If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it

Re:If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t... by Cyph0n on Thursday June 15, 2017 @05:57PM (#14564763)

> most real processors actually have some ternary logic

Was he referring to the Z state? If so, it's not really ternary logic but rather a "no result" state for cases where there is a control signal involved (e.g., in a tri-state buffer).

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Re:If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t... by tlb on Thursday June 15, 2017 @07:34PM (#14565389)

Modern CPUs have phase-locked loops generating clocks for each region of the chip. These use separate pull-up and pull-down mosfets to control the frequency, so arguably ternary.

Even more non-binary things happen inside DRAM and flash memory.

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Re:If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t... by Cyph0n on Thursday June 15, 2017 @07:54PM (#14565480)

Ehh I don't believe PLLs have a ternary component at all. I'm not an expert though.

DRAM is analog-based due to the fact that the core memory unit is a capacitor, so it can't be ternary (not digital). I might agree with flash though.

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Re:If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t... by mod on Thursday June 15, 2017 @06:02PM (#14564808)

So it was a small lie?

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Re:If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t... by Cyph0n on Thursday June 15, 2017 @06:05PM (#14564837)

Not really, no. More like an unnecessary detail, especially if it was an introductory course on the subject. It's not like knowledge of the Z state will suddenly change how you would design systems.

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