Arcane mixing techniques

Digital techniques basics

For conceptual basics from the atomic level up see Semiconductors, Diodes and Transistors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPHG0DCWcC0 AND An Introduction to Logic Gates https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=10&v=95kv5BF2Z9E.

Digital gates

AND

The AND gate behaves in the same way as the logical and operator: Output is true when both inputs are true and any otherwise false:

Input 1	Input 2	Output
0	0	0
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	1

OR

The OR gate behaves like a logical inclusive or: Output is true if either or both of the inputs are true and false if both inputs are false:

Input 1	Input 2	Output
0	0	0
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	1

XOR

The XOR (exclusive-OR) gate acts as a logical either/or: the output is true if the inputs are different, and false if the inputs are the same:

Input 1	Input 2	Output
0	0	0
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	0

NOT

A logical inverter, alias NOT gate, has only one input and reverses logic state:

Input 1	Output
0	1
1	0

 

NAND

A NAND gate works like an AND gate followed by a NOT gate:

Input 1	Input 2	Output
0	0	1
0	1	1
1	0	1
1	1	0

NOR

The NOR gate is a combination OR gate followed by an inverter:

Input 1	Input 2	Output
0	0	1
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	0

XNOR

XNOR (exclusive-NOR) gate is a combination of an XOR gate followed by an inverter:

Input 1	Input 2	Output
0	0	1
0	1	0
1	0	0
1	1	1

Universal gates

The NAND and the NOR gate can be considered to be "universal" because you can make any of the basic operations out of its combinations: an inverter, an OR gate or an AND gate. Non-inverting gates do not have this versatility since they can not make an invert.

Resources

Breadboards

You can buy solderless breadboards in a shop or online. Mind that you pick scalable like the SD-12 so you can hook up breadboards together and they become reuseful for other projects such as prototyping our own greenhouse sprinkler management systems.

Alternatively, start gathering and collecting IDC ribbon connectors (Floppy drive cables, old HD cables, SCSI cables) to build your own breadboards with. To do this, you will also need a solder iron, hot glue, wire (for example telephone wire will do), a small screw driver, and a clamp. This board will also be scalable. Fine grained scalable. :D

I'll do both. Buy a few, and make a few.

Wiring

• Create (or have at hand) a circuit diagram before starting any wiring.
• Power off while wiring circuits on the board.
• Maintain a clean household. Designs tend to get complex and can become difficult to debug.
• Strip insulation off wires no more than necessary to prevent wires from accidentally touching each other.
• Do not push wires too far into holes to prevent causing open circuits or short circuits.
• Use the longer outer rows for +5V on one side and ground on the other side.
• First wire power to the circuit using a common colour (red) for +5V and another (black) for ground.

Transistors

Inverter circuit Transistors are three pin devices. The amount of current that can flow between the collector and emitter is a function of the current flowing through the base of the transistor. If no current is flowing through the base of the transistor, no current will flow through the collector and emitter. With the transistor operating in digital mode, it will be configured to carry the maximum (on) or minimum (off) current from the collector to the emitter that the circuit will allow.

• pn2222
• 2n2222

Resistors

Inverter circuit The two resistors are sized to insure that the inverter circuit operates in digital mode:

• 1 1 KΩ resistor
• 1 33 kΩ resistor

Chips

TTL Logic

TTL (transistor-transistor-logic) chips were developed with use of transistor switches for logical operations and defines the binary values as:

• 0 V to 0.8 V = logic 0
• 2 V to 5 V = logic 1

They are inexpensive, but draw a lot of power and must be supplied with +5 volts. Individual gates may draw 3 to 4 mA. The low power Schottky versions of TTL chips draw only 20% of the power, but are more expensive. These chips have LS in the middle of their model number.

• SN74LS00 (NAND)

CMOS Logic

CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) chips are lower in power requirements (drawing about 1 mA) and operate with a wide range of supply voltages (typically 3 to 18 volts). The CMOS model number will have a C in the middle of it. A bigh drawback is extreme sensitivity to static electricity - they must be carefully protected from static discharges.

NMOS and PMOS Logic

PMOS and NMOS (p- and n-channel metal oxide semiconductors) offer the advantage of higher component density than TTL chips. They too are sensitive to damage from electrical discharge.

Related

• Encrypting everything