Digital Design

Digital Systems: General Remarks

A Digital System manipulates discrete elements/quantities of

information

Discrete quantities of information emerge from:

the nature of the data being processed

the data may be purposely quantized from continues values

Early computer systems were used mostly for numeric
computations: the discrete elements used were the digits,
hence the term digital computer/system emerged.

In general, any system uses an alphabet (set of symbols) to
represent information

The English language system uses an alphabet of 26 symbols (letters)

The decimal number system uses an alphabet of 10 symbols (digits)

What about the alphabet of the Digital Systems?
 The Digital Systems’ Alphabet is Binary

Digital Systems use only one alphabet with two symbols
(digits) ‘0’ and ‘1’ (hence binary ).

A binary digit is called a bit

Information is represented by groups of bits

Why is a binary alphabet used?

Digital systems have a basic building block called a switch, that can
only be “on” or “off”, i.e., two discrete values ‘0’ and ‘1’ can be
distinguished.

An electric device, called a transistor, physically implements the
switch.

The two discrete values are physically represented by ranges of
voltage values called HIGH and LOW.

“on” (closed) switch corresponds to bit value ‘0’ and is represented by
LOW voltage value (between 0.0 and 1.0 Volt).

“off” (open) switch corresponds to bit value ‘1’ and is represented by
HIGH voltage value (between 4.0 and 5.0 Volts).


 Basic Digital System Structure

CPU: Central Processing Unit

Data Path: arithmetic and
Storage logic operations

Control Unit: make sure that
the sequence of data path
cpu control data
unit path operations is correct

Storage: no memory = no
Input/Output system

Input/Output: allow the
system to interact with the
outside world
 Information Representation

All information in Digital Systems is represented in

binary form.

All information that is not binary is converted to
binary before processed by a Digital Systems.

Decimal numbers are expressed in the binary
number system or by means of a binary code.

How is this done?

That is not too difficult, once we understand how all
number systems, not only the decimal one (0-9), have a
similar formal representation and how a number in one
number system can be converted into another.


 Number Systems
Number Systems are employed in arithmetic to represent
numbers by strings of digits. There are two types of number
systems:

Positional number systems

The meaning of each digit depends on its position in the number.

Example:

Decimal number system (we know it very well and use it in everyday
arithmetic).

585.5 is a decimal number in positional code – “5 hundreds plus 8 tens
plus 5 units plus 5 tenths”. The hundreds, tens, units, and tenths are
powers of 10 implied by the position of the digits.

Decimal number system is said to be of base or radix 10 because it uses
10 distinct digits (0 – 9) and the digits are multiplied by power of 10:
585.5 = 5x102 + 8x101 + 5x100 + 5x10-1

Non-positional number systems

Old Roman numbers: for example, XIX equals to 19
 Positional Number Systems
We can represent numbers in any number system with base r

Number in positional code

(An-1An-2…A1A0.A-1A-2…A-m+1A-m)r

r is the base (radix) of the system, r ∈ {2, 3, …, I}.

every digit Ai ∈ {0, 1, 2, …, r-1}, where {0, 1, 2, …, r-1} is the digit set.

“.” is called the radix point.

An-1 is referred to as the most significant digit.

A-m is referred to as the least significant digit.

Number in base r expressed as power series of r

An-1 r n-1 + An-2 r n-2 +…+ A1 r 1 + A0 r 0 + A-1 r -1 + A-2 r -2 +…+ A-m+1 r –m+1 + A-m r -m

Example: a number in number systems with base 5

(132.4)5 = 1x52 + 3x51 + 2x50 + 4x5-1 = 25 + 15 + 2 + 0.8 = (42.8)10
 Binary Number System
This is the system used for arithmetic in all digital computers

Number in positional code

(bn-1bn-2…b1b0.b-1b-2…b-m+1b-m)r

r = 2 is the base of the binary system.

every digit bi ∈ {0, 1}

the digits bi in a binary number are called bits

bn-1 is referred to as the most significant bit (MSB).

b-m is referred to as the least significant bit (LSB).

