• Feedback is a fascinating engineering principle. It can turn a rather simple device or process into something substantially more complex. We’ve seen the effects of feedback intentionally integrated into circuit designs with some rather astounding effects: Comparator + negative feedback—————->…

  • Having learned about digital memory devices in the last chapter, we know that it is possible to store binary data within solid-state devices. Those storage “cells” within solid-state memory devices are easily addressed by driving the “address” lines of the…

  • Suppose we wanted to build a device that could add two binary bits together. Such a device is known as a half-adder, and its gate circuit looks like this: The Σ symbol represents the “sum” output of the half-adder, the…

  • The earliest forms of digital data storage involving moving parts was that of the punched paper card. Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a weaving loom in 1780 which automatically followed weaving instructions set by carefully placed holes in paper cards. This…

  • Read-only memory (ROM) is similar in design to static or dynamic RAM circuits, except that the “latching” mechanism is made for one-time (or limited) operation. The simplest type of ROM is that which uses tiny “fuses” which can be selectively…

  • Perhaps the most ingenious technique was that of the delay line. A delay line is any kind of device which delays the propagation of a pulse or wave signal. If you’ve ever heard a sound echo back and forth through…

  • Now we can proceed to studying specific types of digital storage devices. To start, I want to explore some of the technologies which do not require any moving parts. These are not necessarily the newest technologies, as one might suspect,…

  • When we store information in some kind of circuit or device, we not only need some way to store and retrieve it, but also to locate precisely where in the device that it is. Most, if not all, memory devices…

  • Although many textbooks provide good introductions to digital memory technology, I intend to make this chapter unique in presenting both past and present technologies to some degree of detail. While many of these memory designs are obsolete, their foundational principles…

  • A principal consideration for industrial control networks, where the monitoring and control of real-life processes must often occur quickly and at set times, is the guaranteed maximum communication time from one node to another. If you’re controlling the position of…

  • Aside from the issues of the physical network (signal types and voltage levels, connector pinouts, cabling, topology, etc.), there needs to be a standardized way in which communication is arbitrated between multiple nodes in a network, even if its as…

  • If we want to connect two digital devices with a network, we would have a kind of network known as “point-to-point:” For the sake of simplicity, the network wiring is symbolized as a single line between the two devices. In…

  • A modern alternative to sending (binary) digital information via electric voltage signals is to use optical (light) signals. Electrical signals from digital circuits (high/low voltages) may be converted into discrete optical signals (light or no light) with LEDs or solid-state…

  • With BogusBus, our signals were very simple and straightforward: each signal wire (1 through 5) carried a single bit of digital data, 0 Volts representing “off” and 24 Volts DC representing “on.” Because all the bits arrived at their destination…

  • Buses and networks are designed to allow communication to occur between individual devices that are interconnected. The flow of information, or data, between nodes, can take a variety of forms: With simplex communication, all data flow is unidirectional: from the…

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