4-bit floating point FP4

Re:4-bit floating point FP4 by nomel on Sunday April 19, 2026 @12:07AM (#47821716)

Lowest I've used is 8 bit floats for time delays, in embedded devices.

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Re:4-bit floating point FP4 by the__alchemist on Sunday April 19, 2026 @08:25AM (#47823791)

Interesting! I have been using integers or f32 for that. What was the use case specifically? Did you write a software float for it? I remember writing a `f16` type for an IC that used that was a pain!

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Re:4-bit floating point FP4 by nomel on Monday April 20, 2026 @09:46AM (#47834267)

Tight memory constraint. I was putting configuration somewhere it shouldn't have been, but it meant we didn't need to buy an extra chip.

Yes, purely software.

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