Tech article
Microcode in Intel's 8087 floating-point chip: the scale instruction
No preview is available. Read the original article for the full story.
Hacker News | Sep 12, 2026 | pwg
Automated excerpt
The 8087 implemented its instructions in complex low-level code called microcode. Each register holds an 80-bit floating-point number. A "normal" floating-point value is tagged as valid. If the floating-point value is infinity, Not a Number (NaN), or a denormalized value, then it is tagged as special. However, the 8087 uses three extra low-order bits for rounding, called Guard, Round, and Sticky.
Selected automatically from source text; not independently written or fact-checked. Read the original for full context.