by Refugio Jones August 18, 1999
Byte order storage can significantly impact the compatibility between devices within and outside of a system. The order in which data is stored into memory varies according to the application at hand. Big Endian and Little Endian describe the order or sequence in which multi-byte data is stored in memory. Little Endian specifies that the least significant byte is stored in
the lowest memory address. The Intel PentiumTM and Compaq/Dec AlphaTM processors are Little Endian. In turn, Big Endian formatting takes the most significant byte and stores it in the lowest memory address (see Figure 1). The Motorola 680×0 and Sun SuperSPARCTM are Big Endian.
Application Description
Often, based on the application, it is required to convert Big Endian into Little Endian formatting or visa versa. Figure 2 show how Pericom’s 3.3V Mux/Demux Bus Switches can be used to perform the required conversion.
In the example, the PI3B16233 is a bidirectional device and can be easily controlled to convert from one format to the other. Given a double word that is located on the input of the A ports, the PI3B16233 can Mux the word over the B side in the desired in fig.
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