(BQ) Part 2 book "Digital electronics" has contents: Programmable logic devices, flip flops and related devices, counters and registers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, computer fundamentals, troubleshooting digital circuits and test equipment,. and other contents. | 9 Programmable Logic Devices Logic devices constitute one of the three important classes of devices used to build digital electronics systems, memory devices and microprocessors being the other two. Memory devices such as ROM and RAM are used to store information such as the software instructions of a program or the contents of a database, and microprocessors execute software instructions to perform a variety of functions, from running a word-processing program to carrying out far more complex tasks. Logic devices implement almost every other function that the system must perform, including device-to-device interfacing, data timing, control and display operations and so on. So far, we have discussed those logic devices that perform fixed logic functions decided upon at the manufacturing stage. Logic gates, multiplexers, demultiplexers, arithmetic circuits, etc., are some examples. Sequential logic devices such as flip-flops, counters, registers, etc., to be discussed in the following chapters, also belong to this category of logic devices. In the present chapter, we will discuss a new category of logic devices called programmable logic devices (PLDs). The function to be performed by a programmable logic device is undefined at the time of its manufacture. These devices are programmed by the user to perform a range of functions depending upon the logic capacity and other features offered by the device. We will begin with a comparison of fixed and programmable logic, and then follow this up with a detailed description of different types of PLDs in terms of operational fundamentals, salient features, architecture and typical applications. A brief introduction to the devices offered by some of the major manufacturers of PLDs and PLD programming languages is given towards the end of the chapter. Fixed Logic Versus Programmable Logic As outlined in the introduction, there are two broad categories of logic devices, namely fixed logic devices and programmable logic .
