A class of on-line algorithms for complex number arithmetic is presented. These algorithms adopt a redundant complex number system (RCNS) to represent complex numbers as a single number. Such a scheme simplifies the specification of the design, and has the additionaleffect that singleprecision complex arithmetic can be easily reconfigured for double-precision real arithmetic. We present cost delay comparisons with the more conventional approach to show a significant improvement, demonstrating that the presented algorithms are attractive for VLSI systems demanding complex number operations.