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Showing posts from July, 2024

Microsoft’s Majorana 1: world’s first quantum processor powered by topological qubits

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 Quantum computing is an emergent field of cutting-edge computer science harnessing the unique qualities of quantum mechanics to solve problems beyond the ability of even the most powerful classical computers. A quantum computer is a computer that exploits these quantum mechanical phenomena to compute much faster and efficiently than modern computers. At the World Governments Summit in Dubai last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that quantum computers are what AI was for us 10 years ago. It’s the future and the next big leap in technology everyone is waiting for. On February 19 Microsoft today introduced Majorana 1 , the world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture that it expects will realize quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades. It leverages the world’s first topoconductor , a breakthrough type of material which can observe and control Majorana particles to produce more rel...

Function Generator

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 In electrical and electronics engineering, a function generator is usually a piece of electronic test equipment or software used to generate different types of electrical waveforms over a wide range of frequencies. Some of the most common waveforms produced by the function generator are the sine wave, square wave, triangular wave and sawtooth shapes. These waveforms can be either repetitive or single-shot (which requires an internal or external trigger source). Another feature included on many function generators is the ability to add a DC offset. Integrated circuits used to generate waveforms may also be described as function generator ICs. In particular it can be made to become a sine wave generator, square wave generator, and triangular wave generator. Also a function generator may be able to vary the characteristics of the waveforms, changing the length of the pulse, i.e. the mark space ratio, or the ramps of the different edges of triangular or sawtooth waveforms. The fu...

Registers: The Backbone of Computer Memory

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 In computer science, a register is an important component of digital devices that stores data and instructions for quick processing. A register is a temporary storage area built into a CPU. Some registers are used internally and cannot be accessed outside the processor, while others are user-accessible.  A register may hold an instruction, a storage address, or any kind of data (such as a bit sequence or individual characters). Some instructions specify registers as part of the instruction. For example, an instruction may specify that the contents of two defined registers be added together and then placed in a specified register. A register must be large enough to hold an instruction - for example, in a 64-bit computer, a register must be 64 bits in length. In some computer designs, there are smaller registers - for example, half-registers - for shorter instructions. Depending on the processor design and language rules, registers may be numbered or have arbitrary names. A pro...

Preprocessor Directives in C

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 Preprocessing is an initial phase to process text before compilation. Preprocessor directives are lines of the source file where the first non-whitespace character is #, which distinguishes them from other lines of text. It operates under the control of preprocessor directive which is placed in the source program before the main(). Before the source code is passed through the compiler, it is examined by the preprocessor for any preprocessor directives. The preprocessor directives are always preceded by a hash sign (#). The preprocessor is executed before the actual compilation of program code begins.  Therefore, the preprocessor expands all the directives and take the corresponding actions before any code is generated by the program statements. No semicolon (;) can be placed at the end of a preprocessor directive.  Advantages of preprocessor directives The advantages of using preprocessor directives in a C program include: Program becomes readable and easy to understand...

Mobile System Organization

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Modern mobile system are tiny computers in your hand. Although they have less computing power compared to their bigger versions, they handle diverse type of applications such as making calls through radio signals, offering camera utilities, handling touch sensitive screen, display audio/video/graphical content but having little battery based power etc. Thus, the system organization of a mobile system has components to handle all these. A mobile system's CPU handles diverse types of applications but has a little power compared to computers as mobile systems run on battery power. These days major components of a mobile system are integrated on a single chip called System on a Chip (SoC). The SoC chips consume less power compared to other alternatives. Mobile systems are composed of various components and subsystems that work together to provide functionality, performance, and user experience. Here are the main parts of mobile system organization: Mobile Processor (Mobile CPU) This is...