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https://www.righto.com/2023/11/reverse-engineering-intel-386.html
The groundbreaking Intel 386 processor (1985) was the first 32-bit processor in the x86 line. It has numerous internal registers: general-purpose registers, index registers, segment selectors, and more specialized registers. In this blog post, I look at the silicon die of the 386 and explain how some of these registers are implemented at the transistor level. The registers that I examined are implemented as static RAM, with each bit stored in a common 8-transistor circuit, known as "8T". Studying this circuit shows the interesting layout techniques that Intel used to squeeze two storage cells together to minimize the space they require.
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Reverse Engineering the Intel 386 Processor's Register Cell
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You'd like to do it instantaneously, but that's too slow.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ChrisMaple on Monday November 13 2023, @04:07PM
Not counting leakage current, no power is dissipated while not switching. The "on" transistor has zero volts across it, so no power. The "off" transistor has no current flowing through it, so no power. With field effect transistors, no current is needed at the gate to keep the transistor turned on; just keep the gate at the proper voltage. This is unlike bipolar transistors, which require current at the base to keep the transistor turned on.