The Case for HPM-Based Baugh-Wooley Multipliers

Report, 2008

The modified-Booth algorithm is extensively used for high-speed multiplier circuits. Once, when array multipliers were used, the reduced number of generated partial products significantly improved multiplier performance. In designs based on reduction trees with logarithmic logic depth, however, the reduced number of partial products has a limited impact on overall performance. The Baugh-Wooley algorithm is a different scheme for signed multiplication, but is not so widely adopted because it may be complicated to deploy on irregular reduction trees. We use the Baugh-Wooley algorithm in our High Performance Multiplier (HPM) tree, which combines a regular layout with a logarithmic logic depth. We show for a range of operator bit-widths that, when implemented in 130-nm and 65-nm process technologies, the Baugh-Wooley multipliers exhibit comparable delay, less power dissipation and smaller area foot-print than modified-Booth multipliers.