Introduction to Digital

Systems and Number

Systems
2.1.1 Need for Digital Systems

A system is a group of elements or components that are integrated to achieve

a specific goal. A signal is a way of conveying some information. It refers to
any time-varying voltage, current, or electromagnetic wave that carries
information. Information could be in the form of an image, sound, temperature,
etc. There are two types of signals: analog signals and digital signals. Analog
signals are continuous signals, and they vary with respect to time. Digital
signals are discrete signals that are present only at discrete instants of time.

Based on the type of signal that the system handles, there are two types of
systems: analog and digital. Analog systems process analog signals; for
example, volume control on old radios, telephone handsets, and TR-10
desktop analog computers. Since analog signals involve continuous signals, it
requires huge memory to store the collected information. Also, designed
systems cannot be easily modified in real-time.

Digital systems process digital signals in the form of discrete signals, which
are obtained by sampling analog signals. The process of converting analog
signal to digital signal is shown in Figure 1. A signal sampler is a kind of
high-speed switch that takes an analog signal as an input and produces
discrete signals at predefined time intervals. Such signals have a finite set of
possible amplitudes. The best example of a digital system is a computer that
uses digital signals in the form of square waves. This kind of digital signal has
only two amplitudes or voltage levels, namely high voltage level and low
voltage level.

Figure 1: Analog to digital signal (discrete signal) conversion.

Digital systems are popular because of the advantages it offers, some of

which are given as follows:

● Easy to design and implement

● Cost-effective
● More flexible design
● Easy data storage, compression, and encryption
● More reliable—the impact of noise interference and distortion is very
less

Since digital signals are obtained by sampling analog signals, the accuracy of
the digital signal obtained depends on the sampling rate. If the sampling rate
is low, sampled information will be irreversibly lost, and the original signal will
not be represented correctly. A higher sampling rate provides better accuracy
but will have an impact on storage capability and the amount of time it takes to
process the information. There is always a compromise between sampling
rate, processing time, and storage.

Since digital systems are more reliable, they are employed in almost all
applications, including computer systems.

2.1.2 Introduction to Number System

A number system defines how a number can be expressed. These numbers

are represented using distinct digits and or symbols in a consistent manner. In
general, the value of any digit in a number can be determined by:

● The digit or a symbol

● Its position in the number
● The base or radix value of the number system

The classification of the number system is shown in Figure 2. Non-positional

number system uses symbols to represent any number. Hence, it is also
known as the “Symbolic” number system.

Figure 2: Classification of number system.

For example, the Roman number system uses only seven symbols I, V, X, L,
C, D, and M. In this number system, a set of rules are followed to represent a
number. Figure 3 shows the Roman number system symbols and
corresponding values in decimal.

Figure 3: Roman number system.

As the name indicates, in a positional number system, the position of a

symbol determines the value it represents. Examples of number systems
include decimal, binary, octal, and hexadecimal.

Figure 4 shows the general representation of a number in a positional number

system. In general, any number N(b) in the positional number system is
divided into two parts: the integer part and the fractional part. These two parts
are separated by a radix or a decimal point.

Figure 4: General representation of a number in the positional number

system.

In the expression given in Figure 4, N represents the number, b represents the

radix or base of a number, small n represents the number of digits in the
integer portion, and m is the number of digits in the fractional portion. The
commonly used number system is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Example number systems.

In binary, bi means 2. The binary number system uses only two symbols or
digits 0 and 1. Since there are two distinct symbols, the base of the binary
number system is 2. In the octal number system, oct means 8. Base of the
octal number system is 8 and uses eight symbols 0 to 7. In the decimal
number system, deci means 10. The base of the decimal number system is 10
and uses ten symbols from 0 to 9. Hex in a hexadecimal number system
means 6, and deci means 10. The hexadecimal number system uses a base
value of 16 and uses 16 distinct symbols to represent a number. It uses 0 to 9
and A to F symbols.

Decimal Number System

The decimal number system has a base value of 10 and uses ten symbols
from 0 to 9. Consider 1248.84 as an example. As shown in Figure 6, this
number has two parts, that is, the integer part and the fractional part, and they
are separated by a decimal point.
Figure 6: Example of decimal number representation.

