54LS168 Synchronous Bi-Directional BCD Decade Counter General Description The 54LS168 is a fully synchronous 4-state up/down counter featuring a preset capability for programmable operation, carry lookahead for easy cascading and a U/D input to control the direction of counting. It counts in the BCD (8421) sequence and all state changes, whether in counting or parallel loading, are initiated by the LOW-to-HIGH transition of the clock.