Electronic – Preference of NAND & NOR gates

digital-logic

What's so special about NAND & NOR(apart from being universal gates) that most books on digital design try to emphasize design using these gates?

Is it easy to manufacture or something?

Best Answer

NAND and NOR are preferred because they are smaller and use less power in a CMOS process than equivalent AND or OR gates. NAND and NOR gates can be created with 4 transistors, while AND/OR require 6.

An AND/OR gate is laid out in a cell library generally as a NAND/NOR followed by an inverter.

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AND Gate (OR is similar)

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