Universal Gates
Universal gates are logic gates that can be used to implement any Boolean function—meaning you can build all other basic gates (AND, OR, NOT) using only that single type of gate.
The two universal gates are:
- NAND gate
- NOR gate
Minimum number of gates required
Using NAND gates
- NOT gate = 1 NAND
- AND gate = 2 NANDs
- OR gate = 3 NANDs
Using NOR gates
- NOT gate = 1 NOR
- OR gate = 2 NORs
- AND gate = 3 NORs
Summary
- A gate is called universal because just one type (either all NANDs or all NORs) is enough to build any digital circuit.
- The numbers above are the minimum required to realize basic gates.