In the decimal number system, number representation is algorithmic. Every

digit has a position number. The integer part has a positive position number,
whereas the fractional part has a negative number. Each digit is associated
with a weight and is equal to 10 power position numbers. Figure 7 shows the
position number and weights associated with the decimal number 1248.84.
The final number is obtained by adding all the terms obtained by digits
multiplied by their respective weights.

Figure 7: Position number and weights associated with decimal number

1248.84.

The main advantages of the decimal number system are that they are easy to
represent, read, and manipulate. Hence, it is most used in daily life. However,
decimal number representation cannot be employed in computers for the
following reasons:

● Hard to store:
This is because each digit in a number is made of ten symbols. The first
electronic computer ENIAC used ten vacuum tubes per digit, and the
computer design was very bulky.

● Hard to transmit:

Encoding ten different symbols requires ten signal levels so that it can be
transmitted over a single wire. Also, to minimize the errors, high-precision
encoding is needed.

● Complex design and implementation:

Design requires handling ten signal levels. Hence, it complicates the

implementation of various arithmetic and logic functions, such as addition and
multiplication.

2.1.3 Binary Number System

The binary number system uses only two possible values, 0 or 1, for each
digit in a number. This number system is used in every digital system because
of easy storage, easy transmission, and easy implementation of required
functions. In such systems, everything is represented by either the presence
or absence of a signal. The presence of a signal is usually interpreted as digit
1, and the absence of a signal as digit 0.

Each digit in a binary number is known as a bit. The binary number is made
up of several bits. The rightmost bit is known as the least significant bit, LSB,
whereas the leftmost bit is known as the most significant bit, MSB. In a digital
system, MSB is the bit that has the largest weight in a binary number,
whereas LSB has the least weight. Figure 8 shows the position of MSB and
LSB for two example binary numbers.
Figure 8: Position of MSB and LSB.

Since a binary number system is a positional number system, each bit has a
positional value and weight associated with it. Figure 9 shows the example
binary number 11010.11, which has integer and fractional parts. Before the
decimal point, that is the integer part, the bits are represented as b0, b1, b2,
b3, and b4, and the corresponding weight is 20, 21, 22 23 and 24. After the
decimal point, bits are represented as b-1, b-2, etc.; and their corresponding
weight is 2-1, 2-2, etc.

Figure 9: Position value and weight associated with the position.

Usually, programming languages use a standard number of bits while

organizing data storage and access.
 ● A Nibble🡺 4 bits
● A Byte🡺 8 bits
● A Word🡺 16 bits or 2 bytes
● A D-word 🡺 32 bits or 4 bytes
● A Q-word 🡺 64 bits or 8 bytes

Decimal to Binary Conversion

While converting from decimal to binary, integer and fractional parts are
converted separately. For converting the integer part to binary, the successive
division method is used, whereas for converting the fractional part, successive
multiplication is used. For both division and multiplication, the target number
system’s base, which is base 2, is considered. In general, while converting the
integer part, first divide the integer part of the decimal number by 2. The first
remainder that is obtained will be the LSB of the binary number. If the quotient
is zero, the conversion is complete. If the quotient is not zero, then the
quotient will be divided by 2. The new remainder is the next most significant
bit of the binary number. This continues until the quotient becomes 0.

For fractional part conversion, multiply the fractional part by 2. The carry
generated is kept aside, and the fraction will then be multiplied by 2. This
process is continued until the fractional part is zero or the required accuracy is
attained. Figure 10 shows the decimal number 125.66 to binary conversion.

Figure 10: Decimal 125.66 to binary conversion.

Binary to Decimal Conversion

To convert binary to decimal, the following steps are followed.

Step 1: Multiply each bit of the binary number by its corresponding

bit-weighting factor.

Step 2: Sum up all the products to get the decimal number.

Conversion process for a binary number 1010.101 is shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11: Binary to decimal conversion.

Bit Permutation

In general, in any number system, the total numbers that are represented
depend on the number of digits in that number. In a binary number system, if a
number sequence has n bits, then we can have 2n possible combinations or
permutations; for example, if n = 1, then there are two combinations, that is, 0
and 1. Similarly, when n = 2, there will be four combinations, 00, 01, 10, and
11. Figure 12 shows the permutation table for n = 1, 2, and 3.
Figure 12: Permutation table for n = 1, 2, and 3.

