An Introduction to Microprocessors
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- Noel M. Morris 2
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This chapter ranges over some of the topics which are dealt with in detail later in the book. It is hoped that this introductory chapter will remove much of the ‘mystery’ of microprocessors, which can act as a block to their full understanding.
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North Staffordshire Polytechnic, UK
Noel M. Morris ( Principal Lecturer )
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© 1981 Noel M. Morris
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Morris, N.M. (1981). An Introduction to Microprocessors. In: Microprocessor and Microcomputer Technology. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16651-0_1
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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16651-0_1
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Applied computing
Computers in other domains
Personal computers and PC applications
Microcomputers
Computer systems organization
Architectures
Parallel architectures
Interconnection architectures
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- > Microprocessor Architecture
- > Introduction
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Basics
- 3 Superscalar Processors
- 4 Front-End: Branch Prediction, Instruction Fetching, and Register Renaming
- 5 Back-End: Instruction Scheduling, Memory Access Instructions, and Clusters
- 6 The Cache Hierarchy
- 7 Multiprocessors
- 8 Multithreading and (Chip) Multiprocessing
- 9 Current Limitations and Future Challenges
- Bibliography
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Modern computer systems built from the most sophisticated microprocessors and extensive memory hierarchies achieve their high performance through a combination of dramatic improvements in technology and advances in computer architecture. Advances in technology have resulted in exponential growth rates in raw speed (i.e., clock frequency) and in the amount of logic (number of transistors) that can be put on a chip. Computer architects have exploited these factors in order to further enhance performance using architectural techniques, which are the main subject of this book.
Microprocessors are over 30 years old: the Intel 4004 was introduced in 1971. The functionality of the 4004 compared to that of the mainframes of that period (for example, the IBM System/370) was minuscule. Today, just over thirty years later, workstations powered by engines such as (in alphabetical order and without specific processor numbers) the AMD Athlon, IBM PowerPC, Intel Pentium, and Sun Ultra SPARC can rival or surpass in both performance and functionality the few remaining mainframes and at a much lower cost. Servers and supercomputers are more often than not made up of collections of microprocessor systems.
It would be wrong to assume, though, that the three tenets that computer architects have followed, namely pipelining, parallelism , and the principle of locality , were discovered with the birth of microprocessors. They were all at the basis of the design of previous (super)computers. The advances in technology made their implementations more practical and spurred further refinements.
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- Introduction
- Jean-Loup Baer , University of Washington
- Book: Microprocessor Architecture
- Online publication: 05 June 2012
- Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511811258.002
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INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR
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The objectives of this Perspective paper are to offer a brief history of the development of the microprocessor and to answer questions such as: where did the microprocessor come from, where is it now, and where might it go in the future? 1. Introduction.
Abstract. Microprocessors are one of the most important technical phenomena of the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. For thirty-five years their computing power and their complexity have increased at sustained rates.
The aim of this book is to provide a coherent introduction to microprocessor systems, their operation and design. It covers those topics needed by engineers and computer scientists who are interested in applying microprocessors in practical situations, namely computer hardware including logic and interfacing, software, in particular high level ...
These terms are widely used to describe features of computers and microprocessors. Digital system hardware consists of the components used in its construction; that is to say items of equipment that can physically be touched.
This paper presents a tutorial overview of the past, present, and future of microprocessors and describes the key elements of their structure and operation. It is intended to serve as a technical introduction to the rapidly expanding field of microprocessor and microcomputer technology and to provide an overview of what these elements are, what ...
Microprocessors evolved from 4 bit to 64 bit microprocessors, introducing computer technologies such as pipeline, super-pipeline, super-scalar, VLIW, cache memory, and virtual memory system. Now, it is possible to integrate 16 sets of microprocessor with 64GB of memory on the board.
Summary. This chapter contains sections titled: Explanation of Terms. Microprocessor Data Types. Evolution of the Microprocessor. Typical Features of 32-bit and 64-bit Microprocessors. Microprocessor-based System Design Concepts. Typical Microprocessor Applications.
Summary. Modern computer systems built from the most sophisticated microprocessors and extensive memory hierarchies achieve their high performance through a combination of dramatic improvements in technology and advances in computer architecture.
This paper presents a review of microprocessor microarchitectures, discussing their generations over the past 50 years. Then, it describes the currently used implementations of the...
The objectives of this Perspective paper are to offer a brief history of the development of the microprocessor and to answer questions such as: where did the microprocessor come from, where is it now, and where might it go in the future?