Microprocessor Classification
Microprocessor Classification
RISC Processor
RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer. It is designed to reduce the execution time by
simplifying the instruction set of the computer. Using RISC processors, each instruction requires only
one clock cycle to execute results in uniform execution time. This reduces the efficiency as there are
more lines of code, hence more RAM is needed to store the instructions. The compiler also has to
work more to convert high-level language instructions into machine code.
· It utilizes simple addressing modes and fixed length instructions for pipelining.
· “LOAD” and “STORE” instructions are used to access the memory location.
CISC Processor
CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computer. It is designed to minimize the number of
instructions per program, ignoring the number of cycles per instruction. The emphasis is on building
complex instructions directly into the hardware.
The compiler has to do very little work to translate a high-level language into assembly level
language/machine code because the length of the code is relatively short, so very little RAM is
required to store the instructions.
IBM 370/168
VAX 11/780
Intel 80486
Architecture of CISC
Its architecture is designed to decrease the memory cost because more storage is needed in larger
programs resulting in higher memory cost. To resolve this, the number of instructions per program
can be reduced by embedding the number of operations in a single instruction.
Characteristics of CISC
Variety of addressing modes.
Larger number of instructions.
Variable length of instruction formats.
Several cycles may be required to execute one instruction.
Instruction-decoding logic is complex.
One instruction is required to support multiple addressing modes.
Special Processors
These are the processors which are designed for some special purposes. Few of the special
processors are briefly discussed −
Coprocessor
A coprocessor is a specially designed microprocessor, which can handle its particular function many
times faster than the ordinary microprocessor.
For example −
A transputer can be used as a single processor system or can be connected to external links, which
reduces the construction cost and increases the performance.
For example − 16-bit T212, 32-bit T425, the floating point (T800, T805 & T9000) processors.
· Program Memory − It stores the programs that DSP will use to process data.