Accurate and Energy-Efficient Stochastic Computing with Van Der Corput Sequences.

In stochastic computing (SC), data is represented using random bit-streams. The efficiency and accuracy of SC systems rely heavily on the stochastic number generator (SNG), which converts data from binary to stochastic bit-streams. While previous research has shown the benefits of using low-discrepancy (LD) sequences like Sobol and Halton in the SNG, the potential of other well-known random sequences remains unexplored. This study investigates new random sequences for potential use in SC. We find that Van Der Corput (VDC) sequences hold promise as a random number generator for accurate and energy-efficient SC, exhibiting intriguing correlation properties. Our evaluation of VDC-based bit-streams includes basic SC operations (multiplication and addition) and image processing tasks like image scaling. Our experimental results demonstrate high accuracy, reduced hardware cost, and lower energy consumption compared to state-of-the-art methods.