5. Fixed-point representation

Whatever the number of bits in a word, the minimum distance between two integers is 1. The purpose of fixed-point representation is to introduce fractional numbers, by placing a comma at a certain point, with the digits before the comma corresponding to positive powers of 2, and those after the comma to negative powers of 2.

Consider an 8-bit word (figure 6 ) where the binary decimal point is located to the right of the B ₀ bit. The number N is then