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:
Jan. 19, 1999
Filed:
May. 01, 1997
Theodore G Rossin, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Jon L Ashburn, Fort Collins, CO (US);
James M Dewey, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
Apparatus for performing floating point divide operations includes a divider and a comparator. The divider performs a floating point divide operation on a floating point numerator and a floating point denominator. The comparator performs a comparison of the floating point denominator, except for a sign bit of the floating point denominator, with a floating point value of 0.0. A logic element, responsive to a control signal indicative of the floating point divide operation, provides to the comparator equal sign bits associated with the floating point denominator and the floating point value of 0.0. A result of the comparison indicates a divide by zero operation and is independent of the sign of the floating point denominator. The result of the comparison is used to determine a course of action before the divide operation is completed.