Designing a Mac Unit Using Approximate Multiplier

In numerous applications, multipliers play a crucial role as arithmetic functional units, often requiring extensive multiplications that contribute significantly to power consumption. Employing an approximate multiplier represents a novel strategy to reduce critical path time and power usage in error-tolerant systems. The trade-off involves sacrificing accuracy for enhanced performance and reduced energy consumption. To cater to varying precision requirements, this article not only introduces a highly accurate approximate 4-2 compressor but also proposes a adaptable approximation multiplier capable of dynamically truncating partial products. Additionally, a Multiplier and Accumulation (MAC) unit is recommended. Depending on user needs, the suggested MAC unit, paired with an approximate multiplier, can dynamically adjust power and accuracy for multiplications during runtime.