Thank you very much Les;
On Thu, 2007-08-30 at 09:13 -0700, Les wrote:
On Thu, 2007-08-30 at 07:02 -0400, William Case wrote:
[snip]
Hi, Bill,
Go to the INTEL website:
www.intel.com. On the right side is a menu.
Choose processors. From the list choose a processor of interest, and
read the specification sheet (spec sheet is typically what techs call
it. Marketeers often call it the Product Specification).
Essentially the vdd is the voltage capability of the transistors. The
speeds are dependent upon technology used in the design of the chip, the
dopant, the quality of the silicon and various physical parameters
related to packaging which limits the response speed of the I/O pins.
The spec sheet will tell you all these things. What you are likely
interested in is Rt or Risetime, Ft or fall time, and maximum clock
speed. These parameters will give you the basics. Some additional
information about processors that determine their response capability to
external signals is what is called setup time (the time one signal must
be present before another signal can strobe for it), hold time (the time
after the strobe signal which is required for a reliable latch of the
signal into the next stage or state), and relative timing of addressing
or mode signals. All of this is in the specification.
The same process will help you with TI or AMD products as well.
Regards,
Les H
Not only do I appreciate the directions, but your brief notes on symbol
interpretation as well. I have made it a 3 year personal project to
understand how computers work. I wanted to keep digging until I hit
bottom. I guess I have hit bottom. To go any further than these data
sheets would seem to require either more than my high school math and
physics, or a Phd in Quantum Mechanics. I don't want to get into
either.
So, I thank you with a great deal of satisfaction. My future plans are
not to dig the hole, as it were, any deeper but to start making it
wider.
Thanks again.
--
Regards Bill