International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 9- Sep 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3985

Design and Implementation of High Speed
Carry Select Adder
P.Prashanti Dr. B.Rajendra Naik
Digital Systems Engineering (M.E) Assistant Professor
ECE Department ECE Department
University College of Engineering University College of Engineering
Osmania University, Hyderabad, Osmania University, Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh -500 007, India. Andhra Pradesh -500 007, India.

Abstract--Design of area and power-efficient high-speed
data path logic systems are one of the most substantial
areas of research in VLSI system design. In digital
adders, the speed of addition is limited by the time
required to propagate a carry through the adder. Carry
Select Adder (CSLA) is one of the fastest adders used in
many data-processing processors to perform fast
arithmetic functions. From the structure of the CSLA, it
is clear that there is scope for reducing the area and
power consumption in the CSLA. This work uses a
simple and efficient gate-level modification to
significantly reduce the area and power of the CSLA.
The CSLA is used in many computational systems to
alleviate the problem of carry propagation delay by
independently generating multiple carries and then
select a carry to generate the sum. However, the CSLA
is not area efficient because it uses multiple pairs of
Ripple Carry Adders (RCA) to generate partial sum
and carry by considering carry input Cin = 0 and Cin =
1, then the final sum and carry are selected by the
multiplexers (mux). This is modified by replacing the
RCA with Cin=1 with BEC in the regular CSLA to
achieve low area and power consumption. But there is a
slight increase in the delay. The delay can be reduced by
improving the CSLA by replacing a D-Latch in place of
RCA with Cin = 1.in the regular CSLA to achieve high
speed addition. The performance of this CSLA is
evaluated by implementing an FIR Filter by using the
CSLA in the adder part. This work focuses on the
performance of CSLA in terms of delay and power and
it is found that CSLA is a high speed and low power
adder.

Keywords CSLA, D-Latch, low power

I.INTRODUCTION
Area and power reduction in data path logic systems
are the main area of research in VLSI system design.
High speed addition and multiplication has always
been a fundamental requirement of high-performance
processors and systems. In digital adders, the speed
of addition is limited by the time required to
propagate a carry through the adder. The sum for
each bit position in an elementary adder is generated
sequentially only after the previous bit position has
been summed and a carry propagated into the next
position. The major speed limitation in any adder is
in the production of carries and many authors have
considered the addition problem.
The CSLA is used in many computational systems
to moderate the problem of carry propagation delay
by independently generating multiple carries and then
select a carry to generate the sum [2]. However, the
CSLA is not area efficient because it uses multiple
pairs of Ripple Carry Adders (RCA) to generate
partial sum and carry by considering carry input and
then the final sum and carry are selected by the
multiplexers (mux). To overcome the above problem,
the above CSLA is modified by using n-bit Binary to
Excess-1 code converters (BEC) to improve the
speed of addition. This logic can be implemented
with any type of adder to further improve the speed.
We use the Binary to Excess-1 Converter (BEC)
instead of RCA in the regular CSLA to achieve lower
area and power consumption [1], [3]-[4], [7]. The
main advantage of this BEC logic comes from the
lesser number of logic gates than the Full Adder (FA)
structure. The modified design has reduced area and
power as compared with the regular SQRT CSLA
with an increase in the delay. Therefore an improved
CSLA was designed with a D-Latch replacing the
BEC in the modified CSLA. This design has
efficiently reduced the delay thereby increasing the
speed making it a high speed Carry Select Adder.
Digital Signal Processing (DSP) deals with the
manipulation of digital signals using complex signal
processing systems built from basic building blocks
like filters. The proposed work is implementation in
the FIR filter in adder parts. This work evaluates the
performance of the improved design in terms of delay
and power.
This is briefed as follows. First we deal with the
delay, area and power evaluation methodology of the
basic adder blocks. Next we present the detailed
structure and the function of the BEC logic. The
CSLA has been chosen for comparison with the
modified and improved design. The delay and power
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 9- Sep 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3986
evaluation methodology of the regular, modified and
improved SQRT CSLA are presented.
Therefore the main aim of the project is to design
and implement a high speed carry select adder to
enhance the speed of addition and perform fast
arithmetic functions. The proposed design is applied
to the FIR filter structure in the adder part to evaluate
the performance of the proposed design. This work
estimates the performance of the proposed design in
terms of delay and power.
II. 16-BIT REGULAR CARRY SELECT ADDER
A Carry Select Adder is a particular way to
implement an adder, which is a logic element that
computes the (n+1) bit sum of two n-bit numbers.
The carry-select adder is simple but rather fast. The
carry-select adder generally consists of two ripple
carry adders and a multiplexer. Adding two n-bit
numbers with a carry-select adder is done with two
adders (therefore two ripple carry adders) in order to
perform the calculation twice, one time with the
assumption of the carry being zero and the other
assuming one. After the two results are calculated,
the correct sum, as well as the correct carry, is then
selected with the multiplexer once the correct carry is
known. The structure of a 16 bit CSLA is shown
below:

