An autonomous circuit in analogue electronics is a
circuit that produces a time-varying output without having a time-varying input (i.e., it has only
DC power as an input).
In
digital electronics
Digital electronics is a field of electronics involving the study of digital signals and the engineering of devices that use or produce them. This is in contrast to analog electronics and analog signals.
Digital electronic circuits are usual ...
, an autonomous circuit may have a
clock signal
In electronics and especially synchronous digital circuits, a clock signal (historically also known as ''logic beat'') oscillates between a high and a low state and is used like a metronome to coordinate actions of digital circuits.
A clock sign ...
input, but no other inputs, and operates autonomously (i.e. independently of other circuits), cycling through a set series of
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
s.
A
Moore machine
In the theory of computation, a Moore machine is a finite-state machine whose current output values are determined only by its current state. This is in contrast to a Mealy machine, whose output values are determined both by its current state and ...
is autonomous if it has no data inputs, the clock signal not counting as a data input.
If a Moore machine has data inputs, they may determine what the next state is, even though they do not affect the outputs of any given state, and this is a non-autonomous circuit.
References
Bibliography
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Electronic circuits
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