International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE)

Vol. 13, No. 5, October 2023, pp. 4950~4957

ISSN: 2088-8708, DOI: 10.11591/ijece.v13i5.pp4950-4957  4950

Arduino based 74-series integrated circuits testing system at

gate level

Yasir Hashim, Marwa Awni, Abdullah Mufeed

Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tishk International University, Erbil, Iraq

Article Info ABSTRACT

Article history: The goal of this research article is to build and implement a low-cost,
user-friendly 74-series logic integrated circuits (ICs) tester that is
Received Sep 13, 2022 independent of a computer. Depending on the truth table of the gates and the
Revised Jan 16, 2023 IC configuration, the logic IC tester will be able to test the operation of the
Accepted Jan 25, 2023 74 series logic gates (AND, OR, NOR, NAND, XOR) of those ICs. It is
feasible to test a range of logic ICs with higher pin widths thanks to the
proposed system’s usage of an Arduino Mega platform module as a
Keywords: microcontroller, which provides the ability to connect 54 programmed logic
inputs or outputs. The versatility offered by this design and the use of a
74-Series personal computer allow for the reprograming and updating of the logic IC
Integrated circuits functional tester. Any 74-series ICs testing outcome will be shown on liquid
Logic crystal display (LCD) at the gate level. The logic IC functional tester was
Logic gate successfully constructed and operates flawlessly.
Testing
This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.

Corresponding Author:
Yasir Hashim
Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tishk International University
100 street, Erbil-Kurdistan, Iraq
Email: [email protected]

1. INTRODUCTION
One of the most crucial technologies for our needs is automation, which is crucial to the
development of the world’s intelligent systems. In order to simplify and better organize the daily lives of
thousands, automatic systems have been proliferating all over the world [1]. This study will offer a logic
integrated circuit testing system with the capacity to perform gate-or unit-level tests [2]–[5].
The testing technology is far behind the manufacturing and design technologies, according to
research related to the international technology roadmap for semiconductors (ITRS) [6], [7]. The quality and
quantity will deteriorate if the testing technology stays the same [8]. The increasing rate of manufacturing
technology is different from the tester’s testing capability.
The major goal of the logic integrated circuits (ICs) functional tester research is to build a
straightforward, reasonably priced system that can test logic IC functionality for fabrication, laboratory, or
maintenance applications with the ability to update the database [9], [10]. The system has a user-friendly
communication interface, which enables people without programming experience to create tests and utilize
the system rapidly and effectively [11]. The system can also be utilized independently, without a computer
interface. Additionally, the system will offer data storage so that users can access the result as a reference.
The tester system can be used with common flip-flop ICs and ordinary transistor-transistor logic (TTL) basic
gates [12].
The IC testers available in the market today are not flexible to re-programmed according to the
users’ needs. Therefore, construct an IC tester which is affordable and user-friendly has been done in this
research. The goal is to provide a reasonably priced IC tester for gate-level testing of 74-series TTL logic

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Int J Elec & Comp Eng ISSN: 2088-8708  4951

ICs. The test procedure will be based on the truth table of the ICs gates, and this will enable the identification
of any malfunctioning ICs gates or units. Additionally, the IC tester needs to be simple to use, small, light,
portable, and power efficient. The provision of an IC tester in a portable form that is simple and practical to
transport is the second goal of this study. In addition, we wish to build an IC tester which provides results
easily to the users. Nowadays, almost all desktop and laptop personal computers (PC) available on the market
have universal serial bus (USB) connections. So, the motivation is to provide an IC tester with capability to
program by the USB interface communication port. The USB provides a single, standardized, easy-to-use
way to connect to a computer [13], [14].
Instead of operating over a continuous range of signal amplitudes, digital ICs only function at a few
predetermined levels or states. Computers, computer networks, modems, and frequency counters all employ
these components [15], [16]. The basic building blocks of digital ICs are logic gates, which operate on binary
data, or signals with only two distinct states known as low (logic 0) and high (logic 1) [17]–[21].

