Clive D.W. Feather wrote: >probability is that TAI-UTC will ever be negative? Should data structures >be designed to handle this case or not bother?
Data structures should certainly allow for the possibility, but in space-constrained cases can be optimised based on the understanding that it's relatively unlikely. If a fixed-size field is being designed, then the range of TAI-UTC values that it can accommodate can be made asymmetric, favouring positive values. An 8-bit field might reasonably be made to use excess-32 encoding, encompassing values [-32, 223], giving it a good chance of covering the next century's evolution of Earth rotation. (8 bits is minimal for that design objective; I'd press for more bits if possible.) A variable-length encoding can in principle cover all possible values, but could still benefit by making the representations of negative numbers longer than the representations of positive numbers. -zefram _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list [email protected] https://pairlist6.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
