clock cycle The basic unit of timing within a computer system, consisting of one of the stream of regular pulses generated by the SYSTEM CLOCK. Most of a computer’s components, in particular its processor, bus and memory systems, operate in strict step with the clock, so the number of clock cycles their various actions occupy is of crucial importance to a computer designer.
clock signal The train of pulses generated by a computer’s SYSTEM CLOCK chip, the transitions of which are used as timing signals by various components of the computer, including its processor and memory.
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