COSC 3332 Study Notes
Course Overview
Course: COSC 3332 Computer Organization and Architecture
Instructor: Dr. Qi Zhu
Course Objectives
Understand numerical data representation and manipulation in digital computers.
Master conversion between various radix systems.
Learn about computational errors due to overflow and truncation.
Key Topics
Introduction to computer systems
Radix systems
Unsigned binary representation
Two's complement binary representation
Operations in binary
Hexadecimal and character representations
Data Representation
Digital computers recognize two states: on (1) and off (0).
Binary system uses two digits: 0 and 1 (bit).
Byte consists of 8 bits.
Word is a group of bytes, common sizes: 16, 32, 64 bits.
Nibble = 4 bits.
Coding Systems
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
EBCDIC: Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code.
Unicode: Represents all world languages.
Radix Systems
Decimal (base 10), Octal (base 8), Binary (base 2).
Example of conversions:
Decimal to Binary:
Unsigned Integers
Range determined by bit count. Example: 7-bit cell ranges from 0 to 127.
Unsigned addition rules:
Carry bit indicates overflow in sums.
Two's Complement Representation
Used for representing negative integers.
First bit indicates sign (0=positive, 1=negative).
Process for getting negative: Invert bits (NOT) and add 1.
Example: .
Range for 4-bit: [-8, +7].
Overflow and Special Bits
Carry bit (C) for unsigned overflow detection.
Overflow bit (V) for signed overflow detection.
Additional bits: Negative (N) and Zero (Z).
Binary Operations
Logical operations: AND, OR, NOT.
Arithmetic operations: ASL (shift left), ASR (shift right), multiplication, and division.
Hexadecimal Representation
Base 16 digits: 0-9 and A-F (10-15).
Conversion methods to binary, decimal, and other bases.
Conclusion
Data stored as bits, bytes, and words using binary system, focusing on binary, decimal, hexadecimal, and octal conversions.