Chapter 4:

Morris Mano
Third Edition

Register Transfer and Microoperations

August 2020

1
 contents

• Basic Circuits
•Register Transfer Language

• Register Transfer

• Bus and Memory Transfers

• Arithmetic Microoperations

• Logic Microoperations

• Shift Microoperations

• Arithmetic Logic Shift Unit

2
 4-1 Register Transfer Language
(RTL)
• Digital System: An interconnection of hardware
modules that do a certain task on the
information.
• Registers + Operations performed on the data
stored in them = Digital Module
• Modules are interconnected with common data
and control paths to form a digital computer
system

3
 cont.
4-1 Register Transfer Language
• Microoperations: operations executed on data
stored in one or more registers.
• For any function of the computer, a sequence of
microoperations is used to describe it
• The result of the operation may be:
– replace the previous binary information of a
register or
– transferred to another register
Shift Right Operation
101101110011 010110111001

4
 cont.
4-1 Register Transfer Language
• The internal hardware organization of a
digital computer is defined by specifying:
• The set of registers it contains and their function
• The sequence of microoperations performed on
the binary information stored in the registers
• The control that initiates the sequence of
microoperations
• Registers + Microoperations Hardware + Control
Functions = Digital Computer

5
 cont.
4-1 Register Transfer Language
• Register Transfer Language (RTL) : a
symbolic notation to describe the microoperation
transfers among registers
Next steps:
– Define symbols for various types of microoperations,
– Describe the hardware that implements these
microoperations

6
 4-2 Register Transfer (our first
microoperation)

• Computer registers are designated by

capital letters (sometimes followed by
numerals) to denote the function of the
register
• R1: processor register
• MAR: Memory Address Register (holds an address
for a memory unit)
• PC: Program Counter
• IR: Instruction Register
• SR: Status Register
7
 cont.
4-2 Register Transfer
• The individual flip-flops in an n-bit register
are numbered in sequence from 0 to n-1
(from the right position toward the left
position)

R1 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Register R1 Showing individual bits

A block diagram of a register

8
 cont.
4-2 Register Transfer
Other ways of drawing the block diagram of a register:

15 0
PC
Numbering of bits

15 87 0
Upper byte PC(H) PC(L) Lower byte
Partitioned into two parts

9
 cont.
4-2 Register Transfer
• Information transfer from one register to another is
described by a replacement operator: R2 ← R1
• This statement denotes a transfer of the content of
register R1 into register R2
• The transfer happens in one clock cycle
• The content of the R1 (source) does not change
• The content of the R2 (destination) will be lost and
replaced by the new data transferred from R1
• We are assuming that the circuits are available from the
outputs of the source register to the inputs of the
destination register, and that the destination register has
a parallel load capability

10
 cont.
4-2 Register Transfer
• Conditional transfer occurs only under a
control condition

• Representation of a (conditional) transfer

P: R2 ← R1
• A binary condition (P equals to 0 or 1)
determines when the transfer occurs
• The content of R1 is transferred into R2
only if P is 1

11
 cont.
4-2 Register Transfer
Hardware implementation of a controlled transfer: P: R2 ← R1
Block diagram: Control P Load
R2 Clock
Circuit

R1

t t+1

Timing diagram
Clock
Synchronized
Load
with the clock
Transfer occurs here

12
 cont.
4-2 Register Transfer

Basic Symbols for Register Transfers

Symbol Description Examples
Letters & Denotes a register MAR, R2
numerals
Parenthesis ( ) Denotes a part of a R2(0-7), R2(L)
register
Arrow ← Denotes transfer of R2 ← R1
information
Comma , Separates two R2 ← R1, R1 ← R2
microoperations
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4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers
• Paths must be provided to transfer information
from one register to another
• A Common Bus System is a scheme for
transferring information between registers in a
multiple-register configuration
• A bus: set of common lines, one for each bit of a
register, through which binary information is
transferred one at a time
• Control signals determine which register is
selected by the bus during each particular
register transfer

14
4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers
Register A Register B Register C Register D

