Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Hypnic jerk. A hypnic jerk, hypnagogic jerk, sleep start, sleep twitch, myoclonic jerk, or night start is a brief and sudden involuntary contraction of the muscles of the body which occurs when a person is beginning to fall asleep, often causing the person to jump and awaken suddenly for a moment. Hypnic jerks are one form of involuntary muscle ...
A watchdog timer (WDT, or simply a watchdog), sometimes called a computer operating properly timer (COP timer), [1] is an electronic or software timer that is used to detect and recover from computer malfunctions. Watchdog timers are widely used in computers to facilitate automatic correction of temporary hardware faults, and to prevent errant ...
Windows. On Windows, the Sleep() function takes a single parameter of the number of milliseconds to sleep. The Sleep() function is included in kernel32.dll. [1] The Sleep() function has a resolution no higher than the current timer resolution, typically 16ms but at minimum 1ms, adjustable via the timeBeginPeriod() family of "media timer" APIs.
Message loop in Microsoft Windows. The message loop is an obligatory section of code in every program that uses a graphical user interface under Microsoft Windows. [1] Windows programs that have a GUI are event-driven. Windows maintains an individual message queue for each thread that has created a window.
Hypnagogia is the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep, also defined as the waning state of consciousness during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as hypnopompia – the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental phenomena that may occur during this "threshold consciousness" phase include hypnagogic ...
A circadian rhythm (/ sərˈkeɪdiən /), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., endogenous) and responds to the environment (is entrained by the environment). Circadian rhythms are regulated by a circadian clock whose ...
Hibernation (also known as suspend to disk, or Safe Sleep on Macintosh computers [ 1 ]) in computing is powering down a computer while retaining its state. When hibernation begins, the computer saves the contents of its random access memory (RAM) to a hard disk or other non-volatile storage. When the computer is turned on the RAM is restored ...
High Precision Event Timer. The High Precision Event Timer (HPET) is a hardware timer available in modern x86-compatible personal computers. Compared to older types of timers available in the x86 architecture, HPET allows more efficient processing of highly timing-sensitive applications, such as multimedia playback and OS task switching.