Clock Frequency

The clock frequency in relation to a processor or microprocessor indicates the frequency at which the transistors that comprise it switch electrically, that is, they open and close the flow of an electric current. The frequency is a physical quantity, whose unit is the Hertz "Hz", which represents a cycle or oscillation per second; in the case of processors indicates the electrical changes occurring in a second within a transistor taken as a sample. For example, if a processor is specified with a maximum clock frequency of 2.1 GHz, the transistors that make it up will be able to switch the flow of a current 2.1x10 times per second.

It should be noted that the principle of switching between two states, or binary logic, applied to electronics together with Boolean algebra make digital systems electronic, digital computer is a practical implementation of these concepts. / p>

The clock frequency should not be confused with the number of operations that a processor can perform in a second, since a simple operation may require at least one instruction and this instruction will demand the processor, depending on its architecture, a a number of logical operations involving a number of other electronic switches by the set of transistors that make up the processor.

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