Distribution
The most effective way to get the clock signal to every part of a chip that needs it, with the lowest skew, is a metal grid. In a large microprocessor, the power used to drive the clock signal can be over 30% of the total power used by the entire chip. The clock signal must be propagated with a clock distribution network. This is often done with a recursive H tree. The whole structure with the gates at the ends and all amplifiers in between have to be loaded and unloaded every cycle. To save energy, unused parts of the tree may be temporarily cut off (clock gating).
Read more about this topic: Clock Signal
Famous quotes containing the word distribution:
“In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
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—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)