1.

Explain asynchronous and synchronous counter

Asynchronous (ripple) counter

Asynchronous counter created from two JK flip-flops

An asynchronous (ripple) counter is a single JK-type flip-flop, with its J (data) input fed from its own inverted output. This circuit can store one bit, and hence can count from zero to one before it overflows (starts over from 0). This counter will increment once for every clock cycle and takes two clock cycles to overflow, so every cycle it will alternate between a transition from 0 to 1 and a transition from 1 to 0. Notice that this creates a new clock with a 50% duty cycle at exactly half the frequency of the input clock. If this output is then used as the clock signal for a similarly arranged D flip-flop (remembering to invert the output to the input), one will get another 1 bit counter that counts half as fast. Putting them together yields a two-bit counter:
Cycle Q1 Q0 (Q1:Q0)dec 0 1 2 3 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 3 0

You can continue to add additional flip-flops, always inverting the output to its own input, and using the output from the previous flip-flop as the clock signal. The result is called a ripple counter, which can count to 2n - 1 where n is the number of bits (flip-flop stages) in the counter. Ripple counters suffer from unstable outputs as the overflows "ripple" from stage to stage, but they do find frequent application as dividers for clock signals, where the instantaneous count is unimportant, but the division ratio overall is (to clarify this, a 1-bit counter is exactly equivalent to a divide by two circuit; the output frequency is exactly half that of the input when fed with a regular train of clock pulses). The use of flip-flop outputs as clocks leads to timing skew between the count data bits, making this ripple technique incompatible with normal synchronous circuit design styles.

Synchronous counter

A 4-bit synchronous counter using JK flip-flops

In synchronous counters, the clock inputs of all the flip-flops are connected together and are triggered by the input pulses. Thus, all the flip-flops change state simultaneously (in parallel). The circuit below is a 4-bit synchronous counter. The J and K inputs of FF0 are connected to HIGH. FF1 has its J and K inputs connected to the output of FF0, and the J and K inputs of FF2 are connected to the output of an AND gate that is fed by the outputs of FF0 and FF1. A simple way of implementing the logic for each bit of an ascending counter (which is what is depicted in the image to the right) is for each bit to toggle when all of the less significant bits are at a logic high state. For example, bit 1 toggles when bit 0 is logic high; bit 2 toggles when both bit 1 and bit 0 are logic high; bit 3 toggles when bit 2, bit 1 and bit 0 are all high; and so on. Synchronous counters can also be implemented with hardware finite state machines, which are more complex but allow for smoother, more stable transitions. Hardware-based counters are of this type. 2. Minimize function using Quine McCluskey: f = xy + xy + yz + x y z.

3. What is a prime implicant

In Boolean logic, an implicant is a "covering" (sum term or product term) of one or more minterms in a sum of products (or maxterms in a product of sums) of a boolean function. Formally, a product term P in a sum of products is an implicant of the Boolean function F if P implies F. More precisely:
P implies F (and thus is an implicant of F) if F also takes the value 1 whenever P equals 1.

Where F is a Boolean function of n variables AND P is a product term. This means that P F with respect to the natural ordering of the Boolean space. For instance, the function

is implied by

, by

, by

, by

and many others; these are the implicants of

Prime implicant
A prime implicant of a function is an implicant that cannot be covered by a more general (more reduced meaning with fewer literals) implicant. W.V. Quine defined a prime implicant of F to be an implicant that is minimal - that is, the removal of any literal from P results in a non-implicant for F. Essential prime implicants are prime implicants that cover an output of the function that no combination of other prime implicants is able to cover. Using the example above, one can easily see that while (and others) is a prime implicant, are not. From the latter, multiple literals can be removed to make it prime:

and

, and can be removed, yielding . Alternatively, and can be removed, yielding Finally, and can be removed, yielding .

The process of removing literals from a Boolean term is called expanding the term. Expanding by one literal doubles the number of input combinations for which the term is true (in binary Boolean algebra). Using the example function above, we may expand to or to without changing the cover of . [1] The sum of all prime implicants of a Boolean function is called its complete sum, minimal covering sum, or Blake canonical form. 4. How does a diode look (internally)? Explain working using internal diagram In electronics, a diode is a two-terminal electronic component with asymmetric conductance, it has low (ideally zero) resistance to current flow in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material with a pn junction connected to two electrical terminals.[5] A vacuum tube diode has two electrodes, a plate (anode) and a heated cathode. Semiconductor diodes were the first semiconductor electronic devices.

Diodes
A diode is a device that conducts the current in just one direction: the direction of the arrow in the diode symbol, which looks like this:

A diode is the simplest possible semiconductor device. A diode allows current to flow in one direction but not the other. You may have seen turnstiles at a stadium or a subway station that let people go through in only one direction. A diode is a one-way turnstile for electrons. When you put N-type and P-type silicon together as shown in this diagram, you get a very interesting phenomenon that gives a diode its unique properties.

Even though N-type silicon by itself is a conductor, and P-type silicon by itself is also a conductor, the combination shown in the diagram does not conduct any electricity. The negative electrons in the N-type silicon get attracted to the positive terminal of the battery. The positive holes in the P-type silicon get attracted to the negative terminal of the battery. No current flows across the junction because the holes and the electrons are each moving in the wrong direction. If you flip the battery around, the diode conducts electricity just fine. The free electrons in the N-type silicon are repelled by the negative terminal of the battery. The holes in the P-type silicon are repelled by the positive terminal. At the junction between the N-type and P-type silicon, holes and free electrons meet. The electrons fill the holes. Those holes and free electrons cease to exist, and new holes and electrons spring up to take their place. The effect is that current flows through the junction.