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Alpha max plus beta min algorithm

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The locus of points that give the same value in the algorithm, for different values of alpha and beta.

The alpha max plus beta min algorithm is a high-speed approximation of the square root of the sum of two squares. The square root of the sum of two squares, also known as Pythagorean addition, is a useful function, because it finds the hypotenuse of a right triangle given the two side lengths, the norm of a 2-D vector, or the magnitude of a complex number z=a+bi given the real and imaginary parts.

The algorithm avoids performing the square and square-root operations, instead using simple operations such as comparison, multiplication, and addition. Some choices of the α and β parameters of the algorithm allow the multiplication operation to be reduced to a simple shift of binary digits that is particularly well suited to implementation in high-speed digital circuitry.

The approximation is expressed as:

Where is the maximum absolute value of a and b and is the minimum absolute value of a and b.

For the closest approximation, the optimum values for and are and , giving a maximum error of 3.96%.

Largest error (%) Mean error (%)
1/1 1/2 11.80 8.68
1/1 1/4 11.61 0.65
1/1 3/8 6.80 4.01
7/8 7/16 12.5 4.91
15/16 15/32 6.25 1.88
3.96 1.30

See also

  • Hypot, a precise function or algorithm that is also safe against overflow and underflow

References