Binary Codes

• Electronic digital systems use signals that have two

distinct values (0 and 1) and circuit elements that
have two stable states (ON and OFF).
• Digital systems represent and manipulate binary
numbers, as well as other discrete elements of
information using binary codes.
• A binary code is just an assignment of numeric
values to bit patterns. Binary codes merely change
the symbols, but not the meaning of the elements of
information that they represent.
– To represent a group of 2n distinct elements in a
binary code requires a minimum of n bits.
– There is no maximum number of bits that may be
used for a binary code.
 Binary Codes
 Binary Codes for Decimal Digits
 BCD
 2421
 Excess 3
 8, 4, -2, -1
 Gray Code

 Character Code
 ASCII

 Error Detection Codes

 Even parity
 Odd Parity
Binary Codes for Decimal Numbers
 Binary Codes for Decimal
Numbers
 The usual interpretation of a binary number is as
defined according to the definition of a number in
in base-2 system.

 There are, however, alternate methods used to

encode numeric data into binary bit patterns.

 Note: All upcoming tables present binary codes

and not binary numbers.
 1. Binary Coded Decimal
(BCD)
 Refers to Binary Coded Decimal
 BCD number is just a natural binary
encoding of the decimal digits from 0
to 9 on four bits.
 Therefore a string of bits is grouped
into groups of four bits, and
interpreted as a string of decimal
digits.
 Takes more space to represent
binary numbers but its easily
understandable
 Similar to Hex, but it stops at 9.
Hence, 6 combinations are
wasted.
 E.g. 1510 = 11112 in binary and
 1. Binary Coded Decimal
(BCD)
 Binary-Coded Decimal is a weighted code because
each decimal digit can be obtained from its code word
by assigning a fixed weight to each code-word bit.
 BCD is also called as the 8421 code, owing to the

weights of the BCD bits

 Two BCD digits are added as binary numbers

 However, when binary sum is more than decimal 9 or

binary (1001)2, the result is invalid (since last 6

combinations have no meaning in BCD)
 Addition of 6 =(0110) make a correct BCD and
10 2
produces a carry
 BCD Addition

 Consider the multibit addition of 184 + 576 = 760 in

BCD:
 2. The 2421 Code
 2421 code is a weighted
code.

 Some digits in 2421 code can

be coded in two possible
ways. E.g. 410 can be written
as 0100 or 1010, since both
combinations add up to a
total weight of 4.

 2421 code is self-

complementing, i.e. 9’s
complement of decimal
digital x is simple bit
inversion of its 2421 code.
 3. Excess 3 Code
 In Excess-3 code, each coded
combination is obtained from
the corresponding binary value
plus 3.

 Like 2421, the excess‐3 codes is

also a self‐complementing code 
i.e 9’s Comp of decimal number is
simple bit inversion of excess 3
code
 Decimal 395 is represented in the

excess‐3 code as 0110 1100

1000. The 9’s complement of 395
is obtained by complementing
each bit of the code, hence
 4. The 8,4,-2,-1 Code
 The 8, 4, -2, -1 code is an example of assigning both
positive and negative weights to a decimal code.
 5. Gray Code
 A code where only one bit
changes at a time while
traversing from 0 to any
decimal number in
sequence.

 The Gray code is used in

applications in which the
normal sequence of binary
numbers generated by the
hardware may produce an
error or ambiguity during the
transition from one number
to the next.
Character Codes
Many applications require handling of
not only numbers but letters and
special characters
 1. ASCII
 ASCII refers to American Standard Code for Information
Interchange

 ASCII represents each character with a 7-bit string,

yielding a total of 128 characters.
 94 are graphic characters that can be printed. The

graphic characters consist of the 26 uppercase

letters (A through Z), the 26 lowercase letters (a
through z), the 10 numerals (0 through 9), and 32
special printable characters, such as %, *, and $.
 34 nonprinting characters used for various control

functions like arranging the printed text into a

prescribed format. Examples include Backspace,
Tab, Shift, Space, Escape, Delete, etc
 Other Character Codes
 EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange
Code) uses 8 bits;
 used by IBM mainframes. It is an extension of BCD

code.

 Unicode uses 16bits;

 Windows NT supports Unicode.
Error Detection Codes
An error in a digital system is the corruption of
data from its correct value to some other
value. i.e., a change of some bits from 0 to 1
or vice versa.
 Error Detection Codes
 To detect errors in data communication and processing,
an eighth bit is sometimes added to the ASCII character
to indicate its parity. A parity bit is an extra bit included
with a message to make the total number of 1’s either
even or odd.

 Even parity – set bit to make total number of 1’s even

(More Common)
 A (1000001) with even parity is 01000001
 C (1000011) with even parity is 11000011

 Odd parity: set bit to make total number of 1’s odd

 A (1000001) with odd parity is 11000001
 C (1000011) with odd parity is 01000011
Parity Bit Generation
 Binary Logic

It consists of binary variables and logical

operations.
 AND (multiply)
 OR (add)
 Not (Compliment)
Logic Gates