Mixing hard and soft floating point?

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Joakim Tjernlund,

In message <OFEFBDE7C9.DA9D5B8B-ONC1257653.003E3DC6-C1257653.003F0B37 at transmode.se> you wrote:
>
> > If the application is really using FP instructions a lot, then there
> > is a huge difference between using soft-float and MATH_EMU; I
> > remember test cases where soft-float was faster by factors of
> > 500...1000.
> 
> Ouch, I had no idea that it could be that much.

Well, consider really simple operations, like FP add or similar, and
compare the library code for the soft-FP implementationagainst the
cost for a trap into the kernel. Or even worse - a consider simple
assignment ("float x, foo; x = foo"); with soft-float: "lis 9,x at ha;
stw 3,x at l(9)" = 2 instructions, with MATH_EMU "lis 9,x at ha; stfs
1,x at l(9)" = 1 insn plus a kernel trap.

For real numbers, run a benchmark that models your real use case.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

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