How Computer Keyboards Work? What is a computer keyboard? How computer keyboard functions?

When you look at all the extras and options that are available for new computer keyboards, it can be hard to believe that their original design came from mechanical typewriters that didn't even use electricity. Now, you can buy ergonomic keyboards that bear little resemblance to flat, rectangular models with ordinary square keys. Some flashier models light up, roll up or fold up, and others offer options for programming your own commands and shortcuts.

Computer Keyboard Image Gallery

An average Windows keyboard. See more keyboard pictures.

But no matter how many bells and whistles they offer, most keyboards operate using similar technology. They use switches and circuits to translate a person's keystrokes into a signal a computer can understand. In this article we will explore keyboard technology along with different key layouts, options and designs.

Keyboard Basics

A keyboard's primary function is to act as an input device. Using a keyboard, a person can type a document, use keystroke shortcuts, access menus, play games and perform a variety of other tasks. Keyboards can have different keys depending on the manufacturer, the operating system they're designed for, and whether they are attached to a desktop computer or part of a laptop. But for the most part, these keys, also called keycaps, are the same size and shape from keyboard to keyboard. They're also placed at a similar distance from one another in a similar pattern, no matter what language or alphabet the keys represent.

Most keyboards have between 80 and 110 keys, including:

• Typing keys
• A numeric keypad
• Function keys
• Control keys

The typing keys include the letters of the alphabet, generally laid out in the same pattern used for typewriters. According to legend, this layout, known as QWERTY for its first six letters, helped keep mechanical typewriters' metal arms from colliding and jamming as people typed. Some people question this story – whether it’s true or not, the QWERTY pattern had long been a standard by the time computer keyboards came around.

Photo courtesy HSW Shopper This Logitech wireless keyboard uses a QWERTY layout.

Keyboards can also use a variety of other typing key arrangements. The most widely known is Dvorak, named for its creator, August Dvorak. The Dvorak layout places all of the vowels on the left side of the keyboard and the most common consonants on the right. The most commonly used letters are all found along the home row. The home row is the main row where you place your fingers when you begin typing. People who prefer the Dvorak layout say it increases their typing speed and reduces fatigue. Other layouts include ABCDE, XPeRT, QWERTZ and AZERTY. Each is named for the first keys in the pattern. The QWERTZ and AZERTY arrangements are commonly used in Europe.

The numeric keypad is a more recent addition to the computer keyboard. As the use of computers in business environments increased, so did the need for speedy data entry. Since a large part of the data was numbers, a set of 17 keys, arranged in the same configuration found on adding machines and calculators, was added to the keyboard.

The Apple keyboard's control keys include the "Command" key.

In 1986, IBM further extended the basic keyboard with the addition of function and controloperating systems can assign specific commands to the function keys. Control keys provide cursor and screen control. Four arrow keys arranged in an inverted Tscreen in small increments. keys. Applications and formation between the typing keys and numeric keypad move the cursor on the

Photo courtesy www.artlebedev.com Optimus keyboard OLED arrow keys

Other common control keys include:

• Home
• End
• Insert
• Delete
• Page Up
• Page Down
• Control (Ctrl)
• Alternate (Alt)
• Escape (Esc)

Photo courtesy www.artlebedev.com This Optimus keyboard has programmable hot keys.

The Windows keyboard adds some extra control keys: two Windows or Start keys, and an Application key. Apple keyboards, on the other hand, have Command (also known as "Apple") keys. A keyboard developed for Linux users features Linux-specific hot keys, including one marked with "Tux" the penguin -- the Linux logo/mascot.

Photo courtesy www.artlebedev.com
Optimus keyboard OLED Windows key

Inside the Keyboard

A keyboard is a lot like a miniature computer. It has its own processor and circuitry that carries information to and from that processor. A large part of this circuitry makes up the key matrix.

The microprocessor and controller circuitry of a keyboard

The key matrix is a grid of circuits underneath the keys. In all keyboards (except for capacitive models, which we'll discuss in the next section), each circuit is broken at a point below each key. When you press a key, it presses a switch, completing the circuit and allowing a tiny amount of current to flow through. The mechanical action of the switch causes some vibration, called bounce, which the processor filters out. If you press and hold a key, the processor recognizes it as the equivalent of pressing a key repeatedly.

When the processor finds a circuit that is closed, it compares the location of that circuit on the key matrix to the character map in its read-only memory (ROM). A character map is basically a comparison chart or lookup table. It tells the processor the position of each key in the matrix and what each keystroke or combination of keystrokes represents. For example, the character map lets the processor know that pressing the a key by itself corresponds to a small letter "a," but the Shift and a keys pressed together correspond to a capital "A."

The key matrix

A computer can also use separate character maps, overriding the one found in the keyboard. This can be useful if a person is typing in a language that uses letters that don't have English equivalents on a keyboard with English letters. People can also set their computers to interpret their keystrokes as though they were typing on a Dvorak keyboard even though their actual keys are arranged in a QWERTY layout. In addition, operating systems and applications have keyboard accessibility settings that let people change their keyboard's behavior to adapt to disabilities.

Keyboard Switches

Keyboards use a variety of switch technologies. Capacitive switches are considered to be non-mechanical because they do not physically complete a circuit like most other keyboard technologies. Instead, current constantly flows through all parts of the key matrix. Each key is spring-loaded and has a tiny plate attached to the bottom of it. When you press a key, it moves this plate closer to the plate below it. As the two plates move closer together, the amount of current flowing through the matrix changes. The processor detects the change and interprets it as a key press for that location. Capacitive switch keyboards are expensive, but they have a longer life than any other keyboard. Also, they do not have problems with bounce since the two surfaces never come into actual contact.

All of the other types of switches used in keyboards are mechanical in nature. Each provides a different level of audible and tactile response -- the sounds and sensations that typing creates. Mechanical key switches include:

• Rubber dome
• Membrane
• Metal contact
• Foam element

This keyboard uses rubber dome switches.

Rubber dome switches are very common. They use small, flexible rubber domes, each with a hard carbon center. When you press a key, a plunger on the bottom of the key pushes down against the dome, and the carbon center presses against a hard, flat surface beneath the key matrix. As long as the key is held, the carbon center completes the circuit. When the key is released, the rubber dome springs back to its original shape, forcing the key back up to its at-rest position. Rubber dome switch keyboards are inexpensive, have pretty good tactile response and are fairly resistant to spills and corrosion because of the rubber layer covering the key matrix.

