Ring Counter DE

A Counter is a device which stores (and sometimes displays) the
number of times a particular event or process has occurred, often in

relationship to a clock signal. Counters are used in digital electronics
for counting purpose, they can count specific event happening in the
circuit. For example, in UP counter a counter increases count for
every rising edge of clock. Not only counting, a counter can follow
the certain sequence based on our design like any random sequence
0,1,3,2… .They can also be designed with the help of flip flops. They
are used as frequency dividers where the frequency of given pulse
waveform is divided. Counters are sequential circuit that count the
number of pulses can be either in binary code or BCD form. The
main properties of a counter are timing , sequencing , and counting.
Counter works in two modes
Up counter
Down counter
Counter Classification
Counters are broadly divided into two categories
1. Asynchronous counter
2. Synchronous counter
1. Asynchronous Counter
In asynchronous counter we don’t use universal clock, only first flip
flop is driven by main clock and the clock input of rest of the
following flip flop is driven by output of previous flip flops. We can
understand it by following diagram-
It is evident from timing diagram that Q0 is changing as soon as the
rising edge of clock pulse is encountered, Q1 is changing when
rising edge of Q0 is encountered(because Q0 is like clock pulse for
second flip flop) and so on. In this way ripples are generated
through Q0,Q1,Q2,Q3 hence it is also called RIPPLE counter and
serial counter. A ripple counter is a cascaded arrangement of flip
flops where the output of one flip flop drives the clock input of the
following flip flop
2. Synchronous Counter
Unlike the asynchronous counter, synchronous counter has one
global clock which drives each flip flop so output changes in parallel.
The one advantage of synchronous counter over asynchronous
counter is, it can operate on higher frequency than asynchronous
counter as it does not have cumulative delay because of same clock
is given to each flip flop. It is also called as parallel counter.
Synchronous counter circuit

Timing diagram synchronous counter
From circuit diagram we see that Q0 bit gives response to each
falling edge of clock while Q1 is dependent on Q0, Q2 is dependent
on Q1 and Q0 , Q3 is dependent on Q2,Q1 and Q0.
Decade Counter
A decade counter counts ten different states and then reset to its
initial states. A simple decade counter will count from 0 to 9 but we
can also make the decade counters which can go through any ten
states between 0 to 15(for 4 bit counter).
Clock pulse Q3 Q2 Q1 Q0
0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 1
2 0 0 1 0
3 0 0 1 1
4 0 1 0 0
5 0 1 0 1
6 0 1 1 0
7 0 1 1 1
8 1 0 0 0
9 1 0 0 1
10 0 0 0 0
Truth table for simple decade counter

Decade counter circuit diagram
We see from circuit diagram that we have used nand gate for Q3
and Q1 and feeding this to clear input line because binary
representation of 10 is—
1010
And we see Q3 and Q1 are 1 here, if we give NAND of these two bits
to clear input then counter will be clear at 10 and again start from
beginning.
Important point: Number of flip flops used in counter are always
greater than equal to (log2 n) where n=number of states in
counter.
Some previous years gate questions on Counters
Q1. Consider the partial implementation of a 2-bit counter
using T flip-flops following the sequence 0-2-3-1-0, as shown
below
To complete the circuit, the input X should be

(A) Q2?
(B) Q2 + Q1
(C) (Q1 ? Q2)’
(D) Q1 ? Q2
(GATE-CS-2004)
Solution:
From circuit we see
T1=XQ1’+X’Q1—-(1)
AND
T2=(Q2 ? Q1)’—-(2)
AND DESIRED OUTPUT IS 00->10->11->01->00
SO X SHOULD BE Q1Q2’+Q1’Q2 SATISFYING 1 AND 2.
SO ANS IS (D) PART.
Q2. The control signal functions of a 4-bit binary counter are

given below (where X is “don’t care”)
The counter is connected as follows:
Assume that the counter and gate delays are negligible. If
the counter starts at 0, then it cycles through the following
sequence:
(A) 0,3,4
(B) 0,3,4,5
(C) 0,1,2,3,4
(D)
0,1,2,3,4,5
(GATE-CS-2007)
Solution:
Initially A1 A2 A3 A4 =0000
Clr=A1 and A3
So when A1 and A3 both are 1 it again goes to 0000
Hence 0000(init.) -> 0001(A1 and A3=0)->0010 (A1 and A3=0) ->
0011(A1 and A3=0) -> 0100 (A1 and A3=1)[ clear condition
satisfied] ->0000(init.) so it goes through 0->1->2->3->4
Ans is (C) part.
Quiz on Digital Logic
Article contributed by Anuj Batham,
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Ring Counter
A ring counter is a typical application of the Shift register. The ring counter is almost the same as the shift
counter. The only change is that the output of the last flip-flop is connected to the input of the first flip-
flop in the case of the ring counter but in the case of the shift register it is taken as output. Except for this,
all the other things are the same.
No. of states in Ring counter = No. of flip-flop used
So, for designing a 4-bit Ring counter we need 4 flip-flops.
In this diagram, we can see that the clock pulse (CLK) is applied to all the flip-flops simultaneously.
Therefore, it is a Synchronous Counter. Both PR and CLR are active low signal that always works in
value 0. These two values are always fixed. They are independent of the value of input D and the Clock
pulse (CLK).
4 states are:
1000
0100
0010
0001
In this way can design a 4-bit Ring Counter using four D flip-flops.
Types of Ring Counter: There are two types of Ring Counter:
1. Straight Ring Counter: It is also known as One hot Counter. In this counter, the output of the
last flip-flop is connected to the input of the first flip-flop. The main point of this Counter is that
it circulates a single one (or zero) bit around the ring.
Here, we use Preset (PR) in the first flip-flop and Clock (CLK) for the last three flip-flops.
2. Twisted Ring Counter OR JHONSON COUNTER
It is also known as a switch-tail ring counter, walking ring counter, or Johnson counter. It
connects the complement of the output of the last shift register to the input of the first register and
circulates a stream of ones followed by zeros around the ring.Here, we use Clock (CLK) for all
the flip-flops. In the Twisted Ring Counter, the number of states = 2 X the number of flip-flops.

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A Counter is a device which stores (and sometimes displays) the

number of times a particular event or process has occurred, often in

Synchronous counter circuit

Truth table for simple decade counter

To complete the circuit, the input X should be

Q2. The control signal functions of a 4-bit binary counter are

Are you a student in Computer Science or an employed professional

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