CS101 Introduction to Computing

Chapter 10
Microprocessor
 Goals for Today
Today we want to learn about the microprocessor,
the key component, the brain, of a computer

We’ll learn about the function of a microprocessor

And its various sub-systems

– Bus interface unit]
– Data & instruction cache memory
– Instruction decoder
– Arithmetic-Logic unit
– Floating-point unit
– Control unit
 Microprocessor
• The key element of all computers, providing the
mathematical and decision making ability

• Current state-of-the-art microprocessors

(Pentium, Athlon, SPARC, PowerPC) contain
complex circuits consisting of tens of millions of
transistors

• They operate at ultra-fast speeds – doing over

a billion operations every second

• Made up from a semiconductor, Silicon

 Integrated Circuits
• Commonly known as an IC or a chip

• A tiny piece of Silicon that has several

electronic parts on it

• Most of the size of an IC comes form the pins

and packaging; the actual Silicon occupies a
very small piece of the volume

• The smallest components on an IC are much

smaller than the thickness of a human hair
 Those components are …
• Devices
– Transistors
– Diodes
– Resistors
– Capacitors
– Wires

• And are made of the following materials

– Silicon - semiconductor
– Copper - conductor
– Silicon Dioxide - insulator
 A microprocessor system?
• Microprocessors are powerful pieces of hardware, but
not much useful on their own

• Just as the human brain needs hands, feet, eyes,

ears, mouth to be useful; so does the microprocessor

• A microprocessor system is microprocessor plus all

the components it requires to do a certain task

• A microcomputer is 1 example of a microprocessor

system
 Micro-controllers?
• Micro-controllers are another type of microprocessor
systems

• They are generally not that powerful, cost a few

dollars a piece, and are found embedded in video
games, VCRs, microwave ovens, printers, autos, etc.

• They are a complete computer on a chip containing

direct input and output capability and memory along
with the microprocessor on a single chip. Many times
they contain other specialized application-specific
components as well
 QUESTION:

Why do we ever build just

microprocessors ?

Why not just build micro-controllers

that contain everything on chip?

Answer this question in the next class

More than 90% of the microprocessors/micro-
controllers manufactured are used in
embedded computing applications

In 2000 alone, 365 million microprocessors and

6.4 billion micro-controllers were manufactured
 The Main Memory Bottleneck
• Modern super-fast microprocessors can process a
huge amount of data in a short duration

• They require quick access to data to maximize their

performance

• If they don’t receive the data that they require, they

literally stop and wait – this results in reduced
performance and wasted power

• Current microprocessors can process an instruction in

about a ns. Time required for fetching data from main
memory (RAM) is of the order of 100 ns
 Solution to the Bottleneck Problem
• Make the main memory faster

• Problem with that approach: The 1-ns memory is

extremely expensive as compared the currently
popular 100-ns memory

• Another solution: In addition to the relatively slow

main memory, put a small amount of ultra-fast RAM
right next to the microprocessor on the same chip and
make sure that frequently used data and instructions
resides in that ultra-fast memory

• Advantage: Much better overall performance due to

fast access to frequently-used data and instructions
 On-Chip Cache Memory (1)
• That small amount of memory located on the
same chip as the microprocessor is called On-
Chip Cache Memory

• The microprocessor stores a copy of frequently

used data and instructions in its cache memory

• When the microprocessor desires to look at a

piece of data, it checks in the cache first. If it is
not there, only then the microprocessor asks for
the same from the main memory
 On-Chip Cache Memory (2)
• The small size and proximity to the
microprocessor makes access times short,
resulting in a boost in performance (it is easy to find
things in a small box placed next to you)

• Microprocessors predict what data will be

required for future calculations and pre-fetches
that data and places it in the cache so that it is
available immediately when the need arises
• The speed-advantage of cache memory is
greatly dependent on the algorithm used for
deciding about what to put in cache or not
Microprocessors Building Blocks
 Microprocessor
Data
Cache
Memory
Bus Control Arithmetic
RAM Bus Unit & Logic
Interface Unit
I/O Unit
Instruction Registers
System Decoder
Bus
Floating
Point
Unit
Instruction
Cache Registers
 Bus Interface Unit
• Receives instructions & data from main
memory

• Instructions are then sent to the instruction

cache, data to the data cache

• Also receives the processed data and sends it

to the main memory
 Instruction Decoder
• This unit receives the programming instructions
and decodes them into a form that is
understandable by the processing units, i.e. the
ALU or FPU

• Then, it passes on the decoded instruction to

the ALU or FPU
 Arithmetic & Logic Unit (ALU)
• Also known as the “Integer Unit”

