Group Reports
Group Reports
HISTORY OF MICROPROCESSOR
1st Generation - This was the period during 1971 to 1973 of microprocessor’s history. In 1971, INTEL
created the first microprocessor 4004 that would run at a clock speed of 108 KHz.
2nd Generation - Intel 8008 was the next in the evolution, the first 8-bit microprocessor. This was in
the year 1972.
3rd Generation - Around 1978, Intel released 8086, the first 16-bit microprocessor.
4th Generation - In the early 80s, Intel released the 32-bit processor, the Intel 80386, by using HCMOS
fabrication.
80386: Intel's first 32-bit machine, supporting multitasking for running multiple programs
simultaneously.
Pentium Pro: Continued the move into superscalar organization with advanced features like register
renaming, branch prediction, data flow analysis, and speculative execution.
Core 2: Extended the Core architecture to 64 bits, introduced the Core 2 Quad with four cores, and
added Advanced Vector Extensions for efficient processing of vector data.
Core: The first Intel x86 microprocessor with a dual core, referring to the implementation of two cores
on a single chip.
Data movement - The computer’s operating environment consists of devices that serve as either
sources or destinations of data.
80386 - Intel's first 32-bit machine, supporting multitasking for running multiple programs
simultaneously.
Core - The first Intel x86 microprocessor with a dual core, referring to the implementation of two cores
on a single chip.
embedded system - refers to the use of electronics and software within a product, as opposed to a
general-purpose computer, such as a laptop or desktop system.
Cortex-M0 - Designed for 8- and 16-bit applications, this model emphasizes low cost, ultra-low power,
and simplicity
Debug logic - Basic debug functionality includes processor halt, single- step, processor core register
access, unlimited software breakpoints, and full system memory access.
Cloud networking - refers to the networks and network management functionality that must be in
place to enable cloud computing
Internet of things (IoT) - refers to the expanding interconnection of smart devices, ranging from
appliances to tiny sensors.
Debug access port (DAP) - This provides an interface for external debug access to the processor.
Pipelining - The execution of an instruction involves multiple stages of operation, including fetching
the instruction, decoding the opcode, fetching operands, performing a calculation, and so on
Superscalar Prediction - This is the ability to issue more than one instruction in every processor clock
cycle. In effect, multiple parallel pipelines are used.
Data flow analysis - The processor analyzes which instructions are dependent on each other’s results,
or data, to create an optimized schedule of instructions.
RC delay - The speed at which electrons can flow on a chip between transistors is limited by the
resistance and capacitance of the metal wires connecting them; specifically, delay increases as the RC
product increases
Amdahl’s law - was first proposed by Gene Amdahl in 1967 ([AMDA67], [AMDA13]) and deals with
the potential speedup of a program using multiple processors compared to a single processor
Hardwired program: is a term for the resulting “program” in the form of hardware.
Processor-I/O: Data may be transferred to or from a peripheral device by transferring between the
processor and an I/O module.
Data processing: The processor may perform some arithmetic or logic operation on data.
Volatile Memory - It is used to store data that has to be quickly retrieved and updated while the
computer is operating. It is speedy but only temporary.
Access time - It refers to the duration it takes for a storage device to perform a read or write operation.
Cache - It is a sort of small-sized volatile computer memory that contains data, applications, and
programs that are regularly accessed by a processor and offers high-speed data access.
Logical Cache - It is a kind of cache memory that uses virtual addresses to store data.
Direct Mapping - It is the method that every main memory block is associated with a single cache line
Physical Address - It is the actual location in the computer's memory hardware where data is stored.
Hit - This occurs when the requested data is found in the cache, avoiding the need to retrieve it from
slower main memory.
Out-of Order - This unit schedules micro-operations for execution, considering data dependencies and
resource availability
Read Only Memory (ROM) - nonvolatile memory, cannot write new data into it
Hard Failure - a permanent physical defect so that the memory cell or cells affected cannot
reliably store data
Soft Failure - is a random, nondestructive event that alters the contents of one or more memory
cells without damaging the memory
Spin-transfer torque (STT-RAM) - is a new type of magnetic RAM (MRAM), which features
nonvolatility, fast writing/reading speed (6 10 ns), and high programming endurance (7 1015 cycles)
and zero standby power [KULT13].
