As time management is getting harder in this fast pace of life, traditional clocks have encountered many problems for its complexity and simple functions because it can also be a problem to integrate multiple capabilities into one device based on mechanical inner structure. Therefore, digital clocks can be a better choice and this experiment intended to provide a way of designing the circuit of a multifunctional digital clock based on components used in sequential circuits. Within the circuit, counter, reversible counter and comparator were applied to realize counting, time-setting, countdown, alarming and on-time alarm functions. In this article, the working principles of main chips and the key designing methods will be introduced. NI Multisim was applied to provide simulated results of the behavior of this clock. The results turned out to meet all expectations even though the experiment had inevitable limitations. Thus, it is suggested that further researches can be conducted to ensure a more energy-efficient and precise clock with more advanced useful capabilities.
Read full abstract