In
computer architecture, bit-serial architectures send data one bit at a time, along a single wire, in contrast to
bit-parallel word
A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...
architectures, in which data values are sent all bits or a word at once along a group of wires.
All digital computers built before 1951, and most of the early
massive parallel processing
Massively parallel is the term for using a large number of computer processors (or separate computers) to simultaneously perform a set of coordinated computations in parallel. GPUs are massively parallel architecture with tens of thousands of ...
machines used a bit-serial architecture—they were
serial computer
A serial computer is a computer typified by bit-serial architecture i.e., internally operating on one bit or numerical digit, digit for each clock signal, clock cycle. Machines with serial main storage devices such as acoustic or magnetostrictive ...
s.
Bit-serial architectures were developed for
digital signal processing
Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are a ...
in the 1960s through 1980s, including efficient structures for bit-serial multiplication and accumulation.
The
HP Nut processor used in many
Hewlett-Packard calculator
HP calculators are various calculators manufactured by the Hewlett-Packard company over the years.
Their desktop models included the HP 9800 series, while their handheld models started with the HP-35. Their focus has been on high-end scienti ...
s operated bit-serially.
Assuming N is an arbitrary integer number, N serial processors will often take less
FPGA
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a type of configurable integrated circuit that can be repeatedly programmed after manufacturing. FPGAs are a subset of logic devices referred to as programmable logic devices (PLDs). They consist of a ...
area and have a higher total performance than a single N-bit parallel processor.
See also
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Serial computer
A serial computer is a computer typified by bit-serial architecture i.e., internally operating on one bit or numerical digit, digit for each clock signal, clock cycle. Machines with serial main storage devices such as acoustic or magnetostrictive ...
*
1-bit computing
*
Bit banging
Bit banging is a term of art that describes a method of digital data transmission as using general-purpose input/output (GPIO) instead of computer hardware that is intended specifically for data communication. Controlling software is responsi ...
*
Bit slicing
Bit slicing is a technique for constructing a processor from modules of processors of smaller bit width, for the purpose of increasing the word length; in theory to make an arbitrary ''n''-bit central processing unit (CPU). Each of these c ...
*
BKM algorithm
*
CORDIC
CORDIC, short for coordinate rotation digital computer, is a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate trigonometric functions, hyperbolic functions, square roots, multiplications, divisions, and exponentials and logarithms
In ma ...
References
External links
Application of FPGA technology to accelerate the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method BIT-Serial FIR filters with CSD Coefficients for FPGAs
Data transmission
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