Many experienced engineers are clueless about the differences between a "Latch" and a "Flip Flop", and i have seen people using the terms synonymously. I feel that the right use of terminology is very critical in conveying the message more clearly.

I m sure the timing diagrams below is the best way of explanation.



Related Posts with Thumbnails

By One Nanometer (Name changed) Posted on 12/18/2004 08:39:00 PM
9 Reactions | Blog this! | Email to friend!
Print this post! | Categories: , , ,
| More


9 Reactions:

Avijit said on 1:25 PM, July 27, 2009 : Thanx,
A latch is a level-triggered device and a flipflop is an edge-triggered device.  
Anonymous said on 2:24 AM, December 10, 2009 : Quite a important concept , I got screwed for my first interview when i said that both were the same ( i had forgotten ), its not going to happen again  
alex_013 said on 3:51 AM, September 29, 2010 : Yes you are right! It's important to call things with it's names...  
stargate2100 said on 10:36 AM, March 01, 2011 : thanks. This is a very good clarification. saying that a flip-flop is edge sensitive and latch is level sensitive is not a good enough definition. It must be made clear that when a latch is enabled it becomes transparent while a flip flop's output only changes on the clock edge.  
Anonymous said on 4:35 AM, June 09, 2011 : There are different ways to answer this question..
a) A M/S F/F is made of two latches called phi2 and phi1
b) a latch is created from a keeper element fed by a passgate.. the pass gate opens when the enable is clocked .
c) The latch and a edge triggered F/F also have different setup edges..  

Write a Comment!