And on a related subject: what is the best way to create an exponential signal ramp?
A simpler way to get a similar result is to range the output to [0-1], just as described before, but then just take a power of it. The higher the power, the sharper the curve. Then multiply the whole to your preferred range. In this case a range starting with 0 is possible, for it is not an exponential range as in the previous example.