X86 memory segmentation
x86 memory segmentation is a term for the kind of memory segmentation characteristic of the Intel x86 computer instruction set architecture. The x86 architecture has supported memory segmentation since the original Intel 8086 (1978), but x86 memory segmentation is a plainly descriptive retronym. The introduction of memory segmentation mechanisms in this architecture reflects the legacy of earlier 80xx processors, which initially could only address 16, or later 64 KB of memory, and whose instructions and registers were optimised for the latter. Dealing with larger addresses and more memory was thus comparably slower, as that capability was somewhat grafted-on in the Intel 8086. Memory segmentation could keep programs compatible, relocatable in memory, and by confining significant parts of a program's operation to 64 KB segments, the program could still run faster.
Source: Wikipedia
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