Week 3: Counters & Shift Registers

Question 1

What are registers used for?

Answer 1

To store a string of bits (words) and create a bank of flip flops which are linked to a common clock/

Question 2

What’s the difference between Big and Little Endian format?

Answer 2

These determine which direction the value of bits increases.

For Big, it’s most significant first, and for Little, it’s least significant first.

Like 123 is in Big Endian notation and is that number
But 321 is that same number just in Little Endian format

Question 3

What is the function of CPU registers?

Answer 3

They store bits in Big or Little Endian format.

Question 4

Asynchronous Counter

Answer 4

A counter without a common clock as the clock pulses are cascaed from one flip flop to the next.

Question 5

Synchronous Counter

Answer 5

A counter with a common clock, as the clock pulses are fed simultaneously into every flip flop.

Question 6

Shift Register

What do they enable?

Answer 6

Allows for bits to move from one flip flop to the next.

They enable multiplication/division, serial-to-parallel, and parallel-to-serial data transfer.

Question 7

What are the trade-offs between ripple and common clocked counters?

Answer 7

Ripple counters require fewer logic gates to put together than common clocked counters.