DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRAPRADESH
Name : B. Rama Sundari
Designation : Lecturer in ECE
Branch : Electronics & Comm. Engg.
Institute : Govt. Polytechnic for women,
Guntur
Year/ Semester : III
Subject : Digital Electronics
Subject Code : CM-305
Topic : Logic gates & Boolean Algebra
Duration : 50 mts.
Sub topic : Serial Adder
Teaching aids : Diagrams
CM305 .18
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• What is a parallel adder
– An adder that can simultaneously add all bits of
binary number at a time

• How many number of full adders are required for adding

two 8-bit numbers?

– Eight

• How many clock pulses are required for addition of two

8-bit numbers
– one
CM305 .18
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Objectives

On completion of this period, you would be able

to

• Draw the block diagram of 4-bit serial adder

• Know the functioning of 4-bit serial adder

CM305 .18
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 Addition of two
4-bit Numbers
C3 C2 C1 C0
A3A2A1A0
B3 B2B1 B0
C4 S3 S2 S1 S0

• The Serial adder adds one bit at a time (in one clock
pulse)

• It adds bit by bit from LSB to MSB

CM305 .18
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Serial adder

Delay
Carry
Inpu A
t
Shift Full S
Shift register
register
Shift Adder Sum Output
register

Inpu B
t
Fig 18.1

CM305 .18
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• The two shift registers stores two input bits

• The shift register at output stores sum

• The delay provides one clock pulse delay

• The carry generated in previous addition is
added to the next significant bit

CM305 .18
Serial Adder

• The Serial adder adds one bit at a time

• The two shift registers supply two input bits to the full
adder starting from the least significant bit

• It adds one bit in one clock pulse

• The delay circuit delays the carry bit by one clock pulse

CM305 .18
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Serial Adder (Continued)

• The carry generated in the previous bit addition is added

to the next bit

• A serial adder needs n clock pulses for n-bit addition

• For example a 4-bit serial adder needs 4 clock pulses for

addition

CM305 .18
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Comparison between serial and parallel
adder
Parallel Adder Serial Adder
• It adds all the bits at a • It needs n clock pulses
time (i.e., in one clock for n-bit addition
pulse)
• This is slower
• This is faster
• This needs only one full
• It requires n full adders for adder
n-bit addition
• Less hardware is enough
• More hardware is required
CM305 .18
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Summary

• The serial adder needs only one full adder

• It performs n-bit addition in n clock pulses

• The Serial adder needs less hardware and it is slower

• The shift registers in serial adder are used to feed inputs

bit by bit

• The delay is used to add carry generated in current bit to

the next significant bit

CM305 .18
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QUIZ

The number of full adders required for 8-bit parallel

adder

1. 4

3. 1

5. 8

7. 16
CM305 .18
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Serial adder needs ……. Clock pulses for 4-bit addition

1. 2

3. 1

5. 4

4. 8

CM305 .18 12
Assignment

1. Write the application of serial adder

2. Explain why serial adder is not used now a days why is

it inferior to parallel adder.

CM305 .18
Frequently asked questions in the exam

1. Write the bock diagram of serial adder

3. Explain the working of the serial adder

5. Compare the serial and parallel adder

CM305 .18
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