Talk:Physical address

fixed address

does physical address is fixed for a certian cpu, for example, if the cpu is 16bit, is the physical address is from 16'h0000 to 16'hffff?

how can i know where is my laptop now?

my laptop was stoalen if this laptop is conceting to the internet can i know where his plac now —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.97.157.93 (talk) 18:24, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

This is possible if you had any features on your laptop to "phone home", such as authenticating to any service on the Internet.   — Jeff G. (talk|contribs) 18:27, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Imprecise definition

The definition:

In computing, a physical address (also real address, or binary address), is a memory address that is represented in the form of a binary number on the address bus circuitry in order to enable the data bus to access a particular storage cell of main memory, or a register of a memory-mapped I/O device.

is really imprecise and considers a symbolic point of view instead of the physical one (of course, it is necessary for communication, but it should not be the focus or should be avoided). For example, “number” is an abstraction; there is no understanding, from the physical components, of what numbers exactly are. Furthermore, again looks like a circular definition because cities a higher abstract entity which the physical address is included and maybe should be defined without this, but just cited in article body instead of.

For example, this looks to be a better definition because it is more precise and considers only the physical domain.

In computing hardware, a physical address (also real address, or binary address), is a cell group restricted to its size for potentially access. It is represented in the form of a binary number on the address bus circuitry in order to enable the data bus to access a particular storage cell of main memory, or a register of memory-mapped I/O device.

Again, the fact of having electrons or not, or if there are some problems that turn a specific cell unusable (and, by consequence, possibly an unusable address), does not remove the fact that the address exists or not; of course, the address has its proposal of use. Although, possibly the address needs to be fixed to the memory system to be considered an address. QuantumNinus (talk) 21:39, 9 January 2026 (UTC)

considers a symbolic point of view instead of the physical one What are your definitions of "symbolic" and "physical"? The RAM in my laptop is made of atoms, so it's definitely physical; there is some human-designed structure imposed on the atoms by the fabrication process, but that doesn't render it non-physical. And even if some might view that as making it not "physical", for better or worse "physical memory" is the term that has come to be used for it.

In computing hardware, a physical address (also real address, or binary address), is a cell group "Cell" is vague; life on earth consists of cells, but those aren't the units of computer memory; if you're going to use that phrasing, use memory cell without piping away "memory". And a space group is a mathematical group; it's not a "group" in the common-language sense of a collection, so it's completely inappropriate.

And if you just meant "group" in the common-language sense, the group of memory cells is not the address, it's what's addressed. The house in which I'm living isn't an address; the address is the way it's referred to when walking, driving, delivering mail, etc..

But, again, the deeper problem is that you seem to be thinking of "physical" in the sense of physics; that's not the sense in which the common phrase "physical memory" uses the word "physical", and you're unlikely ever to be able to change that common usage.

In context of hardware and from the point of view of hardware itself, there isn't conscience about the exact location, even if the structure was created by a conscious entity. Presumably you mean "consciousness", not "conscience"; "conscience" means something specific and not relevant here. (Other languages may have words that look or sound similar to "conscience" but mean something closer to "consciousness", which might cause some confusion here.)

But, in English, even "consciousness" doesn't apply here; other than people anthropomorphizing their computers, there's nothing conscious in memory circuitry. "Knowledge" is a better, less anthropomorphic term for what it sounds as if you're describing.

See Dynamic random-access memory § Principles of operation for the the details of how DRAM addressing works. Guy Harris (talk) 23:55, 9 January 2026 (UTC)