Pair functions to convert a floating number to a single precision, double precision, or arbitrary size bit representation and convert a single, double or arbitrary size bit string back into a number.
This repository contains 2 Matlab functions:
float2binary.m converts a floating number to its binary string representation as a single precision, double precision or arbitrary size bit string.
binary2float.m converts a single precision, double precision or arbitrary size bit string back to a floating number.
Here are some use cases:
% pi as single precision (32 bits: 1 sign, 8 exponent, 23 mantissa):
>>float2binary(pi)
ans = '01000000010010010000111111011010'
% pi as double precision (64 bits: 1 sign, 11 exponent, 52 mantissa):
>>float2binary(pi,'d')
ans = '0100000000001001001000011111101101010100010001000010110100011000'
% pi as arbitrarily selected 10 bit exponent and 28 bit mantissa digits (+1 sign = 39 bits)
>>float2binary(pi, 10, 28)
ans = '010000000001001001000011111101101010100'
% convert single precision bit string back to a number
>>binary2float('01000000010010010000111111011010')
ans = 3.14159250259399
% convert double precision bit string back to a number
>>binary2float('0100000000001001001000011111101101010100010001000010110100011000', 'd')
ans = 3.14159265358979
% convert arbitrary size exponent and mantissa bit string back to a number
>>binary2float('010000000001001001000011111101101010100', 10, 28)
ans = 3.14159265160561