HOMEWORK # 2 SOLUTIO

Problem 1 (2 points)

a. There are 313 characters in the Tamil language. If every character is to be encoded into
a unique bit pattern, what is the minimum number of bits required to do this?

8 bits can used to encode 28 = 256 characters and 9 bits can be used to encode 29 =
512 characters. So, we would need 9 bits.

b. How many more characters can be accommodated in the language without requiring
additional bits for each character?

512 – 313 = 199

Problem 2 (4 points)

Convert the following 2's complement binary numbers to decimal numbers.

a. 1010

First bit is 1. So it is a –ve number. 2’s complement of 1010 = 0101 + 1 = 0110. So the
answer is -6.

b. 0010

This is a +ve number since it starts with 0 Answer is 2.

c. 111111

This is a –ve number since it starts with 1. Its 2’s complement is 000000 + 1 = 000001.
So the answer is -1

d. 011111

This is a +ve number since it starts with 0. The answer is 31.

Problem 3 (4 points)

a. What is the largest positive number one can represent in a 16-bit 2's complement
code? Write your result in binary and decimal.

0111 1111 1111 1111 binary and 215 - 1 = 32767 decimal

 b. What is the greatest magnitude negative number one can represent in a 16-bit 2's
complement code? Write your result in binary and decimal.

1000 0000 0000 0000 binary and -215 = -32768 decimal

c. What is the largest positive number one can represent in a 16-bit signed magnitude
code? Write your result in binary and decimal.

0111 1111 1111 1111 binary and 215 - 1 = 32767 decimal

d. What is the greatest magnitude negative number one can represent in a 16-bit signed
magnitude code? Write your result in binary and decimal.

1111 1111 1111 1111 binary and –(215 – 1) = -32767 decimal

Problem 4 (2 points)

What are the 8-bit patterns used to represent each of the characters in the string "This Is
Easy!"? (Only represent the characters between the quotation marks.)

Character Hex (from ASCII table) Binary equivalent

T 54 0101 0100
h 68 0110 1000
i 69 0110 1001
s 73 0111 0011
Space 20 0010 0000
I 49 0100 1001
s 73 0111 0011
Space 20 0010 0000
E 45 0100 0101
a 61 0110 0001
s 73 0111 0011
y 79 0111 1001
! 21 0010 0001

Problem 5 (4 points)

Convert the following decimal numbers to 8-bit 2's complement binary numbers. If there is
problem while doing this, describe it.

a. 102

0110 0110
 b. 64

0100 0000

c. 128

Does not fit in an 8-bit signed number

d. -128

1000 0000

Problem 6 (4 points)

The following binary numbers are 4-bit 2's complement binary numbers. Which of the
following operations generate overflow? Justify your answers by translating the operands
and results into decimal.

a. 0111 + 1101

No overflow.

0111

1101

--------

10100

Answer is 0100 binary = 4 decimal [7 + (-3)]

b. 1001 + 1110

Overflow.

1001

1110

--------

10111

Answer is 0111 binary = 7 decimal. But actual answer is -9 [(-7) + (-2)]

 c. 1111 + 1001

No overflow.

1111

1001

--------

11000

Answer is 1000 binary = -8 decimal [(-1) + (-7)]

d. 0011 + 0101

Overflow.

0011

0101

--------

1000

Answer is 1000 binary = -8 decimal. But actual answer is 8 [3 + 5]

Problem 7 (2 points)

A computer programmer wrote a program that adds two numbers. The programmer ran
the program and observed that when 5 is added to 8, the result is the character m. Explain
why this program is behaving erroneously.

The error that is occurring here is that 5 and 8 are being interpreted as characters ‘5’ and ‘8’
respectively. As a result, the addition that is taking place is not 5 + 8; rather, it is ‘5’ + ‘8’. If we
look up values in the ASCII table, 5 is 0x35 and 8 is 0x38. 0x35 + 0x38 = 0x6d, which is the
ASCII value for ‘m’.
Problem 8 (2 points)

Compute the following:

a. OT(1011) OR (1011)

NOT(1011) = 0100

Answer = (0100) OR (1011) = 1111

b. OT(1001 AD (0100 OR 0110))

0100 OR 0110 = 0110

1001 AND 0110 = 0000

Answer = NOT(0000) = 1111

Problem 9 (4 points)

Write the decimal equivalents for these IEEE floating point numbers.

a. 0 01111111 11000000000000000000000

Sign bit is 0 (+ve).

Exponent = 127.

Fraction = 1*2-1 + 1*2-2 = 0.75

Answer = (+) 1.fraction * 2exponent – 127

= 1.75 * 20 = 1.75

b. 1 01111101 10000000000000000000000

Sign bit is 1 (-ve).

Exponent = 125.

Fraction = 1*2-1 = 0.5

Answer = (-) 1.fraction * 2exponent – 127

= - 1.5 * 2-2 = - 0.375

Problem 10 (2 points)

Given a black box which takes n bits as input and produces one bit for output, what is the
maximum number of unique functions that the black box can implement? (Hint: Try to
visualize a truth table for a single function of n bits. Determine how many rows such a
truth table has. Then determine how many combinations are possible with the number of
rows that you just found)

Consider a single function that this black box implements. If there are n binary inputs,
the truth table contains 2n rows.

Now, each of these rows in the truth table can be filled with 0 or 1. The number of ways
in which we can fill in these rows (using 0 and 1) gives us the number of unique
functions. Since each of the rows can be filled in using 2 possible values and since the
number of rows is 2n, the number of ways = 2 power (2n).