2. METHOD
The system’s flowchart, which is depicted in Figure 1, essentially explains in detail how the system
operates. The algorithm and software were created in accordance with this flowchart of the testing procedure.
Additionally, according to this flowchart, the first step is entering the IC No. or four times letter A (AAAA)
for unknown ICs, after which the system checks to see if the IC is already in its database. If it is, testing the
IC will begin based on the truth table of the ICs gates. Alternatively, if the user enters AAAA for unknown
ICs, the system will check the first gate for all ICs in the database, after which the user will select the IC.
The source code for the Arduino was created using the flowchart as a guide. The microcontroller
will then be programmed with the source code following that. To ensure that the IC tester functions properly
and efficiently, testing and calibration will be conducted. If errors are discovered, they will be investigated
and fixed.
If the user enters the wrong number, the outcome will be displayed on the liquid crystal display
(LCD) as (IC not found or IC not work), according to the flowchart. If the user does not know the IC No., the
must enter (AAAA), in which case the system will attempt to find the IC No. by applying the truth table on
the first gate only for All ICs in the database. Once the system has located the IC No., it will test the IC in
question based on the No. that has been discovered.

Figure 1. Flowchart of the system

Arduino based 74-series integrated circuits testing system at gate level (Yasir Hashim)
4952  ISSN: 2088-8708

As shown in Figure 2, the ICs 7400, 7408, 7486, and 7432 have the same pin configuration for
inputs and outputs pins with two inputs and one output for each gate, but the IC 7404 pin configuration is
completely different as well and has one input and one output for each gate. The system must have the
flexibility to reprogram each pin as input or output depending on the pin configuration of the IC under test.
Therefore, once the user inputs the IC No., the system will reprogram the pins in accordance with
the IC No. The system will next apply the truth table of each gate to test whether it operates under
appropriate conditions or not. As an example, Figure 3 shows the truth table that the system applies to each
gate.

Figure 2. 74-series logic ICs pin diagram (examples)

Figure 3. Logic gates truth tables (examples)

The system’s block diagram is depicted in Figure 4. The system is composed of four main blocks,
the first of which is the Arduino Mega platform module [22], which serves as the system’s primary
microcontroller. The Arduino Mega is a cheap platform with capability to connect 54 programmable logic
inputs or outputs (from pin 0 to pin 53), and this feature makes it possible to test a variety of logic ICs with
larger pin sizes [22].

Int J Elec & Comp Eng, Vol. 13, No. 5, October 2023: 4950-4957
Int J Elec & Comp Eng ISSN: 2088-8708  4953

The second block represents the IC holder socket; in this instance, the system has 40 pins for the IC
holder, all of which are connected to the logic pins, making it simple to connect any IC of any size to the
Arduino Mega platform and possible to quickly swap out the IC in question to test an alternative IC. The
third block represents the 44 matrix keypad [23] where the IC number can be entered or (AAAA) for an
unidentified IC number. The fourth block is a 16×2 LCD module [24], [25] with an 11C/12C serial converter
to display the IC testing results. Depending on the gate level test, the results will appear for each gate as
either “OK” or “NOT OK” depending on the truth table for that gate.
The circuit diagram for the IC testing system is shown in Figure 5. This circuit consists of an
Arduino Mega platform acting as a microcontroller connected to a 40-pin IC holder, a 4×4 keypad for
entering the desired IC number for testing, a 16×2 LCD module displaying the results for each gate of the IC,
an IC holder, and a battery for providing 9 volts of power. The device’s final working prototype is seen in
Figure 6 installed on the same box.

