T
he IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed
T
he IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured to tolerances on the order of and manufactured to tolerances on the order of nanometersnanometers
Both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have Both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs haveincreased the presence of these digital devices in modern lifeincreased the presence of these digital devices in modern lifefar beyond the limited application of dedicated computing far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines machines
Modern microprocessors appear in everything Modern microprocessors appear in everything fromfromautomobilesautomobilestotocell phonescell phonesand children's toys.and children's toys.
However, this costly method of However, this costly method of designing designing custom CPUs for acustom CPUs for a
particular application has largely given way to theparticular application has largely given way to thedevelopment of massdevelopment of mass--produced processors that are made forproduced processors that are made for
one or many purposesone or many purposes
T
his standardization trend generally began in the era of
T
his standardization trend generally began in the era of discretediscretetransistortransistormainframes mainframesand and minicomputers minicomputersand hasand has
rapidly accelerated with the popularization of the rapidly accelerated with the popularization of theintegrated integrated
circuitcircuit(IC)(IC)