Greg Chabala

ECE 483

Proposed SEP addition


As you know, I plan to make my SEP capable of doing a square root.

The implementation details follow. I do not have any floating point
number system, so the root will be for integer numbers, and the
decimal results, if any, will be truncated. I want the root function
to appear as an ALU feature, but I do not want to modify my ALU, or
attempt to implement the function using microcode. Therefore I plan
to make a hardware root unit, taking the number to be rooted as its
input and producing the truncated root as output. I will wire the
input lines to the multiplexor output that enters the ALU's A input.
I will add one control line, which will control a multiplexor which
combines the ALU's output and the output of the root unit.

Attached is an exerpt from the Encyclopedia Brittanica describing an
algorithm for finding square roots. This process is called Evolution.