Figure 4. Block diagram of the system

Figure 5. Circuit diagram of the system

Arduino based 74-series integrated circuits testing system at gate level (Yasir Hashim)
4954  ISSN: 2088-8708

Figure 6. 7400 IC test with 1st and 3rd gates not work normally

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The system has been put through a variety of logic IC tests, and the results demonstrate the system’s
great accuracy for testing these ICs at the gate level. The test findings were as: testing of the 7400 logic IC
(quad 2-input NAND gate IC) with defective first and third gates and normally functioning second and fourth
gates is shown in Figure 6. Figures 7, 8, and 9 depict the testing of the quad 2-input NAND gate IC
(7400), the quad 2-input NOR gate IC (7402), and the hex inverter gate IC (7404). Figure 10 depicts the
outcome if the user enters (AAAA), at which point the system will check and identify the IC No. and begin
checking the gates of this IC one by one, and in this case, the IC No. result was 7410 (triple 3-input NAND
gate). All of the logic 74-series integrated circuits (ICs) that have already undergone good testing by the
system are shown in Table 1.

Figure 7. 7400 IC test with all 4 NAND gates work normally

Int J Elec & Comp Eng, Vol. 13, No. 5, October 2023: 4950-4957
Int J Elec & Comp Eng ISSN: 2088-8708  4955

Figure 8. 7402 IC test with all four NOR gates work normally

Figure 9. 7404 IC test with all six NOT gates work normally

Figure 10. Unknown IC test (AAAA)

Arduino based 74-series integrated circuits testing system at gate level (Yasir Hashim)
4956  ISSN: 2088-8708

Table 1. The 74-serios ICs that have been tested by the system
IC No. Description Company code
7400 quad 2- input NAND gate SN74LS00
7402 quad 2- input NOR gate SN74LS02
7404 hex inverter gate SN74LS04
7408 quad 2- input AND gate SN74LS08
7410 triple 3-input NAND gate SN74LS10
7411 triple 3-input AND gate SN74LS11
7420 dual 4-input NAND gate SN74LS20
7421 dual 4-input AND gate SN74LS21
7427 triple 3-input NOR gate SN74LS27
7486 quad 2-input XOR gate SN74LS86A

4. CONCLUSION
This research is to create and construct a gate-level logic IC tester for the 74 series ICs. This system
was created using the Arduino Mega platform which includes 54 logic pins to cope with ICs up to 40 pins in
size. It has been used to test logic ICs 7400, 7402, 7404, 7408, 7410, 7411, 7420, 7421, 7427, and 7486, the
results are in good agreement with the specifications of those ICs. The future work will be related with
applying this system to test the flip-flop ICs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Tishk International University (TIU) for their support.

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BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS

Yasir Hashim (SMIEEE, MIET) graduated from the University of Mosul in

Mosul, Iraq, with a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Electronics and Communications Engineering in
1991 and 1995, respectively. In 2013, he earned his doctorate in electrical engineering with a
focus on micro- and nanoelectronics from Universiti Science Malaysia (USM), Penang,
Malaysia. Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics, such as Nanowire Transistors, FinFET
Transistors, and Multistage Logic Nano-inverters, are among his research interests. He is
currently a Senior Lecturer at Tishk International University in Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq’s Faculty
of Engineering’s Department of Computer Engineering. Additionally, he reviews articles for
esteemed publications like IEEE Sensors, IEEE Transaction on Device and Materials
Reliability, Journal of Computational Electronics, and Nanoscale Research Letters. He can be
contacted at email: [email protected] and [email protected].

Marwa Awni is now pursuing her M.Sc. in Computer System Engineering at

Kurdistan University in Erbil, Iraq. She obtained her B.Sc in Electrical Engineering
Department from Salahaddin University in 2014-2015 and a Higher Diploma in Computer and
Control from Salahaddin University in 2021. Smart Systems is one of her research areas of
interest in electronic and computer engineering. She is currently a Lecturer at Tishk
International University in Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq’s Faculty of Engineering’s Department of
Computer Engineering. She can be contacted at email: [email protected].

Abdullah Mufeed graduated with a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering in 2021 from

Tishk International University in Erbil, Iraq, and is presently pursuing an M.Sc. in Computer
System Engineering at Kurdistan University in Erbil, Iraq. Smart Systems is one of his areas of
research interest in electronic and computer engineering. At the moment, he works as an IT
service at Tishk International University in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. He can be contacted at
email: [email protected].

Arduino based 74-series integrated circuits testing system at gate level (Yasir Hashim)