Complex magnitude computation

摘要

A digital circuit is disclosed for computing the magnitude of a complex number employing piece-wise linear approximations to achieve precision without the need for iteration. An illustrative implementing circuit employs a first stage for converting the in-phase and quadrature signals to their absolute values. The resultant signals are applied to a selection circuit which selects the maximum and minimum values. The resultant signals are combined with coefficients selected as a function of the operating interval and the resultant products added to yield a signal related to the magnitude of the input complex number.