Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!cornell!batcomputer!itsgw!steinmetz!uunet!ingr!garth!phipps
From: phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Multiple-Precision Operations (was Re: Quadruple-Precision Floating Point ?)
Keywords: multiple-precision,arithmetic
Message-ID: <2339@garth.UUCP>
Date: 31 Dec 88 04:25:22 GMT
References: <8561@alice.UUCP> <3688@s.cc.purdue.edu> <285@loligo.fsu.edu> <6132@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> <1080@l.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: phipps@garth.UUCP (Clay Phipps)
Organization: INTERGRAPH (APD) -- Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 25

In article <1080@l.cc.purdue.edu>,
cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:
>I know of no computer reasonably designed 
>for multiple precision operations.
>What is needed is fast unsigned integer arithmetic.  
>... With the CPU such a small price of the computer, 
>get those instructions in.

How fast ?

Both the Intergraph Clipper (32 bits) and the ELXSI 6400 series (64 bits)
seem to have the instructions that you need.
Although multiple-precision operations were considered when the ELXSI
was designed, it seems to be missing an unsigned division instruction.
The Clipper has that instruction, however.

Are there people out on the net who have tried to write code to perform
multiple-precision operations on these machines, and found 
the instruction sets unsatisfactory ?  Were some subtleties overlooked ?

-- 
[The foregoing may or may not represent the position, if any, of my employer]
 
Clay Phipps                       {ingr,pyramid,sri-unix!hplabs}!garth!phipps
Intergraph APD, 2400#4 Geng Road, Palo Alto, CA 93403            415/494-8800