Abstract: A programmable digital correlator device, and associated correlation method, with a very efficient structure. In one aspect, two or more correlators share a common data sequence shift register. In another aspect, the data sequence shift register is comprised of random access memory (RAM) modules which allow efficient construction in field programmable gate array (FPGA) logic devices. Two's-complement data samples are multiplied by a reference sequence to produce unfinished two's-complement products, the products are summed with unsigned arithmetic in an adder containing population counters, and a correction factor is added after all other calculations are complete to convert the unsigned result back to a two's-complement number.