what is the total size of byte addressable memory having 32 bit logical address?

Question

If we have 32 bit logical address then we can have 2^32 address line and each line is consist of 32 bit(4 byte).

So total size of the memory should be = 32*2^32 bits(no. of bits per line* no of line). But why it is only 2^32 bytes?

Answer 1

The address is of a BYTE, not a 32 bit word. 32 bit operations need to be aligned to a 32 bit boundary but byte operations don't have this restriction. Consider searching through a character string (8 bits per character) and you will realize why this is.