1 MAME note: this package is derived from the following original SoftFloat
2 package and has been "re-packaged" to work with MAME's conventions and
3 build system. The source files come from bits64/ and bits64/templates
4 in the original distribution as MAME requires a compiler with a 64-bit
8 Package Overview for SoftFloat Release 2b
14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 SoftFloat is a software implementation of floating-point that conforms to
18 the IEC/IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic. SoftFloat is
19 distributed in the form of C source code. Compiling the SoftFloat sources
22 -- A SoftFloat object file (typically `softfloat.o') containing the complete
23 set of IEC/IEEE floating-point routines.
25 -- A `timesoftfloat' program for evaluating the speed of the SoftFloat
26 routines. (The SoftFloat module is linked into this program.)
28 The SoftFloat package is documented in four text files:
30 SoftFloat.txt Documentation for using the SoftFloat functions.
31 SoftFloat-source.txt Documentation for compiling SoftFloat.
32 SoftFloat-history.txt History of major changes to SoftFloat.
33 timesoftfloat.txt Documentation for using `timesoftfloat'.
35 Other files in the package comprise the source code for SoftFloat.
37 Please be aware that some work is involved in porting this software to other
38 targets. It is not just a matter of getting `make' to complete without
39 error messages. I would have written the code that way if I could, but
40 there are fundamental differences between systems that can't be hidden.
41 You should not attempt to compile SoftFloat without first reading both
42 `SoftFloat.txt' and `SoftFloat-source.txt'.
45 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
48 SoftFloat was written by me, John R. Hauser. This work was made possible in
49 part by the International Computer Science Institute, located at Suite 600,
50 1947 Center Street, Berkeley, California 94704. Funding was partially
51 provided by the National Science Foundation under grant MIP-9311980. The
52 original version of this code was written as part of a project to build
53 a fixed-point vector processor in collaboration with the University of
54 California at Berkeley, overseen by Profs. Nelson Morgan and John Wawrzynek.
56 THIS SOFTWARE IS DISTRIBUTED AS IS, FOR FREE. Although reasonable effort
57 has been made to avoid it, THIS SOFTWARE MAY CONTAIN FAULTS THAT WILL AT
58 TIMES RESULT IN INCORRECT BEHAVIOR. USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS RESTRICTED TO
59 PERSONS AND ORGANIZATIONS WHO CAN AND WILL TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL
60 LOSSES, COSTS, OR OTHER PROBLEMS THEY INCUR DUE TO THE SOFTWARE, AND WHO
61 FURTHERMORE EFFECTIVELY INDEMNIFY JOHN HAUSER AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER
62 SCIENCE INSTITUTE (possibly via similar legal warning) AGAINST ALL LOSSES,
63 COSTS, OR OTHER PROBLEMS INCURRED BY THEIR CUSTOMERS AND CLIENTS DUE TO THE
66 Derivative works are acceptable, even for commercial purposes, provided
67 that the minimal documentation requirements stated in the source code are
71 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
74 At the time of this writing, the most up-to-date information about
75 SoftFloat and the latest release can be found at the Web page `http://
76 www.cs.berkeley.edu/~jhauser/arithmetic/SoftFloat.html'.