Byte addressing might still need to access 8-bit data over its 64-bit address line, and have the data returned in the bottom 8 bits of its longer data line. Byte addressable memory refers to architectures where data can be accessed and addressed in units that are narrower than the bus. An eight-bit processor like the Intel 8008 addresses eight bits, but as this is the full width of the bus, this is regarded as word-addressable. The 386SX, which addresses memory in 8-bit units but can fetch and store it 16 bits at a time, is termed byte-addressable. Bytes have not always meant
Byte addressing systems, such as the PDP-10, use word addressing but facilitate access to individual bytes using special instructions which can access memory using a "byte pointer", which contains both a word address and the index of a specific byte within the word. Byte addressing Byte addressing refers to hardware architectures which support accessing individual bytes of data rather than only larger units called words, which would be "word-addressable". Such computers are sometimes called "byte machines" (in contrast to "word machines"). The basic unit of digital storage is called a bit, storing a single 0 or 1. Many common architectures can address