A report on Processor (computing)

Transistor count over time, demonstrating Moore's law

Electrical component that performs operations on an external data source, usually memory or some other data stream.

- Processor (computing)
Transistor count over time, demonstrating Moore's law

7 related topics with Alpha

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EDVAC, one of the first stored-program computers

Central processing unit

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EDVAC, one of the first stored-program computers
IBM PowerPC 604e processor
Fujitsu board with SPARC64 VIIIfx processors
CPU, core memory and external bus interface of a DEC PDP-8/I, made of medium-scale integrated circuits
Inside of laptop, with CPU removed from socket
Block diagram of a basic uniprocessor-CPU computer. Black lines indicate data flow, whereas red lines indicate control flow; arrows indicate flow directions.
Symbolic representation of an ALU and its input and output signals
A six-bit word containing the binary encoded representation of decimal value 40. Most modern CPUs employ word sizes that are a power of two, for example 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits.
Model of a subscalar CPU, in which it takes fifteen clock cycles to complete three instructions
Basic five-stage pipeline. In the best case scenario, this pipeline can sustain a completion rate of one instruction per clock cycle.
A simple superscalar pipeline. By fetching and dispatching two instructions at a time, a maximum of two instructions per clock cycle can be completed.

A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program.

Erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) integrated circuits in dual in-line packages. These packages have a transparent window that shows the die inside. The window is used to erase the memory by exposing the chip to ultraviolet light.

Integrated circuit

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Set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon.

Set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon.

Erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) integrated circuits in dual in-line packages. These packages have a transparent window that shows the die inside. The window is used to erase the memory by exposing the chip to ultraviolet light.
Integrated circuit from an EPROM memory microchip showing the memory blocks, the supporting circuitry and the fine silver wires which connect the integrated circuit die to the legs of the packaging
Virtual detail of an integrated circuit through four layers of planarized copper interconnect, down to the polysilicon (pink), wells (greyish), and substrate (green)
Jack Kilby's original hybrid integrated circuit from 1958. This was the first integrated circuit, and was made from germanium.
Robert Noyce invented the first monolithic integrated circuit in 1959. The chip was made from silicon.
A-to-D converter IC in a DIP
The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit NMOS microcontroller that includes a CPU running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O in the same chip
Rendering of a small standard cell with three metal layers (dielectric has been removed). The sand-colored structures are metal interconnect, with the vertical pillars being contacts, typically plugs of tungsten. The reddish structures are polysilicon gates, and the solid at the bottom is the crystalline silicon bulk.
Schematic structure of a CMOS chip, as built in the early 2000s. The graphic shows LDD-MISFET's on an SOI substrate with five metallization layers and solder bump for flip-chip bonding. It also shows the section for FEOL (front-end of line), BEOL (back-end of line) and first parts of back-end process.
A Soviet MSI nMOS chip made in 1977, part of a four-chip calculator set designed in 1970
Upper interconnect layers on an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor die

Computers, mobile phones and other home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of ICs such as modern computer processors and microcontrollers.

Components of a GPU

Graphics processing unit

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Specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device.

Specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device.

Components of a GPU
Atari ANTIC microprocessor on an Atari 130XE motherboard
NEC μPD7220A
The IBM 8514 Micro Channel adapter, with memory add-on.
VGA section on the motherboard in IBM PS/55
Tseng Labs ET4000/W32p
S3 Graphics ViRGE
Voodoo3 2000 AGP card
The ATI HD5470 GPU (above) features UVD 2.1 which enables it to decode AVC and VC-1 video formats
The position of an integrated GPU in a northbridge/southbridge system layout
An ASRock motherboard with integrated graphics, which has HDMI, VGA and DVI outs.

It was presented as a "single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines".

Texas Instruments TMS1000

Microprocessor

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Computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits.

Computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits.

Texas Instruments TMS1000
Intel 4004
Motorola 68000 (MC68000)
A modern 64 bit x86-64 processor (AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Based on Zen+, 2017)
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (2016, based on Zen) processor in a AM4 socket on a motherboard
A block diagram of the architecture of the Z80 microprocessor, showing the arithmetic and logic section, register file, control logic section, and buffers to external address and data lines
Intel Core i9-9900K (2018, based on Coffee Lake)
The PICO1/GI250 chip introduced in 1971: It was designed by Pico Electronics (Glenrothes, Scotland) and manufactured by General Instrument of Hicksville NY.
The 4004 with cover removed (left) and as actually used (right)
First microprocessor by Intel, the 4004
Upper interconnect layers on an Intel 80486DX2 die
ABIT BP6 motherboard supported two Intel Celeron 366Mhz processors picture shows Zalman heatsinks.
Abit BP6 dual-socket Motherboard shown with Zalman Flower heatsinks.

The application of MOS LSI chips to computing was the basis for the first microprocessors, as engineers began recognizing that a complete computer processor could be contained on several MOS LSI chips.

Processor register

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A processor register is a quickly accessible location available to a computer's processor.

Charles Babbage, sometimes referred to as the "father of computing".

Computer science

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Study of computation, automation, and information.

Study of computation, automation, and information.

Charles Babbage, sometimes referred to as the "father of computing".
Ada Lovelace published the first algorithm intended for processing on a computer.

Computer engineers study computational logic and design of computer hardware, from individual processor components, microcontrollers, personal computers to supercomputers and embedded systems.

In three-dimensional Euclidean space, these three planes represent solutions to linear equations, and their intersection represents the set of common solutions: in this case, a unique point. The blue line is the common solution to two of these equations.

Linear algebra

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Branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as:

Branch of mathematics concerning linear equations such as:

In three-dimensional Euclidean space, these three planes represent solutions to linear equations, and their intersection represents the set of common solutions: in this case, a unique point. The blue line is the common solution to two of these equations.

Some processors, typically graphics processing units (GPU), are designed with a matrix structure, for optimizing the operations of linear algebra.