A silicon chip that contains a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In the world of personal computers, the terms microprocessor and CPU are used interchangeably. At the heart of all personal computers and most workstations sits a microprocessor. Microprocessors also control the logic of almost all digital devices, from clock radios to fuel-injection systems for automobiles.
Three basic characteristics differentiate microprocessors:
Instruction set: The set of instructions that the microprocessor can execute.
Bandwidth : The number of bits processed in a single instruction.
Clock speed : Given in megahertz (MHz), the clock speed determines how many instructions per second the processor can execute.
Three basic characteristics differentiate microprocessors:
Instruction set: The set of instructions that the microprocessor can execute.
Bandwidth : The number of bits processed in a single instruction.
Clock speed : Given in megahertz (MHz), the clock speed determines how many instructions per second the processor can execute.
The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using Binary-coded decimal (BCD) arithmetic on 4-bit words. Other embedded uses of 4 and 8-bit microprocessors, such as terminals, printers, various kinds of automation etc, followed rather quickly. Affordable 8-bit microprocessors with 16-bit addressing also led to the first general purpose microcomputers in the mid-1970s.
Computer processors were for a long period constructed out of small and medium-scale ICs containing the equivalent of a few to a few hundred transistors. The integration of the whole CPU onto a single VLSI chip therefore greatly reduced the cost of processing capacity. From their humble beginnings, continued increases in microprocessor capacity have rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of computing hardware), with one or more microprocessor as processing element in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers.
Since the early 1970s, the increase in capacity of microprocessors has been known to generally follow Moore's Law, which suggests that the complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every 18 months. In the late 1990s, heat generation (TDP), due to switching losses, static current leakage, and other factors, emerged as a leading developmental constraint
Computer processors were for a long period constructed out of small and medium-scale ICs containing the equivalent of a few to a few hundred transistors. The integration of the whole CPU onto a single VLSI chip therefore greatly reduced the cost of processing capacity. From their humble beginnings, continued increases in microprocessor capacity have rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of computing hardware), with one or more microprocessor as processing element in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers.
Since the early 1970s, the increase in capacity of microprocessors has been known to generally follow Moore's Law, which suggests that the complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every 18 months. In the late 1990s, heat generation (TDP), due to switching losses, static current leakage, and other factors, emerged as a leading developmental constraint
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