CHAPTER 2

Number Systems
Introduction
 A number system is nothing more than a code that uses symbols to refer to
a number of items.

 The binary number system and digital codes are fundamental to computers
and to digital electronics in general.

 In this chapter, the binary number system and its relationship to other
number systems, such as decimal , hexadecimal, and octal is the principal
focus.

1
 You will learn to make conversion between binary and octal
and decimal and octal.

 Also, digital codes such as binary coded decimal (BCD), the

Gray code, the Excess-3, and the ASCII are covered.

 The arithmetic operations with binary numbers are also

included.

2
 Decimal Systems
 The decimal number system uses the symbols 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
and 9.

 The decimal number system contains 10 symbols and is

sometimes called the base 10 system.

 The decimal system is a positional value system in which the

value of a digit depends on its position.

3
In general ‘’ Any number is simply the sum of the products
of each digit value and its positional value ’’
Positional values
(weight)
103 102 101 100 10-1 10-2 10-3

2 7 4 5 . 2 1 4

MSD Decimal points LSD

(2*10 3)+(7*10 2)+(4*10 1)+(5*100)+(2*10 –1)+(1*10 –2)+(4*10 –3)

4
 Decimal Counting
 When counting in decimal system, we start with 0 in the unit’s
position and take each symbol (digit) in progression until we
reach 9.

 Then we add a 1 to the next higher position and start over with
zero in the first position. This process continues until the count
of 99 is reached.

 Then we add a 1 to third position and start over with zeros in

first two positions.

5
 The same pattern is followed continuously as high as we wish
to count.

 It is important to note that in decimal counting

 the units position (LSD) changes up ward with each step in

the count,

 the tens position changes up ward every 10 steps in the

count,

 the hundreds position changes upward every 100 steps in

the count and so on.

6
 Binary System

 A binary system is a code that uses only two basis symbols, 0 &1
and is sometimes called the base 2 system.

 This base 2 system can be used to represent any quantity that can be
represented in decimal or other number systems.

 All the statements made earlier concerning the decimal system are
equally applicable to the binary system.

 The binary system is also a positional value system, where in each

binary digit has its own value or weight expressed as a power of 2.
Positional values
(weight)
23 22 21 20 2-1 2-2 2-3

1 0 1 1 . 1 0 1

MSB binary points LSB 7

 The subscripts 2 & 10 were used to indicate the base in which the
particular number is expressed.

 This convention is used to avoid confusion whenever more than

one number system is being employed.

 In binary system, the term binary digit is often abbreviated to the

term bit, which we will use henceforth.

 The most significant bit (MSB) is the left most bit (largest
weight). The least significant bit (LSB) is the right most bit
(Smallest weight). These are indicated in previous example.

8
 Binary Counting
W 23=8 22=4 21=2 20=1 Decimal
e Equivalent
i
g 0 0 0 0 0
h
t 0 0 0 1 1
s 0 0 1 0 2

0 0 1 1 3

0 1 0 0 4

0 1 0 1 5

0 1 1 0 6

0 1 1 1 7

1 0 0 0 8

1 0 0 1 9

1 0 1 0 10

1 0 1 1 11

1 1 0 0 12

1 1 0 1 13

1 1 1 0 14

1 1 1 1 15 9
 Hexadecimal Number Systems

The hexadecimal system uses base 16.

Thus, it has 16 possible digit symbols.

It uses the digits

0 through 9 plus

the letters A, B, C, D, E and F as the 16 digit symbols.

10
 In table below the relationships between hexadecimal, decimal
and binary.

 Note that each hexadecimal digit represents a group of four

binary digits.

 It is important to remember that hex (abbreviation for

hexadecimal) digits A through F are equivalent to the decimal
values 10 though 15.

