Lab 1: Digital Logic Gates

Rebecca Sontheimer
ECEN 248 511
TA: Mehnaz Rahman
Date: September 17, 2014

Objectives:
In this lab I learned about basic breadboarding techniques and wiring (and how to
troubleshoot). I also learned how to use integrated circuits on a breadboard and explore
basic logic gates such as NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, and XOR. The lab also
familiarized me with lab equipment such as a multimeter, data sheets, power supply, etc.

Design:
NOT
AND
OR

NAND
NOR
XOR

Results:
Overall, the lab was successful. In the beginning of the lab, there was a bit of
troubleshooting I had to do to figure out what the correct configuration was. Once I
figured out how to properly connect wires and how to place the IC, things went more
smoothly. For each integrated circuit I had to manipulate and configure the breadboard
circuit to match with the correct logic gate. For example, the NOT gate only has one
input and one output, therefore only required a certain wiring configuration. However the
AND gate has 2 inputs, therefore two wires had to be attached to the correct pins.
Regarding the data sheet, not all ICs had the input and output at the same pins. This
required looking up the diagram of the IC and making sure the orientation was correct. If
the setup was not right, one could potentially burn the IC, which would affect results.
With each IC, I measured whether the output was high or low (high meaning on
or 1 and low meaning off or 0). The correct range for high values is 3.9V 4.2 V.
The correct range for low values is 91.9mV. Not all of my values matched this a range.
This is most likely due to the fact that some ICs are damaged or the multimeter did not
get a correct reading.
Table 1: Truth Table for Invertor (NOT gate)
A (H/L)
Y (volts)
Y (H/L)
Low
4.4 V
High
High
107 mV
Low
The table above represents the correct outputs of the NOT gate as measured with the
multimeter. A NOT gate inverts the input, therefore these results are correct.
Table 2: Truth Table for AND & OR Gates
A (H/L)
B (H/L)
AND2 (V)
AND2 (H/L) OR2 (V)
OR2 (H/L)
L
L
94 mV
Low
126.2 mV
Low
L
H
96 mV
Low
4.41 V
High
H
L
96 mV
Low
4.41 V
High
H
H
4.41 V
High
4.41 V
high
The table above represents the correct outputs of the AND and OR gates as measured
with the multimeter. These results follow along with the correct truth tables of these logic
gates.

Table 3: Truth Table for NAND, NOR, XOR Gates

A
B
NAND2
NAND2
NOR2
NOR2
XOR2
XOR2
(H/L) (H/L) (V)
(H/L)
(V)
(H/L)
(V)
(H/L)
L
L
3.95 V
High
4.41 V
High
107 mV Low
L
H
3.96 V
High
103.4 mV Low
4.4 V
High
H
L
3.99 V
High
104 mV
Low
4.4 V
High
H
H
205.1 mV Low
87.8 mV
Low
107 mV Low
The table above represents the correct outputs of the NAND, NOR and XOR gates as
measured with the multimeter. These results follow along with the correct truth tables of
these logic gates. However, for the NAND gate, the first set of pins was damaged and
gave me the wrong multimeter reading. I then had to move onto the second gate to get the
correct reading.

Conclusion:
In this lab I explored the function of several of the basic logic gates. I learned how
to implement them on a breadboard with integrated circuits. I tested the output voltage of
the circuit and made sure that these values corresponded with the truth table each logic
gate represented. I also learned how to follow the lab manual, how to breadboard, how to
use the lab equipment, and how to properly design and test a circuit.

Questions:
1. What did you like most about the lab assignment and why? What did you
like least about it and why?
I liked that the lab manual was very helpful and made the lab straightforward. The
thing I liked least about this lab was that we had to be independent.
2. Were there any section of the lab manual that were unclear? If so, what was
unclear? Do you have any suggestions for improving the clarity?
No, the lab was very clear and straightforward.
3. What suggestions do you have to improve the overall lab assignment?
I would suggest bullet points for the steps, rather than full paragraphs that you
have to read and scan to find what step is next.