ABSTRACT
Registers and counters are the most common components used in sequential circuit design. Sequential circuits are built out of memory elements and combinational logic devices. This chapter introduces the popular integrated circuits (ICs) and illustrates their utility in sequential circuit design. Based on their function, these ICs can be classified into the following categories: flip-flops, latches, registers, shift registers, register files, counters, programmable logic sequencers and memories. Flip-flop ICs usually contain two individual flip-flops that can be used in the implementation of any sequential circuit. The serial complementer circuit must be a sequential circuit, since the mode of operation at any time depends on whether or not the nonzero bit has occurred. Counters are the least complex type of sequential circuits and are used very commonly in digital circuit design, both in arithmetic and control applications. There are two types of counters: synchronous and ripple. The chapter examines some examples of sequential circuit design using ICs.
