Fixed-point

1 definition found

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  fixed-point
       
           A number representation scheme where a number R
          is represented by an {integer} N such that R=N*B, where B is
          the (assumed) base of the representation.
       


          On computers with no {floating-point unit} fixed-point
          calculations can be significantly faster as all the operations
          are basically integer operations.  Apart from that,
          fixed-point representation has the advantage of having uniform
          density, i.e., the smallest resolvable difference of the
          representation is B throughout the representable range, in
          sharp contrast to {floating-point} representations.
       
          (1998-05-18)