In fixed-point number representation, negative values are typically represented using the two’s complement format.
Here’s a quick overview of how two’s complement works:
Negative numbers are created by taking the complement of a positive number and adding 1.
For example, to represent -5 in an 8-bit system:
This method eliminates the need for a separate sign bit for representing negative numbers and simplifies arithmetic operations by allowing addition and subtraction to be performed using the same hardware circuits as positive numbers.