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The Pros and Cons of Fixed Point and Floating Point

Historically, distributed systems have been difficult to implement in Automation applications. Yet demand is now growing for solutions that add intelligence without reducing legacy functionality - designs that enable features such as built-in diagnostics to detect ball bearing failures, complex circuit breakers that monitor the quality of incoming power, fast intelligent system resets, and even other safety and long-term functions. This presentation discusses ways to manage the trade-offs required for real-time control, system diagnostics, and market pressures for higher system performance. It shows that high-performance Floating Point Unit (FPU) based microcontrollers can solve these issues by removing the overhead for real-time calculations and providing the ability for complex self-testing at the sensor level. The session also examines the implementation savings and added functionality that can be achieved from incorporating an FPU into systems that use smart sensors.

Presented: 10/15/2008, 10:30 AM
Length: 60 Minutes

Course Material:

• Presentation

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