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avee137 09-16-2010 08:23 PM
meaning of 8/16 bit system
 
Hi,
I have this confusion for a long time.What does it mean when we say system is 8 bit or 16 bit in relevance to:
1>addressing
2>data and address bus
3>CPU
4>ALU

Thanks in advance!

salasi 09-17-2010 05:00 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by avee137 (Post 4099970)
H.What does it mean when we say system is 8 bit or 16 bit
there are (at least) two potential answers to this:
  • this is the largest number that the marketing department could find a way of arguing for
  • not much

Quote:
Originally Posted by avee137 (Post 4099970)
in relevance to:
1>addressing
2>data and address bus
3>CPU
4>ALU
It could be any of the above. primarily, given that marketing will want to quote a large number, because that is perceived as attractive in most applications, whichever gives the highest number is often quoted.

An exception is in very low power consumption applications; it is sometimes considered, probably without much justification, that 'more bits' directly means 'more current consumption' and that leads to some devices for low current applications not being marketed with a designation of the maximum number of bits.

Also note that some processors are marketed as 8/16 bits. This is not equivalent to 0.5 bits :rolleyes:

michaelk 09-17-2010 06:53 AM
Most like it is referring to 8 bit data bus (ALU) and a 16 bit address bus.

avee137 10-02-2010 08:49 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by salasi (Post 4100380)
there are (at least) two potential answers to this:
  • this is the largest number that the marketing department could find a way of arguing for
  • not much



It could be any of the above. primarily, given that marketing will want to quote a large number, because that is perceived as attractive in most applications, whichever gives the highest number is often quoted.

An exception is in very low power consumption applications; it is sometimes considered, probably without much justification, that 'more bits' directly means 'more current consumption' and that leads to some devices for low current applications not being marketed with a designation of the maximum number of bits.

Also note that some processors are marketed as 8/16 bits. This is not equivalent to 0.5 bits :rolleyes:
m enlightened!


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