Circuit and method of converting a floating point number to a programmable fixed point number
US6144977A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 10, 1995 |
| Grant date | Nov 7, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 10, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03M5/00
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A programmable numeric converter (10) converts a floating point number to a fixed point format by selecting the proper offset. The mantissa is loaded with an implied value one into the least significant, or most significant, bits of the shifter (20). The programmable offset is added (24) to the exponent to determine the number of shifts to the mantissa bits. The number of bits of resolution necessary in the fixed point number is reduced because the offset can be programmed to move the decimal point to the left, or to the right, to provide accuracy wherever the significant digits are located. That is, the decimal point is moved left to provide more resolution in the fractional portion of the fixed point number for small numbers. Alternately, the decimal point is moved right to provide more resolution in the whole number portion of the fixed point number for large numbers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.