Linux Kernel Floating Point Emulation and CORDIC

Arthur Jerijian (lightmanaj@earthlink.net)
Thu, 23 Dec 1999 15:58:22 -0800

For the mathematics and theoretical computer science enthusiasts here on this
list:

I have taken a look at the source code of the Linux Kernel floating point
emulation engine for i386 (as of 2.2.12, don't know if it changed in 2.3.x). I
noticed that it uses Taylor/Maclaurin polynomials to approximate the sine,
cosine, tangent, and inverse tangent functions. Wouldn't CORDIC be a better
algorithm for computing trigonometric and exponential functions instead? CORDIC
is a method for calculating mathematical functions using only addition,
shifting, and looking up entries in a table. More details can be found at
http://www.ezcomm.com/%7Ecyliax/Articles/RobNav/sidebar.html

Thanks,
--Arthur

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