11
Counting in Hexadecimal
 When counting in hex, each digit Decimal Binary Hexadecimal

position can be incremented (increase 0 0000 0

by 1) from 0 to F. 1 0001 1
 Once a digit position reaches the value 2 0010 2
F, it is reset to 0 and the next digit 3 0011 3
position is incremented. 4 0100 4
 This is illustrated in the following hex 5 0101 5
counting sequences.
6 0110 6
28, 29, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 30, 31,… 7 0111 7

6F9,6FA, 6FB, 6FC, 6FD, 6FE, 6FF, 700 … 8 1000 8

9 1001 9
10 1010 A
11 1011 B
12 1100 C
13 1101 D
14 1110 E
15 1111 F
16 10000 10 12
17 10001 11
 Octal Number System
 The octal number system is very important in digital Computer
work.
 The octal number system has a base of eight, meaning that it has
eight possible digits: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7.
 Thus, each digit of an octal number can have any value from 0 to 7.
 The advantage of the octal system is its usefulness in converting
directly from a 3 bit binary number.
 The digit positions in an octal number have weights as follows.

84 83 82 81 80 8-1 8-2 8-3 8-4 8-5

 The equivalent binary and octal representations

Octal points
for decimal numbers
0 through 17 is shown below

13
Counting in Octal Decimal Binary Octal
0 000 0
 The largest octal digit is 7, so that
1 001 1
in counting in octal, a digit position
is incremented up ward form 0 to 7. 2 010 2
3 011 3
 Once it reaches 7, it recycles to 0
on the next count and causes the 4 100 4
next higher digit position to be 5 101 5
incremented. 6 110 6
 For example: 7 111 7
8 001 000 10
65, 66, 67, 70, 71, 72, … 9 001 001 11
10 001 010 12
275, 276, 277, 300, 301, …
11 001 011 13
12 001 100 14
13 001 101 15
14 001 110 16
15 001 111 17
16 010 000 20
17 010 001 21 14
Conversion of one Number System to Another
 Binary-to-decimal Conversions:
 Any binary number can be converted to its decimal equivalent simply by summing
together the weights of the various positions in the binary number, which contain a 1.
 For Example
a) 1 1 0 0 1 12
25 24 23 22 21 20

32 + 16 + 0 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 5110

b) 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 02
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

128 + 0 + 32 + 16 + 0 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 17810
 Note that the procedure is to find the weights (i.e. powers of 2) for each
bit position that contains a 1, and then to add them up.
 Also note that the MSB has a weight of 27 even though it is the eighth
bit this is because the LSB is the first bit and has a weight of 20.

15
 Decimal – to – Binary conversions
 There are two ways to convert a decimal whole number to its equivalent
binary system representation.
 The 1st method (Sum-of-Weights)

 The decimal number is simply expressed as a sum of power of 2 and

then 1s and 0s are written in the appropriate bit positions.
Examples
a) 5710= 32 + 16 +8 + 1 = 25 +24 +23 +0 + 0+ 20 = 1110012

b) 13210 = 128 + 4 = 27 + 0 + 0 + 0+ 0+ 22 + 0 + 0 = 100001002

Exercises
a) 39810 =????

b) 415310= ????

16
The 2nd method (‘’Repeated Division’’)
 This method uses repeated division by 2.
 Requires repeatedly dividing the decimal number by 2 and writing down
the remainder after division until the quotient of 0 is obtained.
 Note that the binary result is obtained by writing the first remainder as
the LSB and the last remainder as the MSB.
 Examples
a) 3710=?2
37 2 = 18 with remainder of 1 1s  LSB
18  2 = 9 with remainder of 0 2s
9  2 = 4 with remainder of 1 4s
4  2 = 2 with remainder of 0 8s
2  2 = 1 with remainder of 0 16s
1  2 = 0 with remainder of 1 32s  MSB
 3710= 1001012
b) 39810= ?2
17
Flow chart for Repeated Division
Start

Divide by 2

Record Quotient (Q)

and Remainder (R)

