Conversion driven design of binary to mixed radix circuits

Abstract

A conversion driven design approach is described. It takes the outputs of mature and time-proven EDA synthesis tools to generate mixed radix datapath circuits in an endeavour to investigate the added relative advantages or disadvantages. An algorithm underpinning the approach is presented and formally described together with m-of-n encoded gate-level implementations. The application is found in a wide variety and overlapping areas of circuit design, here a subset are analysed where the method finds the strongest application: arithmetic circuits and hardware security. The obtained results are reported showing an increase in power consumption but with considerable improvement in resistance to differential power analysis (DPA).