bitteile

Bitteil is a term used in German-language technical literature to describe a portion of a data word consisting of a contiguous sequence of bits. Unlike fixed units such as bit, nibble, or byte, a bitteil has a size determined by the application, protocol, or design constraints. The concept is common in digital electronics, data encoding, and software that manipulates data at the bit level. Bitteile are used to describe subfields within a data field, to implement bit slicing, or to specify how many bits are allocated for a parameter in a packed data structure. For example, in a 16-bit word, a temperature field might occupy bits 4 through 11 (8 bits) and a status field bits 12 through 15 (4 bits).

In practice, bitteile are addressed in software with bit masks and bit shifts, or in hardware via register layouts in microcontrollers or digital signal processing blocks. The term emphasizes modularity and granularity at the bit level, allowing flexible data packing and efficient use of bandwidth or memory. Bitteil sizing is typically defined in protocol specifications or interface documentation and can vary between systems or standards. Some contexts prefer alternative terms such as bit field, bit slice, or bit group, but bitteil remains a common descriptor in German-language discussions of data representation.

See also: bit, bit field, bit slicing, nibble, byte, data packing.