Shift registers can be found in many applications. Here is a list of a few.
To produce time delay
The serial in -serial out shift register can be used as a time delay device. The amount of delay can be controlled by:
- the number of stages in the register
- the clock frequency
To simplify combinational logic
The ring counter technique can be effectively utilized to implement synchronous sequential circuits. A major problem in the realization of sequential circuits is the assignment of binary codes to the internal states of the circuit in order to reduce the complexity of circuits required. By assigning one flip-flop to one internal state, it is possible to simplify the combinational logic required to realize the complete sequential circuit. When the circuit is in a particular state, the flip-flop corresponding to that state is set to HIGH and all other flip-flops remain LOW.
To convert serial data to parallel data
A computer or microprocessor-based system commonly requires incoming data to be in parallel format. But frequently, these systems must communicate with external devices that send or receive serial data. So, serial-to-parallel conversion is required. As shown in the previous sections, a serial in - parallel out register can achieve this.
