Multipliers with Approximate 4-2 Compressors and Error Recovery Modules

Abstract

Approximate multiplication is a common operation used in approximate computing methods for high performance and low power computing. Power-efficient circuits for approximate multiplication can be realized with an approximate 4-2 compressor. This letter presents a novel design that uses a modification of a previous approximate 4-2 compressor design and adds an error recovery module. The proposed design, even with the additional error recovery module, is more accurate, requires less hardware, and consumes less power than previously proposed 4-2 compressor-based approximate multiplier designs. © 2009-2012 IEEE.