Cmos
CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is a way of constructing integrated circuits. The technology is used today in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital circuits. CMOS utilizes transistors to store information in a volatile manner, but is sometimes thought of as non-volatile due to the common use of a battery to maintain the power to the chip, and recent changes to using EEPROM technology. In a personal computer, the CMOS is mainly used to store settings for the BIOS, and to retain the settings a CMOS battery is used. Due to the very small size of data needed to store BIOS settings
CMOS has been evolving since it was first created. At first the CMOS utilized RAM, which required a slow trickle of power to keep data (BIOS settings) stored and safe. This method required the use of a CMOS battery; typically a CR2032 battery was used. These batteries have a life of 2 to 10 years depending on the amount of electricity used, ambient temperature, and other stress factors. Later the technology evolved to a form of charging the CMOS battery while the system was powered on, to help provide a longer battery life. Further the CMOS technology has been improved to utilize EEPROM to store the BIOS settings. A battery however is still used to maintain the Real-time clock. So over time the CMOS has truly went from a volatile memory to a non-volatile memory type.
There is a lot of confusion on the difference in CMOS and BIOS.
CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is a way of constructing integrated circuits. The technology is used today in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital circuits. CMOS utilizes transistors to store information in a volatile manner, but is sometimes thought of as non-volatile due to the common use of a battery to maintain the power to the chip, and recent changes to using EEPROM technology. In a personal computer, the CMOS is mainly used to store settings for the BIOS, and to
CMOS has been evolving since it was first created. At first the CMOS utilized RAM, which required a slow trickle of power to keep data (BIOS settings) stored and safe. This method required the use of a CMOS battery; typically a CR2032 battery was used. These batteries have a life of 2 to 10 years depending on the amount of electricity used, ambient temperature, and other stress factors. Later the technology evolved to a form of charging the CMOS battery while the system was powered on, to help provide a longer battery life. Further the CMOS technology has been improved to utilize EEPROM to store the BIOS settings. A battery however is still used to maintain the Real-time clock. So over time the CMOS has truly went from a volatile memory to a non-volatile memory type.
There is a lot of confusion on the difference in CMOS and BIOS.
CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is a way of constructing integrated circuits. The technology is used today in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital circuits. CMOS utilizes transistors to store information in a volatile manner, but is sometimes thought of as non-volatile due to the common use of a battery to maintain the power to the chip, and recent changes to using EEPROM technology. In a personal computer, the CMOS is mainly used to store settings for the BIOS, and to