Booths Algorithm Tutorial (Tim Berger)

Signed multiplication is a careful process. With unsigned multiplication there is no need to take the sign of the number into consideration. However in signed multiplication the same process cannot be applied because the signed number is in a 2s compliment form which would yield an incorrect result if multiplied in a similar fashion to unsigned multiplication. Thats where Booths algorithm comes in. Booths algorithm preserves the sign of the result.

Methods Used
There are 2 methods that you should know before attempting Booths algorithm. Rightshift circulant and right-shift arithmetic. Right-shift circulant, or RSC for short, is simply shifting the bit, in a binary string, to the right 1 bit position and take the last bit in the string and append it to the beginning of the string. Example: 10110 after right-shift circulant now equals 01011 Right-shift arithmetic, or RSA for short, is where you add 2 binary number together and shift the result to the right 1 bit position Example: 0100 +0110 result = 1010 Now shift all bits right and put the first bit of the result at the beginning of the new string: result 1010 shift 11010

The Process
Step 1: Convert the two operands into binary. Then determine which operand has the least transitions between bits and set X equal to that operand and Y equal to the other operand. Example: 13 = 1101 10 = 1010 1101 has less bit transitions so set X = 1101 and set Y=1010 Note: Its a good idea to calculate Y as well because you will most likely be subtracting Y from the value in U which is the same as add Y to the value in U -Y = 0110

Step 2: Set up 4 columns as follows: 1st column is U. This column holds the results from each step in the algorithm 2nd column is V. This column hold the overflow from U when right-shifting 3rd column is X. This holds X operand. This will show each RSC step. 4th column is X-1. This holds the least significant bit from X before RSC. Initially set this to 0. Example Setup: X=1101 Y=1010 U 0000

V 0000

X 1101

X-1 0

Step 3: Analyze the least significant bit of X and the bit in X-1. From that string take the following action: If the string = 01 Add Y to the value in U and right-shift the result If the string = 10 Subtract Y from the value in U and right-shift the result If the string = 00 Take no action If the string = 11Right-shift the value in U 1 bit position Example: String = 10 so subtract Y(or add Y) from the value in U U V X 0000 0000 1101 0110 0000 0011 0000

X-1 0

Step 4: RSC X . Go to step 3 and repeat the process until the X has been RSC to its original position Example: String = 10 so subtract Y(or add Y) from the value in U U V X 0000 0000 1101 0110 0000 0011 0000 1110

X-1 0 1

An Example:
X=0100 = 4 Y=0110 = 6 -Y=1010 = -6

U 0000 0000 0000 +1010 1010 1101 +0110 0011 0001

V 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1000

X 0100 0010 0001

X-1 0 0 0

1000

0100

Take U and V together and you get 00011000 which is 24 4 x 6 = 24 so the answer is correct. Another Example: This time with a signed number. X=0100 = 4 Y=1010 = -6 -Y=0110 = 6 U 0000 0000 0000 +0110 0110 0011 +1010 1101 1110 V 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1000 X 0100 0010 0001 X-1 0 0 0

1000

0100

Take U and V together and you get 11101000 which is -24 4 x -6 = -24 so the answer is correct.