sub parse_E ($) {
    my $data = shift;

    my $databs = unpack ("B32", $data);
    
    my $sign   		= oct ("0b" . substr ($databs, 0, 1)) ? -1 : 1;
    my $characteristic  = oct ("0b" . substr ($databs, 1, 7)) - 64;
    my $exponent	= 16 ** $characteristic;
    my $fraction  	= oct ("0b" . substr ($databs, 8, 24)) / 0xffffff; 
    my $num 	= $sign * $fraction * $exponent;

    return $num;
}