Rather than having a switch for each key, membrane keyboards use a continuous membrane that stretches from one end to another. A pattern printed in the membrane completes the circuit when you press a key. Some membrane keyboards use a flat surface printed with representations of each key rather than keycaps. Membrane keyboards don't have good tactile response, and without additional mechanical components they don't make the clicking sound that some people like to hear when they're typing. However, they're generally inexpensive to make.

Metal contact and foam element keyboards are increasingly less common. Metal contact switches simply have a spring-loaded key with a strip of metal on the bottom of the plunger. When the key is pressed, the metal strip connects the two parts of the circuit. The foam element switch is basically the same design but with a small piece of spongy foam between the bottom of the plunger and the metal strip, providing a better tactile response. Both technologies have good tactile response, make satisfyingly audible "clicks," and are inexpensive to produce. The problem is that the contacts tend to wear out or corrode faster than on keyboards that use other technologies. Also, there is no barrier that prevents dust or liquids from coming in direct contact with the circuitry of the key matrix.

Different manufacturers have used these standard technologies, and a few others, to create a wide range of non-traditional keyboards. We'll take a look at some of these non-traditional keyboards in the next section.

Non-Traditional Keyboards

A lot of modifications to the traditional keyboard design are an attempt to make them safer or easier to use. For example, some people have associated increased keyboard use with repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, although scientific studies have produced conflicting results. Ergonomic keyboard designs are intended to keep a person's hands in a more natural position while typing in an attempt to prevent injuries. While these keyboards can certainly keep people from holding their hands in a "praying mantis" position, studies disagree on whether they actually prevent injury.

Photo courtesy www.safetype.com The SafeType keyboard places the two halves of the keyboard perpendicular to the desk surface.

The simplest ergonomic keyboards look like traditional keyboards that have been divided down the middle, keeping a person's hands farther apart and aligning the wrists with the forearms. More complex designs place the two halves of the keyboard at varying angles to one another and to the surface on which the keyboard rests. Some go even further, placing the two halves of the keyboard on the armrests of chairs or making them completely perpendicular to the desk surface. Others, like the Datahand, don't look much like keyboards at all.

Photo courtesy www.saitek.com Saitek Truview backlit keyboard buttons

Some modifications, while not necessarily ergonomic, are designed to make keyboards more portable, more versatile or just cooler:

• Das Keyboard is a completely black keyboard with weighted keys that require more pressure from a person's strongest fingers and less pressure from the weaker ones.
• The Virtual Laser Keyboard projects a representation of a keyboard onto a flat surface. When used successfully, a person's fingers pass through the beam of infrared light above the projected surface, and a sensor interprets it as a keystroke.
• The True-touch Roll-up keyboard is flexible and can be rolled up to fit in a backpack or bag.

  Blue backlit keyboard 'on'

  Blue backlit keyboard 'off'

• Illuminated keyboards, like the Ion Illuminated Keyboard, use light-emitting diodes or electroluminescent film to send light through the keys or the spaces between keys.

  Photo courtesy www.artlebedev.com Optimus keyboard programmable hot keys

• The Optimus keyboard has organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in the keys. Users can change what letter, command or action each key represents, and the OLED can change to display the new information.

Photo courtesy www.artlebedev.com This Optimus keyboard is set for keystrokes used to play Quake.

With the exception of the Virtual Laser Keyboard, which has its own sensing system, each of these keyboards uses the same type of technology as traditional models do to communicate with the computer. We'll look at that technology next.

From the Keyboard to the Computer

As you type, the processor in the keyboard analyzes the key matrix and determines what characters to send to the computer. It maintains these characters in its memory buffer and then sends the data.

A PS/2 type keyboard connector.

Many keyboards connect to the computer through a cable with a PS/2 or USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector. Laptops use internal connectors. Regardless of which type of connector is used, the cable must carry power to the keyboard, and it must carry signals from the keyboard back to the computer.

Wireless keyboards, on the other hand, connect to the computer through infrared (IR), radio frequency (RF) or Bluetooth connections. IR and RF connections are similar to what you'd find in a remote control. Regardless of which sort of signal they use, wireless keyboards require a receiver, either built in or plugged in to the USB port, to communicate with the computer. Since they don't have a physical connection to the computer, wireless keyboards have an AC power connection or use batteries for power.

Microsoft wireless keyboard

This Microsoft wireless keyboard is battery-powered.

Whether it's through a cable or wireless, the signal from the keyboard is monitored by the computer's keyboard controller. This is an integrated circuit (IC) that processes all of the data that comes from the keyboard and forwards it to the operating system. When the operating system (OS) is notified that there is data from the keyboard, it checks to see if the keyboard data is a system level command. A good example of this is Ctrl-Alt-Delete on a Windows computer, which reboots the system. Then, the OS passes the keyboard data on to the current application.

The application determines whether the keyboard data is a command, like Alt-f, which opens the File menu in a Windows application. If the data is not a command, the application accepts it as content, which can be anything from typing a document to entering a URL to performing a calculation. If the current application does not accept keyboard data, it simply ignores the information. This whole process, from pressing the key to entering content into an application, happens almost instantaneously.

What is computer mouse? How computer mouse works? What is computer mice? How computer mice works?

Mice first broke onto the public stage with the introduction of the Apple Macintosh in 1984, and since then they have helped to completely redefine the way we use computers.

Every day of your computing life, you reach out for your mouse whenever you want to move your cursor or activate something. Your mouse senses your motion and your clicks and sends them to the computer so it can respond appropriately.

In this article we'll take the cover off of this important part of the human-machine interface and see exactly what makes it tick.­

Evolution of the Computer Mouse

It is amazing how simple and effective a mouse is, and it is also amazing how long it took mice to become a part of everyday life. Given that people naturally point at things -- usually before they speak -- it is surprising that it took so long for a good pointing device to develop. Although originally conceived in the 1960s, a couple of decades passed before mice became mainstream.

In the beginning, there was no need to point because computers used crude interfaces like teletype machines or punch cards for data entry. The early text terminals did nothing more than emulate a teletype (using the screen to replace paper), so it was many years (well into the 1960s and early 1970s) before arrow keys were found on most terminals. Full screen editors were the first things to take real advantage of the cursor keys, and they offered humans the first way to point.

Light pens were used on a variety of machines as a pointing device for many years, and graphics tablets, joy sticks and various other devices were also popular in the 1970s. None of these really took off as the pointing device of choice, however.

When the mouse hit the scene -- attached to the Mac, it was an immediate success. There is something about it that is completely natural. Compared to a graphics tablet, mice are extremely inexpensive and they take up very little desk space. In the PC world, mice took longer to gain ground, mainly because of a lack of support in the operating system. Once Windows 3.1 made Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) a standard, the mouse became the PC-human interface of choice very quickly.