2.1.4 Octal Number and Hexadecimal Number System

Octal number system is an example of a positional number system that uses

eight symbols 0 to 7. The base of the octal number system is 8. The
conversion process is similar to binary, which is shown in Figure 13. To
convert decimal numbers to octal numbers, the integer part and fractional part
are treated separately. The integer part is divided by eight until the quotient
becomes 0. The remainder that is generated by the process of division will
give a decimal equivalent of the octal integer part. To convert the fractional
part to decimal, successive multiplication is used. To convert from an octal
number to a decimal, weighted multiplication is used.
Figure 13: Conversion between decimal and octal number systems.

Figure 14 shows the example where the decimal number 156.32(10) is

converted to an octal number. To convert decimal to octal, weighted
multiplication is used. Figure 15 shows the conversion of 761.5(8) to a decimal
number.

Figure 14: Conversion of 156.32(10) to octal number.

Figure 15: Conversion of 761.5(8) to decimal number.

Binary to Octal Conversion

There are two methods to convert a binary number to an octal number.

● Method 1: First, convert the binary number to decimal number and then
to octal number.

Example: (1111100.101)2🡺 (124.625)10🡺 (174.5)8

● Method 2: Make 3 bits group.

Figure 16 shows an example of how a binary number 1111100.101 is

converted using Method 2. The direction of grouping for the integer part and
fractional part is shown. For integers, part bits are grouped from right to left,
and for the fractional part, bits are grouped from left to right. If the last group
has less than three bits, then pad it with zeros and convert.
Figure 16: Binary to octal conversion.

Octal to Binary:

There are two methods to convert an octal number to binary.

● Method 1: Convert octal to decimal and then to binary.

Example: (524.6)8🡺 (340.75)10🡺 (101010100.110)2

● Method 2: Convert individual octal digits to binary.

Figure 17 shows an example of how a binary number 1111100.101 is

converted using Method 2. As shown in the figure, individual octal digits
are converted to binary.

Figure 17: Octal to binary conversion.

Hexadecimal Number System

Hexadecimal number system uses 16 symbols: 0 to 9 and A to F. Software

developers widely use hexadecimal numbers as they provide a
human-friendly representation of binary-coded values. It is shorter and easier
to read than binary and octal. Each hexadecimal digit represents one nibble,
which is four binary bits.

Binary to Hexadecimal Conversion

There are two ways of converting binary to hexadecimal.

● Method 1: Convert from binary to decimal and then decimal to

hexadecimal.
● Method 2: Group four bits and then convert those four bits to equivalent
hexadecimal digits.

Figure 18 shows the conversion of a binary number to a hexadecimal number

using Method 2. For the binary number integer part, the four-bit group is
formed from right to left, whereas for the fractional part, four-bit groups are
formed from left to right.
Figure 18: Binary to hexadecimal number conversion.

Hexadecimal to Binary Conversion

To convert from hexadecimal to binary, individual hexadecimal digits are

converted to binary. Figure 19 shows the conversion of a hexadecimal number
to a decimal number.

Figure 19: Hexadecimal to binary number conversion.

2.1.5 Operations on Binary

Bitwise Addition

A logic circuit is an essential building block of a logic system that will have
several inputs and outputs. In any logic system design, the truth table plays an
important role. The truth table lists all possible combinations of input binary
variables and the corresponding outputs of a logic system. When the number
of input binary variables is one, there are only two possible input
combinations: "0” and “1.” If the number of inputs is two, there can be four
possible input combinations, that is, 00, 01, 10, and 11. Similarly, the number
of possible input combinations for three input binary variables becomes eight.
So, if a logic circuit has n binary inputs, its truth table will have 2n possible
input combinations.

Consider two inputs A and B. There are two outputs, Sum and Carry. Figure
20 shows the truth table consisting of inputs and outputs. Since there are two
inputs, there are four possible combinations.

● When A = 0 and B =0, adding 0 with 0 yields the sum as zero, with no
carry, which is indicated as zero in the truth table.
● When A = 0 and B =1, adding 0 with 1 yields the sum as 1, with no
carry.
● When A = 1and B = 0, adding 1 with 0 yields the sum as 1, carry as 0.
● When A = 1 and B = 1, adding 1 with 1 will result in 0 and carry 1.

