Variable precision floating point multiply-add circuit
US9104474B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 28, 2012 |
| Grant date | Aug 11, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 26, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2207/382
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention may provide methods and circuits for energy efficient floating point multiply and/or add operations. A variable precision floating point circuit may determine the certainty of the result of a multiply-add floating point calculation in parallel with the floating-point calculation. The variable precision floating point circuit may use the certainty of the inputs in combination with information from the computation, such as, binary digits that cancel, normalization shifts, and rounding, to perform a calculation of the certainty of the result. A floating point multiplication circuit may determine whether a lowest portion of a multiplication result could affect the final result and may induce a replay of the multiplication operation when it is determined that the result could affect the final result.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.