ORed

ORed is a term used in logic, electronics, and programming to describe the result of applying the logical disjunction operation to two or more inputs, or a circuit arrangement that performs this operation. In boolean algebra, OR is the operator that yields true if any input is true. It is commonly denoted as OR, or the symbol ∨ in formal expressions.

For binary inputs, the OR operation produces a 1 when at least one input is 1. In a two-input case: 0 OR 0 equals 0, 0 OR 1 equals 1, 1 OR 0 equals 1, and 1 OR 1 equals 1. This property underpins how OR-based logic gates function in digital circuits.

In practice, ORed signals are implemented with devices such as OR gates, multi-input OR gates, or networks that realize OR logic without a dedicated gate. They include diode-OR circuits and wired-OR configurations, which have been used in older logic families and open-collector or open-drain bus designs. In addition to symbolic logic, the concept is used to describe combining signals from multiple sources to produce a single result.

A common application of ORing in hardware is power-supply ORing, where diodes or ideal-diode controllers combine multiple voltage sources so that any available source provides power to a load. In software and data processing, the term can describe applying a bitwise OR operation to bit patterns, setting bits in the result wherever any input bit is set.

See also: OR gate, diode-OR, wired-OR, boolean algebra, truth table.