Bus lines

Register D Register C Register B Register A

3 2 1 0 3 2 1 0 3 2 1 0 3 2 1 0

D3 D2 D1 D0 C3 C2 C1 C0 B3 B 2 B 1 B 0 A3 A 2 A 1 A 0

D3 C3 B3 A3 D2 C2 B2 A2 D1 C1 B1 A1 D0 C0 B0 A0

3 2 1 0 3 2 1 0 3 2 1 0
3 2 1 0 S0
S0 S0 S0
MUX3 MUX2 MUX1 MUX0 S1
S1 S1 S1

4-Line Common Bus

15
4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers
• The transfer of information from a bus into one of
many destination registers is done:
– By connecting the bus lines to the inputs of all
destination registers and then:
– activating the load control of the particular destination
register selected
• We write: R2 ← C to symbolize that the content
of register C is loaded into the register R2 using
the common system bus
• It is equivalent to: BUS ←C, (select C)
R2 ←BUS (Load R2)

16
 4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers:
Three-State Bus Buffers
• A bus system can be constructed with
three-state buffer gates instead of
multiplexers
• A three-state buffer is a digital circuit that
exhibits three states: logic-0, logic-1, and
high-impedance (Hi-Z) Control input C

Normal input A Output B

Three-State Buffer
17
4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers:
cont.
Three-State Bus Buffers
C=1

Buffer
A B A B

C=0

Open Circuit
A B A B

18
 4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers:
cont.
Three-State Bus Buffers
S1 0
Select
S0 1
Bus line for bit 0
2×4 A0
Decoder 2
Enable E
3

B0

C0

Bus line with three-state

buffer (replaces MUX0 in the
previous diagram) D0

19
 4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers:
Memory Transfer
• Memory read : Transfer from memory
• Memory write : Transfer to memory
• Data being read or wrote is called a memory
word (called M)- (refer to section 2-7)
• It is necessary to specify the address of M when
writing /reading memory
• This is done by enclosing the address in square
brackets following the letter M
• Example: M[0016] : the memory contents at
address 0x0016
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 4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers:
cont.
Memory Transfer
• Assume that the address of a memory unit
is stored in a register called the Address
Register AR
• Lets represent a Data Register with DR,
then:
• Read: DR ← M[AR]
• Write: M[AR] ← DR

21
4-3 Bus and Memory Transfers:
cont.
Memory Transfer
AR
x0C 19
x12 x0E 34
R1 x10 45
100 x12 66
x14 0
x16 13
R1←M[AR] x18 22

RAM

R1 R1
100 66

22
 4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
• The microoperations most often
encountered in digital computers are
classified into four categories:
– Register transfer microoperations
– Arithmetic microoperations (on numeric data
stored in the registers)
– Logic microoperations (bit manipulations on
non-numeric data)
– Shift microoperations
23
 cont.
4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
• The basic arithmetic microoperations are:
addition, subtraction, increment,
decrement, and shift
• Addition Microoperation:
R3 ←R1+R2
• Subtraction Microoperation:
R3 ←R1-R2 or : 1’s complement

R3 ←R1+R2+1
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 cont.
4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
• One’s Complement Microoperation:
R2 ←R2
• Two’s Complement Microoperation:
R2 ←R2+1
• Increment Microoperation:
R2 ←R2+1
• Decrement Microoperation:
R2 ←R2-1
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 Half Adder/Full Adder
Half Adder x y c s x
0 0 0 0 c = xy s = xy’ + x’y c
=x ⊕ y y
0 1 0 1
1 0 0 1 s
1 1 1 0
Full Adder
y y
x y cn-1 cn s
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 1 0 1 c 1 0 c
n-1 n-1
0 1 0 0 1 x 1 1 x 0 1
0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
1 0 0 0 1 cn s
1 0 1 1 0
1 1 0 1 0 cn = xy + xcn-1+ ycn-1
1 1 1 1 1 = xy + (x ⊕ y)cn-1

x s = x’y’cn-1+x’yc’n-1+xy’c’n-1+xycn-1
y = x ⊕ y ⊕ cn-1 = (x ⊕ y) ⊕ cn-1
S
cn-1
cn
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4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
Binary Adder

B3 A3 B2 A2 B1 A1 B0 A0

C3 C2 C1
FA FA FA FA C0

C4 S3 S2 S1 S0

4-bit binary adder

(connection of FAs)

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4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
Binary Adder-Subtractor
B3 A3 B2 A2 B1 A1 B0 A0

C3 C2 C1 C0
FA FA FA FA

C4 S3 S2 S1 S0

4-bit adder-subtractor

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 4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
Binary Adder-Subtractor
• For unsigned numbers, this gives A – B if A≥B or
the 2’s complement of (B – A) if A < B
(example: 3 – 5 = -2= 1110)
• For signed numbers, the result is A – B provided
that there is no overflow. (example : -3 – 5= -8)
1101
1011 +
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــ‬
C3 1, if overflow
1000 =V
C4 0, if no overflow

Overflow detector for signed numbers

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 4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
cont.
Binary Adder-Subtractor
• What is the range of unsigned numbers
that can be represented in 4 bits?
• What is the range of signed numbers that
can be represented in 4 bits?
• Repeat for n-bit?!

