Shift register IC’s are generally provided with a clear or reset connection so that they can be “SET” or “RESET” as required. The individual data latches that make up a single shift register are all driven by a common clock ( Clk ) signal making them synchronous devices. Shift Registers are used for data storage or for the movement of data and are therefore commonly used inside calculators or computers to store data such as two binary numbers before they are added together, or to convert the data from either a serial to parallel or parallel to serial format.
