The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 28, 1982
Filed:
Jan. 02, 1981
Glen R Kregness, Minnetonka, MN (US);
Peter B Criswell, Bethel, MN (US);
Sperry Corporation, New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A characteristic adder for use in a data processing system that performs floating-point arithmetic operations is described. A 1's complement subtractive adder is shown for forming the sum or difference of a pair of exponents under control of function control circuitry, along with an indication of which characteristic is larger for selecting which mantissa operand should be shifted for proper alignment. The function control circuitry responds to function signals to select addition or subtraction, provide the magnitude or complement of the results, and select between two available floating-point formats. Characteristic Overflow and Underflow is tested and signaled for each of the two possible floating-point formats.