The AMD Athlon 64 Processor
AMD's Athlon 64 processor, released in September 2003, was their first 64-bit processor targeted for the workstation market to compete with Intel's Pentium 4. AMD's first 64-bit processor was the Opteron, released earlier in April that same year, targeted for the server market to compete with Intel's Xeon processor. More ...
Binary Number Representation and Binary Math
Computers perform all of their amazing work with only two voltage levels, one representing binary 0, the other representing binary 1. This article describes how to perform binary addition and subtraction. More ...
Network on a Chip (NoC)
NoC (Network on a Chip) is a method of placing a much larger number of processors on a multi-core chip. Much like a regular network, NoC has multiple point-to-point data links that are interconnected by routing switches. More ...
Capacitors in DC Circuits
A capacitor is a component that can be used to store an electrical charge. A capacitor can be used to create a timer. This time delay can be used to smooth a changing current flow in a circuit, or it can be used to absorb spikes and prevent false triggering of other components. More ...
Microcontroller Architectures
The fundamental microcontroller architectures are Von Neumann and Harvard. More ...
The Fetch, Decode, Execute Cycle
The Fetch, Decode, Execute cycle is paramount to the functioning of a microprocessor. In this article I'll describe the Fetch, Decode, Execute cycle simplified to its bare-bones in a highly simplified fictitious microprocessor. More ...
Difference between Stack, Heap, and Queue
Stack, heap, and queue are ways that elements are stored in memory. Stack elements are added to the top of the stack, and removed from the top of the stack. The mnemonic LIFO is used to describe a stack (Last-In-First-Out). With a queue, the first one in is the first one out. The mnemonic FIFO is used to describe a queue. A heap is an area of memory where elements can be stored and removed in any order. More ...
Basic Electronics for Computer Architecture
To understand computer architecture, it is necessary for you to have a basic understanding of electronics. This article explains how all the amazing things that can be done with electronics are the result of one simple thing - electric charge. More ...
Digital to Analog Convertion with a Microcontroller
Digital to analog conversion (DAC) is the process by which a digital signal (expressed as a string of 1s and 0s) are converted to an analog signal (a continuously varying voltage). More ...
Operating System Process Scheduling Queues
The objective of multiprogramming is to have some process running at all times, to maximize CPU utilization. To meet these objectives, the process scheduler selects a process from a queue for execution on the CPU. More ...
Digital Logic Levels and Transfer Characteristics
A digital system uses discrete logic levels, 0 and 1, while the real world is a continuous range such as a voltage from 0 to 5. To make design easier, engineers view the system in the abstract. More ...
Expanding the Resources of Microcontrollers
In some cases it is possible that the internal resources of a microcontroller are insufficient. The solution to these situations is to add external components by creating an expanded microcontroller structure. More ...