Is
Q=0?
No
Yes
Collect R‟s with first R as LSB
and last R as MSB

END 18
 Hex –to- decimal Conversion
 A hex number can be converted to its decimal equivalent by using the
fact tat each hex digit position has a weight that is a power of 16.
 The LSD has a weight of 160 = 1,the next higher digit position has a
weight of 161 = 16, the next has a weight of 162 = 256, and so on.
Examples
a) 35616
= 3*162 + 5*161 + 6*160 = 768 + 80 + 6 = 85410

b) A3F16
= 10*162 + 3*161 + 15*160 = 2560 + 48 + 15 = 262310

Exercises
 1BD516=???10

 C9A16 =???10
19
 Decimal-to-Hex conversion
 Recall that we did decimal –to- binary conversion using repeated division by 2.
Like wise decimal-to-hex conversion can be done using repeated division by 16.
Examples
a) Convert 4710 to hex
47  16 = 2 remainder of 15  F

2  16 = 0 remainder of 2
 4710 = 2F16

b) Convert 23410 to hex

234  16 = 14 remainder of 10  A

14 16 = 0 remainder of 14  E
 23410 = EA16
Exercise
a) Convert 10010 to hex
b) Convert 44510 to hex
20
 Hex-to-Binary conversion
 The Hexadecimal number system is used primarily as a ‘’Shorthand’’
method for representing binary numbers.
 It is a relatively simple method to convert a hex number to binary.
 Each hex digit is converted to its 4 bit binary equivalent. (see table
‘’Hexadecimal Number system’’).
Examples
a) C316 = C 3

1100 0011 = 110000112

b) 7D816 = 7 D 8

0111 1110 1000 = 0111111010002

Exercise
 Convert A56B16 to binary
21
 Binary-to- Hex conversion
 Conversion from binary to hex is just the reverse of the above process.
 The binary number is grouped in to groups of four bits, and each group is
converted to its equivalent hex digit.
 Zeros are added, as needed, to complete a 4-bit group.
Examples
a) Convert 1011010011102 to Hex
1011 0100 11102 = 1011 0100 1110

B 4 E 16
b) Convert 101001010112 to Hex
0101 0010 10112 = 0101 0010 1011

5 2 B 16
 This is why hex (and octal) are so useful in representing large binary numbers.
Exercise
Convert 10011101010101012 to Hex

22
 Octal to decimal Conversion
 An octal number, can easily be converted to its decimal equivalent by multiplying each
octal digit by it positional weight i.e. a power of 8.
Examples
a) 4158 = 4*82 + 1*81 + 5*80 = 256 + 8 + 5 = 26910

b) 7308 = 7*82 + 3*81 + 0*80 = 448 + 24 + 0 = 47210

Decimal –to – Octal Conversion

 Decimal integer can be converted to octal by using repeated division with a division factor
of 8.
Examples
 Convert 3510 to octal
35 8=4 remainder of 3  LSD

4 8=0 remainder of 4  MSD

 3510 = 438
 Note that the first remainder becomes the least significant digit (LSD) of the octal number
and the last remainder becomes the most significant digit ( MSD )

23
 Octal to Binary Conversion
 The conversion from octal to binary is presented by converting each
octal digit to its 3- bit binary equivalent.

Examples

a) 478 = 4 7

100 111 = 1001112

b) 3058 = 3 0 5

011 000 101 = 0110001012

24
 Binary to Octal Conversion
 Converting from binary to octal integers is simply the reverse of the
foregoing process.
 The bits of the binary number are grouped into groups of three bits
starting at the LSB.
 The each group is converted to its octal equivalent.
Examples
a) Convert 1011110012 to Octal
101 111 0012 = 101 111 001

5 7 18
b) Convert 100111102 to Octal
010 011 1102 = 010 011 110

2 3 68
Exercise:
Convert B 2 F16 to Octal
25
 Fractions
 As far as fractions are concerned, you multiply by 2 and record a carry in the
integer position.
 The carries taken in forward order are the binary fraction.
Examples
a) Convert 0.62510 to a binary fraction
0.625 * 2 = 1.25  0.25 with carry of 1
0.25 * 2 = 0.5 with carry of 0
0.5 * 2 = 1.0 with carry of 1
 0.62510 = 0.1012

b) Convert 0.2310 into an octal fraction

0.23 * 8 = 1.84  0.84 with carry of 1
0.84 * 8 =6.72  0.72 with carry of 6
0.72 * 8 = 5.76  0.76 with carry of 5
:
:
 0.2310 = 0.1658

26
 Exercises

67.8210= ---------2
=---------8
=---------16

27
 Summary of Conversions
The following summery should help you in doing the different
conversion.

 When converting from binary [or octal, or hex] to decimal, use

the method of taking the weight sum of each digit position.

