The 3-state control gate is a 2-input AND gate with active-low inputs so that if either output-enable (OE1 or OE2) input is high, all corresponding outputs are in the high-impedance state. The outputs provide non-inverted data when they are not in the high-impedance state.

To ensure the high-impedance state during power up or power down, OE should be tied to V_CC through a pullup resistor; the minimum value of the resistor is determined by the current-sinking capability of the driver.