Figure 20: Truth table for the addition of two bits.

1’s Complement

Complementation is one of the very important operations on bits. There are

two types of complements: 1’s complement and 2’s complement.

In 1’s complement operation, we flip or invert all the bits in a number; that is,
change 0 to 1 and 1 to 0. For example, 1’s complement of 1100 is 0011.

2’s Complement

2’s complement is 1’s complement + 1. For example, 2’s complement of

binary number 011010000 is computed as follows:
There is a shortcut method. Copy bits from right to left until (and including) the
first 1, and then flip all the remaining bits. Figure 21 shows the shortcut
method.

Figure 21: Shortcut method to calculate 2’s complement.

Number Representation in a Digital Computer
2.2.1 Unsigned and Signed Magnitude Representation
In programming languages, such as C and Java, variables are declared to support various data
types. Data type specifies the type of data variable holds and what is the size requirement. These
data types could be integer, floating point, or character type.
There are various ways of representing an integer. The classification of binary integer representation
is shown in Figure 1. In unsigned number representation, there are only zero and positive values. If
there are n bits in a number, using which we can represent 2n values. Out of 2n values, one value
represents zero, and the remaining 2n-1 values represent positive numbers. Figure 2 shows the 3-bit
binary number combinations and corresponding unsigned values. Since there are three bits, there
are eight combinations. The first combination, 000, represents 0, and the remaining combinations
represent values from +1 to +7.

Figure 1: Binary integer representation.

There are three ways to represent negative numbers along with positive numbers:
● Signed magnitude representation
● 1’s complement representation
● 2’s complement representation

Figure 2: Unsigned binary representation.

In signed magnitude representation, both positive and negative numbers are represented. In this
representation, the MSB, that is, the most significant bit, is used to represent the sign of a number. If
MSB is 0, then the number is positive. Otherwise, it is negative. Figure 3 shows the signed
magnitude representation of 3-bit numbers. With n bits, there are 2n distinct combinations, out of
which 1 through 2n-1-1 positive numbers, and -2n-1-1 through -1 negative numbers. This leaves two
values: one for +0 and the other for -0.

Figure 3: Signed magnitude representation.

2.2.2 Addition of Signed Magnitude Numbers
Three cases of signed magnitude number addition are evaluated to check the suitability of signed
magnitude representation for digital computers. While representing the numbers, the table in Figure
3 is referred.
Case 1: Perform 1 + 2
+1 🡺 0 0 1
+2 🡺 0 1 0
+3 0 1 1
The addition result+3 in signed magnitude representation is 011, which matches with the answer,
which is obtained after the binary addition. Hence, it is correct.
Case 2: Perform2 + (-3)
+2 🡺 0 1 0
-3 🡺 1 1 1
-1 1 0 0 1
Ignore the carry generated after binary addition.
When decimal numbers +2 and -3 are added, the result obtained is -1. But the result of binary
addition is 001, which is equal to +1. Hence it is incorrect.
Case 3: Perform 3 + (-3)
+3 🡺 0 1 1
-3 🡺 1 1 1
+0 1 0 1 0
-0
When decimal addition of +3 and -3 is performed, the result obtained is 0, which can be represented
as either +0 or -0. But the result obtained after adding binary numbers is 010, which is equal to +2.
Hence it is incorrect.
Even though the signed magnitude representation is easy to represent positive and negative
numbers, it comes with the following two major drawbacks, which makes it unsuitable for computer
arithmetic:
● Addition yields incorrect answers for some input combinations.
● There are two representations for 0. Hence, wastage of one-bit pattern.

2.2.3 1’s Complement Representation

1’s complement representation is used to represent zero, positive, and negative numbers. The
representation of positive numbers is similar to that of signed magnitude representation. That is, the
most significant bit is zero for positive numbers. A negative number is represented by flipping all the
bits of the corresponding positive number. For example, + 3 is represented as 011. But to represent
-3, the following procedure needs to be followed.
Step 1: Consider the magnitude of the negative number and convert it to its binary representation.
The magnitude of -3 is +3, and its representation in binary is 011.
Step 2: Flip all the bits.
So, 1’s complement representation of -3 is 100.
Figure 4 shows the 1’s complement number representation compared to the signed magnitude
representation. Numbers are represented using three bits b2, b1, and b0. In 1’s complement
representation also, there are two representations for 0, that is, +0 and -0. There are three positive
numbers and three negative numbers. In both the signed magnitude representation and 1’s
complement representation, +0 and positive numbers have the same bit pattern. But the
representation for -0 and negative numbers are different.

