A parallel/vectorized double-precision exponential core to accelerate computational science applications

Many natural processes exhibit exponential decay and, consequently, computational scientists make extensive use of e−x in computer simulation experiments. While it is common to implement transcendental functions (sine, cosine, exponentiation, etc.) in hardware using the well-known CORDIC algorithm, many contemporary FPGA implementations either use fixed point or reduced precision floating-point operations (which suffers from a high average/mean error). Unfortunately, these solutions are unacceptable for many computational scientist who require the accuracy of doubleprecision values. This paper presents a direct implementation of an IEEE 754 double-precision e−x FPGA core to support computational science applications. The design is similar to CORDIC but has been modified to specifically support exponentiation; it is pipelined and parallel to efficiently handle large vectors of parameters. Compared to solutions described in the literature, it consumes lesser logical gates, enab...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: FPGA
• Authors: Robin Pottathuparambil, Ron Sass
• Keywords: Computational Scientist, Double-precision E−x Fpga, FPGA 2009, Hardware, Well-known Cordic Algorithm