Introduction to Registers

As for the introduction to registers, they are the memory elements inside the computers used for the storage and transfer of digital data and instructions. We make registers by putting many flip-flops together. Registers should be of enough storage for storing instructions. In essence, if the computer is 32 bit, then the registers should be used at 32 bit.

The storage capacity of a register is the total number of bits of digital data it can hold. Each flip-flop in a shift register represents one bit of storage capacity. Therefore, the number of stages in a register determines the register’s storage capacity.

Shift Registers

Shift registers are the type of sequential logic circuits for storing data. They are made by a group of flip-flops connected end to end in a chain so that the output of one flip-flop is the input of the other. We can drive all flip-flops by a common clock. The flip-flops in the shift registers are on set or reset simultaneously. It allows storing the information in the adjacent flip-flop because of the adjacent connections.
Shift registers are the digital memory circuits. We can find them in calculators, computers, and data processing systems. They can have both parallel and serial inputs and outputs.

Fig: A Shift Register

Uses of Shift Registers

• We can convert between serial and parallel interfaces using shift registers.
• Pulse extenders are also the use of Shift Register.
• We can use them also for handling the work of data processing i.e. for adding two numbers, we take two shift registers and clock out into an Arithmetic Logic Unit which gives the results in one of the flip-flops of the shift registers.
• We also use shift registers as simple delay circuits.
• Bidirectional shift registers are connected in parallel for a hardware implementation of the stack.