A variable-precision interval arithmetic processor

This paper presents a special-purpose processor which implements variable-precision, interval arithmetic. Variable-precision arithmetic allows the precision of the computation to be specified, based on the problem to be solved and the required accuracy of the computation. Interval arithmetic produces two values for each result, such that the true result is guaranteed to be between the two values. The distance between the two values gives an upper bound on the error. Direct hardware support for variable-precision, interval arithmetic greatly improves the accuracy of the computation, and is much faster than existing software methods for controlling numerical error. Area and delay estimates indicate that the processor can be implemented on a single chip with a cycle time which is comparable to existing IEEE double-precision floating point processors. For computationally intensive problems, an application-specific array of variable-precision, interval arithmetic processors can execute in parallel to provide high-performance and numerically reliable results