Figure 4: 3-bit binary representation using signed magnitude and 1’s complement representation.
For the n-bit number, the number of positive numbers is 2n- 1-1, the number of negative numbers is
2n- 1-1, and there are two representations for 0. The range of numbers that can be represented is
given by -2n- 1-1 to +2n- 1-1.
2.2.4 Addition of 1’s Complement Numbers
Four cases of 1’s complement number addition are evaluated to check the suitability of 1’s
complement representation for digital computers. While representing the numbers, the table in
Figure 4 is referred to.
Case 1: Perform 1 + 2
+1 🡺 0 0 1
+2 🡺 0 1 0
+3 0 1 1
+3 in binary is 011, which matches the answer obtained after the binary addition. Hence, the addition
operation is correct.
Case 2: Perform 2 + (-3)
+2 🡺 0 1 0
-3 🡺 1 0 0
-1 1 1 0
When +2 and -3 are added, the result obtained is -1. The result of binary addition is 110, which is
also equal to -1. Hence, the addition operation is correct.
Case 3: Perform 3 + (-3)
+3 🡺 0 1 1
-3 🡺 1 0 0
0111
When decimal addition of +3 and -3 is performed, the result obtained is 0, which can be represented
as either +0 or 0. The result obtained after adding binary numbers is 111, which is equal to -0.
Hence, the addition operation is correct.
Case 4: Perform 3 + (-2)
+3 🡺 0 1 1
-2 🡺 1 0 1
11000
Ignoring the carry results in 000, which is equal to +0. But when +3-2 is performed, the result
obtained is 1, which does not match the result obtained after binary addition. Hence, the addition
operation is incorrect. But there is a way to correct this, that is, adding carry to the result obtained.
After adding carry, the result will be 001, which matches the result of decimal addition.
The main advantage of 1’s complement representation is that it can be used for arithmetic
operations. But whenever there is a final carry generated out of MSB, it needs to be added to the
number. The disadvantage is that the representation is not very easy to understand. When there is a
carry, it needs to be handled properly to get the right answer.
2.2.5 2’s Complement Representation
2’s complement representation is used to represent both positive and negative numbers. While
representing the positive number, convert the given number to a binary number. Hence, positive
number representation is the same for signed magnitude representation, 1’s complement
representation, and 2’s complement representation. For negative number representation, take the
magnitude of the number and convert it into binary, and then apply 2’s complement operation on the
number.
For example, to represent -15 using 8 bits, the following steps are followed.
Step 1: Take the magnitude of -15. The magnitude of -15 is+ 15 and then convert + 15 into binary.
+ 15🡺 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
Step 2: Find 1’s complement of binary and add 1 to it.

Figure 5 shows the 3-bit binary representation using signed magnitude, 1’s complement
representation, and 2’s complement representation. It can be observed that the 2’s complementation
has one representation for 0. Positive number representation is the same as that of other
representations. There are four negative numbers. The combination 100, which represents -4, is
called a weird number. It is called a weird number because inverting 100 and adding 1 to it results in
100 itself. Hence, this negative number has no positive counterpart. But for all other negative
numbers, there is a positive counterpart.
Figure 5: 3-bit binary number representation using signed magnitude, 1’s complement
representation, and 2’s complement representation.
2.2.6 Addition of 2’s Complement Numbers
Four cases of 2’s complement number addition are evaluated to check the suitability of 2’s
complement representation for digital computers. While representing the numbers, the table in
Figure 5 is referred to.
Case 1: Perform 1 + 2
+1 🡺 0 0 1
+2 🡺 0 1 0
+3 0 1 1
+3 in binary is 011, which matches the answer obtained after the binary addition. Hence, the addition
operation is correct.
Case 2: Perform 2 + (-3)
+2 🡺 0 1 0
-3 🡺 1 0 1
-1 1 1 1
When +2 and -3 are added, the result obtained is -1. The result of binary addition is 111, which is
also equal to -1. Hence, the addition operation is correct.
Case 3: Perform 3 + (-3)
+3 🡺 0 1 1
-3 🡺 1 0 1
01000
When the decimal addition of +3 and -3 is performed, the result obtained is 0, which can be
represented as either +0 or 0. The result obtained after adding binary numbers is 1000. Ignoring the
carry, we obtain 000, which is equal to +0. Hence, the addition operation is correct.
Case 4: Perform 3 + (-2)
+3 🡺 0 1 1
-2 🡺 1 1 0
11001
When the decimal addition of +3 and -2 is performed, the result obtained is 1. Ignoring the carry
results in 001, which is equal to +1. Hence, the addition operation is correct.
All these four cases show that 2’s complement representation is suitable for digital computers.
Operation on Bits

