Main Content

CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized

CORDIC-based approximation of square root

Since R2024a

  • CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block

Libraries:
Fixed-Point Designer HDL Support / Math Operations

Description

The CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block returns the square root of u, computed using a CORDIC-based implementation optimized for HDL code generation.

Examples

expand all

This example shows how to use the CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block to compute the square root of real non-negative scalars.

CORDIC-Based Square Root

The CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block uses a CORDIC algorithm in hyperbolic vectoring mode to compute the approximation of square root (see Compute Square Root Using CORDIC). This CORDIC-based algorithm is different from the Simulink® Sqrt block, which uses bisection and Newton-Raphson methods. The algorithm in the CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block requires only iterative shift-add operations.

I/O Interface

The CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block is fully-pipelined. It can accept input data on any cycle, including on consecutive clock cycles. Use validIn to indicate a valid input. When the block has finished the computation, it will change validOut to true for one clock cycle. For inputs sent on consecutive clock cycles, validOut will also be set to true on consecutive clock cycles.

Customizable CORDIC Maximum Shift Value and Number of Iterations Per Pipeline Register

This block uses iterative normalization and CORDIC algorithms. If the input is fixed point or scaled doubles, it uses multiple steps for computation. The normalization uses nextpow2(u.WordLength) iterations. The number of CORDIC iterations depends on the CORDIC maximum shift value. A larger word length can provide higher resolution but needs more iterations to process. This block can perform multiple iterations per pipeline stage. This results in smaller latency at cost of longer critical path in the generated HDL design.

For example, if the word length of the input u is 16, normalization requires 4 iterations. If the Automatically select CORDIC maximum shift value based on input word length parameter is selected, this block uses 16 - 1 = 15 as the CORDIC maximum shift value in the computation and it requires 17 iterations. The total number of iterations is 4 + 17 = 21 and the latency of the block is 2 + ceil(total number of iterations/nIterPerReg). If the number of iterations per pipeline register is set to 1, then the block latency is 23; if the number of iterations per pipeline register is set to 2, then the block latency is 13; etc. If the number of iterations per pipeline register is greater than or equal to the total number of required iterations, the block performs all iterations in one pipeline stage and the total latency is minimized to 3.

The total number of iterations and block latency can be calculated using the embblk.latency.cordicSqrtHDLOptimizedLatency function.

If the input is floating point, the block latency is 0.

Define Simulation Parameters

Specify the number of input samples.

numSamples = 10;

Specify the data type as fixed, scaledDouble, single, or double.

DT = 'fixed';

For fixed-point data type, specify the word length and fraction length.

wordLength = 16;
FractionLength = 10;

If the Automatically select CORDIC maximum shift value based on input word length parameter is not selected, define the maximum CORDIC shift value. For fixed point data types, this value cannot exceed wordLength - 1.

autoMaxVal = "on";
maximumShiftValue = wordLength - 1;

Generate Input Data

Generate input data u. The input value must be a real non-negative scalar.

rng('default');
u = abs(randn(1,numSamples));

Cast to Selected Data Type

Cast the input data u to the selected data type.

switch lower(DT)
    case 'fixed'
        u = cast(u,'like',fi([],1,wordLength,FractionLength));
    case 'scaleddouble'
        u = cast(u,'like',fi([],1,wordLength,FractionLength),'DataType','ScaledDouble');
    case 'single'
        u = single(u);
    case 'double'
        u = double(u);
    otherwise
        u = double(u);
end

Configure Block Pipeline

Check how many iterations the block requires for the selected data type.

