flip-flop

flip-flop

An electronic circuit that alternates between two states. When current is applied, it changes to its opposite state (0 to 1 or 1 to 0). Made of several transistors, it is used in the design of static memories and hardware registers.

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flip-flop

1. Gymnastics a backward handspring

2. Electronics an electronic device or circuit that can assume either of two stable states by the application of a suitable pulse

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(hardware)

flip-flop - A digital logic circuit that can be in one of two states which it switches (or "toggles") between under control of its inputs. It can thus be considered as a one bit memory. Three types of flip-flop are common: the SR flip-flop, the JK flip-flop and the D-type flip-flop (or latch). Early literature refers to the "Eccles-Jordan circuit" and the "Eccles-Jordan binary counter", using two vacuum tubes as the active (amplifying) elements for each bit of information storage. Later implementations using bipolar transistors could operate at up to 20 million state transitions per second as early as 1963.