DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DJM30073-DIGITAL SYSTEM
SESSION : ..............
PRACTICAL TASK 4 [CLO2P, PLO5]

LAB 4: RING COUNTERS

Date:

No. Name Matrix No. Signature

1
2

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students should be able to:-
1. Understand the operation of left shifted and right shifted ring counters.
2. Analyze the output sequences of left shifted and right shifted ring counters.
3. Distinguish the characteristics of left shifted and right shifted ring counters.
4. Apply an application of shift register as ring counters.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:
1. 74LS174 Quad D flip-flop with reset and clear.
2. Light emitting diode (LED).
3. Resistors (100Ω).
4. Push button switch
5. DC Power Supply 5V.
6. Digital Multimeter.
7. Breadboard.
8. Jumper wires.

THEORY:

Shift registers consist of an arrangement of flip-flops for temporary storage and transfer data in digital system.
There are four types of shift registers which is SISO (serial in serial out), SIPO (serial in parallel out), PISO (parallel in
serial out) and PIPO (parallel in parallel out). One of the applications of shift register in digital system is shift register
counter. A shift register counter is basically a shift register with the serial output connected back to the serial input to
produce special sequences. These devices are often classified as counters because they exhibit a specified sequence of
states. One of them is a ring counter.
The ring counter utilizes one flip-flop for each state in its sequence. It has the advantage that decoding gates are
not required for decimal conversion, because there is an output for each decimal number.
The following circuit as in Figure 1.1 is a 4-bit ring counter constructed from D flip-flops. The output of each
stage is shifted into the next stage on the positive edge of a clock pulse. If the CLEAR signal is high, all the flip-flops
except the first one FF0 are reset to 0. FF0 is preset to 1 instead.

Figure 1.1: A 4-bit ring counter

PROCEDURES:
A. RIGHT SHIFTED RING COUNTER
1. Connect the circuit as shown in Figure 1.2.
2. Used push button switch as a clock signal. Press the push button once at a time for eight times and monitor
the output sequence at all LEDs or seven segment display every time the push button is being pressed.
3. Then, complete the output table for this counter in Table 1.1.
4. Verify the result with the theory.

Figure 1.2 : Circuit connection

INPUT OUTPUT SEQUENCES

CLOCK Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3

3
4

Table 1.1 : Result (10 marks)

B. LEFT SHIFTED RING COUNTER
1. Connect the circuit as shown in Figure 1.3.
2. Used push button switch as a clock signal. Press the push button once at a time for eight times and monitor
the output sequence at all LEDs or seven segment display every time the push button is pressed.
3. Then, complete the output table for this counter in Table 1.2.
4. Verify the result with the theory.

Figure 1.3 : Circuit connection

INPUT OUTPUT SEQUENCES

CLOCK Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3

4
5

7
8

Table 1.2 : Result (10 marks)

QUESTIONS:
1. State a difference between right shifted ring counter over left shifted ring counter.
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2. State a disadvantage of ring counter compared with normal counter.

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3. Explain the way to connect preset and clear of each flip-flop for 4-bit right shifted ring counter for producing the
following output at initial state of ring counter. (Q0 = 0, Q1 = 0, Q2 = 1, Q3 = 0)
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4. Explain the way to connect preset and clear of each flip-flop for 4-bit right shifted ring counter for producing the
following output at initial state of ring counter. (Q0 = 0, Q1 = 1, Q2 = 1, Q3 = 0)
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5. State another application of shift register in digital system.

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DISCUSSION:
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CONCLUSION:
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Prepared By : Revised By: Verified By :