 When converting from decimal to binary [or octal or hex] use the
method of repeatedly dividing by 2 [or 8 or 16] and collecting
remainders [refer fig. flow chart]

28
 When converting from binary to octal [or hex], group the bits in
groups of the three [or four], and convert each group into the correct
octal [or hex] digit.

 When converting from octal [or hex] into binary, convert each digit
in to its 3-bit [or 4-bit] equivalent.

 When converting from octal to hex [or vice versa, first convert to
binary, then convert the binary into the desired number system.

29
 SIGNED NUMBERS
 Digital systems, such as the computer, must be able to handle
both positive and negative numbers.

 A signed binary number consists of both sign and magnitude

information.

 The sign indicates whether a number is positive or negative

and

30
 the magnitude is the value of the number.

 There are three forms in which signed integer (whole)

numbers can be represented in binary:

 Sign-magnitude,

 1's complement, and

 2's complement.
 Of these, the 2's complement is the most important and the
sign-magnitude is rarely used.

31
The Sign Bit

 The left-most bit in a signed binary number is the sign bit, which
tells you whether the number is positive or negative.

 a 0 is for positive, and

 a 1 is for negative

Sign-Magnitude Form
 When a signed binary number is represented in sign-magnitude, the left-most
bit is the sign bit and the remaining bits are the magnitude bits.

 The magnitude bits are in true (uncomplemented) binary for both positive and
negative numbers.

32
For example, the decimal number +25 is expressed
as an 8-bit signed binary number using the sign-
magnitude form as
00011001

Sign bit Magnitude bits

The decimal number 25 is expressed as
10011001
Notice that the only difference between +25 and -25
is the sign bit because the magnitude bits are in true
binary for both positive and negative numbers
 In the sign-magnitude form, a negative number has the same
magnitude bits as the corresponding positive number but the
sign bit is a 1 rather than a zero.

33
 1‟s and 2‟s Complements of Binary Numbers

The 1's complement and the 2's complement of

a binary number are important because they
permit the representation of negative numbers.
The method of 2's complement , arithmetic is
commonly used in computers to handle
negative numbers.
Finding the 1's Complement of a Binary Number
The 1's complement of a binary number is
found by changing all 1s to 0s and all 0s to 1s,
illustrated below:
10110010 Binary number
      
01001101 1‟s complement 34
Finding the 2's Complement of a Binary Number
The 2's complement of a binary number is found
by adding 1 to the LSB of the 1's complement.
2's complement = (1’s complement) + 1
Example
Find the 2's complement of 10110010.
Solution
10110010 Binary number
01001101 1's complement
+ 1 Add 1
01001110 2's complement
35
 REPRESENTATION OF SIGNED NUMBERS AND
BINARY ARITHMETIC IN COMPUTERS
 So far, we have considered only positive numbers. The representation of
negative is also equally important. There are two ways of representing signed
numbers:

 sign magnitude form and

 complement form.

 There are two complement forms:

 1's complement form and

 2's complement form.

 Most digital computers do subtraction by the 2's complement method, but

some do it by the 1's complement method.

36
 The advantage of performing subtraction by the complement method
is reduction in the hardware.

 Instead of having separate digital circuits for addition and

subtraction, only adding circuits are needed.

 That is, subtraction is also performed by adders only. Instead of

subtracting one number from the other, the complement of the
subtrahend is added to the minuend.

 In sign-magnitude form, an additional bit called the sign bit is placed

in front of the number.

 If the sign bit is a 0, the number is positive. If it is a 1, the number is

negative. 37
• Example of Signed-magnitude form

0 1 0 1 0 0 1 +41
Sign bit Magnitude bit

1 1 0 1 0 0 1 -41
Sign bit Magnitude bit

38
 Representation of Signed Numbers Using the
2's (or 1's) Complement Method

The 2's (or 1's) complement system for representing

signed numbers works like this:

1. If the number is positive, the magnitude is represented

in its true binary form and a sign bit 0 is placed in
front of the MSB.

