and produces seven outputs to control light-emitting diodes to
display a digit from 0 to 9. The seven outputs are often called segments a through g, or Sa-Sg, as defined in the figure below. Write a
truth table for the out-puts, and use K-maps to find Boolean equations for outputs S a and Sg. Assume that illegal input values (10 -
15) produce a blank readout.

7-segment
display
4 D S 7
decoder
a
f b
g

e c
d

22. A logic circuit has two 2-bit natural binary inputs A and B. A is given by A 1 and A0 where A1 is the most significant bit. Similarly for B.
The circuit has three (3) outputs X, Y and Z. The relationship between A and B, and X, Y, Z is as follows:

X Y Z
A>B 1 0 0
A<B 0 1 0
A=B 0 0 1

Design a circuit to implement this function.

23. Explain the differences among a truth table, a state table, a characteristic table, and an excitation table. Also, explain the difference
among a Boolean equation, a state equation, a characteristic equation, and a flip-flop input equation.

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1. Minimise the function below using the tabular method of simplification:

Z = f(A,B,C,D) = + C + A CD + A C + BCD + BC + CD

2. Using the tabular method of simplification, find all equally minimal solutions for the function below.

Z = f(A,B,C,D) = (0,1,4,5,10,12,14)

24. Write the Boolean equations and draw the logic diagram of the circuit whose outputs defined by the following truth table:
X Y Z F1 F2
0 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 1 1
0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 1
1 0 1 0 0
1 1 0 0 0
1 1 1 0 0

25.
a. Differentiate between Mealy and Moore model of sequential circuit.
b. Explain what you understand by universal gate and by using diagrams, show how the logic AND and the logic OR can be derived
from NOR gate.
c. Peter, James and John live in the same house. Unfortunately, there are only two keys available that unlock the front door. One of
which is kept by James and the other by John. The door is always locked when no one is at home. However, when Peter is out and
someone else is at home, the door is left unlocked so that Peter can enter when she returns. If Peter is at home either alone or not,
the door may be either locked or unlocked since anyone else who may be out has a key. If Peter returns to an empty house she must
wait until John or James is back. Peter, James and John are busy people living independent life and cannot easily account for who is
at home and who is not.
i. Design the truth table that indicates the status of the door D (use door open = 1 and door locked = 0).
ii. Derive a Boolean Equation D that specifies when the door is opened.
iii. Simplify the obtained expression of D taking into consideration the don’t care condition.
iv. Design a circuit that implements D
26. A circuit has four inputs, P, Q, R, and S, representing the natural binary numbers 0000 = 0, to 1111 = 15. P is the most-significant
bit. The circuit has one output, X, which is true if the number represented by the input is divisible by three (regard zero as being
indivisible by three.) Design a truth table for this circuit and hence obtain an expression for X in terms of P, Q, R, and S. Give the
circuit diagram of an arrangement of AND, OR, and NOT gates to implement this circuit. Design a second circuit to implement this
function using NAND gates only.

27. A circuit has four inputs D, C, B, and A encoded in 8421 natural binary form. The inputs in the range 0000 2 = 0 to 10112 = 11
represent the months of the year from January (0) to December (11). Inputs in the range 1100 to 1111 (i.e. 12 to 15) cannot occur.
The output of the circuit is a logical one if the month represented by the input has 31 days. Otherwise the output is false. The output
for inputs in the range 1100 to 1111 is undefined.

i. Draw a truth table to represent the problem and use it to construct a Karnaugh map.
ii. Use the Karnaugh map to obtain a simplified expression for the function.
iii. Construct a circuit to implement the function using AND, OR, and NOT gates.
iv. Construct a circuit to implement the function using NAND gates only.

28. Determine the output waveform for the input waveforms given in figure below:

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29. The notation x1x0 represents a two-bit binary number that can have any value (00, 01, 10, or 11); for example, when x 1 = 0, the
binary number is 10, and so on. Similarly, y 1y0 represents another two-bit binary number. Design a logic circuit, using x 1, x0, y1 and
y0 inputs, whose output will be HIGH only when the two binary numbers x1x0 and y1yo are equal.
30. Write the Boolean logic equation, and draw the logic circuit and truth table that represents the following function: A bank burglar
alarm (A) is to activate if it is after banking hours (H) and the front door (F) is opened or if it is after banking hours (H) and the
vault door is opened (V).
31. Design a circuit with four inputs D, C, B, A that are natural 8421-binary encoded with D the most-significant bit. The output F is
true if the month represented by the input (0,0,0,0 = January, 1011 = December) is a vacation month for me. I can have a vacation at
Christmas, Easter, July, my birthday (September), or my wife’s birthday (May). Since Easter can occur in either March or April, we
have to include both months.

