Under "Related Art" says:

> In an effort to unify methods employed in computer systems for performing binary floating-point arithmetic, the IEEE in the early 1980's standardized computer floating-point numbers. > [...] > In reshaping the IEEE format, the present invention retains most of its benefits while offering the microprocessor designer and the real-time programmer a much cleaner and more efficient implementation.

For what I understand, is an extension of the IEEE standard.

Thanks.

But this is still perplexing: Surely, Linux just uses IEEE754 floating point, which predates this patent by 15 years?

You would be surprised by the sheer number of idiotic patents out in the wild.

a good sample - http://patently-useless.tumblr.com/