Multiplication This describes the multiplication algorithm used by the MPI library. This is basically a standard "schoolbook" algorithm. It is slow -- O(mn) for m = #a, n = #b -- but easy to implement and verify. Basically, we run two nested loops, as illustrated here (R is the radix): k = 0 for j <- 0 to (#b - 1) for i <- 0 to (#a - 1) w = (a[j] * b[i]) + k + c[i+j] c[i+j] = w mod R k = w div R endfor c[i+j] = k; k = 0; endfor It is necessary that 'w' have room for at least two radix R digits. The product of any two digits in radix R is at most: (R - 1)(R - 1) = R^2 - 2R + 1 Since a two-digit radix-R number can hold R^2 - 1 distinct values, this insures that the product will fit into the two-digit register. To insure that two digits is enough for w, we must also show that there is room for the carry-in from the previous multiplication, and the current value of the product digit that is being recomputed. Assuming each of these may be as big as R - 1 (and no larger, certainly), two digits will be enough if and only if: (R^2 - 2R + 1) + 2(R - 1) <= R^2 - 1 Solving this equation shows that, indeed, this is the case: R^2 - 2R + 1 + 2R - 2 <= R^2 - 1 R^2 - 1 <= R^2 - 1 This suggests that a good radix would be one more than the largest value that can be held in half a machine word -- so, for example, as in this implementation, where we used a radix of 65536 on a machine with 4-byte words. Another advantage of a radix of this sort is that binary-level operations are easy on numbers in this representation. Here's an example multiplication worked out longhand in radix-10, using the above algorithm: a = 999 b = x 999 ------------- p = 98001 w = (a[jx] * b[ix]) + kin + c[ix + jx] c[ix+jx] = w % RADIX k = w / RADIX product ix jx a[jx] b[ix] kin w c[i+j] kout 000000 0 0 9 9 0 81+0+0 1 8 000001 0 1 9 9 8 81+8+0 9 8 000091 0 2 9 9 8 81+8+0 9 8 000991 8 0 008991 1 0 9 9 0 81+0+9 0 9 008901 1 1 9 9 9 81+9+9 9 9 008901 1 2 9 9 9 81+9+8 8 9 008901 9 0 098901 2 0 9 9 0 81+0+9 0 9 098001 2 1 9 9 9 81+9+8 8 9 098001 2 2 9 9 9 81+9+9 9 9 098001 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ***** BEGIN LICENSE BLOCK ***** Version: MPL 1.1/GPL 2.0/LGPL 2.1 The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations under the License. The Original Code is the MPI Arbitrary Precision Integer Arithmetic library. The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Michael J. Fromberger Portions created by the Initial Developer are Copyright (C) 1998, 2000 the Initial Developer. All Rights Reserved. Contributor(s): Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms of either the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later (the "GPL"), or the GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1 or later (the "LGPL"), in which case the provisions of the GPL or the LGPL are applicable instead of those above. If you wish to allow use of your version of this file only under the terms of either the GPL or the LGPL, and not to allow others to use your version of this file under the terms of the MPL, indicate your decision by deleting the provisions above and replace them with the notice and other provisions required by the GPL or the LGPL. If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of this file under the terms of any one of the MPL, the GPL or the LGPL. ***** END LICENSE BLOCK ***** $Id: mul.txt,v 1.2 2005/02/02 22:28:22 gerv%gerv.net Exp $