Paper detail

Some linear-time algorithms for systolic arrays

We survey some results on linear-time algorithms for systolic arrays. In particular, we show how the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two polynomials of degree n over a finite field can be computed in time O(n) on a linear systolic array of O(n) cells; similarly for the GCD of two n-bit binary numbers. We show how n * n Toeplitz systems of linear equations can be solved in time O(n) on a linear array of O(n) cells, each of which has constant memory size (independent of n). Finally, we outline how a two-dimensional square array of O(n)* O(n) cells can be used to solve (to working accuracy) the eigenvalue problem for a symmetric real n* n matrix in time O(nS(n)). Here S(n) is a slowly growing function of n; for practical purposes S(n) can be regarded as a constant. In addition to their theoretical interest, these results have potential applications in the areas of error-correcting codes, symbolic and algebraic computations, signal processing and image processing.