Microprocessor

A Microprocessor is an integrated circuit that integrates processing units and control logic to execute instructions and process digital data.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) perform sequential processing of instructions from program memory.
  • It can (often) integrate multiple functional units like arithmetic logic, control units, and registers.
  • It can (often) serve as the primary processing component in digital systems.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple RISC Processor to being a Complex CISC Processor, depending on its instruction architecture.
  • It can range from being a Single Core Microprocessor to being a Multi Core Microprocessor, based on its processing unit count.
  • ...
  • It can incorporate Cache Memory for improved data access.
  • It can implement Pipeline Stages for enhanced instruction throughput.
  • It can support different Instruction Set Architectures (e.g., x86, ARM, RISC-V).
  • It can include Specialized Units for floating-point calculations and vector operations.
  • It can integrate Peripheral Controllers and Interface Circuits.
  • It can feature Power Management capabilities for energy ffficiency.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • General Purpose Microprocessors, such as:
    • CPU Microprocessors, such as x86 processors for personal computers.
    • GPU Microprocessors, such as graphics accelerators for visual processing.
    • AI Microprocessors, such as neural processors for machine learning.
  • Embedded Microprocessors, such as:
    • Microcontrollers, such as ARM Cortex-M for embedded systems.
    • Digital Signal Processors, such as DSP chips for signal processing.
  • Special Purpose Microprocessors, such as:
    • Network Processors for packet processing.
    • Security Processors for cryptographic operations.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Field Programmable Gate Arrays, which provide reconfigurable logic rather than fixed instruction processing.
  • Application Specific Integrated Circuits, which implement fixed hardware functions rather than programmable instruction execution.
  • Memory Chips, such as DRAM, which store data rather than process instructions.
  • Simple Logic Circuits, which perform fixed combinational operations without instruction processing.
• See: Computer Program, Digital Data, Sequential Logic, Medium-Scale Integration, Small-Scale Integration, Large-Scale Integration, Embedded System.

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References

2014

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/microprocessor Retrieved:2014-8-3.
  • A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (IC), or at most a few integrated circuits. All modern CPUs are microprocessors making the micro- prefix redundant. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. It is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has internal memory. Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system.

    The integration of a whole CPU onto a single chip or on a few chips greatly reduced the cost of processing power. The integrated circuit processor was produced in large numbers by highly automated processes, so unit cost was low. Single-chip processors increase reliability as there are many fewer electrical connections to fail. As microprocessor designs get faster, the cost of manufacturing a chip (with smaller components built on a semiconductor chip the same size) generally stays the same.

    Before microprocessors, small computers had been implemented using racks of circuit boards with many medium- and small-scale integrated circuits. Microprocessors integrated this into one or a few large-scale ICs. Continued increases in microprocessor capacity have since rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of computing hardware), with one or more microprocessors used in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers.

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