Sign-magnitude Representation
Explore the concept of sign magnitude representation for storing integers in binary form. Understand how positive and negative numbers are encoded, the role of the sign bit, and why this method has limitations in computer arithmetic, helping you grasp the foundation for other number representations like one's and two's complement.
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Ways to use SMR
All numbers in the computer’s memory are represented in binary form. This means that the computer stores them as a sequence of zeros and ones. A number representation defines how to interpret this sequence.
First, we consider the simplest numbers representation that is the sign-magnitude representation or SMR. There are two ways to use it:
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To store positive integers (unsigned).
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To store both positive and negative integers (signed).
Sign-magnitude representation
Unsigned integers
The computer allocates a fixed block of memory for any number. When we apply SMR to store a positive integer, all allocated memory bits are used in the same ...