Memory Element Definition/Meaning:
A device that stores one item of information: if it has q stable
states it is said to be q-ary, and if q = 2 it is said to be binary. It is
usually implemented electronically, sometimes with the assistance of the
magnetic, optical, or acoustic properties of a storage medium. In practice, most
memory elements are binary. In fast computer circuitry, the flip-flop is the
most common type of memory element.
Memory elements are employed specifically in computer memories and generally in
sequential circuits. A memory element is any smallest part of such a system
that possesses more than one stable state. For example, a binary shift register
contains four flip-flops and has 16 states, but each of its four memory elements
has only two states; a similar ternary shift register would have 81 states, but
would still consist of four memory elements, each having three states.
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