How microchips work

Glossary

  • ASIC: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
  • BJT: Bipolar Junction Transistor
  • CMOS: Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor
  • CPU: Central Processing Unit
  • FET: Field Effect Transistor
  • GND: Ground
  • GPU: Graphics Processing Unit
  • LED: Light Emitting Diode
  • MOSFET: Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
  • N-MOS: Negative-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor
  • P-MOS: Positive-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor
  • RAM: Random-Access Memory
  • ROM: Read-Only Memory
  • RTL: Resistor Transistor Logic
  • RTL: Register Transfer Level
  • SoC: System-on-Chip
  • Vcc: Positive supply voltage of bipolar integrated circuits
  • Vee: Negative supply voltage of bipolar integrated circuits, typically identical with GND.
  • Vdd: Positive supply voltage of CMOS circuits
  • Vss: Negative supply voltage of CMOS circuits, typically identical with GND.