tri state


tri state

(hardware)A feature of some digital electronic deviceswhich allows a connector (pin) to either act as a normaloutput, driving a signal onto a line, or to be "tri stated" -set to a high-impedance ("high Z") condition. This allowsother outputs to drive signals onto the line. Often the sameconnector also functions as an input when its output circuitryis tri stated.

Tri-state outputs are typically used for the connection ofseveral digital circuits to a shared bus onto which any oneof them may output data for the others to input.