QRD and SVD processor design based on an approximate rotations algorithm

Abstract

A silicon implementation of the approximate rotations algorithm capable of carrying the computational load of algorithms such as QRD and SVD, within the real-time realisation of applications such as adaptive beamforming, is described. A modification to the original approximate rotations algorithm to simplify the method of optimal angle selection is proposed. Analysis shows that fewer iterations of the approximate rotations algorithm are required compared with the conventional CORDIC algorithm to achieve similar degrees of accuracy. The silicon design studies undertaken provide direct practical evidence of superior performance with the approximate rotations algorithm, requiring approximately 40% of the total computation time of the conventional CORDIC algorithm, for a similar silicon area cost.