What is a Microprocessor?

Computer's Central Processing Unit (CPU) built on a single Integrated Circuit (IC) is called
a microprocessor.

A digital computer with one microprocessor which acts as a CPU is called microcomputer.

It is a programmable, multipurpose, clock -driven, register-based electronic device that reads

binary instructions from a storage device called memory, accepts binary data as input and
processes data according to those instructions and provides results as output.

The microprocessor contains millions of tiny components like transistors, registers, and diodes
that work together.

Block Diagram of a Microcomputer

A microprocessor consists of an ALU, control unit and register array. Where ALU performs
arithmetic and logical operations on the data received from an input device or memory. Control
unit controls the instructions and flow of data within the computer. And, register array consists
of registers identified by letters like B, C, D, E, H, L, and accumulator.

Evolution of Microprocessors
We can categorize the microprocessor according to the generations or according to the size of
the microprocessor:

First Generation (4 - bit Microprocessors)

The first generation microprocessors were introduced in the year 1971-1972 by Intel
Corporation. It was named Intel 4004 since it was a 4-bit processor.

It was a processor on a single chip. It could perform simple arithmetic and logical operations
such as addition, subtraction, Boolean OR and Boolean AND.

I had a control unit capable of performing control functions like fetching an instruction from
storage memory, decoding it, and then generating control pulses to execute it.

Second Generation (8 - bit Microprocessor)

The second generation microprocessors were introduced in 1973 again by Intel. It was a first 8 -
bit microprocessor which could perform arithmetic and logic operations on 8-bit words. It was
Intel 8008, and another improved version was Intel 8088.

Third Generation (16 - bit Microprocessor)

The third generation microprocessors, introduced in 1978 were represented by Intel's 8086,
Zilog Z800 and 80286, which were 16 - bit processors with a performance like minicomputers.

Fourth Generation (32 - bit Microprocessors)

Several different companies introduced the 32-bit microprocessors, but the most popular one is
the Intel 80386.

Fifth Generation (64 - bit Microprocessors)

From 1995 to now we are in the fifth generation. After 80856, Intel came out with a new
processor namely Pentium processor followed by Pentium Pro CPU, which allows multiple CPUs
in a single system to achieve multiprocessing.

Other improved 64-bit processors are Celeron, Dual, Quad, Octa Core processors.

Table: Important Intel Microprocessors

Microprocessor Year of Word Memory Pins Clock Remarks
Invention Length addressing
Capacity

4004 1971 4- 1 KB 16 750 First

bit KHz Microprocessor

8085 1976 8- 64 KB 40 3-6 Popular 8-bit

bit MHz Microprocessor

8086 1978 16- 1MB 40 5-8 Widely used in

bit MHz PC/XT

80286 1982 16- 16MB real, 68 6- Widely used in

bit 4 GB virtual 12.5 PC/AT
MHz

80386 1985 32- 4GB real, 132 20- Contains MMU

bit 64TB virtual 14X14 33 on chip
PGA MHz

80486 1989 32- 4GB real, 168 25- Contains MMU,

bit 64TB virtual 17X17 100 cache and FPU,
PGA MHz 1.2 million
transistors

Pentium 1993 32- 4GB 237 60- Contains 2

bit real,32-bit PGA 200 ALUs,2 Caches,
address,64- FPU, 3.3 Million
bit data bus transistors, 3.3
V, 7.5 million
transistors

Pentium Pro 1995 32- 64GB real, 387 150- It is a data flow
bit 36-bit PGA 200 processor. It
address bus MHz contains
second level
cache also,3.3
V

Pentium II 1997 32- - - 233- All features

 bit 400 Pentium pro
MHz plus MMX
technology,3.3
V, 7.5 million
transistors

Pentium III 1999 32- 64GB 370 600- Improved

bit PGA 1.3 version of
MHz Pentium II; 70
new SIMD
instructions

Pentium 4 2000 32- 64GB 423 600- Improved

bit PGA 1.3 version of
GHz Pentium III

Itanium 2001 64- 64 address 423 733 64-bit EPIC

bit lines PGA MHz- Processor
1.3
GHz

Where,

o PGA - Pin Grid Array

o MMX - MultiMedia eXtensions
o EPIC - Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing
o SIMD - Single Instruction Multiple Data
o ALU - Arithmetic and Logic Unit
o MMU - Memory Management Unit
o FPU - Floating Point Unit

Moore's law "the number of transistors in a integrated circuit doubles about every two years". The guy
who said that, Gordon Moore, was actually the co-founder of Intel.