2. If the number is negative, the magnitude is represented

in its complement form and a sign bit 1 is placed in
front of the MSB. 39
 That is, to represent the numbers in sign 2's (or 1's) complement
form, determine the 2's (or 1's) complement of the magnitude of
the number and then attach the sign bit.

 The conversion of complement to true binary is the same as the

process used to convert true binary to complement.

40
 Example on representation of + 51 and - 51 in both 2's and 1's
complement forms is shown below:

0 1 1 0 0 1 1 +51 ( in signed magnitude form)

( in 2‟s complement form)
Sign bit Magnitude
( In 1‟s complement form)

1 1 1 0 0 1 1 -51 ( in signed magnitude form)

Sign bit Magnitude

1 0 0 1 1 0 0 -51 (In 1‟s complement form)

Sign bit Magnitude

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 -51 (in 2‟s complement form)

Sign bit Magnitude 41

 When the sign bit is a 0, the remaining bits represent magnitude, and

 when the sign bit is a 1, the remaining bits represent 2's or 1's
complement of the number.

 The polarity of the signed number can be changed simply by

performing the complement on the complete number.

Special case in 2's complement representation:

 Whenever a signed number has a 1 in sign bit and all 0s for the
magnitude bits, the decimal equivalent is -2n, where n number of bits in
the magnitude. For example, 1000 = - 8 and 10000 = - 16.

42
Methods of obtaining the 2's complement of a number:

 The 2's complement of a number can be obtained in three ways

as given below.

 By obtaining the 1's complement of the given number (by

changing all 0s to 1s and 1s to 0s) and then adding 1.

 By subtracting the given n-bit number N from 2n.

 Starting at the LSB, copying down each bit up to and including

the first 1 bit encountered, and complementing the remaining
bits.

43
Example: Express -45 in 8-bit 2’s complement form.
Solution
+45 in 8-bit form is 00101101.
First method
Obtain the 1’s complement of 00101101 and then add 1.
Positive expression of the given number 00101101
1’s complement of it 11010010
Add 1 +1
Thus, the 2’s complement form of -45 is 11010011
Second method
Subtract the given number N from 2n
2n = 100000000
Subtract 45 =  00101101
Thus, the 2’s complement form of -45 is 11010011

44
Two's Complement Arithmetic
 The 2's complement system is used to represent negative numbers
using modulus arithmetic.

 The word length of a computer is fixed.

 That means if a 4-bit number is added to another 4-bit number, the

result will be only of 4 bits. Carry, if any, from the fourth bit will
overflow.

 This is called the modulus arithmetic.

For example: 1100 + 1111 = 1011.

45
 In the 2's complement subtraction, add the 2's complement of the
subtrahend to the minuend.

 If there is a carry out, ignore it. Look at the sign bit, i.e. MSB of
the sum term.

 If the MSB is a 0, the result is positive and is in true binary form.

 If the MSB is a 1 (whether there is a carry or no carry at all) the

result is negative and is in its 2's complement form.

 Take its 2's complement to find its magnitude in binary.

46
Example: subtract 14 from 46 using the 8-bit 2’s
complement arithmetic.
Solution
+14 = 00001110
14 = 11110010 (in 2’s complement form)

+46 00101110
14  +11110010 (2’s complement form of14)
+32 100100000 (Ignore the carry)
There is a carry, ignore it.
The MSB is 0; so, the result is positive and is in
normal binary form.
Therefore, the result is +00100000=+32
47
Example: add 75 to +26 using the 8-bit 2’s
complement arithmetic
Solution
+75 = 01001011
75 = 10110101 (in 2’s complement form)

+26 00011010
75  +10110101 (2’s complement form of -75)
49 11001111 (No carry)
There is no carry, the MSB is a 1.
So, the result is negative and is in 2’s complement
form.
The magnitude is 2’s complement of 11001111,
that is, 00110001=49.
Therefore, the result is 49. 48
One's Complement Arithmetic
 The 1's complement of a number is obtained by simply
complementing each bit of the number, that is, by changing all the
0s to 1 s and all the 1 s to 0s.

