Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition

Background

The functions needed to make a microprocessor into a computer reads like a laundry list for a three-ring circus—long and exotic, with a trace of the unexpected. A fully operational computer requires a clock or oscillator to generate the signals that lock the circuits together; a memory mastermind that ensures each byte goes to the proper place and stays there; a traffic cop for the expansion bus and other interconnecting circuitry to control the flow of data in and out of the chip and the rest of the system; office-assistant circuits for taking care of the daily routines and lifting the responsibility for minor chores from the microprocessor; and, in most modern computers, communications, video, and audio circuitry that let you and ...