GATE General Aptitude And CS Solutions Practice Test

What is the basic unit of time in a computer's operation, representing one complete oscillation of the clock signal?

Clock Cycle Nanosecond Bit Instruction

Correct Answer:

Clock Cycle

Explanation:

The timing heart of a computer is the clock signal. It oscillates at regular intervals, and one complete oscillation—from one edge back to the next—defines a clock cycle. This cycle is the smallest time unit that governs when the processor fetches, decodes, and executes operations. While instructions may take multiple cycles (or even vary with architecture), the fundamental timing unit is the clock cycle. A nanosecond is simply a duration, not the unit of operation; a bit is a data piece, and an instruction is a command sequence. For example, a 3 GHz clock has a cycle of about 0.333 nanoseconds, illustrating how cycles set the speed of operation.

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