LAB 1 -: Introduction to Logisim

Logisim is an educational tool for designing and simulating digital logic circuits. With its simple
toolbar interface and simulation of circuits as you build them, it is simple enough to facilitate
learning the most basic concepts related to logic circuits. With the capacity to build larger
circuits from smaller subcircuits, and to draw bundles of wires with a single mouse drag,
Logisim can be used (and is used) to design and simulate entire CPUs for educational
purposes.

Quick Overview

Menu Bar

Tool Bar
Canvas

Explorer
Panel

Attribute
Panel

Explorer Panel: Contain component require for designing a logic circuit.

Attribute Panel: Circuit & component description and parameters for component (you can
change parameters)

Canvas: You can build a circuit inside canvas.

How to design circuit in Logisim?
Step 1: Adding gates

Explorer panel -> Gates

Double click on Gates. You can see different types of gates.

Left click on required gate, move your curser on canvas and put selected gate on canvas by
pressing left click.

Step 2: Changing a properties of gate

Select a gate on canvas. You can see the properties of that gate in attribute panel.

For our course you need to change only following properties: Facing, Data bits, Gate size,
Number of inputs, Negate, Three-state and Label.

Exercise 1: Change these properties and observe what changes are you able to see in gate.

Exercise 2: Put an OR gate on canvas, which contain 4 inputs, facing towards north, data bits
are 2 and gate size is large, also give it appropriate label.

Step 3: Adding input/output

To give logic 1 or 0 to any gate or any component you need to insert input pin, also you need to
put output pin to see the output.

You can find input/output pin in tool bar.

Input Pin Output Pin

You can change properties of these pins from attribute panel.

Step 4: Adding wires

After you have all the components blocked out on the canvas, you're ready to start adding
wires. Select the Edit Tool ( ). When the cursor is over a point that receives a wire, a small
green circle will be drawn around it. Press the left mouse button there and drag as far as you
want the wire to go.

Logisim is rather intelligent when adding wires: Whenever a wire ends at another wire, Logisim
automatically connects them. You can also "extend" or "shorten" a wire by dragging one of its
endpoints using the edit tool.
Step 5: Adding text

Adding text to the circuit isn't necessary to make it work; but if you want to show your circuit to
somebody (like an instructor or TAs), then some labels help to communicate the purpose of the
different pieces of your circuit.

To give a label to any component, first select a component on canvas then write a label in label
field of attribute bar. To write any text on canvas (i.e., wire label) you can use text tool ( ).

Exercise 3: Design following circuit in Logisim (with label)

Step 6: Testing your circuit

Our final step is to test our circuit to ensure that it really does what we intended. This can be
done by changing the inputs and observing the output.

You can change inputs using poke tool ( ). Select the poke tool ( ) and start poking the
inputs by clicking on them. Each time you poke an input, its value will toggle.

When you change the input value, Logisim will show you what values travel down the wires by
drawing them light green to indicate logic 1 or dark green to indicate logic 0.

Exercise 4: For above circuit. Give all 4 possible combination values, observe output and design
truth table for it. (Above circuit is of XOR gate)

Lab will be evaluated based on exercise 5, 6 and 7.

Exercise 5: Design AND, OR and NOT gate using universal gates (NAND and NOR) also write a
truth table for same.

Exercise 6: Implement following Boolean expressions in Logisim and write a truth table for
same:
1) F = ((A+B+C)(BD))’
2) Z = (AB+A’B’)(AB’+A’B)
3) Z = (P’Q+PQ’)+(PQ+P’Q’)
4) Z = Ƹ(1,3,5,7)
5) F = A’B(D’+C’D)+B(A+A’CD)
6) F = (X’Y’+Z)’+Z+XY+WZ
7) Z = π(1,3,5,7)
Exercise 7: Implement following circuits in Logisim

Circuit 1 -:

Circuit 2 -:

Circuit 3 -: Find out when output will be logic ‘1’

Circuit 4 -: Design following LED display circuit (with shown pattern)

If you had completed these exercises, read following topics from ‘help’. It will
really helpful in upcoming labs.
1) Subcircuits
2) Wire bundles
3) Combinational Analysis
Submission

All the submissions will be taken on Google drive. One member from the group has to submit
the lab assignment before given dead line. Steps for submission of assignment are already
shared with you.