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runtime: fix softfloat64 add/sub for normal operands cancelling to subnormal#79965

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runtime: fix softfloat64 add/sub for normal operands cancelling to subnormal#79965
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omarsy:fix-softfloat64-subnormal-cancellation

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@omarsy omarsy commented Jun 11, 2026

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fpack64 returns a wrongly-scaled subnormal when fadd64/fsub64 produce a
heavily-cancelled mantissa: subtracting two near-equal, opposite-sign normal
operands yields a mant0 far below 1<<mantbits64 while exp0 is still a
normal-range exponent. The denormal branch resets to (mant0, exp0) and only
right-shifts to align to the subnormal exponent, but with exp0 above the
subnormal range that shift goes the wrong direction, so the result is the
un-normalized cancellation mantissa at the wrong scale rather than the correctly
rounded subnormal.

Re-normalize the mantissa (left-shift) before the alignment loop. This is a
no-op for already-normalized callers (fmul64/fdiv64/conversions), so they are
unaffected; only the cancellation case is corrected. fpack32 has the same
structure and is fixed for parity.

This only manifests on softfloat targets (e.g. GOMIPS=softfloat), which is why
it has gone unnoticed on hardware-float platforms. A randomized differential
check against hardware found the previous code wrong on >50% of normal pairs
that cancel into a subnormal; with this change those cases match hardware.

Fixes #79964

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This PR (HEAD: f92b8c0) has been imported to Gerrit for code review.

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…bnormal

fpack64 returns a wrongly-scaled subnormal when fadd64/fsub64 produce a
heavily-cancelled mantissa: subtracting two near-equal, opposite-sign
normal operands yields a mant0 far below 1<<mantbits64 while exp0 is
still a normal-range exponent. The denormal branch resets to (mant0,
exp0) and only right-shifts to align to the subnormal exponent, but with
exp0 above the subnormal range that shift goes the wrong direction, so
the result is the un-normalized cancellation mantissa at the wrong scale
rather than the correctly rounded subnormal.

Re-normalize the mantissa (left-shift) before the alignment loop. This
is a no-op for already-normalized callers (fmul64/fdiv64/conversions),
so they are unaffected; only the cancellation case is corrected. fpack32
has the same structure and is fixed for parity.

This only manifests on softfloat targets (e.g. GOMIPS=softfloat), which
is why it has gone unnoticed on hardware-float platforms. A randomized
differential check against hardware found the previous code wrong on
>50% of normal pairs that cancel into a subnormal; with this change
those cases match hardware.

Fixes golang#79964
@omarsy omarsy force-pushed the fix-softfloat64-subnormal-cancellation branch from f92b8c0 to 319d857 Compare June 11, 2026 19:30
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Message from Gopher Robot:

Patch Set 1:

(1 comment)


Please don’t reply on this GitHub thread. Visit golang.org/cl/789861.
After addressing review feedback, remember to publish your drafts!

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This PR (HEAD: 319d857) has been imported to Gerrit for code review.

Please visit Gerrit at https://go-review.googlesource.com/c/go/+/789861.

Important tips:

  • Don't comment on this PR. All discussion takes place in Gerrit.
  • You need a Gmail or other Google account to log in to Gerrit.
  • To change your code in response to feedback:
    • Push a new commit to the branch used by your GitHub PR.
    • A new "patch set" will then appear in Gerrit.
    • Respond to each comment by marking as Done in Gerrit if implemented as suggested. You can alternatively write a reply.
    • Critical: you must click the blue Reply button near the top to publish your Gerrit responses.
    • Multiple commits in the PR will be squashed by GerritBot.
  • The title and description of the GitHub PR are used to construct the final commit message.
    • Edit these as needed via the GitHub web interface (not via Gerrit or git).
    • You should word wrap the PR description at ~76 characters unless you need longer lines (e.g., for tables or URLs).
  • See the Sending a change via GitHub and Reviews sections of the Contribution Guide as well as the FAQ for details.

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Message from Gopher Robot:

Patch Set 1:

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runtime: softfloat64 fadd64/fsub64 produce incorrect result when normal operands cancel into a subnormal

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