Basic Terms used in Microprocessor

Here is a list of some basic terms used in microprocessor:
Instruction Set - The group of commands that the microprocessor can understand is called
Instruction set. It is an interface between hardware and software.

Bus - Set of conductors intended to transmit data, address or control information to different
elements in a microprocessor. A microprocessor will have three types of buses, i.e., data bus,
address bus, and control bus.

IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) - It is a measure of how many instructions a CPU is capable of
executing in a single clock.

Clock Speed - It is the number of operations per second the processor can perform. It can be
expressed in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz). It is also called the Clock Rate.

Bandwidth - The number of bits processed in a single instruction is called Bandwidth.

Word Length - The number of bits the processor can process at a time is called the word length
of the processor. 8-bit Microprocessor may process 8 -bit data at a time. The range of word
length is from 4 bits to 64 bits depending upon the type of the microcomputer.

Data Types - The microprocessor supports multiple data type formats like binary, ASCII, signed
and unsigned numbers.

Features of Microprocessor
o Low Cost - Due to integrated circuit technology microprocessors are available at very
low cost. It will reduce the cost of a computer system.
o High Speed - Due to the technology involved in it, the microprocessor can work at very
high speed. It can execute millions of instructions per second.
o Small Size - A microprocessor is fabricated in a very less footprint due to very large
scale and ultra large scale integration technology. Because of this, the size of the
computer system is reduced.
o Versatile - The same chip can be used for several applications, therefore,
microprocessors are versatile.
o Low Power Consumption - Microprocessors are using metal oxide semiconductor
technology, which consumes less power.
o Less Heat Generation - Microprocessors uses semiconductor technology which will not
emit much heat as compared to vacuum tube devices.
o Reliable - Since microprocessors use semiconductor technology, therefore, the failure
rate is very less. Hence it is very reliable.
o Portable - Due to the small size and low power consumption microprocessors are
portable.
Types of Microprocessors
Vector Processors
A vector processor is designed for vector computations. A vector is an array of operands of the
same type. Consider the following vectors:

Vector A (a1, a2, a3, ......., an)

Vector B (b1, b2, b3,......., bn)
Vector C = Vector A + Vector B
= C(c1, c2, c3, .......,cn), where c1 = a1+ b1, c2 = a2 + b2, .....,Cn=
an + bn.

A vector processor adds all the elements of vector A and Vector B using a single vector
instruction with hardware approach.

Examples of vector processors are:

o DEC's VAX 9000,

o IBM 390/VF,
o CRAY Research Y-MP family,
o Hitachi's S-810/20, etc.

Array Processors or SIMD Processors

Array processors are also designed for vector computations. The difference between an array
processor and a vector processor is that a vector processor uses multiple vector pipelines
whereas an array processor employs a number of processing elements to operate in parallel.

An array processor contains multiple numbers of ALUs. Each ALU is provided with the local
memory. The ALU together with the local memory is called a Processing Element (PE). An array
processor is a SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) processor. Thus using a single
instruction, the same operation can be performed on an array of data which makes it suitable for
vector computations.
 Schematic Diagram of an Array Processor or SIMD Processor

Scalar and Superscalar Processors

A processor that executes scalar data is called scalar processor. The simplest scalar processor
makes processing of only integer instruction using fixed-points operands. A powerful scalar
processor makes processing of both integer as well floating- point numbers. It contains an
integer ALU and a Floating Point Unit (FPU) on the same CPU chip.

A scalar processor may be RISC processor or CISC processor.

Examples of CISC processors are:

o Intel 386, 486; Motorola's 68030, 68040; etc.

Examples of RISC scalar processors are:

o Intel i860, Motorola MC8810, SUN's SPARC CY7C601, etc.

