Imaginary bit

[kabakibo]

Hi,
Can someone briefly explain me what exactly an "imaginary bit" is?

Thanks,

 

[Steve Bailey]

A bit whose state is either zero or the square root of -1 ???

Some context would be helpful. Where did you run across the term? It could be somebody's way of differentiating between a PLC's internal discrete bits and its outputs.

 

[ndzied1]

I wonder if this is refering to internal bits which you can't see physically. Maybe someone is teaching a class to people familiar with hard wired relay logic.

Still, bad analogy

 

[Tom Jenkins]

A bit in a program written by my imaginary friend?

I suspect Steve's guess is correct, but the term is highly inaccurate. The internal coils and contacts in a program are very real indeed, and exist in the PLC internal memory just the way an input contact or an output coil do. The only difference is that internal bits don't affect the PLC outputs and aren't wired to the external devices.

 

[kabakibo]

thank you,
i think i see what it is now, and its probably a personal analogy!

 

[Hard_Wear]

When your bit bucket has run dry and you just can't live without
one more bit. Thats when you bust out your "Imaginary Bit".

 

[PhilipW]

No no...its when I lay awake fantasising about my imaginary bit on the side.

 

[jimtech67]

Imaginary bits are part of imaginary numbers 16 or 32 depending on the size of the number.


Jim

GO JETS

 

[Tom Jenkins]

Phillip W wins for the most entertaining answer yet!