Fundamental Digital Logic Gates
All the advanced features of the most powerful computers, such as mulicore and parallel processing are done with digital logic. In this article I explain the fundamental concept of digital logic in simple and clear language so that anyone can understand it. More ...
Operating System File Management
The operating system abstracts from the physical properties of its storage devices to define a logical storage unit, the file. The operating system maps files onto physical media and accesses these files via the storage devices. More ...
Digital Logic Transfer Characteristics
In the real world, gates don't transfer logic levels instantaneously. The time it takes for electrons and holes to move through the semiconductor material (called propagation delay) in CMOS are less than 100 ps (pico seconds), but there are other delays caused by resistance, capacitance, and inductance. More ...
Microprocessor Registers
To a large extent the operation of a microprocessor involves loading, transferring, and manipulating the contents of registers. In this article you learn about the functions, and purposes of the register set of the Intel 8086 microprocessor. More ...
Introduction to Boolean Algebra
Boolean algebra is a system of mathematics in which the values of the variables can take on only one of two values, either 0 or 1. Similar to regular algebra, Boolean algebra can be used to simplify a mathematical expression. Since computer logic is also a system in which the values of the inputs and outputs can take on only one of two values, Boolean algebra can be used to simplify logic circuits. More ...
Data Structures - Linked List, Stack, Queue, and Tree
An array is a simple data structure in which each element can be accessed directly. But what about storing an item whose size may vary? And what about removing an item if the relative positions of the remaining items must be preserved? In such situations other data structures may be needed. More ...
Multilevel Queue CPU Scheduling Algorithm
With many CPU scheduling algorithms, all processes are placed in a single queue, and the scheduler selects the process to run. In practice, it is often easier to have separate queues for each priority, and the scheduler simply selects the process in the highest-priority queue. More ...
Using the Microcontroller Timers
Timing is an essential function for generating signals with precisely determined duration, or for counting external events. For this reason, a timer subsystem is present in all microcontroller implementations. More ...
Operating System Services
An operating system provides an environment for the execution of programs. It provides certain services to programs and to the users of those programs. These operating system services are provided for the convenience of the programmer, to make the programming task easier. More ...
Shortest-Job-First CPU Scheduling Algorithm
CPU Scheduling deals with the problem of deciding which of the processes in the ready queue is to be alocated the CPU. There are many different CPU scheduling algorithms. In this article we describe shortest-job-first scheduling. More ...
AMD's Phenom Processor
Since 2005 AMD has used the Athlon name for their processors. This changed in 2007 when they released their new processor called Phenom. So we must ask the question; what is the difference between the Athlon and the Phenom? More ...
Real-Time CPU Scheduling
In a real-time systems, is one whose operation depends on timing. A task must be serviced within a specific time interval. The tasks and their execution times must all be known. More ...