Fig. 1 16-bit Regular CSLA
A carry-select adder is divided into sectors, each
of which, except for the least significant performs
two additions in parallel, one assuming a carry-in of
zero, the other a carry-in of one within the sector,
there are two 4-bit ripple carry adders receiving the
same data inputs but different Cin. The upper adder
has a carry in of zero, the lower adder a carry-in of
one. The actual Cin from the preceding sector selects
one of the two adders. If the carry-in is zero, the sum
and carry-out of the upper adder are selected. If the
carry-in is one, the sum and carry-out of the lower
adder are selected. Logically, the result is not
different if a single ripple-carry adder were used.
First the coding for full adder and different
multiplexers of 6:3, 8:4, 10:5, and 12:6 was done.
Then 2, 3, 4, 5-bit ripple carry adder was done by
calling the full adder. The regular 16- bit CSLA was
created by calling the ripple carry adders and all
multiplexers based on circuit. It has five groups of
different size RCA. The delay and area of each group
has to be evaluated. To do this, we first need to
evaluate the delay and area of each of the basic adder
blocks used in the structure of the CSLA. The source
code is written for all the above adder blocks like xor
gate, half adder, full adder, 2x1 mux, ripple carry
adder and carry look ahead adder and finally the
Regular carry select adder using VHDL. Simulation
will be done to verify the functionality and synthesis
will be done to get the NETLIST using Xilinx ISE
13.2i.

III. MODIFIED CARRY SELECT ADDER
The regular CSLA is not area efficient because it
uses multiple pairs of Ripple Carry Adders (RCA) to
generate partial sum and carry by considering carry
input and then the final sum and carry are selected by
the multiplexers (mux). To overcome the above
problem, the regular CSLA is modified by using n-bit
Binary to Excess-1 code converters (BEC) to
improve the speed of addition. This logic can be
implemented with any type of adder to further
improve the speed. We use the Binary to Excess-1
Converter (BEC) instead of RCA with Cin=1 in the
regular CSLA to achieve lower area and power
consumption. The below Fig. 2 shows the structure of
modified carry select adder.

Fig. 2 16-bit Modified CSLA
To replace the n-bit RCA, an n+1-bit BEC is
required. A structure and the function table of a 4-b
BEC are shown in Figures 3 and 4 respectively.
Binary to Excess-1 Converter
The basic idea of this modified work is to use
Binary to Excess-1 Converter (BEC) instead of RCA
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 9- Sep 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3987
with Cin=1 in the regular CSLA to achieve lower
area and power consumption with only a slight
increase in the delay [4]. The main advantage of this
BEC logic comes from the lesser number of logic
gates than the n-bit Full Adder (FA) structure.

