Inventors:
Evelyn M. Fields - Marlboro Township, Monmouth County NJ
Ronald L. Freyman - Bethlehem PA
Yehuda Rotblum - East Brunswick NJ
Assignee:
American Telephone and Telegraph Company, AT&T Bell Laboratories - Murray Hill NJ
International Classification:
G06F 738
G05F 750
Abstract:
After performing a floating point addition, it is desired to normalize the sum; that is, shift the most significant digit of the mantissa into the left-most digit location, and adjust the exponent accordingly. Prior art techniques required performing the addition before calculating the number of shifts required. The present technique determines an approximate shift from the addends during addition, resulting in a significant time saving.