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4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
Binary Incrementer
A3 A2 A1 A0 1

x y x y x y x y

HA HA HA HA

C S C S C S C S

C4 S3 S2 S1 S0

4-bit Binary Incrementer

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 4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
Binary Incrementer
• Binary Incrementer can also be
implemented using a counter
• A binary decrementer can be implemented
by adding 1111 to the desired register
each time!

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 4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
Arithmetic Circuit
• This circuit performs seven distinct
arithmetic operations and the basic
component of it is the parallel adder
• The output of the binary adder is
calculated from the following arithmetic
sum:
• D = A + Y + Cin

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4-4 Arithmetic Microoperations
cont.
Arithmetic Circuit
A3 A2 A1 A0
1 0 B3 B3 S1 S0 1 0 B2 B2 S1 S0 1 0 B1 B1 S1 S0 1 0 B0 B0 S1 S0

3 2 1 0 S 1 S0 3 2 1 0 S 1 S0 3 2 1 0 S 1 S0 3 2 1 0 S 1 S0

4×1 MUX 4×1 MUX 4×1 MUX 4×1 MUX Figure A

Y3 X3 Y2 X2 Y1 X1 Y0 X0
C3 C2 C1
FA FA FA FA Cin

Cout D3 D2 D1 D0

4-bit Arithmetic Circuit

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
The four basic microoperations
OR Microoperation
• Symbol: ∨, +

• Gate:

• Example: 1001102 ∨ 10101102 =

11101102 OR OR

P+Q: R1←R2+R3, R4←R5

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
The four basic microoperations
cont.
AND Microoperation
• Symbol: ∧

• Gate:

• Example: 1001102 ∧ 10101102 =

00001102

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
The four basic microoperations
cont.
Complement (NOT) Microoperation
−
• Symbol:

• Gate:

• Example: 10101102 = 01010012

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
The four basic microoperations
cont.
XOR (Exclusive-OR) Microoperation
• Symbol: ⊕

• Gate:

• Example: 1001102 ⊕ 10101102 = 11100002

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
Other Logic Microoperations
Selective-set Operation
• Used to force selected bits of a register
into logic-1 by using the OR operation

• Example: 01002 ∨ 10002 = 11002

Loaded into a register from

In a processor register
memory to perform the
selective-set operation

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
cont.
Other Logic Microoperations
Selective-complement (toggling) Operation
• Used to force selected bits of a register to be
complemented by using the XOR operation

• Example: 00012 ⊕ 10002 = 10012

Loaded into a register from

In a processor register
memory to perform the
selective-complement operation

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
cont.
Other Logic Microoperations
Insert Operation
• Step1: mask the desired bits
• Step2: OR them with the desired value

• Example: suppose R1 = 0110 1010, and we

desire to replace the leftmost 4 bits (0110) with
1001 then:
– Step1: 0110 1010 ∧ 0000 1111
– Step2: 0000 1010 ∨ 1001 0000
• 🡪 R1 = 1001 1010
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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
Other Logic Microoperations
cont.
NAND Microoperation
−
• Symbols: ∧ and

• Gate:

• Example: 1001102 ∧ 10101102 =

11110012
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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
Other Logic Microoperations
cont.
NOR Microoperation
−
• Symbols: ∨ and

• Gate:

• Example: 1001102 ∨ 10101102 =

00010012
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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
Other Logic Microoperations
cont.
Set (Preset) Microoperation
• Force all bits into 1’s by ORing them with a value
in which all its bits are being assigned to logic-1
• Example: 1001102 ∨ 1111112 = 1111112
Clear (Reset) Microoperation
• Force all bits into 0’s by ANDing them with a
value in which all its bits are being assigned to
logic-0
• Example: 1001102 ∧ 0000002 = 0000002

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
Hardware Implementation
• The hardware implementation of logic
microoperations requires that logic gates
be inserted for each bit or pair of bits in the
registers to perform the required logic
function
• Most computers use only four (AND, OR,
XOR, and NOT) from which all others can
be derived.

