Fixed point tutorial

Gianluca Biccari
(Email: gb@gianlucabiccari.com)
 Binary Format

N binary digits (bit) has 2N states.

There is no an unique meaning inherent in a
binary word, it depends on the representation
and mapping choose.

Most of the time people are used to think of

binary word as a positive integers …

… but in digital signal processing real numbers
are required!
 Real number in DSP

Fixed point representation: every word has the same
number of digits and the binary point is always fixed at
the same position.
N bit

whole part fractional part

binary point

Qm.n format: m bit for whole part, n bit for fractional part.

Floating point representation: the position of the point
must be determined at processing time. These
calculations are much slower than fixed point. The
reason for using floating point representation is that the
range of possible values is much greater.
Qm.n format: unsigned fixed point
N = m + n bits
X[B2] = bn+m-1 . . . bn+1 bn bn-1 ... b2 b1 b0

N −1
1
x [B10] = n
2
∑2 b
i =0
i
i

fractional part adjustment

x like an integer number

x min =0 i.e. : Q16.16

2 N − 1 m −n N = 32 bit
x max = n = 2 − 2 range: 0 ÷ (216 – 2-16 ) = 65535,99998
2
resolution: 3,05 10-5
resolution: 2-n
 Qm.n format: unsigned fixed point
examples

Q6.2 : N = 8, range = 0 ÷ 63,75, resolution: 0,25

Example1: 0x8A  (138)/22 = 34,5

Example2: 53,68  53.68 22 = 214.72 = (round) 215

 (11010111)[B2] = 0xD7

Example3: 0xD7  (215)/22 = 53,75

 Two’s complement representation

For non-negative x: use ordinary base-two
representation with leading (sign) bit

For negative x (–x):
1 - Find 2’s complement of x: C2(x) = 2N – x
2 - Use base two representation to write this number
10000 24 = 16

Using N bit is possible to write all
the number x that: 1111 -1 (16-1=15)
1110 -2 (16-2=14)
- 2 N-1 ≤ x ≤ 2 N −1 −1 MSB = 1
1101 -3 (16-3=13)
…

Example: N = 4, x = -6 1000 -8 (16-8=8)
1 - C2(4) = 24 - 6 = 10 0000 0
0001 +1
2 - 10 = (1010)[B2] MSB = 0 0010 +2
…
0111 +7
 Two’s complement representation

Every arithmetic operations is like a hardware addition

There is only one representation for the zero value

From 2’s compl. to dec base b3 b2 b1 b0
N −2
1111 -1 (=-8+7)
x [B10] = − 2 N −1
bN −1 + ∑ 2 bi
i
1110 -2 (=-8+6)
i =0 1101 -3 (=-8+5)
bN-1 = 1 …
1000 -8 (=-8+0)
0000 0 (=0+0)
bN-1 = 0 0001 +1(=0+1)

Example: N = 4, x = 1101
0010 +2(=0+2)
x[B2] = 1101  x[B10] = -8+5 = -3 …
0111 +7(=0+7)
x[B2] = 0101  x[B10] = 0+3 = 3
 Qm.n format: signed two’s
complement fixed point
sign bit N = m + n + 1 bit

X[B2] = bn+m bn+m-1 . . . bn+1 bn bn-1 ... b2 b1 b0

N −2
1
fractional part
adjustment
x [B10]
2
[
= n − 2 N −1 bN −1 + ∑ 2i bi ] x like two’s
complement
i =0
number
2 N −1
x min = − n = − 2 m
2 i.e. : Q2.13
2 N −1 − 1 m − n N = 16 bit
x max = n
=2 −2 range: -22 ÷ (22 – 2-13 ) = - 4 ÷ 3,99987
2 resolution: 1,22 10-4
resolution: 2-n
 Float value Qm.n value

From float to Qm.m:
N −2
[
x [B10] 2 n = − 2 N −1 bN −1 + ∑ 2i bi ]
i =0

Qm.n representation’s bit

Qm.n is the 2’s complement representation of the

float value multiplied by 2n.

Examples:
Q4.4 N=9, resolution= 0.0625, range: -16 ÷ 15,9375
9.6  9.6 24 =153.6 = (round) 154 = (0 1001 1010)[B2]
-12,4  -12.4 24 = -198.4 = (round) -198
C2(198) = 29 -198 = 314 = (1 0011 1010)[B2]
 2’s c. Qm.n format examples

Q15.16 N=32, range = -32768 ÷ 32767.99998
resolution: 1.525 10-5
Example1:
-1265,337
-1265,337 216 = -82925125.632 = (round) - 82925126
C2(82925126) = 232 – 82925126 = 0xFB0EA9BA

Example2:
0xFB0EA9BA=(1111 1011 0000 1110 1010 1001 1011 1010)[B2]

= ( -231 + (2064558522) ) / 216 = -1265.337

 Arithmetic rules for 2’s c. fixed point

Addition: two numbers has to be represented in the same
Qm.n format to be added, it means that the binary point must
be aligned.

Multiplication:
Qm1.n1 * Qm2.n2 = Q (m1+m2+1).(n1+n2)
(Most of DSP achieve an implicit shifting on the result)

Resolution:
is the smallest non-zero magnitude representable, = 2-n

Accuracy:
is the magnitude of the maximum difference between a real
value and its representation, = 2-n/2 = 2-n-1