What kind of logic gate is used in parity generation?

In parity generation, the XOR gate is essential for determining whether a set of binary input values has an even or odd number of ones. The XOR gate outputs a high signal (logic 1) when the number of high inputs (logic 1s) is odd and outputs low (logic 0) when the count is even.

For example, if you consider an 8-bit data word and want to generate an even parity bit, the XOR gate is employed to combine all the bits of the word. The result of this operation will produce a single parity bit. If the result is logic 1, this indicates that there is an odd number of 1s in the input; to ensure even parity, the parity bit needs to be set to 1. Conversely, if the result is logic 0, the parity bit should be 0.

This functionality makes the XOR gate particularly well-suited for applications where parity must be validated or generated, distinguishing it from other types of gates. Other gates, such as AND, NAND, and OR, do not provide the required behavior for efficient parity checking or generation.