2.3.1 Arithmetic Operation: Addition and Subtraction

There are various uses of 2’s complement operation. It is mainly used in signed binary number
representation and various arithmetic operations on binary numbers, for example, additions,
subtractions, etc. Since 2’s complement representation is unambiguous, it is employed in computer
number representation.
For the addition of two numbers, bitwise addition is performed from LSB to MSB. Sum and carry will
be generated per the truth table shown in Figure 1. Subtraction is performed using addition. For
example, A - B can be written as A + (-B). That is, -B and A are added where -B is obtained by 2’s
complement operation.

Figure 1: Truth table for the addition of two bits.

In the following section, four cases of addition are shown. Assume, A = 5 and B = 4.
Case 1: A + B
+ 5 using 8-bit representation = 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
+ 4 using 8-bit representation = 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
A+B

The decimal equivalent of 0000 1001(2) is +9. When two positive numbers are added, the result
should always be positive.
Case 2: A - B
A - B 🡺 A + (-B)
🡺+ 5 in 8-bit representation = 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
🡺- 4 in 8-bit representation

🡺A +(-B )
Ignore carry. The decimal equivalent of 00000001(2) is +1. Since A is greater than B, the result
should be positive.
Case 3: -A + B
🡺- 5 in 8-bit representation

🡺+ 4 in 8-bit representation:0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
🡺-A + B

The decimal equivalent of 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1(2) is -1. The magnitude of -5 is 5, which is more than 4.
Hence, the result will have a sign of 5, which is negative in this case.
Case 4: -A - B
-A - B 🡺 - A + (-B)
🡺 - 5 in 8-bit representation = 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1
🡺 - 4 in 8-bit representation = 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
🡺 -A + (-B)

Ignore carry. The decimal equivalent of 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1(2) is -9. Since -5 and -4 are negative
numbers, the result will also have a negative sign.
2.3.2. Arithmetic Operation: Sign Extension and Overflow
Sign extension, short known as sext, is the operation in the computer system. Using sign extension,
number of bits of the binary number is increased while preserving the value of the number. While
adding two binary numbers, care must be taken to ensure that two numbers’ sign bits are aligned.
Failing which may result in erroneous results.
The process of sign extension is illustrated in Figure 2. The original number 1 0 0 0 1 has five bits.
This number needs to be extended to eight bits. Five bits of the original number are copied as it is,
and the remaining three bits are filled with the sign of the number. The new number is the
sign-extended version of the original number.
Figure 2: Process of sign extension.
Another issue in computer arithmetic is the overflow condition. Consider two numbers A = +10 and B
= +8. These two numbers are represented using 5-bit 2’s complement representation. Adding these
two numbers will result in the following.

The result obtained is -14 instead of +18. The main reason behind this is that it is unable to
accommodate +18 using five bits. The range of numbers that can be represented using five bits is
-16 to +15. Hence, the result has overflowed the capacity of the representation.
When two 2’s complement numbers are added, and they both have the same sign (both positive or
both negative), then overflow occurs if and only if the result has the opposite sign. In almost all
programming languages, overflow is considered an exception that needs to be handled properly.
2.3.3 Logical Operation: AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, EXOR, and EXNOR
A logic gate is an electronic circuit that acts as a building block for all digital circuits. These circuits
perform logical operations. There are three basic logic gates, namely the OR gate, the AND gate,
and the NOT gate. These basic logic gates are used to implement the most elementary logic
expressions. Other logic gates that are derived from these basic gates are the NAND gate, the NOR
gate, the EXCLUSIVE-OR gate, and the EXCLUSIVE-NOR gate.
AND Gate: AND operation is performed by AND gate with two or more inputs and one output. The
symbol of the AND gate with two inputs, A and B, and output Y, and the truth table is shown in Figure
3. The output of an AND gate is 1 only when all its inputs are in the 1 state. For all other input
combinations, the output is 0. The logic expression is given by
Y = A AND B
= A·B
= AB

Figure 3: Two-input AND gate and corresponding truth table.

