Abstract A special layout problem is considered. It is shown that the problem is NP‐complete. For a system with a small number of channels k, a polynomial algorithm is given, finding a layout with a width differing from the minimum by at most k + 1. For a system with a large number of channels k, an approximation algorithm is presented. Given an ϵ > 0 this algorithm finds a layout with a width differing from the minimum by at most ϵZ + k + 1, where Z is a lower bound on the width. The complexity of this algorithm depends on ϵ.

The algorithm of division based on multiplication is well known [1]-[5]. It permits utilization of fast multiply hardware in the implementation of division. The algorithm defines an iterative process in which numerator and denominator are both multiplied by the same factor misuch that the denominator converges to 1 and the numerator to the quotient. Convergence can be speeded up by finding a good value for m0, the first multiplier, by means of table lookup. The first two bits of the denominator D are 0.1 (assuming a normalized denominator). The next n bits are used to enter the table, yielding m0and D1=m0*D, where D1has a bits of convergence and as shown in [6].