Area-time efficient sign detection technique for binary signed-digit number system

Computer arithmetic operations based on the BSD (binary signed-digit) number representation system lend themselves well to high-speed computations due to the facilitation of limited carry addition/subtraction. We propose an area-time efficient method for sign detection in a BSD number system based on optimized reverse tree structure. When compared to other popular approaches, such as the most significant carry detection-based CLA (carry look-ahead) and MRC (multilevel reverse carry) implementations, the proposed method is superior to both area and time costs in VLSI. Synthesis results for different word lengths show that the proposed approach to sign detection in the BSD number system continues to maintain its advantage over area and time measures.