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Approximate Computing is a promising method for designing power-efficient computing systems. Many image and compression algorithms are inherently error-tolerant and can allow errors up to a specific limit. In such algorithms, savings in power can be achieved by approximating the data path units, such as a multiplier. This paper presents a novel decoder logic-based multiplier design with the intent to reduce the partial products generated. Thus, leading to a reduction in the hardware complexity and power consumption while maintaining a low error rate. Our proposed design in an 8-bit format achieves 40.96% and 22.30% power reduction compared to the accurate and approximate multipliers. Comprehensive simulations are carried out on image sharpening and compression algorithms to prove that the proposed design obtains a better quality-effort trade-off than existing multipliers.

Exploring the underwater solar energy by solar photovoltaic (PV) cells leads to a huge advantage by utilizing the humongous space of water covered by the earth's surface. Even though the amount of solar radiation decreases with the depth of the water, water provides sustainable cooling and cleaning for solar PV cells underwater. There are many challenges and constraints to develop solar PV cells underwater because they are mostly calibrated and amenable to space, dryland, terrestrial, etc., and the solar spectrum is prone to get narrower with the depth of the water. The implementation of solar PV cells underwater is pliable in various commercial and defense applications, such as sensors, water monitoring systems, autonomous vehicles, underwater gliders, etc. In this article, first, a mathematical model has been developed for the solar cell spectrum to incorporate the changes in the solar irradiance with the depth of the water. Furthermore, an experimental setup was designed and implemented to mimic an underwater environment. The performance of the polycrystalline encapsulated solar cell was studied based on the different types of water and the depth of the solar cell underwater. This article manifests that there is a sufficient amount of underwater solar power that can be utilized using PV cells to operate various devices and systems.