Prof. Dr. Thorsten Jungmann (last updated 2026-11-02)

Relates to DET-05 Codes, code converters and standard components

Task

In our example system, the energy manager tells the heat pump over the two switching signals and of Smart Grid Ready (SG Ready) what it wants: block (1:0), normal operation (0:0) or boost (0:1). The controller turns the two signals into its operating states. In simplified form, you follow this path from the energy manager to the hot water.

The energy manager has three inputs, of which exactly one is to be 1: for normal operation, for boost and for block. Its encoder delivers the outputs and , which drive the signals and .

a) Design the encoder: set up the truth table with don’t cares, and give the minimized expressions of and .

b) By mistake, block and boost are requested at the same time. What does your encoder send, and what would this code word mean?

c) Change the encoder so that block has priority over boost, and and can never be 1 at the same time. Give the expressions.

The controller side is given as a simulation. A 2-to-4 decoder with a lockout forms the outputs (normal operation), (boost) and , as in the lesson. In boost, the hot water is heated to the upper set point of 54.0 °C instead of the normal 52.5 °C; multiplexers with the select input choose between the two set points. For the hot water, the input is the hot-water demand. It is passed on as only if there is no block. A 1-to-2 demultiplexer routes to the heat pump that is defined for hot water: to for and to for .

Simulation of the controller side: a 2-to-4 decoder with a lockout for the signals A and B, and a demultiplexer that routes the hot-water demand to heat pump 1 or heat pump 2 unless the heat pump is blocked; with A at 0 and B at 1, the boost output is active
Simulation of the controller side: a 2-to-4 decoder with a lockout for the signals A and B, and a demultiplexer that routes the hot-water demand to heat pump 1 or heat pump 2 unless the heat pump is blocked; with A at 0 and B at 1, the boost output is active

Open in the simulator

d) Fill in the gaps for the signals and . Check the outputs of the decoder in the simulation.

Code word meansSelected set point
00normal operation10052.5 °C
01boost0
10block0
11start command, locked out

e) Fill in the gaps for the hot water. Check your table in the simulation.

Row
0000000
1001
20101
301101
4100
510100
61100
71110

f) In which rows does a heat pump go on heating the house while the other one heats the hot water? In which rows does neither of them receive a demand, even though , and why?

◀️ Back to the task


Solution

Given

Given explicitly:

  • the code words of Smart Grid Ready (SG Ready): block 1:0, normal operation 0:0, boost 0:1
  • the encoder with the inputs , and , of which exactly one is 1, and the outputs and
  • the controller side as a simulation: decoder with a lockout, the block in front of the demultiplexer
  • the set points 52.5 °C and 54.0 °C, and multiplexers with the select input that choose between them
  • the demultiplexer: for , for

Known:

  • SG Ready with a lockout (DET-05)
  • The encoder, don’t cares, and the priority encoder (DET-05)
  • Multiplexer and demultiplexer (DET-05, DET-05)
  • The hot water in the cascade with partial priority (DET-05)

Required

a) the truth table and the expressions of the encoder
b) what the encoder sends for block and boost at the same time, and what it means
c) the expressions with block having priority
d) the complete table for and
e) the complete table for the hot water
f) the rows in which one heat pump goes on heating, and those in which the block stops the demand

a) The encoder

Exactly one input is 1, so only three rows are specified; the other rows never occur and become don’t cares, marked X, as in the encoder of the lesson (DET-05, 4.1):

RowWanted
0000–XX
1001normal operation00
2010boost01
3011–XX
4100block10
5101–XX
6110–XX
7111–XX

The don’t cares allow the largest loops. has its only 1 in row 4, and the loop may grow over the don’t cares up to all rows with . has its only 1 in row 2, and the loop may grow to all rows with :

The input is not needed, because its code word is 0:0 (DET-05, 4.1). The encoder has no input for the start command either: this is the lockout at the transmitter.

b) Block and boost at once

With and , both outputs become 1: and . The encoder sends the code word 1:1, the start command (DET-05, 3.2). This is exactly the code word that must never act in our system. As long as exactly one input is 1, it does not occur; as soon as block and boost coincide, it does.

c) Block with priority

A priority encoder encodes only the active input with the highest priority (DET-05, 4.1). Block has priority, so may be 1 only without a block:

Now every row of the table is defined, and row 6, with block and boost at once, gives the code word 1:0:

Row
000000
100100
201001
301101
410010
510110
611010
711110

The two outputs are never 1 at the same time, so the start command cannot occur any more ✓

d) From the two signals to the set point

Each output of the decoder is 1 for its code word, and the OR gate leads 1:1 into the block (DET-05, 3.2):

The select input of the multiplexers is . So they pass the upper set point only in boost, and the normal set point otherwise (DET-05, 5.1):

Code word meansSelected set point
00normal operation10052.5 °C
01boost01054.0 °C
10block00152.5 °C
11start command, locked out00152.5 °C

In the rows with , the multiplexers pass the normal set point, because . In this simplified circuit, it has no effect there: the block stops the demand, as e) shows.

e) The hot water

The block stops the demand, and the demultiplexer routes what remains (DET-05, 5.2):

Row
0000000
1001000
2010110
3011101
4100000
5101000
6110000
7111000

f) Reading the table

In the rows 2 and 3, there is a demand without a block. The demultiplexer starts the hot-water operation of the heat pump that selects. The heat pump whose output stays 0 remains free for the heating: the partial priority of the lesson (DET-05, 5.2).

In the rows 6 and 7, there is a demand as well, but means a block, so , and neither heat pump receives the demand.