Two's Complement Binary Strings

Convert between binary fixed point two's complement strings and decimal numbers.

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These functions convert between binary strings and decimal numbers like the built-in MATLAB functions BIN2DEC and DEC2BIN but can accommodate negative integers (via two's complement) and fractional positive and negative numbers (via two's complement fixed point with a binary point in the string).
Note that many fractional numbers that can be represented with a finite number of fractional digits cannot be represented by a finite number of fractional bits (specifically non-powers-of-two fractions like 0.3), which means that FIX2DEC will not always exactly invert DEC2FIX.

Cite As

Drew Compston (2026). Two's Complement Binary Strings (https://au.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/38889-two-s-complement-binary-strings), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

Acknowledgements

Inspired: DI-155 Acquisition V1.0

General Information

MATLAB Release Compatibility

  • Compatible with any release

Platform Compatibility

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
Version Published Release Notes Action
2.0.0.0

Mathworks changed the behavior of bitcmp, so I made a new function bitcmpold that reflects the old behavior of the function.

1.0.0.0