Fig. 3 4-bit BEC
Working of BEC
Fig. 4 Function Table of 4-bit BEC
If BEC input is X then O/P is X+1. Figure 5
illustrates how the basic function of the CSLA is
obtained by using the 4-bit BEC together with the
mux.


Fig. 5 4-b BEC with 8:4 mux
One input of the 8:4 mux gets as it input (B3, B2, B1,
and B0) and another input of the mux is the BEC
output. This produces the two possible partial results
in parallel and the mux is used to select either the
BEC output or the direct inputs according to the
control signal Cin. The importance of the BEC logic
stems from the large silicon area reduction when the
CSLA with large number of bits are designed. The
Boolean expressions of the 4-bit BEC is listed as
(note the functional symbols ~ NOT, & AND, ^
XOR)

=~

^(

&

^(

&

&

)
The modified 16-bit CSLA was created by calling the
ripple carry adders, BEC and all multiplexers based
upon the circuit. Here again the simulation and
synthesis is performed using Xilinx ISE and the
results are compared with the Regular CSLA.
IV. IMPROVED CARRY SELECT ADDER
When the modified CSLA is simulated and
synthesized, the area and power is less in the
modified CSLA but the delay is slightly increased. So
we can improve the above structure in terms of less
delay and higher speed by replacing the BEC with a
D-Latch. Thus an improved Carry Select Adder with
D-Latch is shown below.

Fig. 6 16-bit Improved Carry Select Adder
Here the Binary to Excess-1 Converter is replaced
with a D-Latch. Initially when en=1, the output of the
RCA is fed as input to the D-Latch and the output of
the D-latch follows the input and given as an input to
the multiplexer. When en=0, the last state of the D
input is trapped and held in the latch and therefore
the output from the RCA is directly given as an input
to the mux without any delay. Now the mux selects
the sum bit according to the input carry which is the
selection bit and the inputs of the mux are the outputs
obtained when en=1 and 0.
D-Latch
Latch is an electronic device that can be used to
store one bit of information. The D latch is used to
capture, or 'latch' the logic level which is present on
the Data line when the clock input is high. If the data
on the D line changes state while the clock pulse is
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 9- Sep 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3988
high, then the output, Q, follows the input, D. When
the CLK input falls to logic 0, the last state of the D
input is trapped and held in the latch. Fig. 7 shows
the logic diagram of D-Latch and Fig. 8 shows the
timing diagram of D-Latch.

Fig. 7 D-latch



Fig. 8 Timing Diagram of D-Latch
Working of Improved CSLA
Here initially when en=1, the output of the RCA is
fed as input to the D-Latch and the output of the D-
latch follows the input and given as an input to the
multiplexer. When en=0, the last state of the D input
is trapped and held in the Latch and therefore the
output from the RCA is directly given as an input to
the mux without any delay. Now the mux selects the
sum bit according to the input carry which is the
selection bit and the inputs of the mux are the outputs
obtained when en=1 and 0. Thus the Improved CSLA
is implemented by writing the source code using
VHDL and then perform simulation and synthesis
and compare the results of delay and power with
Regular CSLA and Modified CSLA.
V. IMPLEMENTATION OF FIR FILTER USING
CSLA
Adders play an important part in todays digital
signal processing (DSP) systems. So we need to
design high speed adders. The performance of the
CSLA is evaluated by implementing an FIR filter
using the Regular CSLA and Improved Carry Select
Adder and then comparing both the results in terms
of delay and power.

Fig. 9 FIR Filter
The adder part is replaced with the regular and
improved CSLA and the FIR Filter is implemented
and the performance of the design is evaluated in
terms of delay and power. Here we use a 4-tap FIR
filter implementation using Regular and Improved
CSLA [9]. The FIR filter is implemented using both
the carry select adders and then both the results are
compared. The performance of the CSLA is
evaluated in terms of delay and power.
VI. SIMULATION AND SYNTHESIS RESULTS
We perform the simulation and synthesis and
summarize the results of all the adders. The
Functional verification (simulation) and synthesis
(high level description is converted into RTL) of all
the adders is performed and results are summarized.

