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Bit Manipulation in 'C'

'C' bit operators


OP symbol
&
|
^
>> n
<< n
~

Description
AND
OR
XOR
shift bits right n places
shift bits left n places
complements (invert all bits)

Example
y = y & 0xF7;
y = y | 0x08;
y = y >> 4;
y = y << 2;
y = ~y;

Only use bit operators with integer data types - Not real data types.

Note: In 'C' binary operators(such as y = y OP z;) can be written as in a


shortened form: y OP= z;
E.g.'s
y = y + 7;
y+=7;
y = y & 0x80;
y &= 0x80;
y = y >> 4;
y >>= 4;

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Masking for bit manipulation







A mask is a pattern of 0's and 1's


Use OR ('|')and a mask value to set selected bits to '1'
Use AND ('&') and a mask value to set selected bits to '0'
Use XOR(^) to toggle bits (0 -> 1 and 1-> 0)

OR
B Output

AND
B Output

XOR
B Output

0
0
1

0
1
0

0
1
1

0
0
1

0
1
0

0
0
0

0
0
1

0
1
0

0
1
1

0
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Shift Operations


<< shift left


 used

to move bits to the left - lose MSB(most


significant bit) and gain new LSB(least significant bit)
New LSB = 0 for all data types.
 can be used for multiply by 2 for each shift.


>> shift right


 used

to move bits to the right - lose LSB and gain


new MSB (Note: new MSB = 0 for unsigned integer
data types, or previous MSB for signed types).
 can be used for divide by 2 for each shift.

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Bit Masking - Setting bits to 1




Setting bits to 1 using the OR (|) bit-wise operator






General format: value = value | mask;


Shorthand : value |= mask;
Mask : '1' to set a bit, '0' to leave bit unchanged.

Example: Controlling a single bit (Note var is an integer data type.)


To set bit 5 to '1'
the mask is 0000.0000100000
var= var | 0x20; //mask expressed as hexadecimal value
or shortended form
var |= 0x20;
Is often written using the shift left operator :var |= (1UL << 5); // note the brackets to force shift before ORing

1UL - UL represents unsigned long i.e. 32 bit representation of 1


<< 5 - shift bit pattern 5 places to the left.
- result is 000.00100000 or 0x00000020
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Bit Masking - Setting bits to 0




Setting bits to 0 using the AND (&) bit-wise operator






General format: value = value & mask;


Shorthand : value &= mask;
Mask : '0' to clear a bit, '1' to leave bit unchanged

Example: Controlling a single bit (Note var is an integer data type.)


To set bit 5 to '0'
For a 32bit integer the mask is 11111111111111111111111111011111
var = var & 0xFFFFFFDF;

or

var &= 0xFFFFFFDF;

or
var &= ~0x20;

or
var &= ~(1UL << 5);

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To set and clear multiple bits




Set bits 1 and 4 of var


var |= ((1UL << 1) | (1 UL << 4));

Clear bits 1 and 17 of var


var &= ~( (1UL << 1) | (1UL << 17) );

what do these do?


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

var
var
var
var
var
var
var

|=
&=
|=
&=
|=
&=
|=

((1UL << 0) | (1UL << 5) | (1UL << 12) );


~((1UL << 0) | (1UL << 5) | (1UL << 12) );
(3UL << 6);
~ (3UL << 2 * 3);
(1UL << 6) | (1UL << 7) | (1UL << 8);
~(3UL << 2*10);
(1UL << 2*10);

var &= ~((3UL << 2*2) | (3UL << 2*3) | (3UL << 2*6) | (3UL << 2*7));
var |= ((1UL << 2*2) | (1UL << 2*3) | (1UL << 2*6) | (1UL << 2*7));

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Some for you to try




Write expressions to perform the following


operations on a variable x.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

set bit 11
clear bit 13
set bits 6 and 10
clear bits 13 and 14
set bits 4,5,6, and 7
set bit 2 and clear bit 3

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Input Masking
Used to test the value of a single bit.
 Use AND (&) and a mask to isolate the selected bit
value & mask
 Used in input Polling to test bit status
 set bit(s) to be tested to '1', all other bits to '0'
Example: Testing bit 3









mask is 00001000 (0x08) or (1UL << 3)


Two possible results 00000000 or 00001000 when ANDED
I.e. zero or non-zero

Loop while bit is '0', exit when bit becomes 1


while ( (reg & (1UL << 3)) == 0) { ; }
Loop while bit is '1', exit when bit becomes 0
while ( (reg & (1UL << 3)) != 0) { ; }

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Testing multiple bits





use a mask with each bit to be tested set to 1


test for bits 3 and 7 both at logic 0
 if

test for bits 4 and 6 both at logic 1


 if

( (reg & (1<<3))==0) && (reg & (1<<7) == 0) ) {


( (reg & (1<<4))!=0) && (reg & (1<<6) == 0) ) {

test if either bit 3 or bit 7 at logic 0


 if

( (reg & (1<<3))==0) || (reg & (1<<7) == 0) ) {

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An Exercise


A32 bit register(REG) is interfaced to the following peripherals:A motor connected to bit 7 (0 is off, 1 is on)
 An led connected to bit 0 (0 is off, 1 is on)
 Two switches S1 and S2 connected to bits 1 and 2 respectively that
generate either logic 0 or 1 inputs.
 Assume inputs start at logic 0 and all output are initialised to 0.


Write C code to perform the following steps:


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

loop waiting while switch S1 is at logic 0, end loop when S1 becomes 1.


Now turn on the led
loop waiting until both switches are at logic 1
Now turn on the motor
Loop waiting until either of the switches change to logic 0
Turn of the motor and the led
loop until both switches are at logic 0
start back at step 1
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