There is a 64 KB 1-word cache, and a word is 32 bits.  From that I can derive that the length of the tag field is 16 bits, the length of index field is 14 bits, and, as my professor taught me, there is always 2 bits left behind for a byte offset.Why the offset field is 2 bits, other than it fills in the remaining 2 bits of the word, and what its contents is was never covered in the course.But when I looked around on Google, I read, and correct me if I am wrong, that the length of the offset field can vary.  Although I have found answers on how to determine the length, I could not find anything about determining its contents when a read hit/miss is performed.  My professor merely said the byte offset is not used to select the word in the cache.Just looking for clarification.
In cache addressing, what value is placed in the offset field?
cpu cache;memory hardware