A new sign detection design for the residue number system based on quantum-dot cellular automata

Sign detection has a wide application in digital fixed-point signal processing; however, it seems hard to conduct it in residue number systems (RNSs) based on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). Also, quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA), as a useful substitution for CMOS technologies, provide many benefits such as low energy utilization and high velocity. However, up to now, there is not any paper that investigated the design of the QCA-based sign detection system. Therefore, here, we will introduce a method for RNS sign detection in the three-moduli set {2ⁿ⁺¹ − 1, 2ⁿ − 1, 2ⁿ}. In the suggested design, we offer a new QCA-based design in one layer for sign detection of three-moduli set {2ⁿ⁺¹ − 1, 2ⁿ − 1, 2ⁿ}. It is not only used for arithmetic units of RNS but also applied for cost and performance improvement of the total system. We simulate and analyze the proposed detection method using the QCADesigner simulator. We also compare the cell count, delay, and occupied area. Experimental results showed that the proposed architecture requires 5.60 µm² of the circuit area, and the delay is decreased.