Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for an enhanced floating point unit with graphics and integer capabilities

US6275838A · kind A · utility

34Cited by
14References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 28, 1998
Grant dateAug 14, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 28, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C7/1006
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An enhanced floating point unit that supports floating point, integer, and graphics operations by combining the units into a single functional unit is disclosed. The enhanced floating point unit comprises a register file coupled to a plurality of bypass multiplexers. Coupled to the bypass multiplexers are an aligner and a multiplier. And, coupled to the multiplier is an adder that further couples to a normalizer/rounder unit. The normalizer/rounder unit may comprise a normalizer and a rounder coupled in series and or a parallel normalizer/rounder. The enhanced floating point unit supports both integer operations and graphics operations with one functional unit.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.