Byte addressing

Byte addressing refers to hardware architectures which support accessing individual bytes of data rather than only larger units called words, which would be word-addressable.

The basic unit of digital storage is called a bit. In most common computer architectures, 8 bits are grouped together to form a byte. Byte addressable memory refers to architectures where data can be accessed 8 bits at a time, irrespective of the width of the data and address buses.