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Subject:Re: asserted, de-asserted From:Erik Harris <ewh -at- PLAZA -dot- DS -dot- ADP -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 26 Oct 1994 12:19:14 -0800
After my query to his original thread:
>>"De-asserted" is not defined in my Webster's 9th New Collegiate. Nor is
>>"asserted" defined in an electronics context. How is a signal "asserted"?
Richard Mateosian submitted the following:
>Most digital logic signals have two states. They also have names that
>indicate the condition that the states represent. For example, a signal
>called "Data Ready" might maintain one of two voltages: -3.3 volts to
>indicate that signals on other lines contain valid data, 0 volts to indicate
>that those other lines do not contain valid data.
>In this example, you might write
>The bus controller asserts Data Ready when the data on lines D0-D7 is stable.
>Engineers sometimes use the term de-assert to indicate a return of the
>signal to its other state. I prefer saying something like
>The bus controller asserts Data Ready for as long as the data on D0-D7 is
>stable.
>The bus controller asserts Data Ready for 10ns when the data on D0-D7
>becomes stable.
>The bus controller asserts Data Ready when the data becomes stable, then
>removes it when the data lines no longer contain valid data. ...RM
>Richard Mateosian Technical Writer in Berkeley CA srm -at- c2 -dot- org
"Activate" and "deactivate" are precedented terms that seem to apply, are
well-understood, and make sense in context. Perhaps you can get the
engineers to agree to an analogous pair of terms like these than using the
one jargon term they are used to and its non-existent "opposite".
Your examples might be changed to:
"The bus controller activates the Data Ready signal for as long as the data
on D0-07 is stable"
"The bus controller activates the Data Ready signal for 10ns when the data
on D0-D7 becomes stable"
and
"The bus controller activates the Data Ready signal when the data becomes
stable, then deactivates it when the data lines no longer contain valid
data".
-------------------------------
Quod erat demonstrandum
Erik Harris
ewh -at- plaza -dot- ds -dot- adp -dot- com (weekdays)
TrinityPlc -at- aol -dot- com (home)
