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