Number in base 2 expressed as power series of 2

bn-1 2 n-1 + bn-2 2 n-2 +…+ b1 2 1 + b0 2 0 + b-1 2 -1 + b-2 2 -2 +…+ b-m+1 2 –m+1+ b-m 2 -m

Example: a number in the binary number system

(1011.01)2 = 1x23 + 0x22 + 1x21 + 1x20 + 0x2-1 + 1x2-2 = 8 + 2 + 1 + 0.25 =
(11.25)10
 Burn this table into your memory
Power of Two
n n n
n 2 n 2 n 2
0 1 5 32 10 1024

1 2 6 64 11 2048

2 4 7 128 12 4096

3 8 8 256 13 8192

4 16 9 512 14 16384

210 = 1,024 is 1K 2 20 is 1M 230 is 1G

(kilo) (mega) (giga)
 Other Useful Number System
Apart from the ordinary binary number system, the octal (base-8) and the
hexadecimal (base-16) number systems are useful for representing binary
quantities indirectly because their bases are powers of two. These systems
have a more compact representation of binary quantities.

Octal number system

(on-1on-2…o1o0.o-1o-2…o-m+1o-m)8

every digit oi ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}.

on-1 8 n-1 + on-2 8 n-2 +…+ o1 8 1 + o0 8 0 + o-1 8 -1 + o-2 8 -2 +…+ o-m+1 8 –m+1 +o-m 8 -m

(127.4)8 = 1x82 + 2x81 + 7x80 + 4x8-1 = (87.5)10 = (001 010 111.100)2

Hexadecimal number system

(hn-1hn-2…h1h0.h-1h-2…h-m+1h-m)16

every digit hi ∈ {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F}.

hn-1 16 n-1 + hn-2 16 n-2 +…+ h1 16 1 + h0 16 0 + h-1 16 -1 + h-2 16 -2 +…+ h-m+1 16 –m+1
+ h-m 16 –m

(B6F.4)16 = 11x162 + 6x161 + 15x160 + 4x16-1 = (2927.25)10 = (1011 0110
1111.0100)2
Another Important Table
Decimal (base 10) Binary (base 2) Octal (base 8) Hex (base 16)
0 0000 00 0
1 0001 01 1
2 0010 02 2
3 0011 03 3
4 0100 04 4
5 0101 05 5
6 0110 06 6
7 0111 07 7
8 1000 10 8
9 1001 11 9
10 1010 12 A
11 1011 13 B
12 1100 14 C
13 1101 15 D
14 1110 16 E
15 1111 17 F
 Conversion from base r to Decimal
The conversion of a number in base r to decimal number (base 10) is done
by expanding the number in power series and adding all the terms as shown
below:
(An-1An-2…A1A0.A-1A-2…A-m+1A-m)r =

An-1 r n-1 + An-2 r n-2 +…+ A1 r 1 + A0 r 0 + A-1 r -1 + A-2 r -2 +…+ A-m+1 r –m+1 + A-m r -m

Example of converting Binary (base 2) to Decimal (base 10):

(1011.01)2 = 1x23 + 0x22 + 1x21 + 1x20 + 0x2-1 + 1x2-2 = 8 + 2 + 1 + 0.25 = (11.25)10

Example of converting number in base 5 to Decimal (base 10):
(132.4)5 = 1x52 + 3x51 + 2x50 + 4x5-1 = 25 + 15 + 2 + 0.8 = (42.8)10

Example of converting Octal (base 8) to Decimal (base 10):
(127.4)8 = 1x82 + 2x81 + 7x80 + 4x8-1 = (87.5)10

Example of converting Hexadecimal (base 16) to Decimal (base 10):
(B6F.4)16 = 11x162 + 6x161 + 15x160 + 4x16-1 = (2927.25)10
 Conversion from Decimal to base r
The conversion is done as follows:
1) If the number has a radix point then separate the number into an integer
part and a fraction part, since the two parts must be converted differently.
2) The conversion of a decimal integer part to a number in base r is done by
dividing the integer part and all successive quotients by r and
accumulating the remainders.
3) The conversion of a decimal fraction part to a number in base r is done by
multiplying the fractional parts by r and accumulating integers.

Example of converting Decimal (base 10) to Binary (base 2): (41.6875)10
Converting the integer part (41)10 : Converting the fraction part (0.6875)10 :
41/2 = 20 + 1/2 Remainder = 1 LSB 0.6875 x 2 = 1.3750 Integer = 1 MSB
20/2 = 10 + 0/2 0 0.3750 x 2 = 0.7500 0
10/2 = 5 + 0/2 0 0.7500 x 2 = 1.5000 1
5/2 = 2 + 1/2 1 0.5000 x 2 = 1.0000 1 LSB
2/2 = 1 + 0/2 0 (0.6875)10 = (0.1011)2
1/2 = 0 + 1/2 1 MSB
(41)10 = (101001)2 (41.6875)10 = (101001.1011)2
 Other Conversions

Binary to Octal or Hexadecimal: grouping bits starting from the radix point

(1101010.01)2 to Octal (groups of 3): (001|101|010.010|)2 = (152.2)8

(1101010.01)2 to Hex (groups of 4): (0110|1010.0100|)2 = (6A.4)16

Octal to Binary: convert each digit to binary using 3 bits

(475.2)8 = (100 111 101. 010)2

Hexadecimal to Binary: convert each digit to binary using 4 bits

(7A5F.C)16 = (0111 1010 0101 1111. 1100)2 = (111101001011111.11)2

Hexadecimal to Octal

Hexadecimal
Binary
Octal

Octal to Hexadecimal

Octal
Binary
Hexadecimal
 Number Ranges

The range of numbers in base (radix) r depends on the number of digits
used to represent the numbers.

