edgeinitiated

Edgeinitiated refers to mechanisms or devices that initiate an action in response to a transition, or edge, of a control signal, usually a rising or falling clock edge, rather than to the signal's steady level. In digital electronics, edge-initiated (or edge-triggered) elements capture or change state only at a clock edge. This behavior contrasts with level-sensitive elements, which are active or transparent while the clock signal holds a particular level.

Edge-initiated storage elements include edge-triggered flip-flops, such as D flip-flops, which sample their inputs on the rising or falling clock edge and hold the resulting value until the next edge. Internal circuitry, often through a master-slave arrangement or edge detectors combined with gating, enforces the edge-based transition. This design simplifies timing analysis, reduces sensitivity to glitches on the clock level, and supports reliable synchronous design, where state changes occur at well-defined times.

In practice, edge-initiated devices are common in memory and data-path circuits and are widely implemented in standard logic families. The term may also be applied more broadly to describe circuits that initiate events or pulses upon detecting a signal edge, such as edge detectors or interrupt generators.

The usage of the term varies by context and manufacturer; in many cases edge-triggered is used interchangeably with edge-initiated, but some sources may distinguish subtle timing semantics.