Subject:
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Re: Mechanical Memory for Computing
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Thu, 26 Jun 2003 06:03:37 GMT
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Viewed:
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460 times
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> > > The 4-bit byte is a function of #12 axles being the longest available, but
> > > the design is extendable to link multiple bytes together into longer length
> > > words.
> >
> > Question:
> > Why are you calling 4 bits a byte? 4 bits is a nibble, while 8 bits would be a
> > byte. Obviously the design can be extended to 8 bits like you mentioned. They
> > you would have your byte.
>
> Actually a byte is whatever you define it to be - a nibble is generally half a
> byte, and a word is generally 2 bytes. I haven't seen a machine using 4 bit
> bytes, but I've seen 8, 16, 32 and 64. And I'm sure there are other weird ones
> floating around ;)
I didn't know there was an off-topic.geek group, but I agree that's where this
should go. :)
I'd be interested in seeing hardware that defines a byte other then 8 bits. I
don't know if there is some programming language that redefines a byte, but I
haven't seen that in hardware.
I will say that a "word" can vary in the number of bits. It's usually
architecture specific.
Michael
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