Patent · US Expired

Very fast variable input multi-bit adder

US5210711A · kind A · utility

27Cited by
3References
36Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 26, 1992
Grant dateMay 11, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 26, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F7/49921
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for quickly adding at least three multi-bit binary numbers. The addition is divided into two stages. In Stage I, each of the addends are grouped into like-ordered multi-bit clusters and the corresponding clusters of the addends are added together using Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM) integrated circuits (ICs) yielding several intermediate sums. In Stage II, the intermediate sums are combined to yield a final sum using Programmable Array Logic (PAL, is a trademark of Monolithic Memories, Inc.) ICs. Furthermore, the final sum is rounded in Stage I (and clipped if necessary in a third stage) before being provided as output. Clipping is achieved by setting the output sum to zero if the final sum is negative and setting the output sum to a predetermined threshold value if the final sum exceeds the threshold value.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.