Digital Register Quick Reference Guide

A 2-bit register uses two D flip-flops to store one 2-bit value.

• D_FF_1 stores the most significant bit (MSB).
• D_FF_0 stores the least significant bit (LSB).
• Both bits are stored together at the rising edge of the clock.

A right shift register moves each stored bit from MSB to LSB at every active clock edge.

Serial In → Q3 → Q2 → Q1 → Q0 → Serial Out

• Serial data enters at Q3 (MSB) from Serial In.
• Data leaves the register from Q0, the LSB.

A left shift register moves each stored bit from LSB to MSB at every active clock edge.

Serial In → Q0 → Q1 → Q2 → Q3 → Serial Out

• Serial data enters at Q0 (LSB) from Serial In.
• Data leaves the register from Q3, the MSB.

A bi-directional shift register moves data in either direction.

• DIR = 0: selects right shift.
• DIR = 1: selects left shift.

• SRin is the right-shift serial input.
• SLin is the left-shift serial input.

An edge detector is a sequential circuit that activates when the required input transition appears.

• Two D flip-flops store the current and previous input samples.
• Q0 is the current sampled input.
• Q1 is the previous sampled input.
• An AND gate gives an active-HIGH pulse.
• A NAND gate gives an active-LOW pulse.

Rising-edge active-HIGH = Q0 · Q₁’
Falling-edge active-HIGH = Q₀’· Q1

	Rising Edge (0 → 1)	Falling Edge (1 → 0)
Active-HIGH output pulse Idle: 0 Active: 1	Pulse = Q0.Q1’	Pulse = Q1.Q0’
Active-LOW output pulse Idle: 1 Active: 0	Pulse’ = (Q0.Q1’)’	Pulse’ = (Q1.Q0’)’

Applications

• Push-button press detection.
• Single-clock pulse generation.
• Counter or register enable control.
• Event and interrupt detection.

Shift registers convert and transmit data in serial or parallel form.

Parallel-In Parallel-Out (PIPO)

All input bits are loaded together and appear together at the outputs.

P3_P2_P1_P0 → Q3_Q2_Q1_Q0

Serial-In Serial-Out (SISO)

Bits enter and leave one at a time. A 4-bit SISO delays the first bit by four active clock edges.

Serial In → Q3 → Q2 → Q1 → Q0 → Serial Out

Serial-In Parallel-Out

Bits enter serially. After four active clock edges, the 4-bit word is available at Q3 to Q0.

Serial In → Q3 → Q2 → Q1 → Q0

Parallel-In Serial-Out

A PISO register loads a complete word and then shifts it out one bit at a time. It uses an additional LOAD input.

• LOAD = 1: Parallel input data is loaded.
• LOAD = 0: Data is shifted toward Serial Out.

PISO → Transmission Line → SIPO

• LOAD = 1: The PISO register loads the parallel data.
• LOAD = 0: The PISO register transmits one bit per active clock edge.
• The SIPO register receives the bits and rebuilds the parallel word.
• A 4-bit word requires four active clock edges at the receiver.

Applications

• Communication between digital boards using fewer wires.
• Sensor or peripheral data transfer.
• Serial links between controllers and display drivers.

LED Belt

Circuit behaviour

• A sampled falling edge of IN generates a HIGH pulse, which is loaded into Q3 on the following active clock edge.
• Each rising clock edge shifts it from Q3 to Q0, lighting one active-HIGH LED.

Functional table

↑ = rising clock edge.

Digital Lock

Implementation:

• Input selection: 
  • Buttons 1 to 7 drive D1 to D7 of a 10:4 encoder. 
  • Outputs A, B, and C form the 3-bit code; D is unused.
• Button press detection: 
  • When no button is pressed, the encoder outputs 0000. 
  • Since only buttons 1–7 are used, every valid button code makes at least one of A, B, or C HIGH. 
  • Therefore, (A + B + C) detects a button press using only a 3-input OR gate. 
  • A rising-edge detector converts this signal into one short storage pulse.
• Sequence storage: 
  • Three 3-bit PIPO stages store the last three button codes. 
  • Each new code advances the older codes by one stage.
• Code matching: Combinational AND logic checks the stored sequence 5, 1, 7. It sets UNLOCK = 1 only for this sequence.
• Reset: R is inverted before reaching the active-LOW CLR inputs. Pressing R clears every PIPO stage.

Working

• Press 5, then 1, then 7.
• Each press creates one pulse and stores the encoded 3-bit value.
• After the third correct value, the matching logic sets UNLOCK = 1.
• A wrong sequence keeps UNLOCK = 0. Press R to clear the stored sequence.

5 → 1 → 7 → UNLOCK = 1