UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

EXAMINATION FOR INTERNAL STUDENTS

MODULE CODE ELEC1003

ASSESSMENT ELEC1003A
PATTERN

MODULE NAME Digital Circuits

DATE 16-May-14

TIME 14:30

TIME ALLOWED 3 Hours 0 Minutes

2013/14-ELEC1003A-001-EXAM-114
©2013 University College London TURN OVER
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Answer ALL the questions in section A. Answer TWO questions from Section B.

SECTION A

1. Define what is meant by a quantised discrete time sIgnal and explain why such signals are more
robust than analogue signals in large electronic systems.
[5 marks]

2. Evaluate the following:

(i) 101002-11 b
(ii) Express 101101101101001 h in hexadecimal
(iii) Express -7, 0 as a twos complement signed integer
(iv) lOh x 1011 2
(v) 1b/l100011 2
[5 marks]

3. Prove that A(A+B) = A using

(i) Boolean algebra
(ii) a Venn diagram.
[5 marks]

4. Using a Karnaugh map, derive the minimal second canonic fOlm expression with the function

F(ABC) = ~(l, 3, 5, 6, 7).

[5 marks]

5 Write the truth tables for the sum output, S, and carry output, Ci, of a I-bit full-adder with inputs
A, Band Ci-l, and implem~nt the design llsing two 8:1 multiplexers.

[5 marks]

6. List the advantages of using the Quine-McCluskey algorithm to carry out logic minimisation,
compared to alternative graphical techniques such as Karnaugh maps.

.­
[5 marks]

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7 Write the function implemented by the CMOS CirCllIt shown in Figure 7.1, assuming positIve
coding is used.
[5 marks]
SV

Va --T--+

1--+

OV
(N-substrates to OV;
P-substrates to +SV)

Figure 7.1

8. Explain the differences betWeen the Van Neumann and Harvard microprocessor architectures
and state the advantage that the Harvard architecture provides?
[5 marks]

9. An analogue signal with the following characteristics is to be converted into a digital signal
using ail analogue to digital converter (ADC):

Maximum input voltage = 5Vp-p

Maximum frequency = 4kHz

Calculate the minimum sampled signal bit rate required to achieve a resolution better than
0.01 V
[5 marks]

10 Explain the purpose of the program counter in a microcontroller and describe how this is used
to implement a conditional statement.

[5 marks]

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SECTIONB (Answer TWO questions ONLY from this section]

I I. (a) Describe the concept of hazards in combinational logic circuits. Describe two methods by
which a hazard in a combinational logic circuit design can be eliminated.

[7 marks]

(b) Using a Karnaugh map, implement a digital circuit in minimal first canonic form with the
following function:

F A. B. C -I- A. B. C+ A B. C + A. B. C

By inspecting the Kamaugh map, identify whether a hazard exists in this circuit design. If so,
suggest a sequence of inputs which could cause an incorrect output, and specify a redundant
term which could be added to the design to eliminate the hazard.

[8 marks]

(c,) Using a Karnaugh map, implement a digital circuit in minimal second canonic form with the
following function
F = (A+B+C).(A+B+C).(A+B+C).(A+B+C)

By inspecting the Kamaugh map, identify if a hazard exists in this circuit design. If so,
suggest a sequence of inputs which could cause an mcorrect output, and specify a redundant
term which could be added to the design to eliminate the hazard.

[10 marks]

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12. (a) A museum has four rooms, each with a motion sensor (Mo, M I , M 2 and M 3) which
outputs 1 when motion is detected. At night, the only person in the museum is one security
guard who walks from room to room. Starting with a truth table, design a combinational logic
circuit, in minimal first canonic form, which sounds an alarm (by setting its output A to 1) if
motion is detected in more than one room at a time (i.e., in two, three or four rooms), meaning
there must be an intruder or intruders in the museum.
[9 marks]

(b) Describe the concept of cellular logic. What are the advantages of designing a digital system
using cellular logic, rather than in canonic form.
[7 marks]

(c) A cellular logic circuit which performs the function described in part (a) is to be design~d
with the layout shown in Figure 121 . The functionality of each cell is identical, with each cell
having an external input from one of the motion sensors, M i , plus a further two inputs, X i - l
and A i -), and two outputs, Xi and Ai The inputs X _I and A -I are set to 00 Write a set of
propositional statements describing the functionality of each cell. Write the corresponding
truth tables for Xi and Ai. Explain how the cellular system design could be extended to a
larger number of rooms.
[9 marks]

Mo iVl l M2 .vi 3

X. 1 Xo Xl X2 X3
0

0
A' l Ao Al A2 A3
output to alarm
A

Figure 12.1

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ELECI003

13 You are asked to design a change machine that accepts 5 and 10p coins and returns a 20p coin
when 20 or more pence have been added. If the amount of change that is input exceeds 20p
then the machine remembers the balance.

(a) Specify the counter in terms of a state diagram

[10 marks]

(b) How would you ensure the circuit does not lock-up into a forbidden state when the power
is first applied? Modify your state diagram from part (a) if necessary,

[2 marks]

(c) Write down the state-transition table for your design ensuring that all possible states arc,
defined. You may assume that the coin detector outputs 0 when a Sp is input and 1 when a
10p is input.

[4 marks]

(d) Explain why memory is required to implement a state machine and give the number of
bits required to implement your state machine.

[2 marks]

(e) cfhe coin sensor uses a 3-bit successive approximation analogue to digital converter
(ADC) to determine the different weights of each coin. Draw a block diagram to illustrate
the lffiplementation of this converter and ex.plain the function of each block.

[7 marks]

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14
Table I MSP430 Assembly program listing
1 #include nmsp430G2553.h";
2 unsigned int i = 0;

3 void main (void) {

4 TpillTCTL = I,IDTpr,,/ I ~'1DTHOLD;

5 PIDIR 1= BITO + BIT6;

6 PlaUT 1= BIT6;
7 PIOUT [,= -BITO;

8 while (1) {
9 foy(i=O; i< 20000; i++) PlaUT BIT6;
10 PlaUT' 1= BITG;
11 for(i=O; i~ ~OOOO' i++) PlaUT BIT6,
12 PlaUT &= -EITO;

(a) Provide descriptive comments for each of the lines in the assembly code shown in
table 1.

[6 marks]

(b) Draw a flow chart that shows the operation of the program listing given in table 1.

[7 marks]

(c) Describe the operation that you would expect to observe if LEDs were attached to the
pins corresponding to BITO and BIT6

[3 marks]

(d) An array of 16 bit data values are stored in the microcontroller memory. Develop a
program for the MSP430 microprocessor that determines the maximum value of the
values in the array. You may assume that the variable containing the data has been
defmed as

unsigned int array[20];

To develop the program:

(i) Draw a flowchart to illustrate your algorithm.

[5 marks]
(ii) Write commented c code to implement this algorithm.

[4 marks]

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