Inside a Mouse

The main goal of any mouse is to translate the motion of your hand into signals that the computer can use. Let's take a look inside a track-ball mouse to see how it works:

The guts of a mouse

1. A ball inside the mouse touches the desktop and rolls when the mouse moves.

   The underside of the mouse's logic board: The exposed portion of the ball touches the desktop.

2. Two rollers inside the mouse touch the ball. One of the rollers is oriented so that it detects motion in the X direction, and the other is oriented 90 degrees to the first roller so it detects motion in the Y direction. When the ball rotates, one or both of these rollers rotate as well. The following image shows the two white rollers on this mouse:

   The rollers that touch the ball and detect X and Y motion

3. The rollers each connect to a shaft, and the shaft spins a disk with holes in it. When a roller rolls, its shaft and disk spin. The following image shows the disk:

   A typical optical encoding disk: This disk has 36 holes around its outer edge.

4. On either side of the disk there is an infrared LED and an infrared sensor. The holes in the disk break the beam of light coming from the LED so that the infrared sensor sees pulses of light. The rate of the pulsing is directly related to the speed of the mouse and the distance it travels.

   A close-up of one of the optical encoders that track mouse motion: There is an infrared LED (clear) on one side of the disk and an infrared sensor (red) on the other.

5. An on-board processor chip reads the pulses from the infrared sensors and turns them into binary data that the computer can understand. The chip sends the binary data to the computer through the mouse's cord.

The logic section of a mouse is dominated by an encoder chip, a small processor that reads the pulses coming from the infrared sensors and turns them into bytes sent to the computer. You can also see the two buttons that detect clicks (on either side of the wire connector).

In this optomechanical arrangement, the disk moves mechanically, and an optical system counts pulses of light. On this mouse, the ball is 21 mm in diameter. The roller is 7 mm in diameter. The encoding disk has 36 holes. So if the mouse moves 25.4 mm (1 inch), the encoder chip detects 41 pulses of light.

You might have noticed that each encoder disk has two infrared LEDs and two infrared sensors, one on each side of the disk (so there are four LED/sensor pairs inside a mouse). This arrangement allows the processor to detect the disk's direction of rotation. There is a piece of plastic with a small, precisely located hole that sits between the encoder disk and each infrared sensor. It is visible in this photo:

A close-up of one of the optical encoders that track mouse motion: Note the piece of plastic between the infrared sensor (red) and the encoding disk.

This piece of plastic provides a window through which the infrared sensor can "see." The window on one side of the disk is located slightly higher than it is on the other -- one-half the height of one of the holes in the encoder disk, to be exact. That difference causes the two infrared sensors to see pulses of light at slightly different times. There are times when one of the sensors will see a pulse of light when the other does not, and vice versa.

Connecting Computer Mice

Most mice on the market today use a USB connector to attach to your computer. USB is a standard way to connect all kinds of peripherals to your computer, including printers, digital cameras, keyboards and mice. See How USB Ports Work for more information about this technology.

2000 HowStuffWorks
A typical PS/2 connector.

­ Some older mice, many of which are still in use today, have a PS/2 type connector. Instead of a PS/2 connector, a few other older mice use a serial type of connector to attach to a computer. See How Serial Ports Work for more information.

­

Optical Mice

Back to the Drawing Board Another type of optical mouse has been around for over a decade. The original optical-mouse technology bounced a focused beam of light off a highly-reflective mouse pad onto a sensor. The mouse pad had a grid of dark lines. Each time the mouse was moved, the beam of light was interrupted by the grid. Whenever the light was interrupted, the sensor sent a signal to the computer and the cursor moved a corresponding amount. This kind of optical mouse was difficult to use, requiring that you hold it at precisely the right angle to ensure that the light beam and sensor aligned. Also, damage to or loss of the mouse pad rendered the mouse useless until a replacement pad was purchased. Today's optical mice are far more user-friendly and reliable.

­ Developed by Agilent Technologies and introduced to the world in late 1999, the optical mouse­ actually uses a tiny camera to take thousands of pictures every second.

Able to work on almost any surface without a mouse pad, most optical mice use a small, red light-emitting diode (LED) that bounces light off that surface onto a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. In addition to LEDs, a recent innovation are laser-based optical mice that detect more surface details compared to LED technology. This results in the ability to use a laser-based optical mouse on even more surfaces than an LED mouse.

Here's how the sensor and other parts of an optical mouse work together:

­

• The CMOS sensor sends each image to a digital signal processor (DSP) for analysis.
• The DSP detects patterns in the images and examines how the patterns have moved since the previous image.
• Based on the change in patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the mouse has moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer.
• The computer moves the cursor on the screen based on the coordinates received from the mouse. This happens hundreds of times each second, making the cursor appear to move very smoothly.

In this photo, you can see the sensor on the bottom of the mouse.

Optical mice have several benefits over track-ball mice:

• No moving parts means less wear and a lower chance of failure.
• There's no way for dirt to get inside the mouse and interfere with the tracking sensors.
• Increased tracking resolution means a smoother response.
• They don't require a special surface, such as a mouse pad.

Apple has transformed its optical mouse into a modern work of art.

Optical Mouse Accuracy

A number of factors affect the accuracy of an optical mouse. One of the most important aspects is resolution. The resolution is the number of pixels per inch that the optical sensor and focusing lens "see" when you move the mouse. Resolution is expressed as dots per inch (dpi). The higher the resolution, the more sensitive the mouse is and the less you need to move it to obtain a respon­se.

Most mice have a resolution of 400 or 800 dpi. However, mice designed for playing electronic games can offer as much as 1600 dpi resolution. Some gaming mice also allow you to decrease the dpi on the fly to make the mouse less sensitive in situations when you need to make smaller, slower movements.

Historically, corded mice have been more responsive than wireless mice. This fact is changing, however, with the advent of improvements in wireless technologies and optical sensors. Other factors that affect quality include:

• Size of the optical sensor -- larger is generally better, assuming the other mouse components can handle the larger size. Sizes range from 16 x 16 pixels to 30 x 30 pixels.
• Refresh rate -- it is how often the sensor samples images as you move the mouse. Faster is generally better, assuming the other mouse components can process them. Rates range from 1500 to 6000 samples per second.
• Image processing rate -- is a combination of the size of the optical sensor and the refresh rate. Again, faster is better and rates range from 0.486 to 5.8 megapixels per second.
• Maximum speed -- is the maximum speed that you can move the mouse and obtain accurate tracking. Faster is better and rates range from 16 to 40 inches per second.