OR Gate: An OR gate performs an ORing operation on the given inputs. The logic gate has two or
more inputs and one output. The logic symbol and truth table for the two-input OR gate is shown in
Figure 4. The output of an OR gate is 0 only when all its inputs are at 0. For all other possible input
combinations, the output is 1. Logic expression for two input OR gate is written as
Y = A OR B
=A+B

Figure 4: Two-input OR gate and corresponding truth table.

NOT Gate: A NOT gate is a one-input, one-output logic circuit whose output is always the
complement of the input. That is, 0 input produces 1 output, and 1 input produces 0 output. The logic
symbol and truth table for a two-input OR gate is shown in Figure 5. Logic expression for NOT gate
is given by
Y = A’
=A

Figure 5: NOT gate and corresponding truth table.

EXOR Gate: The EXCLUSIVE-OR gate, in short, known EX-OR gate, is a two-or-more input,
one-output gate. Figure 6 shows the logic symbol and truth table for a two-input EX-OR gate. For a
two-input XOR gate, when both the inputs are the same, the output is 0. But when inputs are
different, the output is 1. The logic expression of X-OR is given by
Y = A EXOR B.
Y = A Ꚛ B.

Figure 6: EXOR gate and corresponding truth table.

The output of a multiple-input EX-OR logic function is a logic 1 when the number of 1s in the input
sequence is odd. For an even number of 1s, the output will be 0.
NAND Gate: NAND is another logic gate that takes multiple inputs and produces one output. It is
equivalent to an AND gate followed by a NOT gate. The truth table for the NAND gate is obtained
from the truth table of an AND gate by complementing the output entries. The output of a NAND gate
is a logic 0 when all its inputs are a logic 1.For all other input combinations, the output is a logic 1.
Figure 7 shows the logic symbol and truth table for a two-input NAND gate. NAND gate operation is
logically expressed as
Y = A NAND B
= (AB)’

Figure 7: NAND gate and corresponding truth table.

NOR Gate: NOR stands for NOT OR. NOR gate is equivalent to an OR gate followed by a NOT
gate. The symbol and truth table of a two-input NOR gate is shown in Figure 8. The output of a NOR
gate is a logic 1 when all its inputs are logic “0.” For all other input combinations, the output is a logic
0. The output of a two-input NOR gate is logically expressed as
Y = A NOR B
= (A + B)’

Figure 8: NOR gate and corresponding truth table.

Binary Codes
2.4.1 BCD and ASCII Code
Computer processes the data which is in the form of text, image, number, audio, or video. These are
represented, collected, stored, and transmitted using a group of symbols called binary codes. BCD
code, ASCII code, Excess-3 Code, and Gray code are some of the important codes used in a
computer system.
BCD Code
The full form of BCD is binary coded decimal. In this code, each decimal digit in a number is coded
with four binary bits. Hence, this code is also known as 8421 code. Figure 1 shows the binary and
BCD equivalent of decimal numbers. Notice that there is no difference between binary and BCD
codes for numbers from 0 to 9. The binary equivalent of decimal 10 is 1010, but the same code
cannot be used as BCD code. While writing BCD code for decimal 10, each digit is coded separately.
That is, the BCD code for 1 is 0001, and for 0, it is 0000.

Figure 1: BCD code.

