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arXiv:1701.00722math.NA

The Unum Number Format: Mathematical Foundations, Implementation and Comparison to IEEE 754 Floating-Point Numbers

Laslo Hunhold

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Abstract

This thesis examines a modern concept for machine numbers based on interval arithmetic called 'Unums' and compares it to IEEE 754 floating-point arithmetic, evaluating possible uses of this format where floating-point numbers are inadequate. In the course of this examination, this thesis builds theoretical foundations for IEEE 754 floating-point numbers, interval arithmetic based on the projectively extended real numbers and Unums.

arXiv comments
95 pages, 7 figures, 14 code listings
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
math.NANumerical Analysis cs.MSMathematical Software

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    • Related to 16 bit lookup tables, unum is a format for representing numbers as sets of number ranges as an alternative to floats. http://www.johngustafson.net/presentations/Unums2.0.pptx http://www.johngustafson.net/presentations/Unums2.0.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1701.00722.pdf…

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