Norbased

NORbased refers to digital logic designs that rely exclusively on NOR gates as the fundamental primitive. Because the NOR gate is functionally complete, any digital circuit can be implemented using only NOR gates, which makes NORbased designs capable of realizing all basic logic operations.

Basic constructions using NOR gates illustrate the idea. NOT A can be implemented as NOR(A, A). OR of two inputs, A OR B, can be obtained as NOR( NOR(A, B), NOR(A, B) ). AND, A AND B, can be implemented as NOR( NOR(A, A), NOR(B, B) ). These equivalents show how a single gate family can realize the standard logic functions needed for complex circuits, including sequential elements when combined with feedback.

Design considerations for NORbased circuits include gate count and depth, which can grow for larger designs, potentially increasing area and propagation delay compared with mixed-gate implementations. However, the approach can simplify fabrication, testing, and certain synthesis flows by using one technology family and a single gate type. NORbased designs are especially common in educational settings to demonstrate gate universality and in constrained environments where a single-gate philosophy is preferred.

See also: NAND-based design, universal gates, De Morgan’s laws, digital logic design.