Variable Word length CPU

[woodelf]

Gil Carrick wrote:

>...
>  
>
>>You might as well make it decimal, too, Dwight.  That way you 
>>can use the
>>8-4 and 8-2 combinations to mark the end of a word... :) 
>>
>>(I guess it's been done!)
>>    
>>
>
>Kinda. The IBM 1401, 1440, 1410, but they used an extra bit in each (6 bit)
>called a word mark rather than blow off a digit. It was designed to hold
>alphabetic info as well as doing decimal math.
>
>Gil
>  
>
Umm what about the sign bit? 
Bytw this 2000 not 1950 so we can use ascii encoding. :)