Charles Darwin University

HIT235: Digital Systems and Computer Architecture

Circuit design and Simulation Practice Exercises 1

Inverters, LEDs and Opto-couples

These Multisim Circuit Design and Simulation Practice Exercises are designed to familiarise you with
Multisim. You will get some experience using inverters, light emitting diodes (LED) etc. This prepares
you for the tasks of the first Multisim Circuit Design and Simulation tutorial. Although the practice
exercises themselves will not be marked, timely completion and submission of these exercises will
count towards the “Preparation - Presentation” component of the first Multisim Circuit Design and
Simulation tutorial (tutorial 2).

Submission

For these Circuit Design and Simulation Practice Exercises to be considered as completed, you need
to:

• Do all the tasks

• Submit an appropriately named pdf file with screenshots of all your circuits and answers to
any questions in the exercises or tutorial. Show your circuits in the screenshots during
simulation where appropriate. Use your name in the filename (e.g. Smith_Jimmy_exer1.pdf)
and also type your name on each page.
• A zip file containing all your Multisim files, also with your name in the filename.

Important: Multisim files should be named according to the task. Example: exer1_task1. If you need
more than one file for a task, you may extend these names e.g exercises1_task2a, exer1_task2b etc.
Also make sure you include all files for any hierarchical blocks used. To submit on Learnline please
zip all your Multisim files together in a ZIP file. Rar files are not compatible with CDU systems and
will therefore not be considered. The name of the zipfile should include your surname (e.g.
Jones_exer_1.zip.
Save your files in a secure location and make a back-up. Don’t save files on the desktop of the
computers in the lab or the virtual desktop as they will be automatically deleted. Please be aware that
Multisim does not always automatically save files in the correct location so check that you have
included all files.

Task 1: Start Multisim

To start Multisim Select Start»All Programs»National Instruments»Circuit Design Suite

14»Multisim 14. A blank file opens on the workspace called Circuit1. Select File»Save As to display
a standard Windows Save dialog. Navigate to the location where you wish the file to reside, enter
tut1_task1a as the filename, and click the Save button. Please also read the submission requirements
on Learnline and follow the instructions regarding the naming of files.

Inverter

Select Place»Component to display the Select a Component browser, select 74LS04N from the
TTL group and click OK. Press A to select the inverter. An inverter symbol should now appear. Move
the cursor to the bottom-right of the workspace and left-click to place the component. Note that the
Reference Designator for this component is “U1.” Now place from the sources group VCC and
Ground. Also place a SPDT switch. Finally place a digital probe. This can be found in the indicator
group.

Connect the two inputs of the switch to the VCC and the Ground and connect the output to the input
of the inverter. The switch can be found in the Switch family of the Basic group. All components have
pins that you use to wire them to other components or instruments. As soon as your cursor is over a
pin, Multisim knows you want to wire and the pointer changes to a crosshair.

Use your Digital Logic Probe to verify inverter truth table. Do this by first switching the input of the
inverter to ground and your logic probe to the output. You can run a simulation by pressing the green
triangle or by using the function key F5. Then, with logic probe still on the output of the inverter,
connect the input to VCC (+5V). Save your file.

Figure 1: Placing componentst

Figure 2: Inverter with switch

Task 2: Multimeter

Task 2a: Multisim has virtual instruments which you can use to check your circuit. Select
Simulate»Instruments»Multimeter. Double click on the multimeter and make sure that it measures
DC voltage. Connect the + input of the multimeter to the output of the inverter and the – input of the
multimeter to the Ground. Simulate and make screenshots. Make sure that in your screenshots the
measurement of the Multimeter is visible but it does not overlap with your circuit.
Task 2b Instead of connecting the input of the inverter to a switch, connect a wire from the output of
the inverter back to the input, and measure the resulting input/output voltage with a multimeter. This is
the so-called switching threshold. The switching threshold of a gate is the voltage above which the
input will be considered a logic 1 and below which it will be considered a logic 0. Make a screenshot
showing the result.

Figure 3: Using instruments

Task 3: Light-Emitting Diodes (LED)

Light Emitting Diodes (LED) convert electrical current to light. They can be used as simple optical
output devices. They are diodes which means current only flows through them in one direction. The
circuit below shows one of many ways how a TTL gate can drive an LED. The resistor is used to limit
the current flowing through the LED and prevent it from burning out.
There is a huge variety and types of LEDs on the market today, ranging in colour from Infra Red,
through Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, UV and White. Various output intensities also are available,
together with a range of shapes, sizes and viewing angles. Because of these differences, they all
have subtle operating requirements (both in voltage and current).
Most LEDs have adequate brightness even when operating at a reduced current, and the current is
usually limited to the range 5 mA to 10 mA. A 1 KΩ resistor will effectively illuminate a high efficiency
Red, Yellow or Green LED with an operating current of approximately 3 mA. In other LED circuits you
may see typical resistor values of 330 Ω and 560 Ω.

+5V

R1
1k
+5V
LED
S1 74LS04

Figure 4: LED circuit

Create a new schematic by selecting File»New»Schematic Capture. Create the LED circuit shown in
Figure 3. Please note that although the symbol used for the Power in this image is different, it is still 5
Volt and you should use the same VCC powersource as before. The switch can be found in the
Switch family of the Basic group. The inverter is also the same one as before. LED’s can be found in
the Diode group. Select a LED of your favourite colour. Once you have placed the LED double click
on it and set the current to 1 mA. Run a simulation and show that the LED switches on and off
depending on the switch. Also record the voltage drop across the LED, using the multimeter you used
before. Make screenshots with the LED on and off.

Task 4 Using Inverters

Design and Build a circuit with one SPDT switch, some inverter gates, a yellow and blue LED and
some resistors, that turns a blue LED on when the switch is open and turns on the yellow LED when
the switch is closed. This is the challenge task of this tutorial so don’t give up if it does not work
initially. Make screenshots of your simulated circuit with the switch open and closed.