Re: sqrt in kernel?

Matti Aarnio (matti.aarnio@zmailer.org)
Mon, 21 May 2001 00:33:08 +0300


On Sun, May 20, 2001 at 04:33:20PM -0400, Robert M. Love wrote:
> hi,
>
> is there a sqrt function in the kernel? any other math functions?

No. (Assuming FP math sqrt function is your interest.)

If you do scaled integers (fractions, with 2^n denominator),
you can do newton iteration for sqrt nicely.

> i tried finding/grepping around, and found some various arch-specific
> stuff for fpu emulation... is there a general sqrt function? is there a
> single file to look through with the various math functions?

Yes. Userspace. ( <math.h> )

As a rule: NO FP MATH IS ALLOWED IN THE KERNEL!

Now the question: Why do you think you need FP math ?

If your case is non-fast-path, you may do complete
state save before, and restore after your FP code.

In some cases even the fast-paths carry FP/MMX code,
but those are cases where the save/restore overhead
becomes negligible for all of the other processing
that is going on.

> thanks,
> --
> Robert M. Love
> rml@ufl.edu
> rml@tech9.net

/Matti Aarnio
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