> On Jun 16, 2015, at 2:49 AM, ben <bfranc...@jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> ...
>>
> Since the computer I designed is a *small* computer, 8 & 16 bit operating
> systems is what I am looking at for ideas. This is a 18 bit cpu with the
> concept, byte access of memory needs true 18 bit addressing
> and 16 bits is bit small for general 1970's data. Think of it as a something
> like a 9 bit 6800 cpu.
If you’re looking at 1960s designs, you should be fine even if the machine had
wider words. By the standards of that era, any modern computer (probably
including the one in your microwave oven) is *large*. For example, the THE OS
memory footprint is about 16k words (48k bytes), and that includes not just
what we think of as a kernel but also all the device drivers and a bunch of
language support library code. Other designs from that era are smaller still.
paul
