Programmable Logic Array

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What Does Programmable Logic Array Mean?

A programmable logic array (PLA) is a type of logic device that can be programmed to implement various kinds of combinational logic circuits. The device has a number of AND and OR gates which are linked together to give output or further combined with more gates or logic circuits.

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Techopedia Explains Programmable Logic Array

A programmable logic array is designed such that a number of different logical functions can be combined as a sum-of-product or product-of-sum form. A PLA having N input buffers and M output buffers consists of 2N AND gates and M OR gates, each with programmable inputs from all of the AND gates. PLAs have widely been acknowledged as compact and space-efficient solutions for many complicated circuits, especially in feedback and control systems where a number of factor variables must be involved for efficient functioning of the system.

A programmable logic array should not be confused with Programmable Array Logic (PAL), in which both AND and OR gates are programmable.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.