Square Root Unit with Minimum Iterations for Posit Arithmetic
Raúl Murillo, Alberto Antonio Del Barrio, Guillermo Botella · 2024
In this paper, we introduce a novel implementation of a square root algorithm specifically tailored for posit arithmetic. Unlike traditional methods, the proposed approach capitalizes on the inherent flexibility of posits, which lack fixed-length fields, to optimize square root computations. By accurately estimating the minimum number of required fraction bits, our algorithm substantially reduces the recurrence iterations without sacrificing accuracy. Implemented across standard 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit posit formats, our units showcase a significant latency reduction in different applications with only a marginal increase in resource utilization. Comparative analysis against previous pipelined designs underscores the area efficiency of our proposed solutions. This research significantly contributes to the advancement of posit-based arithmetic units, presenting promising opportunities for improving computational system efficiency.