Re: LZ: Info about processor in Ti-85 re
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> On Fri, 18 Oct 1996 20:06:28, -0500, you wrote:
>
> >>> > Also what is the word size of this processor? 8-bit?
> >>>Memory addresses are 16-bit
> >>Yes I know it has 16 bit addressing. But what is its word size?
> >>The address size is not always the same as the word size.
> >True. You need to know: A WORD is always two (2) bytes, or sixteen
> >(16) bits. A BYTE is always eight (8) bits.
>
> Actually, a word isn't always 16 bits. All the new 32 bit processors
> (which include 32 bit OS's and languages such as Java and newer C++
> stuff) all define a word as 32 bits. I think some of the new risc
> processors (dec alpha?) define a word as 64 bits! With superscaler
> design (like in the pentium pro), a 1 word instruction can be broken
> up into over 60 microinstructions in a single clock cycle, so word
> size doesn't mean anything anymore, except to the programmer.
>
> The only thing that's constant is that a BYTE is 8 BITS, which is 2
> NIBBLES. For the sake of argument, up until about 10-15 years ago, a
> word was generally considered 16 bits.
the most used definition of a word (until recently) is the databus
size of the processor.. this obviously doesn't aplly to 8-bits
though...
Rob Taylor MAIL - mailto:rtaylor@ticalc.org
WEB - http://www.u-net.com/~rtaylor/
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