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Guy Harris (talk | contribs) Use {{cite conference}} for a conference paper. |
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'''4-bit computing''' is the use of [[computer architecture]]s in which [[integer (computer science)|integers]] and other [[data (computer science)|data]] units are 4 [[bit]]s wide. 4-bit [[central processing unit]] (CPU) and [[arithmetic logic unit]] (ALU) architectures are those that are based on [[processor register|registers]] or [[bus (computing)|data buses]] of that size. A group of four bits is also called a [[nibble]] and has 2<sup>4</sup> = 16 possible values, with a range of 0 to 15.
4-bit computation is obsolete, i.e. CPUs supporting 4-bit as the maximum size. However, 4-bit integers (or smaller), and 4-bit floating point is gaining ground for AI, large-language models.<ref>{{cite
4-bit processors were widely used in [[electronic calculator]]s and other roles where decimal math was used, like electronic [[cash register]]s, [[microwave oven]] timers, and so forth. This is because a 4-bit value holds a single [[binary-coded decimal]] (BCD) digit, making it a natural size for directly processing decimal values. As a 4-bit value is generally too small to hold a [[memory address]] for real-world programs or data, the [[address bus]] of these systems was generally larger. For instance, the canonical 4-bit [[microprocessor]], the [[Intel 4004]], had a 12-bit address format.
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