Fig. 10 Simulation output of Regular 16-bit CSLA

Fig. 11 Simulation Output of Modified CSLA
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 9- Sep 2013
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Fig. 12 Simulation output of Improved CSLA
Comparison of Regular, Modified and Improved
Carry Select Adders
After the observation of simulation waveforms,
synthesis is performed for calculation of delay and
area and thereby the speed and power of the CSLAs
are calculated and a comparison of regular, modified
and improved CSLA is made in terms of delay, area
and power and listed in the below table.
TABLE 1
COMPARISON OF REGULAR, MODIFIED AND IMPROVED
CSLA

Parameters

Regular
CSLA

Modified
CSLA

Improved
CSLA

No. of Slice
Registers

28

27

32

No. of Slice
LUTs

28

28

40

Delay(ns)

9.704

10.276

4.185

Power(mW)

326

302

277

The comparison of all the three types of Carry Select
Adders is made in terms of delay, area and power.
Our main interest here is of the speed of CSLA and
the power. Therefore compare the delay and power of
the three types of Carry Select Adders [10]. From the
above comparison table, we can see that delay and
power of an Improved CSLA is reduced and
therefore we can say that CSLA with D-latch is a
High Speed Carry Select Adder.
We now evaluate the performance of the Carry Select
Adder by implementing an FIR Filter using the
Regular CSLA and Improved CSLA.

Fig. 13 Simulation output of FIR Filter using Regular CSLA

Fig. 14 Simulation output of FIR Filter using Improved CSLA
Comparison of Delay and Power for FIR Filter
implementation with Regular and Improved CSLA
TABLE 2
COMPARISON OF FIR FILTER IMPLEMENTATION WITH
REGULAR AND IMPROVED CSLA

Parameters

FIR Filter
using Regular
CSLA

FIR Filter
using
Improved
CSLA

Delay(ns)

11.256

5.294

Power(mW)

278

275
From the above comparison results listed in the table,
we can say that the delay and power are reduced
when the FIR Filter is implemented with an
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 9- Sep 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3990
Improved CSLA with D-latch rather than an FIR
Filter that was implemented with a Regular CSLA.
Thus a high speed and low power FIR filter can be
designed using an Improved CSLA with D-latch.
Thus a Carry Select Adder designed with a D-latch is
a High Speed Carry Select Adder.
Implementation of High Speed Improved Carry
Select Adder and FIR Filter with Improved Carry
Select Adder using FPGA
The designed High Speed Carry Select Adder
using D-Latch is now implemented using an FPGA.
The source code is dumped into the FPGA and the
results are checked. The steps involved in the
implementation of the CSLA using the FPGA are: we
first synthesize the code, generate programming file,
create user constraints file (UCF) file by configuring
the input and output pins of FPGA, create a cdc file,
run the cdc file, make pin connections including
clock. Now switch on the Virtex 5 FPGA kit and
configure the target device and finally analyze the
design using Chipscope Pro Analyzer. This way the
high speed CSLA is implemented using the FPGA.
VII. CONCLUSION
All the three models of CSLA are designed and are
implemented in vhdl using Xilinx 13.2 ISE tool and
the results are compared in terms of delay and
power.The CSLA with D-Latch proves to be the High
Speed and Low Power CSLA. It is also implemented
with virtex 5 FPGA. The performance of this CSLA
in terms of delay and power is evaluated by
implementing an FIR Filter by using the CSLA in the
adder part and again it proves to be the High Speed
and Low Power CSLA. Thus a high speed and low
power FIR filter can be designed using an Improved
CSLA with D-latch. The Improved CSLA
architecture is therefore, high speed, low power and
efficient for VLSI hardware implementation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank Dr. P.Chandra
Sekhar, HOD, ECE Department, University College
of Engineering, Osmania University for his valuable
suggestions for the implementation of this project.

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