[~, totalIterations] = embblk.latency.cordicSqrtHDLOptimizedLatency(u,1,maximumShiftValue)
totalIterations = 21

Define the number of iterations to be performed in one pipeline stage.

nIterPerReg = 1;

Open the Model

Open the CORDICSquareRootModel model.

model = 'CORDICSquareRootModel';
open_system(model);

Simulate the Model

Configure the model workspace and run the simulation.

fixed.example.setModelWorkspace(model,'u',u,'numSamples',numSamples,'maximumShiftValue',maximumShiftValue,...
    'nIterPerReg',nIterPerReg);
set_param([model,'/CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized'],'autoMaximumShiftVal',autoMaxVal);
out = sim(model);

Verify Output Solutions

Compare the fixed-point result from the CORDIC Square Root HDL Optimized block with the floating-point result from the MATLAB® sqrt function.

yBuiltIn = sqrt(double(u))';
y = out.y(1:numSamples);
absError = (double(y)-yBuiltIn)
absError = 10×1
10-3 ×

   -0.1450
   -0.7312
    0.0029
   -0.8692
    0.2197
   -0.9328
   -0.2752
   -0.5076
   -0.9682
   -0.1284

Block Latency

The block latency is the number of clock cycles between a successful input and when the corresponding output becomes valid. The latency of this block depends on the datatype, CORDIC maximum shift value, and Number of iterations per pipeline register.

Calculate the expected latency and total number of iterations. The CORDIC maximum shift value can be empty if the Automatically select CORDIC maximum shift value based on input word length parameter parameter is selected.

[explatency, ~] = embblk.latency.cordicSqrtHDLOptimizedLatency(u,nIterPerReg,maximumShiftValue)
explatency = 23

Retrieve block latency from the simulation.

tDataIn = find(out.logsout.get('validIn').Values.Data == 1);
tDataOut = find(out.logsout.get('validOut').Values.Data == 1);
actualLatency = tDataOut(1:numSamples) - tDataIn(1:numSamples)
actualLatency = 10×1

    23
    23
    23
    23
    23
    23
    23
    23
    23
    23

Ports

Input

expand all

Value to take square root of, specified as a non-negative real-valued scalar.

If u is a fixed-point or scaled double data type, u must use binary-point scaling. Slope-bias representation is not supported for fixed-point data types. Only binary-point scaled fixed-point data types are supported for code generation.

Data Types: single | double | fixed point

Whether input is valid, specified as a Boolean scalar. This control signal indicates when the data from the u input port is valid. When this value is 1 (true), the block captures the values at the u input port. When this value is 0 (false), the block ignores input samples.

Data Types: Boolean

Whether to clear internal registers, specified as a Boolean scalar. When this value is 1 (true), the block stops the current calculation and clears all internal registers. When this value is 0 (false) and the validIn value is 1 (true), the block begins a new subframe.

Data Types: Boolean

Output

expand all

CORDIC-based approximation of square root of input, returned as a real-valued scalar.

Data Types: single | double | fixed point

Whether output data is valid, returned as a Boolean scalar. This control signal indicates when the data at the output port y is valid. When this value is 1 (true), the output data is valid. When this value is 0 (false), the output data is not valid.

Data Types: Boolean

Parameters

expand all

To edit block parameters interactively, use the Property Inspector. From the Simulink® Toolstrip, on the Simulation tab, in the Prepare gallery, select Property Inspector.

Automatically select CORDIC maximum shift value based on input word length. When this parameter is selected, the default CORDIC maximum shift value depends on the word length of the input u:

  • If the input u is fixed-point or scaled double, the default is the word length minus 1.

  • If the input u is single, the default is 23.

  • If the input u is double, the default is 52.

Programmatic Use

To set the block parameter value programmatically, use the set_param function.

To get the block parameter value programmatically, use the get_param function.

Parameter: autoMaximumShiftVal
Values: on (default) | off
Data Types: char | string

Maximum shift value of hyperbolic vectoring CORDIC, specified as a positive integer-valued scalar.

Dependencies

Programmatic Use

To set the block parameter value programmatically, use the set_param function.

To get the block parameter value programmatically, use the get_param function.

Parameter: maximumShiftValue
Values: 10 (default) | positive integer-valued scalar
Data Types: char | string

Number of CORDIC iterations to perform in pipeline stage, specified as a positive integer-valued scalar. For more information, see Customizable Pipelining.

Programmatic Use

To set the block parameter value programmatically, use the set_param function.

To get the block parameter value programmatically, use the get_param function.

Parameter: nIterPerReg
Values: 1 (default) | positive integer-valued scalar
Data Types: char | string

More About

Algorithms

expand all

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced in R2024a