Floating point unit for detecting and representing inexact computations without flags or traps

A computer-readable medium on which is stored a set of instructions for performing a rounding step of a floating point computation on at least one floating point operand to preserve an inexact status, which when executed performs steps comprising:

• determining whether the at least one operand is inexact;
• determining whether the intermediate result of a floating point computation is inexact;
• and
• rounding the intermediate result based on whether the at least one operand is inexact and whether the intermediate result is inexact to preserve an inexact status of the at least one operand and the intermediate result.

A system for performing a rounding step of a floating point computation on at least one floating point operand to preserve an inexact status, the system comprising:

• first determining means for determining whether the at least one operand is inexact;
• second determining means for determining whether an intermediate result of a floating point computation is inexact;
• and
• rounding means for rounding the intermediate result based on whether the at least one operand is inexact and whether the intermediate result is inexact to preserve an inexact status of the at least one operand and the intermediate result.