Subject

    Computer Science

    Topic

    Computer Hardware

    What is the purpose of 'clock gating' in modern CPU design?

    a)
    To increase the clock speed of the processor.
    b)
    To reduce power consumption by disabling the clock signal to idle parts of the chip.
    c)
    To synchronize the clocks of multiple CPU cores.
    d)
    To protect the clock generation circuit from voltage spikes.

    Explanation

    A significant amount of power in a CMOS circuit is consumed during the switching of transistors, which happens on each clock edge. By 'gating' or turning off the clock to functional units that are not currently in use, clock gating can dramatically reduce the dynamic power consumption of a processor, which is crucial for mobile devices.

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