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Reblogged by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
kenshirriff@oldbytes.space ("Ken Shirriff") wrote:
Intel's Pentium processor (1993) can compute sines, logarithms, and other special functions. To do this, it has a ROM with 304 floating-point constants. I reverse-engineered this ROM and extracted the constants. You can see pi in the ROM, binary 11.001001..., encoded in the transistor pattern. 1/n
Attachments:
- A diagram showing how pi is encoded in the Pentium chip. The Pentium has a ROM to hold constants in the lower right. Zooming in on the ROM shows how it holds exponents in the left and the signficand in the right. Zooming in more shows the individual transistors in the ROM. Eight bits are indicated with arrows, the binary bits that start pi. (remote)