Wireless Mice

Most wireless mice use radio frequency (RF) technology to communicate information to your computer. Being radio-based, RF devices require two main components: a transmitter and a receiver. Here's how it works:

• The transmitter is housed in the mouse. It sends an electromagnetic (radio) signal that encodes the information about the mouse's movements and the buttons you click.
• The receiver, which is connected to your computer, accepts the signal, decodes it and passes it on to the mouse driver software and your computer's operating system.
• The receiver can be a separate device that plugs into your computer, a special card that you place in an expansion slot, or a built-in component.

Photo courtesy Logitech MX900 and docking station

Many electronic devices use radio frequencies to communicate. Examples include cellular phones, wireless networks, and garage door openers. To communicate without conflicts, different types of devices have been assigned different frequencies. Newer cell phones use a frequency of 900 megahertz, garage door openers operate at a frequency of 40 megahertz, and 802.11b/g wireless networks operate at 2.4 gigahertz. Megahertz (MHz) means "one million cycles per second," so "900 megahertz" means that there are 900 million electromagnetic waves per second. Gigahertz (GHz) means "one billion cycles per second." To learn more about RF and frequencies, see How the Radio Spectrum Works.

Unlike infrared technology, which is commonly used for short-range wireless communications such as television remote controls, RF devices do not need a clear line of sight between the transmitter (mouse) and receiver. Just like other types of devices that use radio waves to communicate, a wireless mouse signal can pass through barriers such as a desk or your monitor.

RF technology provides a number of additional benefits for wireless mice. These include:

• RF transmitters require low power and can run on batteries
• RF components are inexpensive
• RF components are light weight

As with most mice on the market today, wireless mice use optical sensor technology rather than the earlier track-ball system. Optical technology improves accuracy and lets you use the wireless mouse on almost any surface -- an important feature when you're not tied to your computer by a cord.

Pairing and Security
In order for the transmitter in the mouse to communicate with its receiver, they must be paired. This means that both devices are operating at the same frequency on the same channel using a common identification code. A channel is simply a specific frequency and code. The purpose of pairing is to filter out interference from other sources and RF devices.

Pairing methods vary, depending on the mouse manufacturer. Some devices come pre-paired. Others use methods such as a pairing sequence that occurs automatically, when you push specific buttons, or when you turn a dial on the receiver and/or mouse.

To protect the information your mouse transmits to the receiver, most wireless mice include an encryption scheme to encode data into an unreadable format. Some devices also use a frequency hopping method, which causes the mouse and receiver to automatically change frequencies using a predetermined pattern. This provides additional protection from interference and eavesdropping.

Bluetooth Mice

One of the RF technologies that wireless mice commonly use is Bluetooth. Bluetooth technology wirelessly connects peripherals such as printers, headsets, keyboards and mice to Bluetooth-enabled devices such as computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Because a Bluetooth receiver can accommodate multiple Bluetooth peripherals at one time, Bluetooth is also known as a personal area network (PAN). Bluetooth devices have a range of about 33 feet (10 meters).

Bluetooth operates in the 2.4 GHz range using RF technology. It avoids interference among multiple Bluetooth peripherals through a technique called spread-spectrum frequency hopping. WiFi devices such as 802.11b/g wireless networks also operate in the 2.4 GHz range, as do some cordless telephonescordless telephones and microwave ovens. Version 1.2 of Bluetooth provides adaptive frequency hopping (AFH), which is an enhanced frequency-hopping technology designed to avoid interference with other 2.4 GHz communications.

Why is it called Bluetooth? Harald Bluetooth was king of Denmark in the late 900s. He managed to unite Denmark and part of Norway into a single kingdom then introduced Christianity into Denmark. He left a large monument, the Jelling rune stone, in memory of his parents. He was killed in 986 during a battle with his son, Svend Forkbeard. Choosing this name for the standard indicates how important companies from the Baltic region (nations including Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) are to the communications industry, even if it says little about the way the technology works.

RF Mice

The other common type of wireless mouse is an RF device that operates at 27 MHz and has a range of about 6 feet (2 meters). More recently, 2.4 GHz RF mice have hit the market with the advantage of a longer range -- about 33 feet (10 meters) and faster transmissions with less interference. Multiple RF mice in one room can result in cross-talk, which means that the receiver inadvertently picks up the transmissions from the wrong mouse. Pairing and multiple channels help to avoid this problem.

Typically, the RF receiver plugs into a USB port and does not accept any peripherals other than the mouse (and perhaps a keyboard, if sold with the mouse). Some portable models designed for use with notebook computers come with a compact receiver that can be stored in a slot inside the mouse when not in use.

Mouse Tip If you want to use both a wireless RF mouse and keyboard, buy them together. Pairing and transmission technology is unique to each manufacturer and device. If you purchase an RF wireless keyboard and mouse separately, you may have to connect a receiver for each one to your PC.

Mouse Innovations

Working Together Some PC keyboards and mice are designed to work together to give you more options for input. For example, the Logitech Cordless Desktop LX700 comes with a keyboard that has scroll, pan and zoom capabilities. The mouse includes the same features, so that you can use either to perform these functions.

As with many computer-related devices, mice are being combined with other gadgets and technologies to create improved and multipurpose devices. Examples include multi-media mice, combination mice/remote controls, gaming mice, biometric mice, tilting wheel mice and motion-based mice. To learn more about innovations in mouse technology, let's start with multi-media mice and combination mice/remote controls.

­Multi-Media Mouse and Combination Mouse/Remote

These types of mice are used with multimedia systems such as the Windows XP Media Center Edition computers. Some combine features of a mouse with additional buttons (such as play, pause, forward, back and volume) for controlling media. Others resemble a television/media player remote control with added features for mousing. Remote controls generally use infrared sensors but some use a combination of infrared and RF technology for greater range.

Gaming Mice
­ Gaming mice are high-precision, optical mice designed for use with PCs and game controllers. Features may include:

• Multiple buttons for added flexibility and functions such as adjusting dpi rates on the fly
• Wireless connectivity and an optical sensor
• Motion feedback and two-way communication

Motion-Based Mice
Yet another innovation in mouse technology is motion-based control. With this feature, you control the mouse pointer by waving the mouse in the air.

The technology patented by one manufacturer, Gyration, incorporates miniature gyroscopes to track the motion of the mouse as you wave it in the air. It uses an electromagnetic transducer and sensors to detect rotation in two axes at the same time. The mouse operates on the principle of the Coriolis Effect, which is the apparent turning of an object that's moving in relation to another rotating object. The device and accompanying software converts the mouse movements into movements on the computer's screen. The mice also include an optical sensor for use on a desktop.

