Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design: VLSI in Computers and Processors (Cat. No.99CB37040)
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Abstract

Because of the similarities in the algorithm it is quite common to implement division and square root in the same unit. The purpose of this work is to implement a low-power combined radix-4 division and square root floating-point double precision unit and to compare its performance and energy consumption to a radix-4 division only unit. Previous work has been done on reducing the energy dissipated in a divider. Here we apply the same techniques to the combined division and square root unit and consider modifications and tradeoffs. Results show that the energy dissipation for the combined division/square root unit can be reduced by about 35% without affecting the latency and an additional 20% reduction can be obtained using a dual voltage. Moreover, the unit is 5% slower than a divider and its energy dissipation is 15% higher.
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