Approximate Arithmetic Circuits: Design and Evaluation

Arithmetic circuits are important computing modules in a processor. They play a key role in the performance and the energy consumption of many image processing applications. In this chapter, a classification is presented for the current designs of approximate arithmetic circuits including adders, multipliers, and dividers. To understand the features of various designs, a comparative evaluation of their error and circuit characteristics is performed. The accuracy of approximate arithmetic circuits is evaluated by carrying out Monte Carlo simulations. The circuit measurements are assessed by synthesizing approximate designs in an STM CMOS 28 nm process. The simulation and synthesis results show the trade-offs of approximate arithmetic circuits between accuracy and hardware efficiency.

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