A Digital Logic Gate is an electronic device that makes logical decisions based on the different combinations of digital signals present on its inputs. A digital logic gate may have more than one input but only has one digital output. Standard commercially available digital logic gates are available in two basic families or forms, TTL which stands for Transistor-Transistor Logic such as the 7400 series, and CMOS which stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Silicon which is the 4000 series of chips. This notation of TTL or CMOS refers to the logic technology used to manufacture the integrated circuit, (IC) or a "chip" as it is more commonly called.

Boolean functions may be practically implemented by using electronic gates. The following points are important to understand.

• Electronic gates require a power supply.
• Gate INPUTS are driven by voltages having two nominal values, e.g. 0V and 5V representing logic 0 and logic 1 respectively.
• The OUTPUT of a gate provides two nominal values of voltage only, e.g. 0V and 5V representing logic 0 and logic 1 respectively. In general, there is only one output to a logic gate except in some special cases.
• There is always a time delay between an input being applied and the output responding.

Or Gate :

The OR gate is an electronic circuit that gives a high output (1) if one or more of its inputs are high. A plus (+) is used to show the OR operation. More »

AND Gate :

The AND gate is an electronic circuit that gives a high output (1) only if all its inputs are high. A dot (.) is used to show the AND operation i.e. A.B. Bear in mind that this dot is sometimes omitted i.e. AB. More »

NOT Gate :

The NOT gate is an electronic circuit that produces an inverted version of the input at its output. It is also known as an inverter. If the input variable is A, the inverted output is known as NOT A. This is also shown as A', or A with a bar over the top, as shown at the outputs. The diagrams below show two ways that the NAND logic gate can be configured to produce a NOT gate. It can also be done using NOR logic gates in the same way. More »

NOR Gate :

This is a NOT-OR gate which is equal to an OR gate followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NOR gates are low if any of the inputs are high. The symbol is an OR gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion. More »

NAND Gate :

This is a NOT-AND gate which is equal to an AND gate followed by a NOT gate. The outputs of all NAND gates are high if any of the inputs are low. The symbol is an AND gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion. More »

EXOR Gate :

The 'Exclusive-OR' gate is a circuit which will give a high output if either, but not both, of its two inputs are high. An encircled plus sign ( ) is used to show the EOR operation.

EXNOR Gate :

The 'Exclusive-NOR' gate circuit does the opposite to the EOR gate. It will give a low output if either, but not both, of its two inputs are high. The symbol is an EXOR gate with a small circle on the output. The small circle represents inversion.