Logarithmic Number System
Vassilis Paliouras, Thanos Stouraitis · 2017
The logarithmic number system (LNS) is a formalization of the logarithmic representation of the data in a digital system and it can be conceived as a generalization of the floating-point representation. This chapter reviews the basics of the logarithmic representation. The use of a logarithmic representation of the data has an impact on the way that arithmetic operations are performed. The chapter reviews the basic of the logarithmic arithmetic operations. Several researches have developed processor architectures based on the LNS, targeting mostly DSP applications. The particular architectures appear as alternative solutions to single-precision floating-point processors. Therefore, the focus of these early contributions is on achieving the required precision in a hardware-efficient manner. The chapter discusses how the LNS may be exploited to save power. It explores the equivalence of an LNS to a linear fixed-point system and introduces a related theorem. The chapter also discusses the impact of LNS to power dissipation through architecture simplification.