Sujet : Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond
De : mitchalsup (at) *nospam* aol.com (MitchAlsup1)
Groupes : comp.archDate : 02. May 2024, 20:23:59
Autres entêtes
Organisation : Rocksolid Light
Message-ID : <51b2e914d7f0d56ed34725722ffab24c@www.novabbs.org>
References : 1 2 3
User-Agent : Rocksolid Light
Terje Mathisen wrote:
MitchAlsup1 wrote:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
Byte addressing was invented by IBM for the System/360, introduced in 1964. At least as I understand it. Up to that time, and indeed for a long time after, machines had a “word length†which was the smallest addressable unit of memory. This could have a range of sizes,
e.g.
12 -- DEC PDP-5/8
18 -- DEC PDP-1/4/7/9
36 -- DEC PDP-6/10
60 -- CDC 6000-series
64 -- Cray
CDC had a number of machines with 12-bit times k words. k element
{1,2,3,5}
I’m sure there were also 24- and 48-bit machines. Note the popularity of numbers with a range of different integer divisors, including powers of both 2 and 3. The byte-addressable machines chucked away everything other than powers of 2, which was a step backwards in this respect. ;)
I would make the argument that 2^k was a step forward not backwards.
Perhaps another day...
I've seen the argument that e is the best base from an energy standpoint, with 2 and 3 being the two closest integer values.
If one wants to take a low-fan-out signal and drive a lot of loads
(high fan-out) then the lease energy way of doing this is an
exponentiating rate of e but often 3 (sometimes 4) were close enough.
(Meade-Conway)
Working with trits, encoded as -/0/+, would have been feasible, but binary provided much easier implementation. Base conversions are a bit messier when you use base3 as the machine representation, but you could have used 5 trits (243) to handle the US ASCII character set.
One gets 1 bit of storage with 2 tubes (or transistors) and the storage
for a stable trit reauires 4 tubes (lower storage per tube).
In retrospect I'm glad they decided on binary!
Binary self chose due to the medium (tubes and transistors).
Terje
Date | Sujet | # | | Auteur |
1 May 24 | Byte Addressability And Beyond | 590 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 431 | | John Levine |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 409 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | John Levine |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Levine |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Michael S |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 404 | | John Levine |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 382 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | John Levine |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | John Levine |
5 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 367 | | John Savard |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | MitchAlsup1 |
11 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Savard |
4 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 364 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
8 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 363 | | John Savard |
8 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
10 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | David Brown |
8 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 360 | | MitchAlsup1 |
8 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 359 | | John Levine |
8 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 357 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
9 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 356 | | John Levine |
10 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 354 | | David Brown |
10 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 353 | | Anton Ertl |
11 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 352 | | David Brown |
11 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 351 | | Anton Ertl |
11 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 158 | | David Brown |
11 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Anton Ertl |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 156 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 155 | | John Levine |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 154 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 153 | | John Levine |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 149 | | John Levine |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | MitchAlsup1 |
28 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 147 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
28 May 24 | Re: encoding conversion, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Levine |
28 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 145 | | Thomas Koenig |
29 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 137 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
29 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 136 | | Anton Ertl |
29 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 12 | | Stefan Monnier |
29 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 10 | | Stefan Monnier |
29 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | John Levine |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | George Neuner |
4 Jun 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | George Neuner |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 6 | | Anton Ertl |
4 Jun 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
4 Jun 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | Stefan Monnier |
7 Jun 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Terje Mathisen |
7 Jun 24 | Re: Character non-equivalence, was Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | John Levine |
9 Jun 24 | Re: Character non-equivalence, was Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 117 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 66 | | John Levine |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Stephen Fuld |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 22 | | Anton Ertl |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 21 | | Thomas Koenig |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 8 | | Michael S |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Thomas Koenig |
30 May 24 | Re: IBM architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 5 | | John Levine |
30 May 24 | Re: IBM architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | Michael S |
30 May 24 | Re: IBM architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Levine |
30 May 24 | Re: IBM architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | Thomas Koenig |
30 May 24 | Re: IBM architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Levine |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Anton Ertl |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Anton Ertl |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Levine |
30 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Thomas Koenig |
31 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 5 | | Terje Mathisen |
1 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | Thomas Koenig |
1 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Anton Ertl |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | John Levine |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Stefan Monnier |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | MitchAlsup1 |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lynn Wheeler |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Stefan Monnier |
31 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 42 | | John Savard |
31 May 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 41 | | John Levine |
1 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 31 | | John Savard |
1 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 20 | | Thomas Koenig |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 6 | | John Savard |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 5 | | Thomas Koenig |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | John Levine |
3 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | OrangeFish |
3 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Levine |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 13 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
5 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 12 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
5 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
6 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 10 | | George Neuner |
6 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 6 | | John Levine |
7 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
7 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Stephen Fuld |
7 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
7 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Stephen Fuld |
7 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Terje Mathisen |
6 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lynn Wheeler |
6 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | OrangeFish |
7 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 10 | | John Dallman |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Michael S |
2 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Dallman |
4 Jun 24 | Re: architectural goals, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 7 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 49 | | Stephen Fuld |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Anton Ertl |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 2 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | Terje Mathisen |
30 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 7 | | Terje Mathisen |
28 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
12 May 24 | Re: python text, Byte Addressability And Beyond | 14 | | John Levine |
12 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 178 | | Thomas Koenig |
27 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
8 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | Michael S |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 10 | | MitchAlsup1 |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Michael S |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 18 | | Anton Ertl |
1 May 24 | Byte Order (was: Byte Addressability And Beyond) | 4 | | Anton Ertl |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 17 | | Stefan Monnier |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 40 | | MitchAlsup1 |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 15 | | Thomas Koenig |
1 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 3 | | Michael S |
2 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 4 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
3 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 75 | | Anton Ertl |
5 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 20 | | John Savard |
5 May 24 | Re: Byte Addressability And Beyond | 1 | | John Savard |