Phase Change RAM (PCRAM) - is based on a chalcogenide alloy substance similar to that found in
visual storage media such as: compact discs and digital versatile discs.
ReRAM (RRAM) - Instead of directly storing charge, ReRAM (also known as RRAM) creates resistance.
SET Operation - The phase change material is crystallized by applying a pulse of electricity that heats
an important part of the cell over its crystallization temperature.
RESET Operation - A greater electrical current is applied and then rapidly shut off to cause melting
and then suppress the material, leaving it in an amorphous condition.
Magnetic Disk: A storage medium that uses magnetized surfaces on rotating disks to store and
retrieve digital data.
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks): A storage technology that combines multiple
physical drives into a single logical unit for improved performance, fault tolerance, or both,
depending on the RAID level.
RAID Level 0 (Stripe Set): Data striping across multiple disks without redundancy for increased
performance, but with no fault tolerance.
RAID Level 1 (Mirroring): Mirroring data across pairs of disks to provide fault tolerance by
maintaining identical copies of the same data.
RAID Level 2 (Bit-Stripping with Error Correction): Bit-level striping with error correction codes for
enhanced data integrity.
RAID Level 3 (Byte-Stripping with Dedicated Parity Disk): Byte-level striping with a dedicated parity
disk for fault tolerance and improved performance.
RAID Level 4 (Block-Stripping with Dedicated Parity Disk): Block-level striping with a dedicated
parity disk for improved performance and fault tolerance.
RAID Level 5 (Block-Stripping with Distributed Parity): Block-level striping with distributed parity
across multiple disks for improved performance and fault tolerance.
RAID Level 6 (Block-Stripping with Dual Distribution Parity): Similar to RAID 5, but with an
additional set of distributed parity for increased fault tolerance, even in the event of double disk
failures.
Magnetic Tape: a storage medium using a thin strip of magnetizable material for sequential data
access and has been widely employed for data storage, backup, and archival purposes.
Processor Communication
Command decoding
Data
Status reporting
Address recognition
Device Communication
Command
Data
Status Information
Data Buffering - Transfer rate into and out of main memory or processor is high, but much lower for
peripheral devices
Mechanical and electrical malfunctions reported by the device (e.g., paper jam, bad disk
track).
Unintentional changes to the bit pattern during transmission.
Application Binary Interface (ABI): Defines program interaction with the operating system at a
binary level.
Application Programming Interface (API): Functions that applications can call to access the
operating system's services.
Instruction Set Architecture (ISA): Defines the set of instructions that the CPU can understand.
Operating System (OS): A program that controls the execution of application programs and serves
as an interface between applications and hardware.
Demand Paging: Optimizes memory usage and allows more processes to reside in memory
simultaneously.
Memory Management: The process of efficiently allocating memory, allowing more processes to
reside in memory and maximizing processor utilization.
Multiprogramming: A technique where the system tries to keep the processor as busy as possible
by working on more than one program at a time.
Paging: A memory management technique that divides both memory and processes into small,
fixed-size blocks (pages).
Page Replacement: The OS needs to decide which existing page to evict if memory is full.
Scheduling: The key to multi-programming where the system can run multiple programs
simultaneously.
ROUNDING - When the result is put back into the floating-point format, the extra bits must be
eliminated in such a way as to produce a result that is close to the exact result. This process is called
rounding.
ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC UNITS - part of the computer that actually performs arithmetic and logical
operations on data.
RADIX POINT - is a symbol used in the display of numbers to separate the integer part of the value
from its fractional part.
COMPUTER ARITHMETIC - is a field of computer science that investigates how computers should
represent numbers and perform operations on them.
INTEGER ARITHMETIC - Building on foundation of integer representation, this section explores the
intricacies of integer arithmetic.
Boolean Algebra - is a branch of mathematics used in the design and behavior analysis of digital
circuitry in digital computers and other digital systems.
Decoder - is a digital circuit that converts a binary code into a set of unique outputs.
Gates or Logic Gates - are the fundamental components of every digital system.
George Boole – the one who proposed the fundamental ideas of Boolean algebra.