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Re: [f-cpu] Error with the fractional flag
On Sat, Jan 05, 2002 at 03:54:10AM +0100, Yann Guidon wrote:
[...]
> > > while reading through the ASU code, i read that
> > > there is no "time" for a 1-bit most-shift
> > > (which would be useful for fractional operations).
> > Since fractional operands are in sign-magnitude (rather than 2's
> > complement) form, we'll need more pre- and postprocessing than a single
> > shift.
> <grumble>the definition i have is not sign-magnitude...</grumble>
> what, then ?
I referred to Reto Zimmermann's definition, where it is (Lecture notes on
Computer Arithmetic: Principles, Architectures, and VLSI Design; page 19).
More precisely, the number represented is
x = (-1)^S * 2^(E-bias)
with S being the most significant ("sign") bit and E being the rest of
the chunk (bias depends on chunk size). If you multiply two of these,
you get
x1 * x2
= (-1)^S1 * 2^(E1-bias) * (-1)^S2 * 2^(E2-bias)
= (-1)^S1 * (-1)^S2 * 2^(E1+E2-2*bias)
= (-1)^(S1 xor S2) * 2^((E1+E2-bias)-bias)
The components of the result,
S = S1 xor S2
E = E1 + E2 - bias
can't be calculated with a single ASU operation, no matter how you
tune it :(
> <slip><slip><slip><slip><slip>....
>
> My Analog Devices DSP manual says :
> "Q16 is a special case of fractional number where all the bits lie to the
> left of the radix point."
>
> <reading further>
> OOOPS ! I understand where i was mistaken...
>
> it says : "In addition and substraction, both operands must be in the same
> format (signed or unsigned, radix point in the same location) and the result
> format is the same as the input format. Additions and substrations are
> performed the same way whether the inputs are signed or unsigned".
>
> I think i have mistaken with the multiply where 1Q15 * 1Q15 makes 2Q30,
> so we have to shift the duplicate sign bit out. This means that only the
> IDU and IMU have a fractional mode bit in the instruction ...
>
> All my excuses ... there is no modification required in the ASU for
> supporting fractional mode. So we can drop the fractional flag. sorry.
Applying the IMU/IDU to LNS numbers doesn't make much sense anyway.
What's that supposed to do, mathematically? For exponentiation, you
need one LNS and one conventional (integer or fractional) operand.
> > > I thought about the following solution :
> > > 1) duplicate the unit
> > > 2) drop the input xors and propagate the change in the
> > > rest of one of the unit. We thus get one sub and one
> > > add operation
> > > 3) add the post-shift
> > >
> > > Since there is a provision for a simultaneous add/sub
> > > instruction, this is fine :-) The new form of ASU
> > > (optional) would have the same 2 write ports
> > > and the simultaneous add/sub will disallow carry/borrow.
> >
> > If addsub is required to perform both operations simultaneously, we'll
> > need to duplicate the unit anyway. On the other hand, there probably
> > are many programs that perform lots of ADD operations but no SUB
> > (address calculations, for example). Therefore, I'd rather keep the
> > ASU as-is and add an ADD-only unit.
> This is not consistent with the fact that no operation triggers
> 2 adds per cycle... And the ASU is pipelined.
In FC0, yes :)
> however i would still like an ASU with the duplicated
> (mirored) units, one being specialized for add and the other
> for sub. It leaves some headroom in the timing and is DSP-friendly :-)
And it's future-proof :)
--
Michael "Tired" Riepe <Michael.Riepe@stud.uni-hannover.de>
"All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die"
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