Assume the number (An-1An-2…A1A0.A-1A-2…A-m+1A-m)r represented by n
digits for the integer part and m digits for the fraction part.

The smallest integer number is 0 and the larges is (r-1) r n-1 + (r-1) r n-2 +
…+ (r-1)r 1 + (r-1) r 0 = rn-1 ,i.e., the range is from 0 to rn-1

The smallest fraction number is 0.0 and the largest is (r-1) r -1 + (r-1) r -2 +
…+ (r-1) r –m+1 + (r-1) r –m = 1- r –m ,i.e., the range is from 0.0 to 1- r –m

The range of numbers is from 0.0 to rn - r –m

Examples:

Largest 3-digit integer decimal (base 10) number is 103-1 = 1000 - 1 = 999

Largest 8-digit integer binary (base 2) number is (11111111)2 ,i.e., 28-1 = 255

Largest 5-digit decimal (base 10) fraction is 1-10-5 = 1 – 0.00001 = 0.99999

Largest 16-digit binary (base 2) fraction is 1-2-16 = 0.9999847412

What about the range of negative numbers?
 Representations of Numbers in Digital
Computers (1)

Numbers are represented in binary format as strings of bits

Bit is the smallest binary quantity with a value of 0 or 1.

Byte is a string (sequence) of eight bits.

Word is a string (sequence) of n bits (n > 8). In most cases n is a
power of 2 (n = 24 = 16, n = 25 = 32, n = 26 = 64, etc…).

Examples
bit: 1 byte: 01101111 16-bit word: 11110100 10001010

Positive Integer Numbers

Positive integers and the number zero can be represented as
unsigned binary numbers using a byte or an n-bit word.

Magnitude representation – number N in binary having n bits.

Example: 00001001 ( represents integer number 9 using 8 bits ).

Radix complement ( r’s complement ) representation in our case 2’s
complement – Given number N in binary having n bits, the 2’s
complement of N is defined as 2n – N .

Example: 11110111 ( 2’s complement of integer number 9 ).

Diminished radix complement ( (r-1)’s complement ) representation in
our case 1’s complement - Given number N in binary having n bits,
the 1’s complement of N is defined as (2n – 1) – N .

Example: 11110110 ( 1’s complement of integer number 9 ).
 Representations of Numbers in Digital
Computers (2)

Positive and Negative Integer Numbers

Positive and negative integers and the number zero can be
represented as signed binary numbers using a byte or an n-bit word
where the most significant bit is interpreted as a sign bit. The
convention is to make the sign bit 0 for positive numbers and 1 for
negative numbers.

Signed-Magnitude representation

Example: 0|0001001 ( represents integer number +9 using 8 bits ).

Example: 1|0001001 ( represents integer number -9 using 8 bits ).

Signed-Radix complement ( signed-r’s complement ) representation in
our case signed-2’s complement

Example: 0|0001001 ( signed-2’s complement of integer number +9 ).

Example: 1|1110111 ( signed-2’s complement of integer number -9 ).

Signed-Diminished radix complement ( signed-(r-1)’s complement )
representation in our case signed-1’s complement

Example: 0|0001001 ( signed-1’s complement of integer number +9 ).

Example: 1|1110110 ( signed-1’s complement of integer number -9 ).

How do we get the signed complements?
 Arithmetic Operations

Arithmetic operations with numbers in base r follow the same
rules as for decimal numbers.

Examples: addition, subtraction, and multiplicationMultiplicand:
in base-2. 1010
Carries: 111 Borrows: 11 x
Multiplier: 101
Augend: 10110 Minuend: 00110 -11101 1010
+
Addend: 01110
-
Subtrahend: 11101 00110 + 0000
Sum: 100100 Difference: -10111 1010
Product: 110010

In Digital Computers arithmetic operations are done with the

binary number system (base-2) - Binary Arithmetic.

In many cases binary subtraction is done in a special way by
binary addition. Why?

