Re: Balance
On Sat, 15 Nov 2008, Ulrich Kulisch wrote:
I am deeply convinced that a future interval arithmetic standard must require
hardware support for interval arithmetic. If we do not explicitely require
this we will not get it. If we don't get hardware support for interval
arithmetic large interval computations will get lost in case selections for
multiplications and divisions and in simulations of the rounding mode. There
is no similar situation to be compared with in floating-point arithmetic. In
a letter to IEEE 754R the IFIP Working Group 2.5 on Numerical Software also
has required hardware support fo interval airhtmetic. I attach a copy of that
letter to this mail.
Dear Professor Kulisch,
It has been made abundantly clear to the P1788 officers by IEEE officials
that we _cannot_ mandate hardware implementation in an IEEE standard.
If we attempt to do this, then our standard _will_ be rejected at the
review stage, and P1788 will have achieved _nothing_.
Is that clear?
Personally, I'd have liked to have seen mandatory hardware, but that is
not an option available to us within the current process.
Cordially yours,
David Lester