Compaq 21264 - Manual (Page 337)

Alpha 21264/EV67 Hardware Reference Manual Glossary –11
MSI
Medium-scale integration.
multiprocessing
A processing method that replicates the sequential computer and interconnects the col-
lection so that each processor can execute the same or a different program at the same
time.
must be one (MBO)
A field that must be supplied as one.
must be zero (MBZ)
A field that is reserved and must be supplied as zero. If examined, it must be assumed to
be UNDEFINED.
NaN
Not-a-Number. An IEEE floating-point bit pattern that represents something other than
a number. This comes in two forms: signaling NaNs (for Alpha, those with an initial
fraction bit of 0) and quiet NaNs (for Alpha, those with an initial fraction bit of 1).
NATURALLY ALIGNED
See ALIGNED.
NATURALLY ALIGNED data
Data stored in memory such that the address of the data is evenly divisible by the size of
the data in bytes. For example, an ALIGNED longword is stored such that the address
of the longword is evenly divisible by 4.
NMOS
N-type metal-oxide semiconductor.
NVRAM
Nonvolatile random-access memory.
OBL
Observability linear feedback shift register.
octaword
Sixteen contiguous bytes starting on an arbitrary byte boundary. The bits are numbered
from right to left, 0 through 127.
OpenVMS Alpha operating system
The version of the open VMS operating system for Alpha platforms.
operand
The data or register upon which an operation is performed.