Limited float precision and infinitely harmonic signal generation problem - c++

Question

Suppose we need to generate a very long harmonic signal, ideally infinitely long. At first glance, the solution seems trivial:
Sample1:
float t = 0;
while (runned)
{
float v = sinf(w * t);
t += dt;
}
Unfortunately, this is a non-working solution. For t >> dt due to limited float precision incorrect values will be obtained. Fortunately we can call to mind that sin(2*PI* n + x) = sin(x) where n - arbitrary integer value, therefore modifying the example is not difficult to get an "infinite" analog
Sample2:
float t = 0;
float tau = 2 * M_PI / w;
while (runned)
{
float v = sinf(w * t);
t += dt;
if (t > tau) t -= tau;
}
For one physical simulation, I needed to get an infinite signal, which is the sum of harmonic signals, like that:
Sample3:
float getSignal(float x)
{
float ret = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < modNum; i++)
ret += sin(w[i] * x);
return ret;
}
float t = 0;
while (runned)
{
float v = getSignal(t);
t += dt;
}
In this form, the code does not work correctly for large t, for similar reasons for the Sample1. The question is - how to get an "infinite" implementation of the Sample3 algorithm? I assume that the solution should looks like an Sample2. A very important note - generally speaking, w[i] is arbitrary and not harmonics, that is, all frequencies are not multiples of some base frequency, so i can't find common tau. Using types with greater precission (double, long double) is not allowed.
Thanks for your advice!

Answer 1

You can choose an arbitrary tau and store the phase reminders for each mod when subtracting it from t (as #Damien suggested in the comments).
Also, representing the time as t = dt * it where it is an integer can improve numerical stability (i think).
Maybe something like this:
int ndt = 1000; // accumulate phase every 1000 steps for example
float tau = dt * ndt;
std::vector<float> phases(modNum, 0.0f);
int it = 0;
float t = 0.0f;
while (runned)
{
t = dt * it;
float v = 0.0f;
for (int i = 0; i < modNum; i++)
{
v += sinf(w[i] * t + phases[i]);
}
if (++it >= ndt)
{
it = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < modNum; ++i)
{
phases[i] = fmod(w[i] * tau + phases[i], 2 * M_PI);
}
}
}