Floating point split multiply/add system which has infinite precision
US5880983A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 25, 1996 |
| Grant date | Mar 9, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 25, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F7/49942
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and system for an infinite precision split multiply and add operation which has increased speed. The method and system for providing a split multiply and add of a plurality of operands include a multiplier and an adder means. The multiplier multiplies a first portion of the plurality of operands, thereby providing a product. The adder, which combines the remaining operands and the product, comprise at least one pair of data paths. Each pair of data paths comprises a first data path and a second data path. The first data path comprises a first aligner, a first adder, and a first normalizer capable of shifting a mantissa by a substantially fewer number digits than the aligner. The second data path comprises a second aligner, a second adder, and a second normalizer capable of shifting a mantissa by a substantially larger number of digits than the aligner. Accordingly, the present invention includes split multiply and add data paths which, individually, are faster than a fused multiply and add. In addition, the split multiply and add data paths can preserve the appearance of infinite precision. Consequently, overall system performance is increased.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.