Multiplexer, Demultiplexer, Encoder & Decoder
Basically digital circuits are divided into two broad categories as follows :-
1) Combinational Logic circuits :-
These are the ckts. in which output at any instant of time depends upon, the inputs present
at that instant of time.
Ex. – Half adder, full adder, mux, demux, encoder, decoder etc.
2) Sequential Logic circuits :-
These are the ckts. in which output at any instant of time depends upon the present inputs as
well as previous inputs & outputs. There is memory element in these ckts. and are used to
store past information.
Ex. – Flip Flop, Registers, counters etc.
Multiplexer
The multiplexers is a typical combinational logic ckt. widely used to connect many
sources to one common line to make the system simple & economic.
Multiplexing is the process of connecting many inputs to one output. It is a “many
into one” process with appropriate logic control signal. With the help of control signal
applying to the select lines, any input line can be selected and transmitted at the output.
The multiplexer is also known as the data selector since it accepts more than one
inputs and connect only one of them at a time to the output. Thus it is similar to a single pole
multi position switch.
D0 Mux as a Rotary switch
D1
D2 Y
Output
Dn-1
Symbol for mux :-
D0
D1
n input D2 Mux
signals n:1 Y (single output signal)
Dn-1
G
(Enable or
Strobe)
Sm-1 S1 S0
m Control or
select signals
Multiplexers are popularly known as ‘Mux’. It has ‘n’ input data lines (D 0 to Dn-1) and ‘m’
control or select lines (S0 to Sm-1). For selecting one of ‘n’ inputs to the output of mux, it
required minimum ‘m’ lines and can be calculated by using equation 2m = n
Advantages of Mux :- Applications of Mux :-
1) Simplification of logic expression is not required. 1) Communication system
2) It minimizes the IC packages count & the system cost. 2) Telephone networks
3) Logic design is simplified. 3) Computer memory
4) It improves the reliability of the system by reducing 4) Transmission from the
the no. of external wired connection. computer system of a satellite
IC No. Multiplexers Output type
74157 Quad 2 : 1 mux same as input
74153 Dual 4 : 1 mux same as input
74152 8 : 1 mux inverted output
74150 16 : 1 mux inverted output
4 : 1 Multiplexer :-
Symbol
D0
D1
data input D2 Mux
D3 4:1 Y (single output signal)
G
(Enable or
Strobe)
S1 S0
Control or select inputs
S1 S0
Strobe
D0
D1
y
D2
D3
4 : 1 multiplexer has four data input lines and only one output line. For selecting one out of
n inputs for connection to the output, a set of m select inputs is necessary where, 2 m=n.
Therefore for selecting one out of 4 inputs for connection to the output, 2 select inputs are
necessary (22=4).
Sometimes a strobe or enable input G is applied as a common input to all AND gates.
This helps in cascading & resetting mux operation at any moment.
The data output is equal to the state of the selected data input. The output can be
expressed as Y = D0S1S0 + D1S1S0 + D2S1S0 + D3S1S0
For the implementation of this equation 4 four-input AND gates and a four-input OR
gate and two NOT gates to generate the complements of control inputs S 1 and S0 are
necessary. Strobe input is applied through select code is 00, data D0 appears at the output. In
this way, as shown in the truth table, if select code is 11, data D 3 appears at the output.
IC 74153 can be used as dual 4 : 1 line multiplexer in which output is same as input.
Truth Table :-
Strobe Select inputs Output
G S1 S0 Y
0 0 0 D0
0 0 1 D1
0 1 0 D2
0 1 1 D3
1 X X 0
Demultiplexer
Demultiplex means one into many. Demultiplexer is a logic circuit with one input
and many outputs. A demultiplexer basically reverses the operation of a multiplexer. The
circuit has one input signal, m control signals, and n output signals.
The number of control or select line is m, where n = 2m. The select input code
determines to which output the data input will be transmitted.
Symbol for demux :-
D0
D1
Data Demux D2 n output signals
input 1:n
Dn-1
Sm-1 S1 S0
m Control or
select signals
1 : 4 Demultiplexer :-
Symbol for 1 : 4 demux
D0
Data Demux D1 output signals
input 1:n D2
D3
S1 S0
Control or
select signals
S1 S0
Strobe
G
Data
Input
D0
D1
D2
D3
The demultiplexer can be designed using gates or demultiplexers are available as an
MSI IC. In fig. 1 : 4 demultiplexer is shown. For any demultiplexer there are m control (select)
lines, n output lines and one input line. n = 2m. As here n = 4, m = 2. The input data line goes
to all AND gates. Two select lines enable only one gate at a time, and the data appearing on
the input line will pass through the selected gate to the corresponding output line.
IC 74155 can be used as dual 1 : 4 demultiplexer (2 line to 4 line decoder). Other
important demux ICs are 74154 ( 1 : 16 demux ) and 74138 ( 1 : 8 demux )
Truth Table :-
Select inputs Output Advantages of Demux :-
Data
S1 S0 Y 1) Transmission of Audio/Video signals
0 X X - requires combination of Mux & Demux.
1 0 0 D0 2) They are also used as decoders in security
1 0 1 D1 systems like banking sectors.
