[avr-libc-dev] FP formats

[Ron]

Is the floating point format used by avrgcc full IEEE? I ask because a
paper by Connors et al proposed a simpler format for embedded systems.
They suggest that most embedded systems have well defined domains for
any fp computations, and so sophistry such as positive and negative
zeroes, underflow and overflow states, and even NaNs just take up space
and cycles. And their format allows fp comparisons by treating both
numbers as simple signed 32-bit integers.

This is an old paper now, but I was looking at it again in the light of
recent discussions on this list. The exponent representation could
perhaps do with some discussion in the light of the avr's 8-bit
registers, but otherwise it might be a candidate for implementation.
http://www.crhc.uiuc.edu/IMPACT/ftp/conference/case-98-float.pdf.

Ron