Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!helios!bcm!lib!thesis1.med.uth.tmc.edu From: jmaynard@thesis1.med.uth.tmc.edu (Jay Maynard) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: Segmented Architectures ( formerly Re: 48-bit computers) Message-ID: <4898@lib.tmc.edu> Date: 31 Mar 91 16:39:22 GMT References: <1991Mar21.164242.886@sj.nec.com> <23189@as0c.sei.cmu.edu> Sender: usenet@lib.tmc.edu Organization: University of Texas Medical School at Houston Lines: 22 Nntp-Posting-Host: thesis1.med.uth.tmc.edu In article <23189@as0c.sei.cmu.edu> firth@sei.cmu.edu (Robert Firth) writes: >The size of the segment is not the point. The point is that the >physical memory is capable of holding an array of a certain size, >but the addressing scheme won't let you index it. You have only >to hit this problem once in a lifetime, to vow never again to buy >a machine with a segmented address structure. for (i=100; --i>=0; ) { repeat_after_me("All the world is not a VAX.\n"); } The ordering of bytes in a word, or the numbering of bits in a byte, is not ordained by Natural Law. If you don't assume that pointers and integers should be interchangeable as a matter of Natural Law, all things are possible. How do you address memory space greater than the size of a machine register? -- Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can jmaynard@thesis1.med.uth.tmc.edu | adequately be explained by stupidity. "You can even run GNUemacs under X-windows without paging if you allow about 32MB per user." -- Bill Davidsen "Oink!" -- me