Patent ID: 8484262

Claim:
In a computational device, a method for determining a rate of growth of a number of digits in a word for storing a result of a series of arithmetic operations with fixed-point numbers, the method comprising: providing, in a fixed-point algorithm development environment, a parameter tracking a number of arithmetic operations performed in the series of arithmetic operations, where the fixed-point algorithm development environment is provided on a processor; providing, in the fixed-point algorithm development environment, a word having one or more digits; performing, in the fixed-point algorithm development environment, the series of arithmetic operations with fixed-point numbers that successively generate a result stored in the word, the parameter incremented with a performed operation; calculating, in the fixed-point algorithm development environment, during performance of the series of arithmetic operations, a growth rate for the number of digits in the word holding the result, where: the growth rate is a function of the number of performed arithmetic operations, and the growth rate is independent of a length of the fixed-point numbers; and increasing, during performance of the series of arithmetic operations in the fixed-point algorithm development environment, a size of the word holding the result based on the calculated growth rate, the increasing adding one or more digits to the word.