Biometric Mice

Biometric mice add security to your computer system by permitting only authorized users to control the mouse and access the computer. Protection is accomplished with an integrated fingerprint reader either in the receiver or the mouse. This feature enhances security and adds convenience because you can use your fingerprint rather than passwords for a secure login.

Photo courtesy Microsoft Corporation The Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer with Fingerprint Reader is a biometric mouse.

To use the biometric feature, a software program that comes with the mouse registers fingerprints and stores information about corresponding authorized users. Some software programs also let you encrypt and decrypt files.

Tilting Scroll Wheel

A more recent innovation in mouse scrolling is a tilting scroll wheel that allows you to scroll onscreen both horizontally (left/right) and vertically (up/down). The ability to scroll both ways is handy when you are viewing wide documents like a Web page or spreadsheet.

To navigate both horizontally and vertically, the scroll wheel is positioned on a combination fulcrum and lever. This is the design used by the Logitech Cordless Click! Plus mouse.

Photo courtesy Logitech Logitech Cordless Click! Plus

Another method for vertical and horizontal scrolling is a touch scroll panel that responds to your finger sliding horizontally and vertically, as employed by the Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse.

Photo courtesy Logitech
Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse

How the Xynergi Keyboard Works? What is Xynergi Keyboard?

In September 2007, an Australia-based company called Fairlight introduced a new digital audio production device named Xynergi.­ Gadget blogs covered the story and called Xynergi a $28,000 keyboard. Such labels are misleading. In reality, identifying Xynergi as a $28,000 keyboard is like saying the audio system inside a Bentley is a $250,000 radio -- it misses the big picture.

The Xynergi keyboard is part of a desktop media production center package. Fairlight designed Xynergi to meet the needs of small, professional media editing studios. With Xynergi, engineers can capture audio, manipulate individual tracks, add effects, mix multiple tracks together and edit video files. While the device's complexity and price tag mean the average consumer isn't going to buy it, Xynergi might be a good choice for someone with a small recording studio or media companies that need an interface that will let them edit audio and video quickly.

Computer Accessories Image Gallery

Photo courtesy Fairlight The Xynergi Keyboard and CC-1 Card. See more pictures of computer accessories.

The Xynergi keyboard looks like a large computer keyboard with several extra keys, a few knobs, a dial called a jog wheel and a rectangular color monitor above the main array of keys. Fairlight calls the monitor and the surrounding controls the pad. Xynergi's main key array is in the standard QWERTY layout with a number pad on the right. Engineers use the knobs, keys and jog wheel to manipulate digital audio and video files.

If you've ever seen a professional audio mixing console or video editing control system, you know that there are many more switches, knobs and toggles than you'll find on the Xynergi keyboard. In order to replicate the functions that these large consoles have, Fairlight came up with a clever idea -- self-labeling keys. These ar­e keys that can change functions and key labels depending on what you're trying to do. Each key is a small computer monitor that can display different characters, including letters, symbols and words. Xynergi has an "animate" feature that makes keys flash on and off or change colors during specific tasks. The keys can even display video. As engineers switch from one operating mode to another (for example, moving from a word processing mode to an audio mixing mode), the key labels change and the keys themselves map to new functions.

In this article, we'll take a look at what makes Xynergi tick, examine some of Xynergi's functions and learn more about Fairlight's market strategy for Xynergi, including where you can pick one up and how much it'll set you back.

Xynergi Components

The real source of Xynergi's amazing functionality is Fairlight's CC-1 card. "CC" stands for Crystal Core, Fairlight's processing platform for its audio production hardware. The CC-1 is both a microprocessor and a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCI-Express) card. To use a Xynergi device, an engineer has to first connect it to a PC using the CC-1 card. He or she would need to install the card in one of the computer's expansion slots, which connects the card to the computer's motherboard.

It's Easy Being GreenComputer Processing Units (CPUs) coupled with FPGA devices are much faster and more efficient than a CPU working alone. FPGA devices have a much lower power requirement than a CPU. Fairlight claims that the CC-1 generates 98 percent less heat than a normal digital signal processor (DSP) and requires only 12 watts of electricity (as opposed to 600 watts for a DSP). Engineers can reduce their studios' carbon footprint by using more efficient electronics like the Xynergi system.

The CC-1 is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device. An FPGA device can contain thousands of logic gates, which are the basic building blocks of digital circuits (to learn more about logic gates, head to our article on How Boolean Logic Works). Fairlight designed the CC-1 to act as a processor. All audio production functions run through the CC-1, not the host computer's CPU. This means that the PC's processing power is available for other programming tasks. In the past, PC-based audio editing devices required a computer almost entirely dedicated to audio production, because audio processing demands are so high. Since the CC-1 handles this load on its own, you can install it on a PC and still run other processes while you edit and mix audio and video tracks.

Photo courtesy Fairlight The Xynergi Keyboard in three different application modes.

Fairlight offers four different configurations for the Xynergi system -- every version can perform the same basic tasks, but the higher-end versions have more processing capability. The top-of-the-line system is the Xynergi MPC-230F, which has 230 processing channels, 96 concurrent recording tracks and 192 concurrent playback tracks. In other words, Xynergi engineers can record, edit, mix and play back dozens of individual audio tracks to make rich, complex master recordings.

Xynergi systems also include an I/O toolbox called an SX-20. The SX-20 has two preamps, which are outputs that boost the power of a signal before sending the signal to another component (to learn more, read our article on How Amplifiers Work). The system also has two analog inputs, 12 analog outputs, four digital inputs and eight digital outputs, which allow the engineer to connect the system to other components, including microphones, instruments and speakers.

The Xynergi media production center runs on proprietary Fairlight production software. Xynergi can create and edit most media file formats, but its interactive keyboard isn't designed to work with other video and audio production software.

Xynergi's hardware and software give the system amazing capabilities. In the next section, we'll learn more about some of Xynergi's functions.

Xynergi Functions

Xynergi's interactive keyboard has application awareness, which means the keys display only the symbols and commands appropriate for the application currently in use. If an engineer needs to jot some notes down in Microsoft Word, for example, he or she can push a key on the Xynergi keyboard to activate Word. The Xynergi's keyboard then switches to a QWERTY keyboard. When finished, the engineer can push the Edit key to return to Xynergi's editing software, and the keys will change again.

Photo courtesy Fairlight An audio engineer uses Xynergi to manipulate tracks.

