Subelement E: Digital Logic— Topic 36: Flip-Flops
Question 3-36E3
Element 3 (GROL)How many flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4?
Explanation
In digital frequency dividers, each flip-flop effectively divides the input frequency by a factor of 2. This is because a flip-flop, typically configured as a T-type or JK-type, changes its state on every second clock pulse, halving the frequency of the signal passing through it.
To achieve a total frequency division by 4, you need to cascade multiple flip-flops.
* One flip-flop divides the frequency by 2.
* Two flip-flops, connected in series, will perform a division by $2 \times 2 = 4$. The output of the first flip-flop (divided by 2) feeds into the second flip-flop, which then divides it by another factor of 2.
Therefore, two flip-flops are required to divide a signal frequency by 4. Options A, B, and C are incorrect as they would result in divisions by 2, 16, and 256 respectively.
Related Questions
3-36E1 A flip-flop circuit is a binary logic element with how many stable states?3-36E2 What is a flip-flop circuit? A binary sequential logic element with ___stable states.3-36E4 How many bits of information can be stored in a single flip-flop circuit?3-36E5 How many R-S flip-flops would be required to construct an 8 bit storage register?3-36E6 An R-S flip-flop is capable of doing all of the following except: