COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN RISC-V

Edition
The Hardware/Software Interface

Chapter 3
Arithmetic for Computers
 §3.1 Introduction
Arithmetic for Computers
 Operations on integers
 Addition and subtraction
 Multiplication and division
 Dealing with overflow
 Floating-point real numbers
 Representation and operations

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 2

 §3.2 Addition and Subtraction
Integer Addition
 Example: 7 + 6

 Overflow if result out of range

 Adding +ve and –ve operands, no overflow
 Adding two +ve operands
 Overflow if result sign is 1
 Adding two –ve operands
 Overflow if result sign is 0

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 3

Integer Subtraction
 Add negation of second operand
 Example: 7 – 6 = 7 + (–6)
+7: 0000 0000 … 0000 0111
–6: 1111 1111 … 1111 1010
+1: 0000 0000 … 0000 0001
 Overflow if result out of range
 Subtracting two +ve or two –ve operands, no overflow
 Subtracting +ve from –ve operand
 Overflow if result sign is 0
 Subtracting –ve from +ve operand
 Overflow if result sign is 1

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 4

Arithmetic for Multimedia
 Graphics and media processing operates
on vectors of 8-bit and 16-bit data
 Use 64-bit adder, with partitioned carry chain
 Operate on 8×8-bit, 4×16-bit, or 2×32-bit vectors
 SIMD (single-instruction, multiple-data)
 Saturating operations
 On overflow, result is largest representable
value
 c.f. 2s-complement modulo arithmetic
 E.g., clipping in audio, saturation in video
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 5
 §3.3 Multiplication
Multiplication
 Start with long-multiplication approach
multiplicand
1000
multiplier
× 1001
1000
0000
0000
1000
product 1001000

Length of product is
the sum of operand
lengths

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 6

Multiplication Hardware

Initially 0

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 7

Optimized Multiplier
 Perform steps in parallel: add/shift

 One cycle per partial-product addition

 That’s ok, if frequency of multiplications is low
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 8
Faster Multiplier
 Uses multiple adders
 Cost/performance tradeoff

 Can be pipelined
 Several multiplication performed in parallel
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 9
RISC-V Multiplication
 Four multiply instructions:
 mul: multiply
 Gives the lower 64 bits of the product
 mulh: multiply high
 Gives the upper 64 bits of the product, assuming the
operands are signed
 mulhu: multiply high unsigned
 Gives the upper 64 bits of the product, assuming the
operands are unsigned
 mulhsu: multiply high signed/unsigned
 Gives the upper 64 bits of the product, assuming one
operand is signed and the other unsigned
 Use mulh result to check for 64-bit overflow
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 10
 §3.4 Division
Division
 Check for 0 divisor
 Long division approach
quotient  If divisor ≤ dividend bits
dividend  1 bit in quotient, subtract
1001  Otherwise
1000 1001010  0 bit in quotient, bring down next
-1000 dividend bit
divisor
10  Restoring division
101  Do the subtract, and if remainder
1010 goes < 0, add divisor back
-1000  Signed division
remainder 10
 Divide using absolute values
 Adjust sign of quotient and remainder
n-bit operands yield n-bit as required
quotient and remainder

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 11

Division Hardware
Initially divisor
in left half

Initially dividend

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 12

Optimized Divider

 One cycle per partial-remainder subtraction

 Looks a lot like a multiplier!
 Same hardware can be used for both

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 13

Faster Division
 Can’t use parallel hardware as in multiplier
 Subtraction is conditional on sign of remainder
 Faster dividers (e.g. SRT devision)
generate multiple quotient bits per step
 Still require multiple steps

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 14

RISC-V Division
 Four instructions:
 div, rem: signed divide, remainder
 divu, remu: unsigned divide, remainder

 Overflow and division-by-zero don’t

produce errors
 Just return defined results
 Faster for the common case of no error

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 15

 §3.5 Floating Point
Floating Point
 Representation for non-integral numbers
 Including very small and very large numbers
 Like scientific notation
 –2.34 × 1056 normalized

 +0.002 × 10–4 not normalized

 +987.02 × 109
 In binary
 ±1.xxxxxxx2 × 2yyyy
 Types float and double in C
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 16
Floating Point Standard
 Defined by IEEE Std 754-1985
 Developed in response to divergence of
representations
 Portability issues for scientific code
 Now almost universally adopted
 Two representations
 Single precision (32-bit)
 Double precision (64-bit)

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 17

IEEE Floating-Point Format
single: 8 bits single: 23 bits
double: 11 bits double: 52 bits
S Exponent Fraction

x  ( 1)S  (1 Fraction)  2(Exponent Bias)

 S: sign bit (0  non-negative, 1  negative)

 Normalize significand: 1.0 ≤ |significand| < 2.0
 Always has a leading pre-binary-point 1 bit, so no need to
represent it explicitly (hidden bit)
 Significand is Fraction with the “1.” restored
 Exponent: excess representation: actual exponent + Bias
 Ensures exponent is unsigned
 Single: Bias = 127; Double: Bias = 1203

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 18

Single-Precision Range
 Exponents 00000000 and 11111111 reserved
 Smallest value
 Exponent: 00000001
 actual exponent = 1 – 127 = –126
 Fraction: 000…00  significand = 1.0
 ±1.0 × 2–126 ≈ ±1.2 × 10–38
 Largest value
 exponent: 11111110
 actual exponent = 254 – 127 = +127
 Fraction: 111…11  significand ≈ 2.0
 ±2.0 × 2+127 ≈ ±3.4 × 10+38

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 19

Double-Precision Range
 Exponents 0000…00 and 1111…11 reserved
 Smallest value
 Exponent: 00000000001
 actual exponent = 1 – 1023 = –1022
 Fraction: 000…00  significand = 1.0
 ±1.0 × 2–1022 ≈ ±2.2 × 10–308
 Largest value
 Exponent: 11111111110
 actual exponent = 2046 – 1023 = +1023
 Fraction: 111…11  significand ≈ 2.0
 ±2.0 × 2+1023 ≈ ±1.8 × 10+308

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 20

Floating-Point Precision
 Relative precision
 all fraction bits are significant
 Single: approx 2–23
 Equivalent to 23 × log102 ≈ 23 × 0.3 ≈ 6 decimal
digits of precision
 Double: approx 2–52
 Equivalent to 52 × log102 ≈ 52 × 0.3 ≈ 16 decimal
digits of precision

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 21

Floating-Point Example
 Represent –0.75
 –0.75 = (–1)1 × 1.12 × 2–1
 S=1
 Fraction = 1000…002
 Exponent = –1 + Bias
 Single: –1 + 127 = 126 = 011111102
 Double: –1 + 1023 = 1022 = 011111111102
 Single: 1011111101000…00
 Double: 1011111111101000…00

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 22

Floating-Point Example
 What number is represented by the single-
precision float
11000000101000…00
 S=1
 Fraction = 01000…002
 Fxponent = 100000012 = 129
 x = (–1)1 × (1 + 012) × 2(129 – 127)
= (–1) × 1.25 × 22
= –5.0

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 23

Denormal Numbers
 Exponent = 000...0  hidden bit is 0
x  (1)S  (0  Fraction)  2Bias
 Smaller than normal numbers
 allow for gradual underflow, with
diminishing precision

 Denormal with fraction = 000...0

x  ( 1)S  (0  0)  2Bias  0.0
Two representations
of 0.0!

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 24

Infinities and NaNs
 Exponent = 111...1, Fraction = 000...0
 ±Infinity
 Can be used in subsequent calculations,
avoiding need for overflow check
 Exponent = 111...1, Fraction ≠ 000...0
 Not-a-Number (NaN)
 Indicates illegal or undefined result
 e.g., 0.0 / 0.0
 Can be used in subsequent calculations

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 25

Floating-Point Addition
 Consider a 4-digit decimal example
 9.999 × 101 + 1.610 × 10–1
 1. Align decimal points
 Shift number with smaller exponent
 9.999 × 101 + 0.016 × 101
 2. Add significands
 9.999 × 101 + 0.016 × 101 = 10.015 × 101
 3. Normalize result & check for over/underflow
 1.0015 × 102
 4. Round and renormalize if necessary
 1.002 × 102

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 26

Floating-Point Addition
 Now consider a 4-digit binary example
 1.0002 × 2–1 + –1.1102 × 2–2 (0.5 + –0.4375)
 1. Align binary points
 Shift number with smaller exponent
 1.0002 × 2–1 + –0.1112 × 2–1
 2. Add significands
 1.0002 × 2–1 + –0.1112 × 2–1 = 0.0012 × 2–1
 3. Normalize result & check for over/underflow
 1.0002 × 2–4, with no over/underflow
 4. Round and renormalize if necessary
 1.0002 × 2–4 (no change) = 0.0625

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 27

FP Adder Hardware
 Much more complex than integer adder
 Doing it in one clock cycle would take too
long
 Much longer than integer operations
 Slower clock would penalize all instructions
 FP adder usually takes several cycles
 Can be pipelined

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 28

FP Adder Hardware

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 29

Floating-Point Multiplication
 Consider a 4-digit decimal example
 1.110 × 1010 × 9.200 × 10–5
 1. Add exponents
 For biased exponents, subtract bias from sum
 New exponent = 10 + –5 = 5
 2. Multiply significands
 1.110 × 9.200 = 10.212  10.212 × 105
 3. Normalize result & check for over/underflow
 1.0212 × 106
 4. Round and renormalize if necessary
 1.021 × 106
 5. Determine sign of result from signs of operands
 +1.021 × 106

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 30

Floating-Point Multiplication
 Now consider a 4-digit binary example
 1.0002 × 2–1 × –1.1102 × 2–2 (0.5 × –0.4375)
 1. Add exponents
 Unbiased: –1 + –2 = –3
 Biased: (–1 + 127) + (–2 + 127) = –3 + 254 – 127 = –3 + 127
 2. Multiply significands
 1.0002 × 1.1102 = 1.1102  1.1102 × 2–3
 3. Normalize result & check for over/underflow
 1.1102 × 2–3 (no change) with no over/underflow
 4. Round and renormalize if necessary
 1.1102 × 2–3 (no change)
 5. Determine sign: +ve × –ve  –ve
 –1.1102 × 2–3 = –0.21875

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 31

FP Arithmetic Hardware
 FP multiplier is of similar complexity to FP
adder
 But uses a multiplier for significands instead of
an adder
 FP arithmetic hardware usually does
 Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division,
reciprocal, square-root
 FP  integer conversion
 Operations usually takes several cycles
 Can be pipelined

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 32

FP Instructions in RISC-V
 Separate FP registers: f0, …, f31
 double-precision
 single-precision values stored in the lower 32 bits
 FP instructions operate only on FP registers
 Programs generally don’t do integer ops on FP data,
or vice versa
 More registers with minimal code-size impact
 FP load and store instructions
 flw, fld
 fsw, fsd

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 33

FP Instructions in RISC-V
 Single-precision arithmetic
 fadd.s, fsub.s, fmul.s, fdiv.s, fsqrt.s
 e.g., fadds.s f2, f4, f6
 Double-precision arithmetic
 fadd.d, fsub.d, fmul.d, fdiv.d, fsqrt.d
 e.g., fadd.d f2, f4, f6
 Single- and double-precision comparison
 feq.s, flt.s, fle.s
 feq.d, flt.d, fle.d
 Result is 0 or 1 in integer destination register
 Use beq, bne to branch on comparison result

 Branch on FP condition code true or false

 B.cond
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 34
FP Example: °F to °C
 C code:
float f2c (float fahr) {
return ((5.0/9.0)*(fahr - 32.0));
}
 fahr in f10, result in f10, literals in global memory
space
 Compiled RISC-V code:
f2c:
flw f0,const5(x3) // f0 = 5.0f
flw f1,const9(x3) // f1 = 9.0f
fdiv.s f0, f0, f1 // f0 = 5.0f / 9.0f
flw f1,const32(x3) // f1 = 32.0f
fsub.s f10,f10,f1 // f10 = fahr – 32.0
fmul.s f10,f0,f10 // f10 = (5.0f/9.0f) * (fahr–32.0f)
jalr x0,0(x1) // return

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 35

FP Example: Array Multiplication
 C=C+A×B
 All 32 × 32 matrices, 64-bit double-precision elements
 C code:
void mm (double c[][],
double a[][], double b[][]) {
size_t i, j, k;
for (i = 0; i < 32; i = i + 1)
for (j = 0; j < 32; j = j + 1)
for (k = 0; k < 32; k = k + 1)
c[i][j] = c[i][j]
+ a[i][k] * b[k][j];
}
 Addresses of c, a, b in x10, x11, x12, and
i, j, k in x5, x6, x7
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 36
FP Example: Array Multiplication
 RISC-V code:
mm:...
li x28,32 // x28 = 32 (row size/loop end)
li x5,0 // i = 0; initialize 1st for loop
L1: li x6,0 // j = 0; initialize 2nd for loop
L2: li x7,0 // k = 0; initialize 3rd for loop
slli x30,x5,5 // x30 = i * 2**5 (size of row of c)
add x30,x30,x6 // x30 = i * size(row) + j
slli x30,x30,3 // x30 = byte offset of [i][j]
add x30,x10,x30 // x30 = byte address of c[i][j]
fld f0,0(x30) // f0 = c[i][j]
L3: slli x29,x7,5 // x29 = k * 2**5 (size of row of b)
add x29,x29,x6 // x29 = k * size(row) + j
slli x29,x29,3 // x29 = byte offset of [k][j]
add x29,x12,x29 // x29 = byte address of b[k][j]
fld f1,0(x29) // f1 = b[k][j]

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 37

FP Example: Array Multiplication
…
slli x29,x5,5 // x29 = i * 2**5 (size of row of a)
add x29,x29,x7 // x29 = i * size(row) + k
slli x29,x29,3 // x29 = byte offset of [i][k]
add x29,x11,x29 // x29 = byte address of a[i][k]
fld f2,0(x29) // f2 = a[i][k]
fmul.d f1, f2, f1 // f1 = a[i][k] * b[k][j]
fadd.d f0, f0, f1 // f0 = c[i][j] + a[i][k] * b[k][j]
addi x7,x7,1 // k = k + 1
bltu x7,x28,L3 // if (k < 32) go to L3
fsd f0,0(x30) // c[i][j] = f0
addi x6,x6,1 // j = j + 1
bltu x6,x28,L2 // if (j < 32) go to L2
addi x5,x5,1 // i = i + 1
bltu x5,x28,L1 // if (i < 32) go to L1

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 38

Accurate Arithmetic
 IEEE Std 754 specifies additional rounding
control
 Extra bits of precision (guard, round, sticky)
 Choice of rounding modes
 Allows programmer to fine-tune numerical behavior of
a computation
 Not all FP units implement all options
 Most programming languages and FP libraries just
use defaults
 Trade-off between hardware complexity,
performance, and market requirements

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 39

 §3.6 Parallelism and Computer Arithmetic: Subword Parallelism
Subword Parallellism
 Graphics and audio applications can take
advantage of performing simultaneous
operations on short vectors
 Example: 128-bit adder:
 Sixteen 8-bit adds
 Eight 16-bit adds
 Four 32-bit adds
 Also called data-level parallelism, vector
parallelism, or Single Instruction, Multiple
Data (SIMD)
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 40
 §3.7 Real Stuff: Streaming SIMD Extensions and AVX in x86
x86 FP Architecture
 Originally based on 8087 FP coprocessor
 8 × 80-bit extended-precision registers
 Used as a push-down stack
 Registers indexed from TOS: ST(0), ST(1), …
 FP values are 32-bit or 64 in memory
 Converted on load/store of memory operand
 Integer operands can also be converted
on load/store
 Very difficult to generate and optimize code
 Result: poor FP performance

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 41

x86 FP Instructions
Data transfer Arithmetic Compare Transcendental
FILD mem/ST(i) FIADDP mem/ST(i) FICOMP FPATAN
FISTP mem/ST(i) FISUBRP mem/ST(i) FIUCOMP F2XMI
FLDPI FIMULP mem/ST(i) FSTSW AX/mem FCOS
FLD1 FIDIVRP mem/ST(i) FPTAN
FLDZ FSQRT FPREM
FABS FPSIN
FRNDINT FYL2X

 Optional variations
 I: integer operand
 P: pop operand from stack
 R: reverse operand order
 But not all combinations allowed

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 42

Streaming SIMD Extension 2 (SSE2)
 Adds 4 × 128-bit registers
 Extended to 8 registers in AMD64/EM64T
 Can be used for multiple FP operands
 2 × 64-bit double precision
 4 × 32-bit double precision
 Instructions operate on them simultaneously
 Single-Instruction Multiple-Data

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 43

 §3.8 Going Faster: Subword Parallelism and Matrix Multiply
Matrix Multiply
 Unoptimized code:

1. void dgemm (int n, double* A, double* B, double* C)

2. {
3. for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i)
4. for (int j = 0; j < n; ++j)
5. {
6. double cij = C[i+j*n]; /* cij = C[i][j] */
7. for(int k = 0; k < n; k++ )
8. cij += A[i+k*n] * B[k+j*n]; /* cij += A[i][k]*B[k][j] */
9. C[i+j*n] = cij; /* C[i][j] = cij */
10. }
11. }

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 44

Matrix Multiply
 x86 assembly code:
1. vmovsd (%r10),%xmm0 # Load 1 element of C into %xmm0
2. mov %rsi,%rcx # register %rcx = %rsi
3. xor %eax,%eax # register %eax = 0
4. vmovsd (%rcx),%xmm1 # Load 1 element of B into %xmm1
5. add %r9,%rcx # register %rcx = %rcx + %r9
6. vmulsd (%r8,%rax,8),%xmm1,%xmm1 # Multiply %xmm1,
element of A
7. add $0x1,%rax # register %rax = %rax + 1
8. cmp %eax,%edi # compare %eax to %edi
9. vaddsd %xmm1,%xmm0,%xmm0 # Add %xmm1, %xmm0
10. jg 30 <dgemm+0x30> # jump if %eax > %edi
11. add $0x1,%r11d # register %r11 = %r11 + 1
12. vmovsd %xmm0,(%r10) # Store %xmm0 into C element

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 45

Matrix Multiply
 Optimized C code:
1. #include <x86intrin.h>
2. void dgemm (int n, double* A, double* B, double* C)
3. {
4. for ( int i = 0; i < n; i+=4 )
5. for ( int j = 0; j < n; j++ ) {
6. __m256d c0 = _mm256_load_pd(C+i+j*n); /* c0 = C[i][j]
*/
7. for( int k = 0; k < n; k++ )
8. c0 = _mm256_add_pd(c0, /* c0 += A[i][k]*B[k][j] */
9. _mm256_mul_pd(_mm256_load_pd(A+i+k*n),
10. _mm256_broadcast_sd(B+k+j*n)));
11. _mm256_store_pd(C+i+j*n, c0); /* C[i][j] = c0 */
12. }
13. }

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 46

Matrix Multiply
 Optimized x86 assembly code:
1. vmovapd (%r11),%ymm0 # Load 4 elements of C into %ymm0
2. mov %rbx,%rcx # register %rcx = %rbx
3. xor %eax,%eax # register %eax = 0
4. vbroadcastsd (%rax,%r8,1),%ymm1 # Make 4 copies of B element
5. add $0x8,%rax # register %rax = %rax + 8
6. vmulpd (%rcx),%ymm1,%ymm1 # Parallel mul %ymm1,4 A elements
7. add %r9,%rcx # register %rcx = %rcx + %r9
8. cmp %r10,%rax # compare %r10 to %rax
9. vaddpd %ymm1,%ymm0,%ymm0 # Parallel add %ymm1, %ymm0
10. jne 50 <dgemm+0x50> # jump if not %r10 != %rax
11. add $0x1,%esi # register % esi = % esi + 1
12. vmovapd %ymm0,(%r11) # Store %ymm0 into 4 C elements

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 47

 §3.9 Fallacies and Pitfalls
Right Shift and Division
 Left shift by i places multiplies an integer
by 2i
 Right shift divides by 2i?
 Only for unsigned integers
 For signed integers
 Arithmetic right shift: replicate the sign bit
 e.g., –5 / 4
 111110112 >> 2 = 111111102 = –2
 Rounds toward –∞
 c.f. 111110112 >>> 2 = 001111102 = +62

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 48

Associativity
 Parallel programs may interleave
operations in unexpected orders
 Assumptions of associativity may fail
(x+y)+z x+(y+z)
x -1.50E+38 -1.50E+38
y 1.50E+38 0.00E+00
z 1.0 1.0 1.50E+38
1.00E+00 0.00E+00

 Need to validate parallel programs under

varying degrees of parallelism
Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 49
Who Cares About FP Accuracy?
 Important for scientific code
 But for everyday consumer use?
 “My bank balance is out by 0.0002¢!” 

 The Intel Pentium FDIV bug

 The market expects accuracy
 See Colwell, The Pentium Chronicles

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 50

 §3.10 Concluding Remarks
Concluding Remarks
 Bits have no inherent meaning
 Interpretation depends on the instructions
applied

 Computer representations of numbers

 Finite range and precision
 Need to account for this in programs

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 51

Concluding Remarks
 ISAs support arithmetic
 Signed and unsigned integers
 Floating-point approximation to reals

 Bounded range and precision

 Operations can overflow and underflow

Chapter 3 — Arithmetic for Computers — 52