1. A coordinate rotation digital computer (CORDIC) for computing a norm of a vector having a first component and a second component, comprising: a first maximum value circuit for outputting a maximum operand that is a larger one of either an absolute value of the first component or an absolute value of the second component; a minimum value circuit for outputting a minimum operand that is a smaller one of either an absolute value of the first component or an absolute value of the second component; N rotator stages, each corresponding to a unique one of N predetermined vectors, each having a first multiply circuit for multiplying the maximum operand by a cosine coefficient of a corresponding predetermined vector to output a first rotation component, a second multiply circuit for multiplying the minimum operand by a sine coefficient of the corresponding predetermined vector to output a second rotation component and an adder circuit for adding the first rotation component to the second rotation component to output one of N results; and a second maximum value circuit for outputting a maximum one of the N results.