On 23 Aug 99, at 18:17, Alessio Palma wrote:
>Jos Gielen ha scritto:
>> Or Botton wrote:
>> > If I want to convert a number in MegaBits to MegaBytes, do I need to
>> > divide the Bits by 8?
>> >
>> > For example, 4MegaBits equal 0.5MegaBytes?
>> >
>> > Or Botton
>> for all practical purposes: yes. Theoratically: no
>> "byte" is just a name for a unit of information. Today we just happen to
>> use only 8 bit bytes but bytes can have other lenghts as well.
>
>Really?!? What are Word and DWord ?
>
>I know that:
>4 bits are called NIBBLE
>8 bits are called BYTE
>16 " " " WORD
>32 " " " DOUBLE WORD
>
>1 bit is the unit of information and not byte.
I must agree that 1 bit of information is the basis. Also that 4 bits
are usually called a "nibble" and 8 bits makes a "byte".
However, larger sizes are "words" and "double words", and these
are highly machine-dependant on the number of bits which makes
up each. PDP, VAX, and IBM equipment have had "words" in sizes
from 12 bits to 34 bits, and other microprocessors use words of 8
to 64 to (in Very Large Instruction Word processors) 128 bits and
up!
Typically, a "word" refers to the usual size of data that the
processor works with; frequently this is also the width of the data
bus. In Intel microprocessors, the 8086, 80186, and 80286 used 16-
bit "words", and the 80386 and 80486 used 32-bit "words"
Reference:
FOLDOC - Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing
http://foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?word
Anthony J. Albert
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Anthony J. Albert [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Systems and Software Support Specialist Postmaster
Computer Services - University of Maine, Presque Isle
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