Ripple counter with reverse-propagated zero detection
US5060243A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 29, 1990 |
| Grant date | Oct 22, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 29, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03K23/665
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An asynchronous ripple counter counts from a predetermined binary value to zero in response to an input clock signal. Zero detection logic is coupled to the ripple counter for detecting, from a most significant bit to a least significant bit of the ripple counter, when the counter has counted to zero. Both the counter and the zero detection logic receive and store the predetermined binary value. The monitoring of the ripple counter's digits from MSB to LSB prevents false detections of zero states in the ripple counter and allows the ripple counter to be extended to an arbitrarily large number of bits without sacrificing the maximum input clock frequency.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.