Flip – Flops:

A flip-flop or latch is a circuit that has two stable states and can be used to store state
information.
A flip-flop is a bistable multivibrator.
The circuit can be made to change state by signals applied to one or more control
inputs and will have one or two outputs.
It is the basic storage element in sequential logic. Flip-flops and latches are
fundamental building blocks of digital electronics systems used in computers,
communications, and many other types of systems.
Flip-flops and latches are used as data storage elements. A flip-flop is a device which
stores a single bit of data, one of its two states represents a "one" and the other
represents a "zero".

Types of Flip – Flops:

There are four types of flip – flops. They are listed and explained below:

1. SR-Flip Flop
The SR-flip flop is built with a two AND gates and a basic NOR flip flop. The o/ps of the
two AND gates remain at 0 as long as the CLK pulse is 0, irrespective of the S and R i/p
values. When the CLK pulse is 1, information from the S and R inputs permits through
the basic FF. When S=R=1, the clock pulse occurrence roots both the o/ps go to 0. When
the CLK pulse is detached, the state of the FF is unstated.

2. D Flip – Flop
The simplification of the SR flip flop is nothing but D flip-flop which is shown in the
figure. The input of the D-flip flop directly goes to the input S and its complement goes
to the i/p R. The D-input is sampled throughout the existence of a CLK pulse. If it is 1,
then the FF is switched to the set state. If it is 0, then the FF switches to the clear state.

3. JK Flip – Flop
A JK-FF is a simplification of the SR-flip flop. The inputs of the J and K flip flops behave
like the inputs S & R. When input 1 is applied to the both the inputs J and K, then the FF
switches to its complement state. The figure of this flip flop is shown below.

4. T Flip – Flop
The T-flip flop or toggle flip-flop is a single i/p version of the JK-flip flop. The working
of this FF is as follows: When the input of the T is ‘0’ such that the ‘T’ will make the next
state that is similar as the current state. That means, when the input of the T-FF is 0
then the present state and the next state will be 0.

Application of Flip – Flop:

Application of the flip flop circuit mainly involves :
1. bounce elimination switch
2. data storage
3. data transfer
4. latch
5. registers
6. counters
7. frequency division
8. memory

Shift Registers:
A shift register is a cascade of flip flops, sharing the same clock, in which the output of
each flip-flop is connected to the 'data' input of the next flip-flop in the chain, resulting
in a circuit that shifts by one position the 'bit array' stored in it, 'shifting in' the data
present at its input and 'shifting out' the last bit in the array, at each transition of the
clock input.

The types of shift registers are listed and explained below:

1. Serial In – Serial Out (SISO) Shift Registers
2. Serial In- Parallel Out (SIPO) Shift Registers
3. Parallel In – Serial Out (PISO) Shift Registers
4. Parallel In – Parallel Out (PIPO) Shift Registers
1. Serial In – Serial Out Shift Registers:
In the serial in-serial out shift register, data is input serially until it reaches the
output. At this time, it exits in a serial manner as well. The shifting (movement) of
the data flows from left to right in the register. Each shift is initiated with a clock
cycle.

2. Serial In – Parallel Out Shift Registers:

In the serial in-parallel out shift register, the data is input serially one bit at a
time and output in a parallel form. Each bit is shifted on its own clock pulse.

3. Parallel In – Serial Out Shift Registers:

The parallel in-serial out shift register receives the data input in parallel
batches on every clock pulse and the data is shifted and output serially.

4. Parallel In – Parallel Out Shift Registers:

The parallel data is loaded simultaneously into the register, and transferred
together to their respective outputs by the same clock pulse.

Application of Shift Registers:

Shift register is used as Parallel to serial converter, which converts the parallel data
into serial data.
Shift register is used as Serial to parallel converter, which converts the serial data
into parallel data.
Shift register along with some additional gate(s) generate the sequence of zeros and
ones.
Shift registers are also used as counters.