Example: Convert decimal number 345 to BCD. BCD representation of 3 is 0011, 4 is 0100, and 5 is
0101.
345 🡺 0011 0100 0101
To convert BCD to decimal, make four bits group from LSB and then convert it to decimal.
Example: Convert BCD number 0111 0101 1001 to decimal. 0111 is 7, 0101 is 5, and 1001 is 9.
0111 0101 1001 🡺 759
Most modern computers use byte-oriented memory, in a sense, each location of the memory is
capable of storing 1 byte or 8 bits of information. Based on how many digits can be accommodated
in each location, there are two types: unpacked BCD and packed BCD. Unpacked and packed BCD
representations are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3, respectively.
In unpacked BCD representation, one BCD digit per byte is used. For example, to represent 48, 2
bytes are needed. Digit 8 is represented using two nibbles. The lower nibble is 1000, and the upper
nibble is set to all zeros. Similarly, 4 is represented using two nibbles. The lower nibble is 0100, and
the upper nibble is set to all zeros. In both bytes, the upper nibble is redundant. It is as good as
representing 0408 in BCD.
Figure 2: Unpacked BCD representation.
To utilize memory efficiently, packed BCD representation is used. In this method, in one byte of
memory, two digits are packed. For example, decimal number 48, where 8 is represented as 1000
and is stored in the lower nibble and 4 is represented as 0100 is stored in the upper nibble.

Figure 3: Packed BCD representation.

ASCII Code
Another very popular code that is used in every digital computer and internet is ASCII, i.e., American
Standard Code for Information Interchange. This code is developed by American National Standards
Institute, ANSI. ASCII provides a character encoding format for text data, which is represented by
eight bits. Out of these eight bits, the lower seven bits are used to represent the code, and most
significant bit is used as a parity bit. This parity bit is used to indicate a single-bit error in the code.
Characters in ASCII encoding include uppercase and lowercase letters A through Z, numerals 0
through 9, and basic punctuation symbols. It also uses some non-printing control characters that
were originally intended for use with teletype printing terminals. The ASCII table containing 128
characters is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: ASCII Code.
2.4.2 BCD Arithmetic
BCD Addition
Procedure for the addition of two BCD numbers:
● Add the two BCD numbers (binary addition).
● If 4-bit result is equal to or less than 9, then it is a valid BCD number.
● If 4-bit result is greater than 9 or if there is a carry out of the 4-bit then add 6 (0110) to the
result.
● If there is a carry generated after addition, then simply add that carry to the next BCD bit
group.

Example: Find the sum of two BCD numbers A and B, where:

A = 0011 1001 0101 🡺 3 9 510
B = 0100 0001 0011 🡺 4 1 310
When two BCD numbers are added, the result obtained should be equivalent to decimal number
eight hundred and eight. Start from the lower nibble. Add first nibbles. The result obtained is 1000,
which is equal to 8 in decimal and is less than 9. Hence, it is a valid BCD number. Add second
nibbles, and the result obtained is 1010, which is equal to 10 in decimal. Since 10 is greater than 9, it
is not a valid BCD number. Now, add 0110 to 1010. The answer obtained is 0000 with carry 1. 0000
is a valid BCD number. The carry that is generated should be added to the next nibble. Add the last
nibbles with carry, and the result obtained is 1000. 1000 is equal to 8 in decimal and is less than 9.
Hence, it is a valid BCD number. The entire process of addition is shown in Figure 5. The final result
obtained is 1000 0000 1000, which is equivalent to 808(10).

Figure 5: BCD addition – example.

BCD Subtraction
While performing binary subtraction, 2’s complement operation is used. Similarly, in BCD
subtraction, 10’s complement is used. 10’s complement is 9’s complement + 1.
Example 1: Obtain 10’s complement of BCD number 432.
First, find out 9’s complement by subtracting each BCD digit by 9. Then, add 1 to it to get 10’s
complement.
999
(-) 432
567 ⇒ 9’s complement
(+) 1
568 ⇒ 10’s complement
Example 2: Perform A - B where A = 475 and B = 239.
BCD representation of A ⇒ 0100 0111 0101
BCD representation of B ⇒ 0010 0011 1001
Represent -B using 10’s complement.
9’s complement 999 ⇒ 1001 1001 1001
BCD number 239 (-) 239 ⇒ (-) 0010 0011 1001
760 ⇒ 0111 0110 0000
10’s complement (+) 1⇒ 1
761 ⇒ 0111 0110 0001
Now add A and -B.
A ⇒ 0100 0111 0101
-B ⇒ 0111 0110 0001
0010 0011 0110 ⇒ 236