University of the Philippines

Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute

EEE 105: Computer Organization

Logisim Tutorial
 Logisim
• Is an educational tool for designing and
simulating digital logic circuits.
• Has the capacity to build larger circuits from
smaller subcircuits and to draw bundles of wires
• Is useful for designing and simulating an entire
CPU for educational purposes
– This will be our next machine problem!

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 Schematic Editor Window

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 Schematic Editor Window

Library
This is the area where you draw logic
circuits

Properties
box

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder
• We will create the 2-to-4 decoder shown

Inputs
Outputs

• You’ll learn how to drag and drop gates and

connect them to create complex logic
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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder
In “Gates” folder, look
for AND Gate

We need 4 AND
gates with 2 1-bit
inputs

Tinker with the

properties and see
the changes reflect
on the instance

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder
In “Gates” folder, look
for NOT Gate

We need 2 NOT gates

NOT gate should

be set to face
South

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder
In “Wiring” folder, look
for Pin

Put an Input Pin

A Pin can be set to

be an input or
output

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder

2 input pins

4 output pins

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder
Click on the input
pin to start wiring

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder

Drag up to the input of

NOT gate to connect

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder

Final schematic for decoder

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder

Put labels to the pins

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 Example 1: 2-to-4 decoder
Choose the “hand”
as your cursor to
change value of
pins

Click on the pin to

change value

Change the value of the pins to

test the decoder

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder
• We will use the 2-to-4 decoder from previous
example.
• You’ll learn how to create a symbol and
instantiate previously designed logic blocks to
enable a more modular design

• To start, open a new circuit schematic.

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder

Click the “+” sign to

add new subcircuit

Put the subcircuit

name

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder

Double-click on
the subcircuit to
edit it

Copy and paste the circuit

from previous example

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder

Go back to “main”
circuit the click on
the subcircuit to
create an instance

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder

Right-click on subcircuit and

click “Edit Circuit Appearance”
to change block appearance

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder

Draw it like this

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 Example 2: 4-to-16 decoder

Draw the 4-to-16

decoder. Note that 4 of 5
decoders shown have
enable signals. Modify
the decoder from
previous example to have
enable input.

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• We will create a 16-bit register using D flip flops
• You’ll learn how to use flipflops as well as wire
manipulation (i.e. grouping several wires together
and splitting them, tunneling wires) for a cleaner
looking design

• Create another circuit schematic for this example

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Flipflops can be found inside the “Memory”
library
Aside from the D, Q, and
clock ports, flipflops also
have other input ports,
namely: preset, enable,
and clear.

You can hover your mouse

cursor over the ports
around the symbol to learn
more about the
functionality of these ports

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Create pins to connect the flipflop ports

The preset pin is tied to

constant 0 (also found in
“Wiring” library)

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Instantiate 16 D flipflops and connect their clock,
reset, enable, and preset ports together

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• We also have to create a port for the 16-bit
register input and output
Just put 16 to the Data
Bits field of the Pin to
create a 16-bit input/output

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• However, since every flipflop only takes 1-bit
input and has a 1-bit output, how do we extract 1
bit from the collection of 16 bits coming to and
from the pins we have just created?

• We can use wire splitters!

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Wire splitters can be found inside the “Wiring”
library. You can use them to split or combine wires
Fan Out determines the total
number of ports going in/out the
splitter

Bit Width In determines the total

number of bits that will be
split/combined given the ports

Splitters are reversible, meaning

they can split or combine wires
depending on the orientation
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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Friendly tip: If ever your design becomes
crowded with wires, you can also use tunnels.
This allows you to virtually connect wires without
the need for actual routing on your circuit.

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Tunnels can also be found under the “Wiring”
library.
Make sure you have the same
label names for your tunnels.
Also, make sure that the data bits
are consistent!

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• Finish the design of the 16-bit register

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 Example 3: 16-bit register
• You can easily extend the design to create a 32-
bit register! You can create clocks under the “Wiring” library.
You can set the clock frequency on the “Simulate”
menu -> “Tick Frequency”

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 Example 4: ROM
Data being read
• ROM – read-only memory also shown on
instance

Address port to
specify location of Output data
data to be read

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 Example 5: RAM
• RAM – random-access memory (supports read and write
operations)
Output for read
Input ports
ADDRESS and
DATA for storage

LD pin – set to 1 for read

All writes to RAM
are synchronous,
thus, the CLK
input

STR pin – set to 1 for write

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