CHAPTER FOUR Computer system architecture Logic elements and Boolean algebra Logic and bit operations Computers represent information by bits. A bit has two possible values, namely zero and one. This meaning of the word comes from binary digit, since zeroes and ones are the digits used in binary representations of numbers. A bit can be used to represent a truth value, since there are two truth values, true and false. A variable is called a Boolean variable if its values are either true or false. Computer bit operations correspond to the logical connectives. What are logic gates? In the binary lesson, we discussed the switches inside a computer Logic gates are the switches that turn ON or OFF depending on what the user is doing! They are the building blocks for how computers work. Logic gates turn ON when a certain condition is true, and OFF when the condition is false They check whether or not the information they get follows a certain rule They either spit out the answer true (ON) or false (OFF) Remember: True= ON = 1 False = OFF=0 Types of Logic Gates! Major logic gates: NOT, AND, OR, and XOR There are also other ones, such as NAND, NOR, and XNOR. This is called Boolean logic In a circuit schematic each logic gate is represented by a different picture, like the ones shown below.
Page 1 of 6 By:- Ahmed A.
Chapter Four: Computer System Architecture
NOT NOT is the most simple logic gate. All it does is take in an input that is either ON or OFF and spits out the opposite. So for a 1 it will give a 0, and for a 0 it will give a 1. Another name for a NOT gate is inverter, because it inverts (makes opposite) the input
The NOT gate
Ā with a This is also shown as A' A A’
0 1
1 0 NOT Truth Table
AND Unlike NOT, AND needs two inputs It only turns on when both inputs are ON If only one input is on, it spits out OFF If both inputs are off, it spits out OFF
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Chapter Four: Computer System Architecture
AND Truth Table
A convenient way to visualize the outputs for the logic gates is through a truth table The truth table depicts the gate’s response to each possible set of inputs
AND Truth Table
OR OR also needs two inputs OR needs one input to be ON for it to spit out ON It is also ON when both inputs are ON It is OFF when both inputs are OFF
The OR gate
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Chapter Four: Computer System Architecture
2 Input OR gate A B A+B 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 OR Truth Table NAND gate This is a NOT-AND gate which is equal to an AND gate followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NAND gates are true if any of the inputs are false. The symbol is an AND gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion.
The NAND gate
NAND Truth Table
Page 4 of 6 By:- Ahmed A.
Chapter Four: Computer System Architecture
NOR gate This is a NOT-OR gate which is equal to OR agate followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NOR gates are false if any of the inputs are true. The symbol is an OR gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion.z
The NOR gate
Page 5 of 6 By:- Ahmed A.
Chapter Four: Computer System Architecture
NOR Truth Table
Stacking Logic Gates!
An output of one logic gate can be an input to another logic gate. This creates trees of gates that depend on each other.
