Principles of CPU

architecture – logic
gates, MOSFETS and
voltage
 The underlying principles of all computer processors are the same. Fundamentally, they all
take signals in the form of 0s and 1s (thus binary signals), manipulate them according to a set of
instructions, and produce output in the form of 0s and 1s. The voltage on the line at the time a
signal is sent determines whether the signal is a 0 or a 1. On a 3.3-volt system, an application of
3.3 volts means that it’s a 1, while an application of 0 volts means it’s a 0.

Processors work by reacting to an input of 0s and 1s in specific ways and then returning an output based on
the decision. The decision itself happens in a circuit called a logic gate, each of which requires at least one
transistor, with the inputs and outputs arranged differently by different operations. The fact that today’s processors
contain millions of transistors offers a clue as to how complex the logic system is. The processor’s logic gates
work together to make decisions using Boolean logic, which is based on the algebraic system established by
mathematician George Boole.

The main Boolean operators are AND, OR, NOT, and NAND (not AND); many combinations of these are
possible as well. An AND gate outputs a 1 only if both its inputs were 1s. An OR gate outputs a 1 if at least one of
the inputs was a 1. And a NOT gate takes a single input and reverses it, outputting 1 if the input was 0 and vice
versa. NAND gates are very popular, because they use only two transistors instead of the three in an AND gate
yet provide just as much functionality. In addition, the processor uses gates in combination to perform arithmetic
functions; it can also use them to trigger the storage of data in memory.
 Logic gates operate via hardware known as a switch – in particular, a digital switch. In the days of room-size
computers, the switches were actually physical switches, but today nothing moves except the current itself. The most
common type of switch in today’s computers is a transistor known as a MOSFET (metal-oxide semiconductor field-
effect transistor). This kind of transistor performs a simple but crucial function: When voltage is applied to it, it reacts by
turning the circuit either on or off. In a CPU, the voltage at which the MOSFETs react determines the voltage
requirements of the processor. So, in a 2V processor, logical circuits are built with MOSFETS that react at 2V, hence an
incoming current at or near the high end of the voltage range, 2V, switches the circuit on, while an incoming current at
or near 0V switches the circuit off.

Millions of MOSFETs act together, according to the instructions from a program, to control the flow of electricity
through the logic gates to produce the required result. Again, each logic gate contains one or more transistors, and each
transistor must control the current so that the circuit itself will switch from off to on, switch from on to off, or stay in its
current state.
A quick look at the simple AND and OR
logic-gate circuits shows how the circuitry
works. Each of these gates acts on two
incoming signals to produce one outgoing
signal. Logical AND means that both inputs
must be 1 in order for the output to be
1; logical OR means that either input can be
1 to get a result of 1. In the AND gate, both
incoming signals must be high-voltage (or a
logical 1) for the gate to pass current through
itself.
 The flow of electricity through each gate is controlled by that gate’s transistor. However, these
transistors aren’t individual and discrete units. Instead, large numbers of them are manufactured from a
single piece of silicon (or other semiconductor material) and linked together without wires or other external
materials. These units are called integrated circuits (ICs), and their development basically made the
complexity of the microprocessor possible. The integration of circuits didn’t stop with the first ICs. Just as
the first ICs connected multiple transistors, multiple ICs became similarly linked, in a process known as
large-scale integration (LSI); eventually such sets of ICs were connected, in a process called very large-
scale integration (VLSI).

Modern day microprocessors contain tens of millions of microscopic transistors. Used in combination
with resistors, capacitors and diodes, these make up logic gates. Logic gates make up integrated circuits,
and ICs make up electronic systems. Intel’s first claim to fame lay in its high-level integration of all the
processor’s logic gates into a single complex processor chip – the Intel 4004 – released in late 1971. This
was 4-bit microprocessor, intended for use in a calculator. It processed data in 4 bits, but its instructions
were 8 bits long. Program and data memory were separate, 1KB and 4KB respectively. There were also
sixteen 4-bit (or eight 8-bit) general purpose registers. The 4004 had 46 instructions, using only 2,300
transistors in a 16-pin DIP and ran at a clock rate of 740kHz (eight clock cycles per CPU cycle of 10.8
microseconds).
Basic structure of a Pentium
microprocessor
 A Pentium processor’s major functional components are:

•Core: The heart of a Pentium is the execution unit. The Pentium has two parallel integer pipelines enabling it
to read, interpret, execute and despatch two instructions simultaneously.

•Branch Predictor: The branch prediction unit tries to guess which sequence will be executed each time the
program contains a conditional jump, so that the Prefetch and Decode Unit can get the instructions ready in
advance.

•Floating Point Unit: The third execution unit in a Pentium, where non-integer calculations are performed.

•Level 1 Cache: The Pentium has two on-chip caches of 8KB each, one for code and one for data, which are far
quicker than the larger external secondary cache.
•Bus Interface: This brings a mixture of code and data into the CPU, separates the two ready for use, and then
recombines them and sends them back out.
All the elements of the processor stay in step by use of a
clock which dictates how fast it operates. The very first
microprocessor had a 100KHz clock, whereas the Pentium
Pro uses a 200MHz clock, which is to say it ticks 200
million times per second. As the clock ticks, various
things happen. The Program Counter (PC) is an internal
memory location which contains the address of the next
instruction to be executed. When the time comes for it to
be executed, the Control Unit transfers the instruction
from memory into its Instruction Register (IR).