What is a maths coprocessor?
The maths coprocessor goes by several names, the coprocessor, the maths coprocessor, the floating point processor and the NPX (Numerical Processor Extension). The processor can only directly work with whole integer numbers. Maths functions perform calculations on numbers in non-integer format, so Intel introduced the Maths coprocessor, capable of performing numeric operations 20 to 100 times faster than the equivalent software routines using integer arithmetic processors. The rend is to have the maths coprocessor integrated on the same chip as the integer processor. In the past Intel based computers were slow compared to RISC workstations, but since the release of the Pentium processor Intel redesigned the structure and functions, so performance is 5 to 10 times that of 80486 processors and competitive with RISC workstations. The maths coprocessor is also capable of handling integers packed numeric data. The maths coprocessor can output data in several formats, internally all data is represented as temporary real numbers, a standard 80 bit format. To software, the coprocessor appears as additional registers, data types and instructions. The coprocessor has a number of embedded constants such as PI, Sine, Cosine, Tangent and arithmetic functions in addition to add and subtract.
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