A memory addressing scheme used in processors where the whole

memory can be accessed using a single address that fits in a

single register or instruction. This contrasts with a

segmented memory architecture, such as that used on the

Intel 8086, where an address is given by an offset from a

base address held in one of the "segment registers". Linear

addressing greatly simplifies programming at the assemblylanguage level but requires more instruction word bits to be

allocated for an address.