12. Bit Spreading Interleave Bits with Zeros

In some protocols or hardware applications (e.g. graphic rendering, signal encoding), bit spreading or interleaving is used to insert 0s between the bits of a value for purposes like data alignment or transmission.

You are given an 8-bit number, and your task is to:

• Spread the bits such that each bit is followed by a 0
• The result will be a 16-bit number where each original bit occupies even positions (0, 2, 4…)
• All odd positions are 0s

Example Logic

Original (8-bit):

b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0

Spreading result (16-bit):

0 b7 0 b6 0 b5 0 b4 0 b3 0 b2 0 b1 0 b0

Example-1

Input: val = 0b11001010 (Decimal 202)
Output: 0b0101000001000100 → Decimal: 20548

Example-2

Input: val = 0b10101010
Output: 0b0100010001000100 → Decimal: 17476

Example-3

Input: val = 0b11111111
Output: 0b0101010101010101 → Decimal: 21845