Accelerating multi-media processing by implementing memoing in multiplication and division units

This paper proposes a technique that enables performing multi-cycle (multiplication, division, square-root ...) computations in a single cycle. The technique is based on the notion of memoing: saving the input and output of previous calculations and using the output if the input is encountered again. This technique is especially suitable for Multi-Media (MM) processing. In MM applications the local entropy of the data tends to be low which results in repeated operations on the same datum. The inputs and outputs of assembly level operations are stored in cache-like lookup tables and accessed in parallel to the conventional computation. A successful lookup gives the result of a multi-cycle computation in a single cycle, and a failed lookup doesn't necessitate a penalty in computation time. Results of simulations have shown that on the average, for a modestly sized memo-table, about 40% of the floating point multiplications and 50% of the floating point divisions, in Multi-Media applications, can be avoided by using the values within the memo-table, leading to an average computational speedup of more than 20%.