def get_bits(self, bin_length=None):
        # type: (FFQramEntry) -> str
        """
        Get the binary bit representation of data and label
        for state basis identification

        :return: a bit array
        """
        b = self.data + self.label
        ba = BitArray(b)
        ba = ba.bin.lstrip('0')
        ba = ba.zfill(bin_length) if bin_length is not None else ba
        return ba