A clock provides the heartbeat for a digital system, oscillating between high and low logic states at a precise frequency. Flip-flops and microprocessors rely on its rising or falling edges to trigger state changes simultaneously across the board. Without a stable clock, data moving through sequential logic would quickly become corrupted by timing mismatches.
Heard on the job
The processor is halting because the clock is dropping cycles.
Also heard as
- clock signal
- Clocked
Related terms
Clock generator
A circuit or chip that produces the primary timing signals for a digital system.
Clock speed
The operating frequency of a processor or digital chip, determining how fast it executes instructions.
Flip-flop
A bistable logic circuit that stores a single bit of binary data.
Edge-triggered
A digital input that responds only to the transition of a clock signal.