Basic Operations in an Unnormalized Arithmetic System

A particular set of unnormalized arithmetic operations termed ``basic´´ are described, in the context of the University of Chicago Maniac III Computer. Each basic operation involves three operand words and generates two result words, all in unnormalized floating point format. The use of these operations in the implementation of multi-precision arithmetic is explained; in particular, it is demonstrated that multiprecision division can be effected in a nontentative manner with their aid.