There is an INVERSE relationship between clock speed and
the length of time required for each clock tick (cycle). The length of a clock
cycle is the shortest amount of time in which a single operation can take place.
| Name |
Abbr. |
Ticks per Second |
Cycle Length |
| hertz |
hz |
1 |
1 |
| kilohertz |
khz |
1,000 |
ms (.001) |
| megahertz |
Mhz |
1,000,000 |
us (.000 001) |
| gigahertz |
Ghz |
1,000,000,000 |
ns (.000 000 001) |
| terahertz |
Thz |
1,000,000,000,000 |
ps (.000 000 000 001) |
We divide time into very small
fractional units as a means of measuring computer speeds because
conventional time (minutes, seconds) is inadequate.
A clock ticking at 1 Mhz would have a clock cycle (time of a single tick) of 1/millionth
of a second (1 microsecond).
Clock Speed Clock Cycle Time
=========== ================
1 Khz ==> 1/1000 = 1 ms (milli)
1 Mhz ==> 1/1000000 = 1 us (micro)
1 Ghz ==> 1/billion = 1 ns (nano)
Example:
100 Mhz ==> (1 us / 100)
inverse: multiply one side by 100, divide other side by 100
there are 1000 ns in a us
100 Mhz ==> (1000 ns / 100) = 10 ns
Example:
10 Ghz ==> (1 ns / 10)
there are 1000 ps in a ns
10 Ghz ==> (1000 ps / 10) = 100 ps
Thinking about time...
| Time Amount |
Abbr. |
Time Period |
Equivalence |
| billion seconds |
Gs |
about 32 years |
trillion ms |
| million seconds |
Ms |
about 11.5 days |
billion ms |
| thousand seconds |
ks |
about 16.5 minutes |
million ms |
| second |
s |
a second |
1000 ms |
| millisecond (thousandth) |
ms |
10^-3 = .001 second |
1000 us |
| microsecond (millionth) |
us |
10^-6 = .000 001 second |
1000 ns |
| nano (billionth) |
ns |
10^-9 = .000 000 001 second |
1000 ps |
| pico (trillionth) |
ps |
10^-12 = .000 000 000 001 second |
1000 fs |
| femto |
fs |
10^-15 = .000 000 000 000 001 second |
really fast |
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