Serial Binary-to-Decimal and Decimal-to-Binary Conversion

Over ten years ago, Couleur described a serial binary/ decimal conversion algorithm, the BIDEC method. This was a two-step process involving a shift followed by a parallel modification of the data being converted. With the integrated-circuit J-K flip-flop, the implementation of this two-step process requires an excessive amount of control logic. This paper presents a one-step conversion algorithm that is suitable for binary-to-decimal and decimal-to-binary conversion. A general design procedure for formulating the conversion registers as a present-state/next-state counter problem is given, along with several examples of the application of the one-step algorithm. The advantages of this new algorithm include low cost, faster operation, and hardware modularity.