Patent ID: 8495114

Claim:
In a computational device, a method for determining attributes for results of arithmetic operations with fixed-point numbers, the method comprising: receiving an indication of a plurality of possible word lengths to be used for storing a plurality of digits representing a result of an arithmetic operation with fixed-point numbers; receiving a user input indicating how a placement of a radix point is to be determined in the plurality of digits representing the result of the arithmetic operation with fixed-point numbers, where: the received user input requests to place the radix point such that a level of precision of the result of the arithmetic operation is preserved, or the received user input requests to place the radix point such that overflow is prevented when storing the result of the arithmetic operation; and calculating a selected fixed-point arithmetic operation, the calculating including: employing, using the computational device, one of the word lengths in the plurality of possible word lengths for storing the plurality of digits representing a result of the selected fixed-point arithmetic operation, the employed one of the word lengths in the plurality of possible word lengths being selected based on the request included in the received indication, and determining the placement of the radix point in the plurality of digits representing the result of the selected fixed-point arithmetic operation based on the received user input.