From: Rick M. <obj...@gm...> - 2009-10-08 19:38:14
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About 8-9 years ago, I saw a presentation from Intel that claimed memory requirements were growing at a rate of 1 1/2 bits of address space per year. So the extra 32 bits of address space in 64-bits would be enough for about 20 years. I'm not sure how far we were into that memory cycle, but it is possible that processor developers are looking ahead to 128-bit addressing. I've already been through 24-31, 8-16, 16-32, and 32-64 conversions in my career...what's one more :-) Rick On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 3:23 PM, Mike Cowlishaw <MF...@uk...> wrote: >> I seriously wasn't expecting to see 128-bit processors in my lifetime >> (or at least before my retirement). > > Similarly, I was quite surprised when developing the IEEE decimal formats > to find that -- almost without exception -- everyone in the industry has > gone for the 128-bit format (34 digits). That length (quad) is also now > in the standard for binary, too (and of course is already in IBM > processors, for both binary and decimal). So -- at least for arithmetic > -- 128-bit processors are here already. > > So maybe this is more about arithmetic sizes rather than address space. > >> Just for the giggle factor, 2*128 bytes would require a stack of punch >> cards approximately 1.37x10**17 LIGHT YEARS tall! > > <chuckle> But it's the holes that matter .... > > Mike > > > > > > Unless stated otherwise above: > IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number > 741598. > Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Come build with us! The BlackBerry(R) Developer Conference in SF, CA > is the only developer event you need to attend this year. Jumpstart your > developing skills, take BlackBerry mobile applications to market and stay > ahead of the curve. Join us from November 9 - 12, 2009. Register now! > http://p.sf.net/sfu/devconference > _______________________________________________ > Oorexx-devel mailing list > Oor...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/oorexx-devel > |