Patent US 4,481,600

A division A/B where A and B are represented in a radix D can be accomplished by evaluating a power series. It is very important not only for the power series to converge but also to converge quickly in practical application. Thus, the convergence rate of the power series must be small in order to obtain a reasonably good approximation of the quotient by evaluating the first few terms. The acceleration method that guarantees to give a small convergence rate, 1/(2D-3 ), of the power series (see the section of the related application) was proposed with at most three successive applications of acceleration constants. This invention reduces the convergence rate, 1/(2D-3), to a smaller convergence rate, 1/(2mD-3), in the worst case where m=1,2,2.sup.2,2.sup.3,2.sup.4, . . . and the three successive applications of acceleration constants to at most the two successive applications of the constants. These two reductions promise to yield faster division in digital computer.