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 4-5 Logic Microoperations
cont.
Hardware Implementation
S1
4×1 Operatio
S0
MUX S1 S0 Output n
Ai
0 0 E=A⊕B XOR
Bi
0
0 1 E=A∨B OR

1 0 E=A∧B AND
1 Ei
1 1 E=A Complem
ent

3 This is for one bit i

Figure B cpe 252: Computer Organization 49

 4-6 Shift Microoperations
• Used for serial transfer of data
• Also used in conjunction with arithmetic, logic,
and other data-processing operations
• The contents of the register can be shifted to the
left or to the right
• As being shifted, the first flip-flop receives its
binary information from the serial input
• Three types of shift: Logical, Circular, and
Arithmetic

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 cont.
4-6 Shift Microoperations

Serial Input r2 Serial Output

rn-1 r3 r1 r0

Determines Shift Right

the “shift”
type

Serial Output Serial Input

rn-1 r3 r2 r1 r0

Shift Left

**Note that the bit ri is the bit at position (i) of the register

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 4-6 Shift Microoperations:
Logical Shifts
• Transfers 0 through the serial input
• Logical Shift Right: R1←shr R1
The same

• Logical Shift Left: R2←shl R2

The same

? rn-1 r3 r2 r1 r0 0

Logical Shift Left

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 4-6 Shift Microoperations:
Circular Shifts (Rotate Operation)
• Circulates the bits of the register around
the two ends without loss of information
• Circular Shift Right: R1←cir R1
The same

• Circular Shift Left: R2←cil R2

The same

rn-1 r3 r2 r1 r0

Circular Shift Left

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 4-6 Shift Microoperations
Arithmetic Shifts
• Shifts a signed binary number to the left or right
• An arithmetic shift-left multiplies a signed binary
number by 2: ashl (00100): 01000
• An arithmetic shift-right divides the number by 2
ashr (00100) : 00010
• An overflow may occur in arithmetic shift-left,
and occurs when the sign bit is changed (sign
reversal)

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 4-6 Shift Microoperations
cont.
Arithmetic Shifts

rn-1 r3 r2 r1 r0
?

Sign Arithmetic Shift Right

Bit

? rn-1 r3 r2 r1 r0 0
Sign
Arithmetic Shift Left
Bit

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 4-6 Shift Microoperations
cont.
Arithmetic Shifts
• An overflow flip-flop Vs can be used to
detect an arithmetic shift-left overflow

Vs = Rn-1 ⊕ Rn-2

Rn-1 1 🡪 overflow
Vs=
Rn-2 0 🡪 no overflow

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 cont.
4-6 Shift Microoperations
• Example: Assume R1=11001110, then:
– Arithmetic shift right once : R1 = 11100111
– Arithmetic shift right twice : R1 = 11110011
– Arithmetic shift left once : R1 = 10011100
– Arithmetic shift left twice : R1 = 00111000
– Logical shift right once : R1 = 01100111
– Logical shift left once : R1 = 10011100
– Circular shift right once : R1 = 01100111
– Circular shift left once : R1 = 10011101
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 4-6 Shift Microoperations
cont.
Hardware Implementation
• A possible choice for a shift unit would be
a bidirectional shift register with parallel
load (refer to Fig 2-9/2.10).
– Needs two pulses (the clock and the shift
signal pulse)
– Not efficient in a processor unit where multiple
number of registers share a common bus
• It is more efficient to implement the shift
operation with a combinational circuit
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 Bidirectional Shift Register
Has drawbacks:

–Needs two pulses (the clock and the shift signal

pulse)
–Not efficient in a processor unit where multiple
number of registers share a common bus
• It is more efficient to implement the shift
operation with a combinational circuit

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 4-7 Arithmetic Logic Shift Unit
• Instead of having individual registers
performing the microoperations directly,
computer systems employ a number of
storage registers connected to a common
operational unit called an Arithmetic Logic
Unit (ALU)

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 cont.
4-7 Arithmetic Logic Shift Unit
S3
S2
S1 Ci
S0

One stage of Di
arithmetic
circuit (Fig.A)
Select
One stage of Fi
ALU Ci+1 0 4×1
1 MUX
One stage of Ei 2
logic circuit
Bi (Fig.B) 3
Ai
shr
Ai+1
shl
Ai-1

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