 We can also say that the 1's complement of a number is obtained

by subtracting each bit of the number from l.

 This complemented value represents the negative of the original

number.

 This system is very easy to implement in hardware by simply

feeding all bits through inverters.

49
 One of the difficulties of using 1's complement is its representation of zero.

 Both 00000000 and its 1's complement 11111111 represent zero.

 The 00000000 is called positive zero and the 11111111 is called negative zero.
 In 1's complement subtraction, add the 1's complement of the subtrahend to the minuend.

 If there is a carry out, bring the carry around and add it to the LSB. This is called the end around
carry.

 Look at the sign bit (MSB); if this is a 0, the result is positive and is in true binary.

 If the MSB is a 1 (whether there is a carry or no carry at all), the result is negative and is
in its 1's complement form. Take its 1's complement to get the magnitude in binary.

50
Example: subtract 14 from 25 using the 8-bit 1’s
complement arithmetic
Solution
+25 00011001
14  +11110001 (1’s complement form of 14)
+11 100001010
+1 (Add the end around carry)
00001011 =+ 1110

51
Example: Add 25 to 14 using the 8-bit 1’s
complement method.
Solution
+14 00001110
25  +11100110 (1’s complement form of 25)
11 11110100 (No carry)
There is no carry, the MSB is a 1.
So, the result is negative and is in its 1’s
complement form.
The 1’s complement of 11110100 is
00001011.
The result is, therefore, 1110. 52
 There are four cases that must be considered when
adding two numbers:

1. Both numbers positive

2. Positive number and smaller negative number

3. Positive number and larger negative number

4. Both numbers negative

We will take one case at a time. Eight bits are used to

represent each number
53
1. Both numbers positive:
 In this case, both sign bits are zero and a 2's compliment
is not required. To illustrate, we will add +7 and +4:
7 00000111
 4 00000100
11 00001011
2. Positive number and smaller negative number:
 In this case, the true binary form of the positive number is
added to the 2's complement of the negative number.
 The sign bits are included in the addition, and the result
will be positive. To illustrate we will add + 15 and -6:
15 00001111
+ -6 11111010
9 100001001
Discard carry
Notice that the sign of the sum is positive (0) as it should be.
54
3. Positive number and larger negative number:
 Again, the true binary form of positive number is added
to the 2's complement of the negative number.
 The sign bits are included in the addition, and the result
will be negative. To illustrate will add + 16 and - 24:
16 00010000
+ -24 11101000 (2’s complement of -24)
-8 11111000 (2’s complement of -8)
 Notice that the result automatically comes out in 2's
complement because it is a negative number.
4. Both numbers negative:
 In this case, the 2's complements of both numbers added
and, of course, the sum is a negative number in 2's
complement form illustrate, we will add - 5 and -9:
-5 11111011 (2’s complement of -5)
+ -9 11110111 (2’s complement of -9)
-14 111110010 (2’s complement of -14)
Discard carry
55
Overflow
 When the number of bits in the sum exceeds the number
of bits in each of numbers added, overflow results, as
illustrated by the following example.

 The overflow condition can occur only when both

numbers are positive or both numbers are negative. An
overflow result is indicated by an incorrect sign bit.
56
 CODES
Introduction
 When numbers, letters, or words are represented by Special group of
symbols, we say that they are being encoded, and the group of
symbols is called a code.
 The group of 0s and 1s in the binary number can be thought of as a
code representing the decimal number.
 When a decimal number is represented by its equivalent binary
number, we call it straight binary coding.
 We have seen that the conversing between decimal and binary can
be come long and complicated for large numbers.
 For this reason, a means of encoding decimal numbers that
combines some features of both the decimal and binary system is
used in certain situations.