• It performs whole-number math calculations

(subtract, multiply, divide, etc) comparisons (is
greater than, is smaller than, etc.) and logical
operations (NOT, OR, AND, etc)

• The new breed of popular microprocessors

have not one but two almost identical ALU’s
that can do calculations simultaneously,
doubling the capability
 Floating-Point Unit (FPU)
• Also known as the “Numeric Unit”
• It performs calculations that involve numbers
represented in the scientific notation (also
known as floating-point numbers).
• This notation can represent extremely small
and extremely large numbers in a compact form
• Floating-point calculations are required for
doing graphics, engineering and scientific work
• The ALU can do these calculations as well, but
will do them very slowly
 Registers
• Both ALU & FPU have a very small amount of
super-fast private memory placed right next to
them for their exclusive use. These are called
registers

• The ALU & FPU store intermediate and final

results from their calculations in these registers

• Processed data goes back to the data cache

and then to main memory from these registers
 Control Unit
• The brain of the microprocessor

• Manages the whole microprocessor

• Tasks include fetching instructions & data,

storing data, managing input/output devices
 Microprocessor
Data
Cache
Memory
Bus Control Arithmetic
RAM Bus Unit & Logic
Interface Unit
I/O Unit
Instruction Registers
System Decoder
Bus
Floating
Point
Unit
Instruction
Cache Registers
That was the structure,
now let’s talk about the
language of a
microprocessor
 Instruction Set
• The set of machine instructions that a
microprocessor recognizes and can execute – the
only language microprocessor knows
• An instruction set includes low-level, a single step-
at-a-time instructions, such as add, subtract,
multiply, and divide
• Each microprocessor family has its unique
instruction set
• Bigger instruction-sets mean more complex chips
(higher costs, reduced efficiency), but shorter
programs
The 1 microprocessor : Intel 4004
st

• Introduced 1971
• 2250 transistors
• 108 kHz, 60,000 ops/sec
• 16 pins
• 10-micron process
• As powerful as the ENIAC which had 18000 tubes
and occupied a large room
• Targeted use: Calculators
• Cost: less than $100
 Why Intel came up with the idea?
• A Japanese calculator manufacturer – Busicom
– wanted Intel to develop 16 separate IC’s for a
line of new calculators
• Intel, at that point in time known only as a
memory manufacturer, was quite small and did
not have the resources to do all 16 chips
• Ted Hoff came up with the idea of doing all 16
on a single chip
• Later, Intel realized that the 4004 could have
other uses as well
Currently Popular – Intel Pentium 4 (2.2GHz)
• Introduced December 2001
• 55 million transistors
• 32-bit word size

• 2 ALU’s, each working at 4.4GHz

• 128-bit FPU

• 0.13 micron process

• Targeted use: PC’s and low-end workstations

• Cost: around $600
 Moore’s Law
• In 1965, one of the founders of Intel – Gordon
Moore – predicted that the number of
transistor on an IC (and therefore the
capability of microprocessors) will double
every year. Later he modified it to 18-months

• His prediction still holds true in ‘02. In fact, the

time required for doubling is contracting to the
original prediction, and is closer to a year now
Evolution of Intel Microprocessors

                                                                                                                                                                  

                   
4-, 8-, 16-, 32-, 64-bit (Word Length)
• The 4004 dealt with data in chunks of 4-bits at
a time

• Pentium 4 deals with data in chunks (words) of

32-bit length

• The new Itanium processor deals with 64-bit

chunks (words) at a time

• Why have more bits (longer words)?

 kHz, MHz, GHz (Clock Frequency)
• 4004 worked at a clock frequency of 108kHz
• The latest processors have clock freqs. in GHz
• Out of 2 microprocessors having similar
designs, one with higher clock frequency will be
more powerful
• Same is not true for 2 microprocessors of
dissimilar designs. Example: Out of PowerPC
& Pentium 4 microprocessors working at the
same freq, the former performs better due to
superior design. Same for the Athlon
microprocessor when compared with a Pentium
Enhancing the capability of a
microprocessor ?
The computing capability of a
microprocessor can be enhanced in many
different ways:
– By increasing the clock frequency
– By increasing the word-width
– By having a more effective caching algorithm
and the right cache size

– By adding more functional units (e.g. ALU’s,

FPU’s, Vector/SIMD units, etc.)
– Improving the architecture
 What have we learnt today?
Today we learnt about the microprocessor, the
key component, the brain, of a computer

We learnt about the function of a microprocessor

And its various sub-systems

– Bus interface unit
– Data & instruction cache memory
– Instruction decoder
– ALU
– Floating-point unit
– Control unit