fixed point alu

For a simple example, Google for the data on Texas Instruments SN74181. It's a simple 4-bit fixed-point ALU.

(Re-used part of my earlier post :))

Arithmetic Logic Unit. Fixed point indicates that it works with integers (or possibly fixed-scaled operands with a binary point somewhere left of the least significant bit, but those only apply to multiply and divide, and they are rare) and doesn't need to support floating point operations.

The ALU normally supports add, subtract, shift left and right, rotate left and right (with and without carry), bitwise parallel and, or, exclusive or, not, test for zero. It might support multiply and divide.

Important issues to define are what operations the ALU will provide, what the data widths are, any how many clock cycles are required for results (which may vary from one operation to another).

Thad