57
 Binary-Coded- Decimal Code

 If each digit of a decimal number is represented by its 4- bit

binary equivalent the result is a code called binary-coded-
decimal (hereafter abbreviated BCD).
 Since a decimal digit can be as large as 9, four bits are
required to code each digit (the binary code for 9 is 1001).
Examples
a) The decimal number 437 is changed to its BCD equivalent as
follows:
4 3 7 (decimal)

0100 0011 0111 (BCD)

b) 9 5 8 0 (decimal)

1001 0101 1000 0000 (BCD)

58
 Clearly, only the 4- bit binary numbers from 0000 through
1001 are used.
 The BCD Code does not use the numbers 1010, 1011,
1100, 1101, 1110 and 1111.
 In other words only 10 of the 16 possible 4 bit binary
code groups are used.
 If any of the „‟forbidden‟‟ 4 bit numbers ever occurs in
machine using the BCD code, it is usually an indication
that an error has occurred.
 Convert the BCD number 011111001000 to its decimal equivalent
0111 1100 1000 (BCD)

7 8
Forbidden code group
indicates error in BCD number 59
 Comparison of BCD and Binary
 It is important to realize that BCD is not another number system like binary, octal,
decimal, and hexadecimal.
 It is, in fact, the decimal system with each digit encoded in its binary equivalent.
 It is also important to understand that a BCD number is not the same as a straight
binary number.
 A straight binary code takes the complete decimal number and represents it in
binary;
 But the BCD code converts each decimal digit to binary individually.
 To illustrate, take the number 253 and compare its straight binary and BCD codes:
25310 = 111111012 (Straight binary)
25310 = 0010 0101 0011 (BCD)
 The BCD code requires 12 bits while the straight binary code requires only 8 bits to
represent 253.
 This is because BCD does not use all possible 4-bit groups, as pointed out earlier,
and is therefore somewhat inefficient.
 The main advantage of the BCD code is the relative ease of converting to and from
decimal only the 4 bit code groups for the decimal digits 0 through 9 need to be
remembered.

60
 Gray Code
 The Gray code belongs to a class of codes called minimum
change codes, in which only one bit in the code group changes
when going from one step to the next.
 The gray code is an unweighted code, meaning that the bit
positions in the code groups do not have any specific weight
assigned to them.
 Because of this, the gray code is not suitable for arithmetic
operations but finds application in input/out put devices and
some types of analog-to-digital converters.
 Table below shows the gray code representation for the
decimal number 0 through 15,together with straight binary
code.

61
Decimal Binary Gray  If we examine the Gray code groups for
code code each decimal number, it can be seen that
in going from any one decimal number
to the next, only one bit of Gray code
0 0000 0000 changes.
1 0001 0001  For example:
2 0010 0011 Decimal Gray code
3 0011 0010 3 to 4 0010 to 0110
4 0100 0110 14 to 15 1001 to 1000
5 0101 0111  Compare this with the binary code,
6 0110 0101 where anywhere from one to all of the
bits changes in going from one step to
7 0111 0100 the next.
8 1000 1100  For example:
9 1001 1101 Decimal Binary code Gray code
10 1010 1111 7 to 8 0111 to 1000 0100 to 1100
11 1011 1110  The Gray code is often used in
12 1100 1010 situations where other codes, such as
binary, might produce erroneous or
13 1101 1011 ambiguous results during those
14 1110 1001 translations in which more that one bit
15 1111 1000 of the code is changing.
 Obviously, using the Gray code would
eliminate this problem, since only one
bit changes occurs per transition and no
“race” between bits can occur. 62
 Binary-to-Gray code Conversion
 Conversion between binary code and Gray code is sometimes useful. The
following rules explain how to convert from a binary number to a Gray code
word:
 The most significant bit (left-most) in the Gray code is the same as the
corresponding MSB in the binary number.
 Going from left to right, add each adjacent pair of binary code bits to get the
next Gray code bit. Discard carries.
• For example, the conversion of the binary number 1110 to Gray code is as
follows:
1 + 1 + 1 + 0

1 0 0 1

= 1001 ( Gray code)

• The Gray code is 1001.
63
 Gray -to- Binary Conversion
 The following rules explain how to convert from gray code to a binary number :
 The most significant bit (left-most) in the binary code is the same as the
corresponding bit in the Gray code.
 Add each binary code bit generated to the Gray code bit in the next
adjacent position. Discard carries.
 For example, the conversion of the Gray code word 1110 to binary is as
follows:
Eg : 1110 (Gray Code)

1 1 1 0

+ + +

1 0 1 1

= 10112

The binary number is 1011.

