Topic: Microprocessors and Microcontrollers
Four memory chips of $4\times4$ size have their address bus connected together. This system will be of size
- A. $256\times4$
- B. $16\times4$
- C. $4\times16$
- D. $8\times4$
Answer: C. $4\times16$
Explanation: A $4\times4$ memory chip implies it has 4 addresses (words) and each address stores 4 bits. If the address buses of 4 such chips are connected in parallel, all chips are selected simultaneously by the same address. The number of addressable locations remains 4. However, their data buses are combined side-by-side to increase the word length. The new word length is $4 \text{ chips} \times 4 \text{ bits/chip} = 16 \text{ bits}$. Thus, the overall system size is $4 \times 16$.