Processors

CPU
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the
“brain” of the computer.
The CPU can be thought in terms of two basic
pieces:
◦ The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) which modifies data
by executing arithmetic and/or logical operations on it.
◦ The Control Unit which takes the instructions from
memory, decodes it, and then moves the data to the
appropriate places and ensures that the ALU performs
the desired operation.
Processor  Microprocessor
Eventually the entire processor was
placed on a single chip. When this
became standard computers were said to
enter the fourth generation.
◦ In this case, the processor is known as a
microprocessor.
Some large machines today may have the
processor spread over more than chip. But
PCs typically have a single processor.
 Tubes

A computer of the first generation consisted of

tubes.
Tubes started with an effect Thomas Edison
noticed while experimenting with light bulbs.
John Ambrose Fleming discovered that one could
exploit the effect to detect radio waves and
convert them to electricity, but the signal was too
small.
Lee de Forest added to the device, making the
triode; Edwin Armstrong pointed out it could be
used to amplify signals.
Transistors
A computer of the second generation consisted
of transistors.
William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter
Brattain developed the transistor while working
at Bell Labs in 1947. (Nobel Prize 1956)
The transistor could play the same role as the
vacuum tube but was significantly smaller – and
thus faster and less power consuming.
 Integrated Circuit
A computer of third generation consisted of integrated
circuits.
 The problem with computers is that they required so many
transistors connected to one another – the so-called
“tyranny of numbers.”
 This problem was solved by the “monolithic idea” – the
idea the many circuit elements (mainly transistors) could
be placed on the same piece of semiconductor, i.e. an
integrated circuit (IC).
 In 1958 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments invented the IC.
In 1959 Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor
independently developed a better-designed IC. (Nobel
Prize 2000.)
Microprocessor
A computer of fourth generation has a
microprocessor.
What distinguishes a microprocessor from other
integrated circuits is that a microprocessor can
be programmed.
So along with the idea of the microprocessor
comes the idea of the instruction set – the set of
actions the programmer can have the
microprocessor perform.
4004
The 4004 was introduced in November 1971.
It was the first commercial microprocessor.
It had 2,300 transistors and could execute
approximately 60,000 instructions per second.
Compare that to today’s microprocessors, which
have both the number of transistors and the
number of instructions per second are in the
millions.
◦ Moore’s law in action.
4004 Specs
Clock speed: Initially 108 kHz but upped to
500kHz and then to 740kHz.
Bus width: 4 bits (though its instructions were 8
bits)
It addressed up to 1 Kb of program memory and
up to 4 Kb of data memory.
◦ The program memory and data memory were separate.
There were sixteen 4-bit (or eight 8-bit) general
purpose registers.
Executed 45 instructions.
8008: Double your pleasure, double your fun
The first 8-bit microprocessor.
Actually work began on the 8008 before
the 4004 but it took longer to finish.
Differs architecturally from the 4004. The
microprocessors that follow were based on
(and backward compatible with) the 8008.
The 8008 was used in the Mark-8, one of
the first “home computers.” 
8080 Specs
16-bitaddress bus and an 8-bit data bus.
Seven 8-bit registers (A-E, H, L)
◦ Pairs BC, DE and HL could be combined to
make 16-bit registers.
A 16-bit stack pointer.
A 16-bit program counter.
Several I/O ports.
 8086 & 8088
Used in early word processors (Display-Writer and
DataMaster).
Used in IBM’s first personal computer: IBM
PC/XT and its clone the Compaq DeskPro.
PCs were moving out of the basements and into
offices.
Intel becomes a Fortune 500 company. They were
named one of the "Business Triumphs of the
Seventies“ by Fortune magazine.
 286
The 286, a.k.a. the 80286, was the first
microprocessor in the Intel family that
could execute all the code written for its
predecessor (8086).
◦ Backward compatibility is an important feature
of the Intel family of microprocessors.
Six years after its release (1982), there were
about 15 million 286-based PCs being
used.
286 Specs
Executed instructions five time faster than
8086 at the same clock speed.
Addressable memory increased from 1
MB to 16 MB.
The FPU (in this case 80287) remained
separate.
Introduced “protected mode.”
 Protected mode
Allows multi-tasking so that the processor can
juggle more than one program at a time.
Each program is assigned to a certain range of
memory. Only that program can use that range of
memory. It is “protected” from interference by
other programs. And other programs are protected
form it.
Uses extended memory and virtual memory so
that a program seems to have access to more
memory than it is assigned.
386
Contains 275,000 transistors.
◦ Recall the 4004 had 2,300.
32-bit address bus and 32-bit data bus.
Allowed multi-tasking.
FPU still separate (80387).
L1 cache a unit of fast memory included
on the microprocessor.
486
Released 1989.
486 not 80486.
32-bit bus.
8 KB to 16 KB of cache (L1).
20 MHz to 50 MHz.
Built-in FPU.
Processor ran faster (a multiple of) the memory
bus speed.
Allowed the move from command-line OS to GUI
OS (DOS to Windows).
Pentium
Released 1993.
About 3.1 million transistors
Upped memory bus speeds to 60 MHz or
66 MHz.
Intel stopped using numbers because they
could not register a number as a trademark.
CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)
64-bit databus
 Pentium Pro
Released 1995
5.5 million transistors.
Designed for the 32-bit server and workstation
applications.
Super-pipelining determines which instructions
can be done “out of order” so less time is wasted.
Introduced L2 cache (a separate cache memory
chip).
RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)
architecture.
Pentium II
Released in 1997.
7.5 million transistors.
 MMX technology.
◦ Designed specifically to process multimedia information
(video, audio and graphics) efficiently.
Introduced the Single Edge Contact (S.E.C.)
Cartridge that also incorporated a high-speed
cache memory chip.
Celeron
Released in 1998.
A cheaper version on the Pentium II
Lower clock speeds
Less Cache
 Pentium III
Released in 1999.
9.5 million transistors.
0.25-micron technology.
◦ A micron is a millionth (10-6) of a meter.
◦ Recall that the number of transistors is going up but the
chip size is not changing much. Therefore the
transistors are getting smaller.
◦ 0.25-micron technology refers to the ability to
manufacture chip having components (mainly
transistors) whose length is no bigger than a 0.25
microns.
Pentium® 4
42 million transistors.
Debuted with processor speeds of 1.5
gigahertz (1.5 billion hertz).
Moore’s Law