It is much more simple to do it that way.

One simple building block called adder can be implemented and used
for both binary addition and subtraction.
 Unsigned Binary Subtraction

Binary subtraction by 2’s complement addition

Assume two n-bit unsigned numbers M and N, M - N can be done as follows:

Add the 2’s complement of N to M. This performs the sum M + (2n - N) =
= M – N + 2n .

If M ≥ N, the sum produces an end carry, 2n. We can discard it, leaving the
correct result M – N.

If M < N, the sum does not produces an end carry since it is equal to
2n – (N - M), which is the 2’s complement of N – M. To obtain the correct
result take the 2’s complement of the sum, i.e., 2n – (2n – (N - M)) = (N - M)
and place a minus sign in front.

Examples:
15 1111 (15) 5 0101 (5)
- + - +
5 1011 (2’s compl. of 5) 15 0001 (2’s compl. of 15)
10 1 1010 (the sum) -10 0110 (the sum)
discard carry no carry correction is needed

-1010 ( “-” 2’s compl. of sum )

What about binary subtraction by 1’s complement addition?

I leave this for you as a home work (see the course web page) !!!
Fall 2005 Digital Technique by Todor Stefanov, Leiden University
 Signed Binary Addition/Subtraction

Signed binary addition using 2’s complement representation

Assume two n-bit signed numbers M and N represented in signed-2’s
complement format. The sum M + N can be obtained as follows:

Add M to N, including their sign bits to get the correct sum in signed-2’s
complement format. A carry out of the sign bit position is discarded.

Examples:
(- 9) 1|0111 (- 9) 1|0111 (+ 9) 0|1001 (+ 9) 0|1001
+ (+ 5) 0|0101 + (- 5) 1|1011 + (+ 5) + (- 5) 1|1011
0|0101
(- 4) 1|1100 (-14) 11|0010 (+14) 0|1110 (+ 4) 10|0100
discard discard

Signed binary subtraction using 2’s complement representation

Assume two n-bit signed numbers M and N represented in signed-2’s
complement format. The difference M - N can be obtained as follows:

Take the 2’s complement of N (including the sign bit) and add it to M
(including the sign bit). A carry out of the sign bit position is discarded.

Examples:
(- 9) 1|0111 1|0111 (- 9) 1|0111 1|0111
- (- 5) + - (+ 5) +
1|1011 0|0101 0|0101 1|1011
(- 4) 1|1100 (-14) 11|0010
discard
 Decimal Codes

The binary number system is the most natural system for a
digital computer, but people are accustomed to the decimal
system.

How to resolve this difference?

Convert decimal numbers to binary, perform all arithmetic
calculations in binary, and then convert the binary result back to
decimal.

You already know how to do this.

Digital computers can do this as well, but:

We have to store the decimal numbers in the computer in a way that
they can be converted to binary.

Since the computer can accept only binary values, we must represent
the decimal digits by a code that contains 1’s and 0’s.
 Binary Coded Decimals (BCD) (1)

The BCD code is the most commonly used code. Decimal Digit BCD Digit
Each decimal digit (0, 1, 2, …, 9) is coded by a
4-bit string (half a byte) called BCD digit. 0 0000

A decimal number is converted to a BCD 1 0001

number by replacing each decimal digit of the 2 0010
number with the corresponding BCD digit code. 3 0011

Example: 4 0100
(369)10 = ( 0011 0110 1001 )BCD = (101110001)2 5 0101
3 6 9 6 0110

A BCD number needs more bits than its 7 0111
equivalent binary value. However, the
advantages of using BCD are: 8 1000

Computer input and output data are handled by 9 1001

people who use the decimal system.
Note: the binary

BCD numbers are decimal numbers (not binary
numbers) even though they are represented in combinations 1010
bits. through 1111 are not

Computers can store decimal numbers using BCD, used and have no
convert the BCD numbers to binary, perform binary meaning in the BCD
operations, and convert the result back to BCD. code.
 Other Useful Decimal Codes:
Excess-3 Code

Given a decimal digit n, its corresponding excess-3
codeword is (n+3)2 Decimal Excess-3

Example: Digit Digit
n=5
n+3=8
1000excess-3 0 0011
n=0
n+3=3
0011excess-3 1 0100
2 0101

Decimal number in Excess-3 code. 3 0110

Example: 4 0111
(158)10 = ( 0100 1000 1011 )excess-3 = (10011110)2 5 1000
1+3 5+3 8+3
6 1001
7 1010
8 1011
9 1100

Useful in some cases for digital arithmetic, e.g., decimal

subtraction.