32. Use Karnaugh maps to find the minimum-cost SOP and POS expressions for the function
' ' ' ❑ ❑ ' ' ' ❑ ❑ ' ❑
F(x1,x2, x3,x4) = x 1 x 3 x 4+ x3 x4 + x1 x2 x4+ x1 , x2 x3 , x4
assuming that there are also don’t-cares defined as d = ∑(9, 12, 14).

33. The sequential circuit in the figure below consists of two D flip-flops A and B, two inputs x and y; and the other
output y.

i. List the state equations for the sequential circuit.

ii. List the state table for the sequential circuit.
iii. Draw the corresponding state diagram.

34. Determine the minimum-cost SOP and POS expressions for the function

f(x1,x2, x3,x4) = ∑m(4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15) + d (3, 5, 7, 9)

where d is the don’t care condition.

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35. Explain what you understand by sequential circuit and state three differences between combinational and sequential circuit.
a. The results of an experiment fall in the range -4 to 9. A scientist wishes to read the result into a computer and then process
them. He decides to use a 4-bit binary code to represents each of the possible inputs. Devise a 4-bit binary code capable of
representing numbers in the range of -4 to 9
b. A logical circuit has two JK flip flops, A and B, one input X as shown in the figure below:

QA QB

i. Derive the state table of the circuit.

ii. Derive the state diagram of the circuit

36. Write the Boolean logic equation, and draw the logic circuit and truth table that represents the following function: A bank burglar
alarm (A) is to activate if it is after banking hours (H) and the front door (F) is opened or if it is after banking hours (H) and the
vault door is opened (V ).
37. A black-and-white digital camera lays a fine grid over an image and then measures and records a binary number representing the
level of gray it sees in each cell of the grid. For example, if four-bit numbers are used, the value of black is set to 0000 and the value
of white to 1111, and any level of gray is somewhere between 0000 and 1111. If six-bit numbers are used, black is 000000, white is
111111, and all grays are between the two. Suppose we wanted to distinguish among 254 different levels of gray within each cell of
the grid. How many bits would we need to use to represent these levels?
38. Figure below shows a gray water reclamation tank having five inputs and three outputs. The inputs are used to monitor HIGH/LOW
levels on the quantities shown, and the outputs are used to illuminate the color lights in the Process Monitoring Station. The system
is designed to capture gray water before it goes into a septic system. Gray water is the water drained in the bathroom sink or shower
and water drained in a washing machine. This recycled water can then be used in the toilet or for landscape irrigation. In this
example, logic gates are connected to the figure to turn on the blue light (B) if the water is at the mid level (M) and there is a HIGH
pressure (P) or if the water is at the mid level (M) and there is a HIGH opacity (c). (Opacity is a measure of water clarity.)
(a) Reduce that Boolean equation to a simpler form.
(b) Write the Boolean equation for the new logic that would turn on the red light (R) if the PH level (H) or the Opacity (C) or the
Pressure (P) are HIGH while the water is at the mid level (M). (The word while indicates an AND function).
(c) Write the Boolean equation for the new logic that would turn on the green light (G) if the PH level (H) or the Pressure (P) are
HIGH while the water is at the mid level (M) or the full level (F).
(d) Write the Boolean equation for the new logic that would turn on the blue light (B) if the Opacity (C) and the pressure (P) are
HIGH while the water is at the mid level (M) or the full level (F).

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Gray water reclamation tank with input sensors and a process monitoring

39. In a microcomputer, the microprocessor unit (MPU) is always communicating with one of the following: (1) random-access
memory (RAM), which stores programs and data that can be readily changed; (2) read only memory (ROM), which stores programs
and data that never change; and (3) external input/output (I/O) devices such as keyboards, video displays, printers, and disk drives.
As it is executing a program, the MPU will generate an address code that selects which type of device (RAM, ROM, or I/O) it
wants to communicate with. The figure below shows a typical arrangement where the MPU outputs an eight-bit address code A 15
through A8. Actually, the MPU outputs a 16-bit address code, but the low-order bits A7 through A0 are not used in the device
selection process. The address code is applied to a logic circuit that uses it to generate the device select signals: RAM , ROM and
I /O

Analyze this circuit and determine the following.

a. The range of addresses A15 through A8 that will activate RAM
b. The range of addresses that activate I /O
c. The range of addresses that activate ROM

[Hint: Express the addresses in binary and hexadecimal. For example, A15 to A8 = 000000002 to 111011112 = 0016 to EF16]