Because every key is actually a small color monitor, keys change colors to indicate active functions. For example, if an engineer wants to work on a specific track, he or she can push a button mapped to that track. The key will change from blue to red, indicating the track is active and ready for mixing or editing applications. If the engineer assigns a name to a specific track, the name will appear on the key mapped to that track.

Engineers use the jog wheel whenever they need to scan through an audio track quickly. Rotating the jog wheel clockwise or counterclockwise advances or reverses the track, respectively. This feature also allows engineers to designate specific sections of a track for editing -- the engineer uses the wheel to mark the beginning and end of a range within a track. The engineer can then add effects to the marked range without affecting the rest of the recording.

Fairlight calls the area that includes the color screen and the surrounding buttons and knobs the pad. The screen displays information about audio tracks, giving users a visual representation of the digital file. It can show the name of an audio track, bars that indicate the distribution of the track's sound across different speaker channels, an equalizer and a time code display. The buttons and knobs surrounding the screen allow an engineer to manipulate the track or set Xynergi in its automated editor mode.

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?Engineers can adjust eight bands of frequencies in each audio channel using Xynergi's equalizer. Lower frequencies, measured in units called hertz, correspond to sounds with a lower pitch. The equalizer lets engineers adjust the tone of an audio track by increasing or decreasing the amplitude of each band of frequencies. To learn more about sound frequencies, read our article on How Analog and Digital Recording Works.

Here are just a few of Xynergi's functions:

• Recording tracks: Xynergi can record incoming audio. Audio can come from other digital devices or straight from an instrument or microphone feed.
• Editing tracks: Engineers can edit audio tracks extensively, adding in effects like echo or reverberation, looping sections of track and adjusting frequency equalization.
• Mixing tracks: Once an engineer has his or her audio tracks adjusted just right, he or she can mix it with other tracks, eventually creating a complex master track. Xynergi can even take over mixing duties with an automated mixing program.
• Playback: Xynergi can play audio tracks, sending the signal to speakers connected to the media center. Engineers can isolate a specific speaker to make sure the right level of sound is reaching it, or listen to all the speakers together to create a surround sound effect.

The Xynergi system includes the same functions you'd find on a large audio or video editing console, but has a price tag that's only a fraction of what those systems cost.

Xynergi Marketing

While Fairlight estimated Xynergi's retail price at 20,000 euros, which converts to more than $29,000, its actual retail price isn't quite so high. Guitar Center Pro is North America's only distributor of the Xynergi Media Production Center, and its price is only $22,973. For this price, you get the keyboard, a CC-1 card, an SX-20 I/O toolbox and the Xynergi software toolkit. You'll still need a PC (Xynergi is not Mac compatible), monitors, speakers and other input and output devices -- the Xynergi Media Production Center doesn't include them.

David Ellis, morgueFile A Xynergi system might seem expensive, but compared to the cost of equipment in this traditional audio engineering studio, it's a real bargain.

After purchasing a Xynergi system, you might find yourself overwhelmed with its functions. Fortunately, Fairlight foresaw this very problem and included an interactive help system called Xplain. To use the Xplain system, you hold down the Xplain button on the keyboard and then press any other key to find out what it does and how to use it. A corresponding help message appears on the pad's screen. You can do this with any button, and the system will helpfully tell you what the function does.

Some buttons map to shortcuts to other programs. For example, there's a button for Internet Explorer. Pushing that button will launch IE and the keyboard will switch to the QWERTY layout. Users can map keys to specific functions not included in Xynergi's package, though the system may not be able to use its application awareness feature for every program.

Fairlight first began to ship the Xynergi platform out to customers and retailers in September 2007. The first business in the United States to purchase the system was Buzzy's Recording, a studio based in Los Angeles. The company plans on using Xynergi for voice overs and automated dialogue replacement (ADR) [source: Fairlight]. Fairlight expects the system to gain popularity quickly within the audio and video editing industry.

Why are the keys arranged the way they are on a QWERTY keyboard? What is the reason the keys arranged the way they are on a QWERTY keyboard?

In 1874 Remington & Sons manufactured the first commercial typewriter, called the Remington Number 1. This typewriter was designed by Christopher Sholes and used the "QWERTY" keyboard we are all familiar with.

Photodisc/Getty Images The QWERTY layout is based on the keyboard design for the original typewriter.

This early typewriter used a mechanism with characters on the end of a bar. When a key was struck, a linkage would swing the bar into a tape coated with ink. When the character struck the tape, the impression of the character was transferred onto the paper, which was positioned behind the tape.

Sholes' original prototypes had a problem with the bars colliding with each other and jamming. So the story goes that he arranged the keys with the most common letters in hard to reach spots, to slow typists down and try to avoid this problem.

Whatever the reason for the QWERTY layout, it seems pretty unlikely that one of the first keyboard layouts invented would be perfect. The QWERTY keyboard is very different from the Dvorak keyboard layout. The Dvorak keyboard layout tries to minimize the distance traveled by the fingers. It also tries to make the typist alternate hands on consecutive letters as often as possible.

The Dvorak layout places all of the most commonly used letters in the home row so your fingers don't have to move at all to hit these keys. The left hand has all of the vowels and some consonants and the right hand has only consonants. So there are very few words in the English language that can be typed with only one hand on the Dvorak keyboard (two are "papaya" and "opaque"). Both "pumpkin" and "minimum" can be typed with one hand on a QWERTY keyboard -- give it a try.

This site shows the layout of the Dvorak keyboard. If I had typed this article on a Dvorak keyboard, my fingers would have traveled 30 meters versus the 54 meters they traveled on the QWERTY keyboard I use.

Some argue, however, the Dvorak keyboard is no more efficient than QWERTY. An independent study in 1956 showed that QWERTY typists and Dvorak typists had about the same rate of speed, and continued studies don't show a clear winner between the two [ref]. This may explain why QWERTY is still the standard.

If you want to see for yourself, you can switch your keyboard to a Dvorak configuration just by changing a setting on your computer's operating system. Depending on your keyboard, you may even be able to pry off the keys and rearrange them in the Dvorak layout.

What is Nehalem Microprocessor Microarchitecture? How the Nehalem Microprocessor Microarchitecture Works?

Take the number two and double it and you've got four. Double it again and you've got eight. Continue this trend of doubling the previous product and within 10 rounds you're up to 1,024. By 20 rounds you've hit 1,048,576. This is called exponential growth. It's the principle behind one of the most important concepts in the evolution of electronics.

