18. A method of normalising first data according to claim 17, wherein normalisation is implemented by means of a plurality of multiplexers.
17. A method of normalising input data supplied in a data word format, the method comprising the steps of: (a) feeding a first data word and a subsequent data word sequentially into a first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffer; (b) reading the first data word into an input register from an output of the FIFO buffer; (c) advancing the FIFO buffer to move the subsequent data word to the output of the FIFO buffer; (d) normalising the input data from the first data word in the input register and the subsequent data from the output of the FIFO, thereby to generate normalised data at an output of the normalising circuit; and (e) reading the normalised data from the output of the normalising circuit into an output register; wherein the normalising step takes place according to configuration signals generated by a control unit.