An exclusive-NOR gate acts as a logical equality detector. It produces a high output (1) when its two inputs match, meaning both are 0 or both are 1. If the inputs differ, the output goes low (0). It is essentially an XOR gate followed by an inverter, and it sees heavy use in digital comparators and error-checking circuits.
Heard on the job
Tie the inputs to an XNOR gate, and you can trigger the interrupt the moment the two data lines match.
Also heard as
- equivalence gate
- exclusive-NOR gate
Do not mix it up with
- XOR gate: An XNOR gate outputs true when inputs match, while an XOR gate outputs true when inputs differ.
Related terms
XOR gate
A digital logic gate that outputs a high signal only when its two inputs are at different logic levels.
NOT gate
A digital logic gate that outputs the inverse of its input state.
Combinational logic
A type of digital logic where outputs are determined entirely by the present combination of inputs.