In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore made an observation that has since dictated the direction of the semiconductor industry. Moore noted that the density of transistors on a chip doubled every year. That meant that every 12 months, chip manufacturers were finding ways to shrink transistor sizes so that twice as many could fit on a chip substrate.

Moore pointed out that the density of transistors on a chip and the cost of manufacturing chips were tied together. But the media -- and just about everybody else -- latched on to the idea that the microchip industry was developing at an exponential rate. Moore's observations and predictions morphed into a concept we call Moore's Law.

Over the years, people have tweaked Moore's Law to fit the parameters of chip development. At one point, the length of time between doubling the number of transistors on a chip increased to 18 months. Today, it's more like two years. That's still an impressive achievement considering that today's top microprocessors contain more than a billion transistors on a single chip.

­Another way to look at Moore's Law is to say that the processing power of a microchip doubles in capacity every two years. That's almost the same as saying the number of transistors doubles -- microprocessors draw processing power from transistors. But another way to boost processor power is to find new ways to design chips so that they're more efficient.

­This brings us back to Intel. Intel's philosophy is to follow a tick-tock strategy. The tick refers to creating new methods of building smaller transistors. The tock refers to maximizing the microprocessor's power and speed. The most recent Intel tick chip to hit the market (at the time of this writing) is the Penryn chip, which has transistors on the 45-nanometer scale. A nanometer is one-billionth the size of a meter -- to put that in the proper perspective, an average human hair is about 100,000 nanometers in diameter.

So what's the tock? That would be the new Core i7 microprocessor from Intel. It has transistors the same size as the Penryn's, but uses Intel's new Nehalem microarchitecture to increase power and speed. By following this tick-tock philosophy, Intel hopes to stay on target to meet the expectations of Moore's Law for several more years.

How does the Nehalem microprocessor use the same-sized transistors as the Penryn and yet get better results? Let's take a closer look at the microprocessor.

Nehalem Architecture

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, of Moore's Law fame.

You can look at the Nehalem microprocessor as a chip that has two main sections: a core and then the surrounding components called the un-core. The core of the microprocessor contains the following elements:

• The processors, which do the actual number crunching. This can include anything from simple mathematical operations like adding and subtracting to much more complex functions.
• A section devoted to out-of-order scheduling and retirement logic. This lets the microprocessor make calculations in a more efficient manner by tackling instructions in whichever order is fastest.
• Cache memory takes up about one-third of the microprocessor's core. The cache allows the microprocessor to store information temporarily on the chip itself, decreasing the need to pull information from other parts of the computer. There are two sections of cache memory in the core called L1 and L2.
• A branch prediction section on the core allows the microprocessor to anticipate functions based on previous input. By predicting functions, the microprocessor can work more efficiently. If it turns out the predictions are wrong, the chip can cease calculations and shift to perform the correct functions.
• The rest of the core orders functions, decodes information and organizes data.

The un-core section has an additional 8 megabytes of memory contained in the L3 cache. The reason the L3 cache isn't in the core is because the Nehalem microprocessor is scalable and modular. That means Intel can build chips that have multiple cores. The cores all share the same L3 memory cache. That means multiple cores can work from the same information at the same time.

Why create scalable microprocessors? It's an elegant solution to a tricky problem -- building more processing power without having to reinvent the processor itself. In a way, it's like connecting several batteries in a series. Intel plans on building Nehalem microprocessors in dual, quad and eight-core configurations. Dual-core processors are good for small devices like smartphones. You're more likely to find a quad-core processor in a desktop or laptop computer. Intel designed the eight-core processors for machines like servers -- computers that handle heavy workloads.

Intel says that it will offer Nehalem microprocessors that incorporate a graphics processing unit (GPU) in the un-core. The GPU will function much the same way as a dedicated graphics card.

Nehalem and QuickPath

© Intel
Intel built the Core i7 chip series using the Nehalem microarchitecture.

According to Intel, one of the most important developments in microarchitecture is an interconnect system the company calls QuickPath. QuickPath encompasses the connections between the processors, memory and other components.­

In older Intel microrprocessors, commands come in through an input/output (I/O) controller to a centralized memory controller. The memory controller contacts a processor, which may request data. The memory controller retrieves this data from memory storage and sends it to the processor. The processor makes computations based upon that data and sends the results back through the memory controller to the I/O controller. As microprocessors become more complex with multiple processors on a single chip, this model becomes less efficient.

Using the old microarchitecture, Intel's chips had a memory bandwidth of up to 21 gigabytes per second. But microprocessor power was beginning to outpace the speed of data transmissions. QuickPath connectivity improves the memory bandwidth, allowing more information to pass each second.

QuickPath decentralizes and compartmentalizes communication between processors and memory. Instead of a centralized memory controller, each processor has its own memory controller, dedicated memory and cache memory. The processors communicate directly with the I/O controller. Commands come from the I/O controllers to the processors. Because each processor has a dedicated memory controller, memory and cache, there's no centralized bottleneck. Each processor can communicate with its dedicated memory at a speed of 32 gigabytes per second.

Processors also have point-to-point interconnections between each other. That means if one processor needs to access data within another processor's cache, it can send a request directly to the respective processor and get a response. Within each interconnection are distinct data pathways. Data can flow in both directions at the same time, speeding up data transfers. Transfer speeds between the multiple processors and the I/O controller can be up to 25.6 gigabytes per second.

IMC Intel calls the memory controller, memory and cache configuration the Integrated Memory Controller, or IMC.

QuickPath also allows processors to take shortcuts when requesting information from other processors. Imagine a quad-core microprocessor with processors A, B, C and D. There are links between each processor. In older architectures, if processor A needed information from D, it would send a request. D would then send a request to processors B and C to make sure D had the most recent instance of that data. B and C would send the results to D, which would then be able to send information back to A. Each round of messages is called a hop -- this example had four hops.

QuickPath skips one of these steps. Processor A would send its initial request -- called a "snoop" -- to B, C and D, with D designated as the respondent. Processors B and C would send data to D. D would then send the result to A. This method skips one round of messages, so there are only three hops. It seems like a small improvement, but over billions of calculations it makes a big difference.

In addition, if one of the other processors had the information A requests, it can send the data directly to A. That reduces the hops to 2. QuickPath also packs information in more compact payloads.

Nehalem Branches and Loops

­
© Intel
The Core i7 chip with the heatspreader removed.

­In a microprocessor, everything runs on clock cycles. Clock cycles are a way to measure how long a microprocessor takes to execute an instruction. Think of it as the number of instructions a microprocessor can execute in a second. The faster the clock speed, the more instructions the microprocessor will be able to handle per second.

