Penned by: Faisal Haroon

Seat No 14
Computer Logic Design

Comparison of Intel Processors

A processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the logic circuitry that responds
to and processes the basic instructions given through the input device and
provides the appropriate output. It is also known as a main processor as it is the
most crucial integrated circuitry (IC) chip in a computer. It interprets the
instructions/commands and is send to the output device. The CPU performs
basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, I/O (Input/Output) specified by the instructions
in the program.

Basic Elements of Processor:

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit):

ALU carries out arithmetic and logic operations on specified instructions. The
inputs to an ALU are the data to be operated on, called operands, and a code
indicating the operation to be performed.

Registers:

Registers are small amount of fast storage locations within the circuitry of the
CPU. They are very fast on-chip memory storing binary values using 32 or 64
bits. Information is held there while it is being interpreted or manipulated.
Processor registers are normally at the top of the memory hierarchy, and provide
the fastest way to access data. There are 16 types of registers which are: User-
accessible registers, Data registers, Address registers, General-purpose
registers, Status registers, Floating-point registers, Constant registers, Vector
registers, Special-purpose registers, Model-specific registers, Memory type range
registers (MTRRs), Internal registers, Instruction registers, Memory buffer
resister, Memory address register, Architectural register.

Internal Clock:

Every computer contains an internal clock that regulates the rate at which
instructions are executed and synchronizes all the various computer
components. The CPU requires a fixed number of clock ticks (or clock cycles) to
execute each instruction. The faster the clock, the more instructions the CPU can
execute per second. Clock speeds are expressed in megahertz (MHz) or
gigahertz (GHz).
Cache Memory:

Cache is a small amount of memory which is a part of the

CPU, closer to the CPU than RAM. It is used to temporarily hold
Instructions and data that the CPU is likely to reuse. Instead of transferring/
retrieving temporary data to/from RAM, it is transferred/
Retrieved to/from cache memory which saves much time. The more cache there
is, the more data can be stored closer to the CPU. Cache is graded as Level 1
(L1), Level 2 (L2) and Level 3 (L3). Only L1 and L2 cache memory are present in the
microprocessor whereas L3 is present outside the
Microprocessor. L1 cache is smallest and the fastest to access. Its size is often
restricted to between 8 KB and 64 KB. L2 and L3 caches are bigger than L1. They
are extra caches built between the CPU and the RAM . Sometimes L2 is built into the
CPU with L1. L2 and L3 caches take slightly longer to access than L1. The more
L2 and L3 memory available, the faster a computer can run.

Logic Gates:

The fundamental building blocks of any microprocessor are gates. Gates are
collections of transistors that electrically mimic a particular logic function. There are
seven basic logic gates: AND, OR, XOR, NOT, NAND, NOR, and XNOR. They all work
on 0's and 1's. Combinations of these gates are used to implement everything in a
microprocessor, including functional units like adders, multipliers, etc.

Cores:

Cores are the physical part of the CPU that does actual computing under the
control of machine code instructions. The code executed by the CPU core is one
‘thread’ which processes the data using specialized sub components like the
ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) and MMU (Memory Management Unit). The CPU
operates at very high frequency which is known as the CPU clock. Typically on
earlier CPUs the clock ran at many millions of cycles per second but these days
this is now in the billions.

Threads:

Threads refer to the virtual component which manages the tasks. Multithreading
is a technique which allows a CPU to execute many tasks of one process at the
same time. These threads can execute individually while sharing their resources.
Threads improve throughput, computational speed-up and use multiple CPUs for
operating numerous processes. Cores require only a signal process unit whereas
threads require multiple processing units.

Intel and AMD are the two most famous companies for the development of
processors. This report goes over the brief history of Intel processors, the
Company which was responsible for the creation of world's first commercial
microprocessor.