Binary Representation - Shortcuts

 Negation
x + x = 1111…1111two = -1 (in 2’s complement)
Therefore, -x = x + 1

 Sign Extension
o Positive numbers : easy
o Negative numbers (2’s complement):
- 4 in 4 bits : 1100
- 4 in 5 bits : 11100
Why is this useful?
1. Actual sign extension
2. Binary to decimal conversion (2’s complement)
-- can forget about leading 1’s
e.g. 1111 1110two = 110two = -2ten
Negative Binary to Decimal

 Change sign (2’s compliment)

1111 1111 1011 0100two
= - 0000 0000 0100 1100two
= - 76

Changing sign
What pattern appears at the right end ?
1 followed by some (or no) 0’s

o Trick: retain that pattern and flip everything to the left of it

e.g. - 1111 1100 0000 0000

= 0000 0100 0000 0000
A Feel for Base 2

 What is multiplication by 2 ?
5 x 2 = 10ten
101two x 2 = ?
(can you use this in efficiently solving 4.11?)

 What is division by 2, ignoring any remainder?

0000 0101two / 2 = ?
1110 0010two / 2 = ?

 What does a multiple of 4 look like?

4 = 0000 0100
24 = 0001 1000
60 = 0011 1100
All end in 2 zeros. Why?
“Translate Binary to Hexadecimal”

 Binary and Hex are two different representations

 Can convert from one to the other treating numbers as a series of bits
 Need not worry about signed/unsigned, 2’s complement, 1’s
complement, etc

 Make groups of 4 bits, starting from the right

 Add 0’s to the left if necessary (do not sign extend)
 Translate each group of 4 bits to hex individually

e.g. 01110000100101two
= 0001 1100 0010 0101two
= 1c25hex
“Bits have no inherent meaning”

 “Value” of a binary number depends on how you look at it

 e.g. consider the 4 bit number 1110two

 unsigned : 14
 signed : ??? (can assume 2’s complement)
 2’s complement : - (0010two) = -2
 1’s complement : - (0001two) = -1
 sign and magnitude : - (110two) = -6
Overflow and Underflow

 Assume 4 bit numbers in 2’s complement form

 Range : - 23 to (23 - 1), or - 8 to 7
 7 + 5 = 12 ……… cannot represent 12 using 4 bits (signed) !

 What happens in binary addition ?

0111(7) + 0101(5) = 1100(-4)
The number “appears” to be negative because it is out of range

 Similarly, 7 - (-5) = 12 ……. out of range

 Underflow: (-7) + (-5) = -12 ……. negative number out of range
 Remember : overflow/underflow can occur only when
1. Numbers of same sign are added
2. Numbers of opposite signs are subtracted