An Energy-Efficient Approximate Posit Multiply-Divide Unit

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Thotli, Rishi, Jonnalagadda, Aditya Anirudh, Hulsurkar, Rishabh, Uppugunduru, Anil Kumar, Veeramachaneni, Sreehari, Ahmed, Syed Ershad, Gustafson, John
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Thotli, Rishi
Jonnalagadda, Aditya Anirudh
Hulsurkar, Rishabh
Uppugunduru, Anil Kumar
Veeramachaneni, Sreehari
Ahmed, Syed Ershad
Gustafson, John
author_facet Thotli, Rishi
Jonnalagadda, Aditya Anirudh
Hulsurkar, Rishabh
Uppugunduru, Anil Kumar
Veeramachaneni, Sreehari
Ahmed, Syed Ershad
Gustafson, John
contents In modern computing units, division operations are generally slower than other arithmetic operations and require more resources, such as area and power, than multiplication. To reduce the delay, fast division algorithms use an initial approximation of the reciprocal of the divisor and iteratively approach the correct value, followed by multiplication with the dividend. The hardware architecture and choice of algorithm can significantly alter the overall performance of the division unit. This paper proposes a reduced-accuracy division method for the posit number system, which is an alternative to the traditional floating-point system. The proposed design uses a Look-Up Table (LUT) and a single subtraction operation to perform approximate divisor reciprocation by leveragingthemathematicalsymmetriesofthepositnumbersystem.The paper also presents a hardware architecture that combines multiplication and division units. The reciprocal calculation has been incorporated into the posit Decoder, a common unit required to perform any hardware operation with posits. Compared to existing hardware implementations of division, the proposed method requires significantly fewer operations at the cost of perfect rounding for division. The proposed architecture was simulated using the Cadence RTL v7.1 E2 compiler at the TSMC 90 nm process node and achieves a Power Delay Product (PDP) reduction of 78.8% compared to an existing design that performs exact division, while only 46.33% of the area is required. The experimental results also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in improving the efficiency of multiplication in posit-based systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_24665
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An Energy-Efficient Approximate Posit Multiply-Divide Unit
Thotli, Rishi
Jonnalagadda, Aditya Anirudh
Hulsurkar, Rishabh
Uppugunduru, Anil Kumar
Veeramachaneni, Sreehari
Ahmed, Syed Ershad
Gustafson, John
Hardware Architecture
In modern computing units, division operations are generally slower than other arithmetic operations and require more resources, such as area and power, than multiplication. To reduce the delay, fast division algorithms use an initial approximation of the reciprocal of the divisor and iteratively approach the correct value, followed by multiplication with the dividend. The hardware architecture and choice of algorithm can significantly alter the overall performance of the division unit. This paper proposes a reduced-accuracy division method for the posit number system, which is an alternative to the traditional floating-point system. The proposed design uses a Look-Up Table (LUT) and a single subtraction operation to perform approximate divisor reciprocation by leveragingthemathematicalsymmetriesofthepositnumbersystem.The paper also presents a hardware architecture that combines multiplication and division units. The reciprocal calculation has been incorporated into the posit Decoder, a common unit required to perform any hardware operation with posits. Compared to existing hardware implementations of division, the proposed method requires significantly fewer operations at the cost of perfect rounding for division. The proposed architecture was simulated using the Cadence RTL v7.1 E2 compiler at the TSMC 90 nm process node and achieves a Power Delay Product (PDP) reduction of 78.8% compared to an existing design that performs exact division, while only 46.33% of the area is required. The experimental results also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in improving the efficiency of multiplication in posit-based systems.
title An Energy-Efficient Approximate Posit Multiply-Divide Unit
topic Hardware Architecture
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.24665