Specification of hardware for interval arithmetic

Interval arithmetic, as it is standardized by the IEEE working group P1788 can be implemented by using floating point arithmetic units with directed rounding modes. The easiest way to represent an interval is by its two bounds. Simple formulas for the arithmetic operations can be applied. Our goal is to perform interval operations as fast as their floating point counterparts. Hence, we provide at least two units per operation. We also specify the operation for reverse multiplication (Neumaier in Vienna proposal for interval standardization, 2008) which can be implemented with the division unit. In this paper we do not care about optimization. Our primary intention is to give an easily understandable specification of hardware for interval arithmetic.