Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 8th Apr 2006 18:38 UTC
As expected processor licensor ARM Holdings and Handshake Solutions NV, a Royal Philips Electronics subsidiary, have developed an asynchronous processor based on the ARM9 core. The ARM996HS is thought to be the first commercial clockless processor and is being described as particular suited to use as an automotive microcontroller. Because clockless processors consume zero dynamic power when there is no activity, they can significantly extend battery life compared with clocked equivalents.
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Member since:
2005-07-06
HOw would such a processor tell the time?
With a separate real-time clock circuit. That can have a much lower frequency, and thus lower power consumption, than your usual processor clock.
Systems with clocked processors often use an RTC as well, because that allows to switch off the processor clock when there's nothing to do. And they can be more accurate too.