Architecture
Big Endian Converter
A circuit that swaps byte order to convert between big-endian and little-endian data formats.
Detailed Explanation
Byte swapping reverses the order of bytes in a word. For a 32-bit value, byte 0 swaps with byte 3, and byte 1 swaps with byte 2. This conversion is necessary when systems with different endianness communicate.
Hardware converters use multiplexers or simple rewiring (no logic, just routing). For arbitrary widths, parameterized byte swap modules handle different data sizes. Network protocols (typically big-endian) often need conversion on little-endian hosts.