1 1 0 D2
3) Combination of Demuxes with Muxes
1 1 1 D3
increases the efficiency of the communication
system.
Applications of Demux :-
1) It can be used to route input data to specific output decided by control word known as
data demultiplexing.
2) It can be used in counters, registers.
3) It plays important role in memory addressing by means of its decoder application.
4) It can be used for switching encoding.
Encoders
An encoder converts an active input signal into a coded output signal. The process
of converting from familiar symbols to numbers in a coded format is called ‘encoding’.
Decimal to BCD encoder :-
This type of encoder has ten inputs – one for each decimal digit and four outputs
corresponding to the BCD code. This is a 10 line-to-4 line encoder. A set of ten switches can
be used as an input device. These switches generates 0 or 1 logic level according to off or ON
positions. When a particular number is to be fed to the digital circuit in BCD code, the switch
corresponding to that number is pressed.
+5 V
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
(MSB) A B C D (LSB)
Truth Table :-
Decimal BCD code output
input A B C D
Drawback :- Above encoder produces required BCD
0 0 0 0 0
output only if one key is pressed at a time. But if two
1 0 0 0 1
2 0 0 1 0 or more keys are pressed at a time then it produces
3 0 0 1 1 output which is meaningless. To eliminate this
4 0 1 0 0 drawback Priority encoder can be used.
5 0 1 0 1
6 0 1 1 0
7 0 1 1 1
8 1 0 0 0
9 1 0 0 1
Priority Encoder :-
1 Vcc
2 GND
3 A (MSB)
Decimal 4 B BCD
IC
inputs outputs
5 C
74147
6 D (LSB)
7
8
9
IC 74147 which is priority encoder performs the function of decimal to BCD
encoder. It has active low inputs and outputs. The bubble indicate active low inputs and
outputs. IC 74147 is a priority encoder because it gives priority to the highest-order input. For
ex. if 3 and 6 are low, the BCD output will be corresponding to 6 i.e. 1001 ( complement of
0110) due to active low operations. Thus, the highest active – low input has the priority and
it will control the encoding. The priority encoders are used in keyboards.
Truth table :-
Active low decimal inputs Active low BCD outputs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
X 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
X X 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
X X X 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1
X X X X 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0
X X X X X 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1
X X X X X X 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
X X X X X X X 0 1 0 1 1 1
X X X X X X X X 0 0 1 1 0
Decoder
A decoder is similar to a demultiplexer, with one exception there is no data input. The only
inputs are the control bits.
BCD to Decimal decoder :-
Sometimes, we prefer to see the output in a decimal format. The outputs can be displayed by
using display devices like LEDs, Nixie tubes. The logic ckt. of 1-of-10 decoder is shown in fig.
Here only 1 of the 10 output line is high. For ex. When ABCD = 0011, then only Y3 AND gate
has all high inputs. Therefore, only the Y3 output is high. If we check for other BCD numbers
(0000 to 1001), we find that subscript of the high output always equals the decimal equivalent
of the input BCD digit. Hence this ckt. is called as BCD-to-Decimal decoder.
A (MSB) B C D (LSB)
Y0
Y1
Y2
Y3
Y4
Y5
Y6
Y7
Y8
Y9
Truth Table :- Input A – MSB and D - LSB
Inputs Outputs
No.
A B C D Y0 Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 Y9
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
4 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
5 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
6 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
7 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1
8 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
9 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
BCD to 7-segment decoder / driver
7-segment display is used as the display device in most of the digital system. The
data should be converted from BCD to 7-segment code and IC decoder/driver can be used for
this purpose. It has 4 input lines for BCD data and 7-output lines to drive a 7-segment display.
The output terminals of decoder are connected to respective segment ( a through g ) of the
display.
+Vcc
Common Anode
a
f b
g
e c
d a b c d e f g
7-segment indicator Common Anode type LED display
Active-low output decoders (IC 7446, 7447) are used for common-anode type LED display.
Active-high output decoders (IC 7448, 7449) are used for common-cathode type LED display.
In common-anode type, current limiting resistors are connected between LED and ground
while in common-cathode type, resistors are connected between LED and Vcc.
Important functions of BCD to 7-segment decoder are given below :-
1) LT (Lamp Test - Pin 3) :-
This is used to check the segment of LED display. If it is connected to logic 0 level, all segment
of the display will be ON. Normally LT terminal is connected to logic 1 level.
2) RBI (Reverse Blanking Input - Pin 5) :-
This is used for blanking out leading zeros in multi-digit displays. For normal decoding it is
connected to logic 1. If it is connected to logic 0, then display can show digits from 1 to 9
depending on BCD input but leading zeros are blanked.
3) BI (Blanking Input - Pin 4) :-
If it is connected to logic 0 level, then the display switches OFF irrespective of BCD inputs.
4) RBO (Reverse Blanking Output - Pin 4) :-
During zero blanking interval this output goes from logic 1 to 0. This is used for cascading
purpose. It is connected to RBI of the next stage.
BCD to 7-segment decoder driving a 7-segment LED display
+5V
Vcc
a a
A b
BCD B 7446 c f b
Inputs C OR d g
D 7447 e
F e c
LT g d
RBI
GND
FND 507
Vcc
Common Anode
LED Display
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