COMPUTER AND METHODS FOR SOLVING MATH FUNCTIONS

• US 20150121043A1
• Filed: 10/30/2013
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Kyong Ho, Lee, Seok-Jun, Goel, Manish
• Granted Patent: US 9,606,796 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 712/222
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/17 Function evaluation by approximation methods, e.g. inter- or extrapolation, smoothing, least mean square method G06F17/18 takes precedence ; interpolation for numerical control G05B19/18
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/483 Computations with numbers represented by a non-linear combination of denominational numbers, e.g. rational numbers, logarithmic number system or floating-point numbers G06F7/4806, G06F7/4824, G06F7/49, G06F7/491, G06F7/544 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/544 for evaluating functions by calculation G06F7/4824 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/3001 Arithmetic instructions

Abstract

Computers and methods for performing mathematical functions are disclosed. An embodiment of a computer includes an operations level and a driver level. The operations level performs mathematical operations. The driver level includes a first lookup table and a second lookup table, wherein the first lookup table includes first data for calculating at least one mathematical function using a first level of accuracy. The second lookup table includes second data for calculating the at least one mathematical function using a second level of accuracy, wherein the first level of accuracy is greater than the second level of accuracy. A driver executes either the first data or the second data depending on a selected level of accuracy.

Claims

1. A computer for performing mathematical functions, the computer comprising:

an operations level that performs mathematical operations; and

a driver level comprising;

a first lookup table, wherein the first lookup table includes first data for calculating at least one mathematical function using a first level of accuracy; and

a second lookup table, wherein the second lookup table includes second data for calculating the at least one mathematical function using a second level of accuracy, wherein the first level of accuracy is greater than the second level of accuracy; and

a driver that executes the data from the first lookup table and the second lookup table, and wherein the driver sends instructions to the operations level.

2. The computer of claim 1, wherein the first data and the second data include instructions for calculating the at least one mathematical function and wherein the second data includes fewer instructions than the first data.

3. The computer of claim 1, wherein the first data includes instructions related to a first number of cycles to calculate the at least one mathematical function, wherein the second data includes instructions related to a second number of cycles to calculate the at least one mathematical function, and wherein the first number of cycles is greater than the second number of cycles.

4. The computer of claim 1, wherein the mathematical operations performed in the operations level are floating point operations.

5. The computer of claim 1, wherein the first data and the second data contain at least one instruction to perform at least one operation in the operations level.

6. The computer of claim 1, wherein executing data in the second lookup table for solving the at least one function uses less energy than executing data in the first lookup table for solving the at least one function.

7. The computer of claim 1 and further comprising an instruction level, the instruction level comprising:

a memory that includes instructions for solving at least one complex function using the data stored in the first lookup table and the second lookup table; and

a controller that executes the instructions stored in the memory and sends instructions to the driver.

8. The computer of claim 7, wherein the controller receives instructions that include a function to be solved by the computer.

9. The computer of claim 7, wherein the instructions received by the controller further indicate whether high accuracy or low accuracy is to be used in solving the function.

10. The computer of claim 9, wherein the controller instructs the driver to access the first lookup table when the function is to be solved using high accuracy and wherein the controller instructs the driver to access the second lookup table when the function is to be solved using low accuracy.

11. The computer of claim 7, wherein the instructions received by the controller further indicate whether high accuracy or low energy is to be used in solving the function.

12. The computer of claim 11, wherein the controller instructs the driver to access the first lookup table when the function is to be solved using high accuracy and wherein the controller instructs the driver to access the second lookup table when the function is to be solved using low energy.

13. The computer of claim 7, wherein the controller sends instructions to the driver related to solving the function, wherein the driver access one of either the first lookup table or the second lookup table, and wherein the driver further accesses the operation level to perform operations per data in either the first lookup table or the second lookup table.

14. The computer of claim 13, wherein results calculated by the operations level are output directly to the controller.

15. The computer of claim 7, wherein the instruction level is an application specific instruction processor.

16. The computer of claim 1, wherein the driver level is a state machine.

17. A computer for performing mathematical functions, the computer comprising:

an operations level;

a driver level; and

an instruction level;

the operations level performing basic math operations;

the driver level including;

a first lookup table, wherein the first lookup table includes first data for calculating at least one mathematical function using a first level of accuracy; and

a second lookup table, wherein the second lookup table includes second data for calculating the at least one mathematical function using a second level of accuracy, wherein the first level of accuracy is greater than the second level of accuracy; and

a driver that executes the data from the first lookup table and the second lookup table, and wherein the driver sends instructions to the operation level and receives instructions from the instruction level;

the instruction level including;

a memory that stores instructions for solving complex functions;

a controller that executes the instructions stored in the memory and transmits instructions to the driver.

18. The computer of claim 17, wherein the controller receives instructions indicating whether high accuracy or low energy is to be used in solving the function and wherein the controller instructs the driver to access the first lookup table when the function is to be solved using high accuracy and wherein the controller instructs the driver to access the second lookup table when the function is to be solved using low energy.

19. A method of using a computer to solve math functions, the method comprising:

receiving the function to be solved;

receiving information as to whether the function is to be solved using high accuracy or low accuracy;

executing instructions for solving the function using at least one derived math function;

executing the derived math functions using data stored in a first lookup table if the function is to be solved using high accuracy; and

executing the derived math functions using data stored in a second lookup table if the function is to be solved using low accuracy.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the executing the derived math function using data stored in the first lookup table comprises using more energy than is used executing the derived math function using data stored in the second lookup table.