64
 The Excess –3 code
 The excess-3 code is another important BCD code. To encode a decimal number
to the excess –3 form, we add 3 to each digit of the decimal number and convert
to binary form.
 For example

a) Convert 4 to an excess –3 number

Decimal number Excess-3 codes number
4 +3=7 0111
(Add 3) (Convert to 4-bit binary)
b) Convert 39 to an excess –3 number
3 9
+3 +3 Add 3 to each digit
6 12
Convert to 4-bit binary code
0110 1100
 Note that both BCD and Excess-3 use only 10 of the 16 possible 4-bit code
groups.
 The Excess-3 code, however, does not use the same code groups.
 For Excess-3 code, the invalid code groups are 0000, 0001, 0010,
1101,1110, and 1111. 65
 ALPHANUMERIC CODES
 Computer should recognize codes that represent letters of the
alphabet, punctuation marks, and other special characters as
well as numbers.

 These codes are called ’’alphanumeric codes’’.

 A complete alphanumeric code would include:

 The 26 lower case letters;

 26 upper case letters,

 10 numeric digits,

 7 punctuation marks, and

 anywhere from 20 to 40 other characters, such as +, /, #, %, *,and so on

 A complete alphanumeric characters and function are found on a standard typewriter (or computer)
keyboard. 66
 The ASCll Code
 The most widely used alphanumeric code, the America
standard code for Information Interchange (ASC II), is used in
most micro computers and mini computers, and in many
mainframes.
 The ASCII code (pronounced ‘’ask-ee’’) is a 7- bit code, and
so it has 27= 128 possible code groups.
 This is more than enough to represent all of the standard
keyboard characters as well as control functions such as the
<RETURN> AND < LINEFEED> Functions.

67
Character 7-Bit ASCII Octal Hex Character 7-Bit Octal Hex
ASCII
A 100 0001 101 41 Y 101 1001 131 59
B 100 0010 102 42 Z 101 1010 132 5A
C 100 0011 103 43 0 011 0000 060 30
D 100 0100 104 44 1 011 0001 061 31
E 100 0101 105 45 2 011 0010 062 32
F 100 0110 106 46 3 011 0011 063 33
G 100 0111 107 47 4 011 0100 064 34
H 100 1000 110 48 5 011 0101 065 35
I 100 1001 111 49 6 011 0110 066 36
J 100 1010 112 4A 7 011 0111 067 37
K 100 1011 113 4B 8 011 1000 070 38
L 100 1100 114 4C 9 011 1001 071 39
M 100 1101 115 4D blank 010 0000 040 20
N 100 1110 116 4E . 010 1110 056 2E
O 100 1111 117 4F ( 010 1000 050 28
P 101 0000 120 50 + 010 1011 053 2B
Q 101 0001 121 51 $ 010 0100 044 24
R 101 0010 122 52 * 010 1010 052 2A
S 101 0011 123 53 ) 010 1001 051 29
T 101 0100 124 54 - 010 1101 055 2D
U 101 0101 125 55 / 010 1111 057 2F
V 101 0110 126 56 , 010 1100 054 2C
W 101 0111 127 57 = 011 1101 075 3D
X 101 1000 130 58 <RETURN> 000 1101 015 0D
<LINEFEED> 0001010 012 0A
68
Example 1:
The following is a message encoded in ASCII code. What is the message?
1000001 1010011 1010100 1010101
Solution: convert each 7- bit code to its hex equivalent. The results are
1000001 1010011 101 0100 101 0101

41 53 54 55

A S T U
 The ASCII code is used for the transfer of alphanumeric information
between a computer and input / output devices such as video terminals or
printers.
Example 2
Determine the codes that will be entered in to memory when the operator
types in the following BASIC statement:
GOTO 25
Solution:
Locate each character (including the space) in table and record its ASCII
code
G 1000111
O 1001111
T 1010100
O 1001111
( Space) 0100000
2 0110010 69
5 0110101