One way microprocessors like the Core i7 try to increase efficiency is to predict future instructions based on old instructions. It's called branch prediction. When branch prediction works, the microprocessor completes instructions more efficiently. But if a prediction turns out to be inaccurate, the microprocessor has to compensate. This can mean wasted clock cycles, which translates into slower performance.

Nehalem has two branch target buffers (BTB). These buffers load instructions for the processors in anticipation of what the processors will need next. Assuming the prediction is correct, the processor doesn't need to call up information from the computer's memory. Nehalem's two buffers allow it to load more instructions, decreasing the lag time in the event of one set turning out to be incorrect.

Another efficiency improvement involves software loops. A loop is a string of instructions that the software repeats as it executes. It may come in regular intervals or intermittently. With loops, branch prediction becomes unnecessary -- one instance of a particular loop should execute the same way as every other. Intel designed Nehalem chips to recognize loops and handle them differently than other instructions.

Microprocessors without loop stream detection tend to have a hardware pipeline that begins with branch predictors, then moves to hardware designed to retrieve -- or fetch -- instructions, decode the instructions and execute them. Loop stream detection can identify repeated instructions, bypassing some of this process.

Intel used loop stream detection in its Penryn microprocessors. Penryn's loop stream detection hardware sits between the fetch and decode components of older microprocessors. When the Penryn chip's detector discovers a loop, the microprocessor can shut down the branch prediction and fetch components. This makes the pipeline shorter. But Nehalem goes a step farther. Nehalem's loop stream detector is at the end of the pipeline. When it sees a loop, the microprocessor can shut down everything except the loop stream detector, which sends out the appropriate instructions to a buffer.

The improvements to branch prediction and loop stream detection are all part of Intel's "tock" strategy. The transistors in Nehalem chips are the same size as Penryn's, but Nehalem's design makes more efficient use of the hardware.

Nehalem and Multithreading

© Intel
The back side of the Core i7 chip with Nehalem microarchitecture.

As software applications become more sophisticated, sending instructions to processors becomes complicated. One way to simplify the process is through threading. Threading starts on the software side of the equation. Programmers build applications with instructions that processors can split into multiple streams or threads. Processors can work on individual threads of instructions, teaming up to complete a task. In the world of microprocessors, we call this parallelism because multiple processors work on parallel threads of data at the same time.­

Nehalem's architecture allows each processor to handle two threads simultaneously. That means an eight-core Nehalem microprocessor can process 16 threads at the same time. This gives the Nehalem microprocessor the ability to process complex instructions more efficiently. According to Intel, the multithreading capability is more efficient than adding more processing cores to a microprocessor. Nehalem microprocessors should be able to meet the demands of sophisticated software like video editing programs or high-end video games.

Another benefit to multithreading is that the processor can handle multiple applications at the same time. This lets you work on complex programs while running other applications like virus scanners in the background. With older processors, these activities could cause a computer to slow down or even crash.

Rock Around the Overclock Nehalem's turbo boost feature is similar to an old hacking trick called overclocking. To overclock a microprocessor is to increase its processing frequency beyond the normal parameters of the chip. Some gamers overclock the processors on their machines to get better performance when playing sophisticated video games. But overclocking isn't always a good idea -- it can cause chips to overheat.

Intel has incorporated an additional technology the company calls turbo boost within Nehalem's architecture. If the processor is running below its limits on power consumption, processing capacity and temperature levels, it can increase its clock frequency. This makes the active processors work faster. With older applications that have a single thread, the chip can increase clock speeds even more.

The turbo boost feature is dynamic -- it makes the Nehalem microprocessor work harder as the workload increases, provided the chip is within its operating parameters. As workload decreases, the microprocessor can work at its normal clock frequency. Because the microchip has a monitoring system, you don't have to worry about the chip overheating or working beyond its capacity. And when you aren't placing heavy demands on your processor, the chip conserves power.

Intel's Tick Tock

© Intel
Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney demonstrates the power of the Nehalem microarchitecture using a touchscreen interface at a press conference.

­

Developing a microprocessor takes years. While Intel unveiled Nehalem in 2008, the project was more than five years old at the time. That means even as people wait for an announced microchip to make its way into various electronic devices and computers, manufacturers like Intel are working on the next step in microprocessor evolution. They have to, if they want to keep up with Moore's Law.

The next step for Intel is another "tick" development. That means reducing transistors down to 32-nanometers wide. Producing one microprocessor with transistors that size is an amazing achievement. But what is even more daunting is finding a way to mass produce millions of chips with transistors that small in an efficient, reliable and cost-effective way.

The codename for the next Intel chip is Westmere. Westmere will use the same microarchitecture as Nehalem but will have the 32-nanometer transistors. That means Westmere will be more powerful than Nehalem. But that doesn't mean Westmere's architecture will make the most sense for a microprocessor with transistors that small. That will fall to the next "tock" microprocessor.

And the tock already has a name: Sandy Bridge. The Sandy Bridge microchip will have an architecture optimized for 32-nanometer transistors. It may take a couple of years before we see Sandy Bridge rolled out into the commercial market, but when it does it will likely be just as revolutionary as Nehalem is today.

Where will Intel go after that? It's hard to say. While transistors have shrunk down to sizes practically unimaginable a decade ago, we're getting close to hitting some fundamental laws of physics that could put a halt to rapid development. That's because as you work with smaller materials, you begin to enter the realm of quantum mechanics. The world of quantum mechanics can seem strange to someone only familiar with classic physics. Particles and energy behave in ways that seem counterintuitive from a classic perspective.

One of those behaviors is particularly problematic when it comes to microprocessors: electron tunneling. Normally, transistors can funnel electrons without much risk of leakage. But as barriers get thinner, the possibility for electron tunneling becomes more likely. When an electron encounters a very thin barrier -- something on the order of a single nanometer in width -- it can pass from one side of the barrier to the other even if the electron's energy levels seem too low for that to happen normally. Scientists call the phenomenon tunneling even though the electron doesn't make a physical hole in the barrier.

This is a big problem for microprocessors. Microprocessors work by channeling electrons through transistor switches. Microprocessors with transistors on the nanoscale already have to deal with some levels of electron leakage. Leakage makes microprocessors less efficient. Without a dramatic change to the way Intel designs transistors, there's a danger that Moore's Law will finally become moot.

Still, engineers tend to think of ways around problems that seem completely insurmountable. Even if transistors can't get any smaller after one or two more generations, it won't be the end of electronics. It just might mean we advance a little more slowly than we're accustomed to.