EXPONENT FLOW CHECKING

A technique for checking an exponent calculation for an execution unit that supports floating point operations includes generating, using a residue prediction circuit, a predicted exponent residue for a result exponent of a floating point operation. The technique also includes generating, using an exponent calculation circuit, the result exponent for the floating point operation and generating, using the residue prediction circuit, a result exponent residue for the result exponent. Finally, the technique includes comparing the predicted exponent residue to the result exponent residue to determine whether the result exponent generated by the exponent calculation circuit is correct and, if not, signaling an error.