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Characteristics of A Microprocessor

The microprocessor has several key characteristics that determine its performance. These include clock speed, instruction set, cache, and bus speed. Clock speed is the rate of instruction execution measured in GHz or MHz. A larger instruction set allows for more complex tasks. Cache memory holds frequently used data to improve performance. Bus speed is the rate at which the processor communicates with other components. Faster clock speeds, larger instruction sets, larger caches, and faster bus speeds all contribute to better overall microprocessor performance.

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Deepanshu Bansal
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339 views

Characteristics of A Microprocessor

The microprocessor has several key characteristics that determine its performance. These include clock speed, instruction set, cache, and bus speed. Clock speed is the rate of instruction execution measured in GHz or MHz. A larger instruction set allows for more complex tasks. Cache memory holds frequently used data to improve performance. Bus speed is the rate at which the processor communicates with other components. Faster clock speeds, larger instruction sets, larger caches, and faster bus speeds all contribute to better overall microprocessor performance.

Uploaded by

Deepanshu Bansal
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Characteristics of a

Microprocessor
The microprocessor is the defining trait of a
computer, so it is important to understand
the characteristics used to describe
microprocessors.

This module provides an introduction to


these characteristics.
Clock speed
Also called clock rate, the clock speed is the
speed at which a microprocessor executes
instructions. Every computer contains an
internal clock that regulates the rate at
which instructions are executed and
synchronizes all the various computer
components.
The faster the clock, the more instructions
the microprocessor can execute per second.
The microprocessor requires a fixed number
of clock ticks (or clock cycles) to execute
each instruction.
Clock speed is stated in either MHz or GHz.
1 MHz is equal to 1 million cycles per
second, while 1 GHz is equal to 1 billion
cycles per second.
At the present time the most common
microprocessors run from 1.8 GHz (1.8
billion cycles per second) to 3.2 GHz (3.2
billion cycles per second.
 
Clock speed is a major factor in
determining the power of a computer.
Instruction Set
The possible operations a microprocessor
can performs is based on its instruction set.
Programs are written for a microprocessor
based on its instruction set. For example,
the SIMP computer understands 10
instructions, and any program written for it
uses those ten instructions in various ways
to accomplish some surprisingly
complicated tasks.
Meanwhile, advanced processors can have
from 150 to over 200 instructions, allowing
for extremely complicated tasks.
Since software is written with the instruction
set in mind, sometimes a larger instruction
set will equal better performance. For
example, one difference between Pentium 4
and Pentium 5 is that Pentium 5 has a larger
instruction set.
When comparing a 2GHz Pentium 4 and
2GHz Pentium 5, if they both run software
designed with the new instruction set in
mind, the Pentium 5 will outperform the
Pentium 4, despite having the same clock
speed. However, if the two are compared
while running older software, which does
not use the new instructions, their
performance will be similar.
Cache
Most programs access the same information
repeatedly while running. Cache memory is
intended to take advantage of this fact. Memory
cache is a high speed storage mechanism that
holds recently read data and instructions from
main memory, which eliminates the processor
from having to constantly access main memory.
 
The program first checks the cache to see if the
desired information is already present there. If
it is, the cache sends the information back to
the microprocessor, bypassing the main
memory.
95% of the time the processor is working, it is
accessing information from cache.

There are two kinds of cache, L1 and L2.


L1 cache (also called primary cache) is built
directly into the microprocessor, a location
referred to as "on-die". Since it is "on-die",
it is part of the microprocessor and, is
usually smaller in size than L2 cache, but
since it is built in it runs at the same speed
as the processor.
L2 cache (also called secondary cache) is
not usually built into microprocessor, but it
is found within the processor's external
packaging. This location is referred to as,
"off-die." Since "off-die" L2 cache is not
included in the processor's architecture, it
can often be of greater sizes. However,
since it is not included on-die, L2 cache is
usually slower than L1 cache.
Bus Speed
The processor communicates with other
devices via the data bus, sometimes called
the front side bus. Bus speed is measured in
MHz, the same unit used to measure clock
speed. While a processor might be working
at up to 3 GHz, quite often the performance
of the computer is hampered by a slower
data bus speed.  
Recently much effort has been put into
making the data bus have speeds more
comparable to the microprocessor.

At the present time data bus speeds range


from 200 MHz up to 1GHz.

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