<standard, mathematics> (IEEE 754) "IEEE Standard for Binary
Floating-Point Arithmetic (ANSI/IEEE Std 754-1985)" or IEC
559: "Binary floating-point arithmetic for microprocessor
systems". A standard, used by many CPUs and FPUs, which
defines formats for representing floating-point numbers;
representations of special values (e.g. infinity, very small
values, NaN); five exceptions, when they occur, and what
happens when they do occur; four rounding modes; and a set
of floating-point operations that will work identically on any
conforming system.
IEEE 754 specifies formats for representing floating-point
values: single-precision (32-bit) is required,
double-precision (64-bit) is optional. The standard also
mentions that some implementations may include single-extended
precision (80-bit) and double-extended precision (128-bit)
formats.
[On-line document?]
(2003-06-17)
Nearby terms:
IEEE 802.4 « IEEE 802.5 « IEEE Computer Society « IEEE Floating Point Standard » IEEE Standard 1149.1 » IEF » IEN
