Subelement E: Digital Logic— Topic 37: Multivibrators
Question 3-37E5
Element 3 (GROL)What is a bistable multivibrator circuit?
Explanation
A bistable multivibrator is an electronic circuit possessing two stable states. It remains indefinitely in either state until an external trigger pulse causes it to switch to the other. This fundamental behavior allows it to store a single bit of information (a 0 or a 1). Another common name for this type of circuit is a **flip-flop**.
Flip-flops are essential building blocks in digital electronics found in amateur radio equipment, used for applications like frequency dividers, counters, registers, and memory elements in microcontrollers and synthesizers.
AND gates (B) and OR gates (C) are combinational logic gates whose output depends only on their current inputs, not past states, and thus are not multivibrators. A clock (D) is a timing signal, often generated by an astable multivibrator, but isn't itself a bistable circuit.
Related Questions
3-37E3 What is a monostable multivibrator?3-37E4 What is a bistable multivibrator circuit commonly named?3-37E6 What wave form would appear on the voltage outputs at the collectors of an astable, multivibrator, common-emitter stage?3-38E1 What is the name of the semiconductor memory IC whose digital data can be written or read, and whose memory word address can be accessed randomly?3-38E2 What is the name of the semiconductor IC that has a fixed pattern of digital data stored in its memory matrix?