CORDIC Algorithm

CORDIC, short for coordinate rotation digital computer, is a simple and efficient algorithm for calculating trigonometric functions, hyperbolic functions, square roots, multiplications, divisions, exponentials, and logarithms to an arbitrary base, typically converging with one digit or bit per iteration, and is sometimes called Volder's algorithm after its originator. CORDIC and the closely related pseudo-multiplication and pseudo-division methods are commonly used where no hardware multiplier is available, such as in simple microcontrollers and field-programmable gate arrays, since the only operations they require are addition, subtraction, bit-shifting and lookup tables. In computer science, CORDIC has often been used to implement floating-point arithmetic on platforms lacking multiplication hardware, as was the case for most early microcomputers built on processors such as the MOS 6502 and Zilog Z80.