A superscalar processor has multiple pipelines and executes more than one instruction per
clock cycle.

Examples of superscalar processors are:

o Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, etc.

RISC and CISC Processors

RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer and
CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computer.

There are two approaches of the design of the control unit of a microprocessor i.e.-

o Hardware approach and

o Software approach.

RISC Processors:- To execute an instruction, a number of steps are required. By the control
unit of the processor, a number of control signals are generated for each step. To execute each
instruction, if there is a separate electronic circuitry in the control unit, which produces all the
necessary signals, this approach of the design of the control section of the processor is
called RISC design. It is hardware approach. It is also called hard-wired approach.

Examples of RISC processors are:

o DEC's Alpha 21064, 21164 and 21264 processors;

o SUN's SPARC and ULTRA SPARC;
o PowerPC processors etc.

CISC Processors:- If the control unit contains a number of micro electronic circuitry to generate
a set of control signals and each micro circuitry is activated by a microcode, this design approach
is called CISC design. This is a software approach of designing a control unit of the processor.

Examples of CISC processors are:

o Intel 386, 486;

o Pentium Pro, Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4;
o Motorola's 68000, 68020, 68030, 68040, etc.

Difference between RISC and CISC

S.No. RISC CISC

1. Simple instruction set Complex instruction set

2. Consists of Large number of registers. Less number of registers

3. Larger Program Smaller program

4. Simple processor circuitry (small Complex processor circuitry (more

number of transistors) number of transistors)

5. More RAM usage Little Ram usage

6. Simple addressing modes Variety of addressing modes

 7. Fixed length instructions Variable length instructions

8. Fixed number of clock cycles for Variable number of clock cycles for each
executing one instruction instructions

Digital Signal Processors (DSP)

DSP microprocessors specifically designed to process signals. They receive some digitized signal
information, perform some mathematical operations on the information and give the result to an
output device. They implement integration, differentiation, complex fast Fourier transform, etc.
using hardware.

Examples of digital signal processors are:

o Texas instruments' TMS 320C25,

o Motorola 56000,
o National LM 32900,
o Fujitsu MBB 8764, etc.

Symbolic Processors
Symbolic processors are designed for expert system, machine intelligence, knowledge based
system, pattern-recognition, text retrieval, etc.

The basic operations which are performed for artificial intelligence are:

Logic interference, compare, search, pattern matching, filtering, unification, retrieval, reasoning,
etc. This type of processing does not require floating point operations. Symbolic processors are
also called LISP processors or PROLOG processors.

Bit-Slice Processors
The processor of desired word length is developed using the building blocks. The basic building
block is called Bit-Slice where the building blocks include 4-bit ALUs, micro programs sequencers,
carry look-ahead generators, etc. The word 'slice' was used because the desired number of ALUs
and other components were used to build an 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit CPU.

Examples of Bit-Slice Processors were:

o AMD-2900, AMD 2909, AMD 2910, AMD 29300 series,

o Texas instrument's SN-74AS88XX series, etc.
Transputers
In a multiprocessor system, a transputer is a specially designed microprocessor to operate as a
component processor.

Transputers were introduced in late 1980's. They were built on VLSI chip and contained a
processor, memory and communication links. The communication link was to provide point-to-
point connection between transputers.

A transputer contains FPU, on-chip RAM, high-speed serial link, etc.

Examples of transputers are:

o INMOS T414, INMOS T800, etc.

Where, T414 was a 32-bit processor with 2 KB memory. The T800 was FPU version of 32-bit
transputer with 4 KB memory.

Graphic Processors
Graphics Processors are specially designed processors for graphics. Intel has developed Intel
740-3D graphics chip. It is optimized for Pentium II PCs, using a hyper pipelined 3D architecture
with additional 2D acceleration. Like most 3D graphics chips, the I-740 will be marketed in
performance, not the main stream category. It is designed mostly for such heavy multimedia
uses as games and movies.

Examples of Graphic Processors are:

o Intel 82786 graphics coprocessor

o IBM's 8514/A,
o Texas Instruments' TMS34010 and TMS34020,
o Intel i860 and Intel i750, etc.