Figure 3-3: Binary Encoding for Alternatives Encoding Alternatives (Product number, region, gender, etc (N bits can represent 2N Alternatives) Number of Alternatives Num ber of bits That Can be Encoded In Field (n with n bits 2348 248 222 16(24) 256(2 16 65,536(216) Each added bit doubles the number of alternatives that can be represented11 Figure 3-3: Binary Encoding for Alternatives Encoding Alternatives (Product number, region, gender, etc.) (N bits can represent 2N Alternatives) Number of Bits In Field (N) 1 2 3 4 8 16 … Number of Alternatives That Can be Encoded with N bits 2 (21 ) 4 (22 ) 8 (23 ) 16 (24 ) 256 (28 ) 65,536 (216) … Each added bit doubles the number of alternatives that can be represented