UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY

Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

Course Code : CRIM E2

Course Title : LIVING IN THE IT ERA

PRELIM PERIODIC COVERAGE

MODULE No. 04
TITLE: MICROPROCESSORS
INTRODUCTION The microprocessor is the central unit of a computer
system that performs arithmetic and logic operations,
which generally include adding, subtracting,
transferring numbers from one area to another, and
comparing two numbers. It's often known simply as a
processor, a central processing unit, or as a logic
chip. It's essentially the engine or the brain of the
computer that goes into motion when the computer is
switched on. It's a programmable, multipurpose device
that incorporates the functions of a CPU (central
processing unit) on a single IC (integrated circuit).
LEARNING ➢ Discuss the developments of microprocessors.
OUTCOMES ➢ Differentiate Intel from AMD microprocessors.
LEARNING ➢ Define microprocessor.
OBJECTIVES ➢ Identify the categories of microprocessors.
➢ Describe the different classifications of
microprocessors.
➢ Enumerate the common terms used in a microprocessor.

Discussion/Situational analysis/Content Etc.:

What is a Microprocessor?

A microprocessor is an integrated circuit (IC) which incorporates core

functions of a computer’s central processing unit (CPU). It is a programmable
multipurpose silicon chip, clock driven, register based, accepts binary data
as input and provides output after processing it as per the instructions
stored in the memory.

Block Diagram of a Computer

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

Why we need a Microprocessor?

A microprocessor is similar to our human brain, it can be trained to do

anything. It can be programmed to do anything we want based on its instruction
set and capabilities. Sometimes solutions are very complex, circuits also
become very complex if we try to solve it without programming.
Here is my analogy. Imagine you want to make a big building. Usage of BRICKS
will make the construction process simple and cost effective. And it will
also give you the freedom to make the building in shape and size what you
like. Instruction set in a microprocessor are the bricks which you can use
to solve your problem. By using those instructions, you can easily solve
complex program.

How does a Microprocessor work?

A processor is the brain of a computer which basically consists of

Arithmetical and Logical Unit (ALU), Control Unit and Register Array. As the
name indicates ALU performs all arithmetic and logical operations on the
data received from input devices or memory. Register array consists of a
series of registers like accumulator (A), B, C, D etc. which acts as temporary
fast access memory locations for processing data. As the name indicates,
control unit controls the flow of instructions and data throughout the
system.

So basically, a microprocessor takes input from input devices, process it

as per instructions given in the memory and produces output.

Advantages of a Microprocessor

• Low Cost

Microprocessors are available at low cost due to integrated circuit

technology. Which will reduce the cost of a computer system.

• High Speed

Microprocessor chips can work at very high speed due to the technology
involved in it. It is capable of executing millions of instructions
per second.

• Small Size

Due to very large scale and ultra-large-scale integration technology,

a microprocessor is fabricated in a very less footprint. This will
reduce the size of the entire computer system.

• Versatile

Microprocessors are very versatile; the same chip can be used for a
number of applications by simply changing the program (instructions
stored in the memory).

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

• Low Power Consumption

Microprocessors are usually manufactured using metal oxide

semiconductor technology, in which MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor
Field Effect Transistors) are working in saturation and cut off modes.
So, the power consumption is very low compared to others.

• Less Heat Generation

Compared to vacuum tube devices, semiconductor devices won’t emit that

much heat.

• Reliable

Microprocessors are very reliable; failure rate is very less as

semiconductor technology is used.

• Portable

Devices or computer system made with microprocessors can be made

portable due to the small size and low power consumption.

Common Terms used in a Microprocessor

Here are some common terms that we will use in microprocessor field.

Bus

A bus is a set of conductors intended to transmit data, address or control

information to different elements in a microprocessor. Usually a
microprocessor will have 3 types of buses: Data Bus, Control Bus and Address
Bus. An 8-bit processor will be using 8-bit wide bus.

Instruction Set

Instruction set is the group of commands that a microprocessor can

understand. So, instruction set is an interface between hardware and software
(program). An instruction commands the processor to switch relevant
transistors for doing some processing in data. For example: ADD A, B; is
used to add two numbers stored in the register A and B.

Word Length

Word Length is the number of bits in the internal data bus of a processor
or it is the number of bits a processor can process at a time. For example,
an 8-bit processor will have an 8-bit data bus, 8-bit registers and will do
8-bit processing at a time. For doing higher bits (32-bit, 16-bit)
operations, it will split that into a series of 8-bit operations.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

Cache Memory

Cache memory is a random-access memory that is integrated into the processor.

So, the processor can access data in the cache memory more quickly than from
a regular RAM. It is also known as CPU Memory. Cache memory is used to store
data or instructions that are frequently referenced by the software or
program during the operation. So, it will increase the overall speed of the
operation.

Clock Speed

Microprocessors uses a clock signal to control the rate at which instructions

are executed, synchronize other internal components and to control the data
transfer between them. So, clock speed refers to the speed at which a
microprocessor executes instructions. It is usually measured in Hertz and
are expressed in megahertz (MHz), gigahertz (GHz) etc.

Classification of Microprocessors

Based on Word Length

Based on the word length of a processor we can have 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit
and 64-bit processors.

RISC – Reduced Instruction Set Computer

RISC is a type of microprocessor architecture which uses small, general

purpose and highly optimized instruction set rather than more specialized
set of instructions found in others. RISC offers high performance over its
opposing architecture CISC (see below). In a processor, execution of each
instruction requires a special circuit to load and process the data. So, by
reducing instructions, the processor will be using simple circuits and faster
in operation.

• Simple instruction set

• Larger program
• Consists of large number of registers
• Simple processor circuitry (small number of transistors)
• More RAM usage
• Fixed length instructions
• Simple addressing modes
• Usually fixed number of clock cycles for executing one instruction

CISC – Complex Instruction Set Computer

CISC is the opposing microprocessor architecture for RISC. It is made to

reduce the number of instructions per program, ignoring the number of cycles
per instruction. So complex instructions are directly made into hardware
making the processor complex and slower in operation.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

This architecture is actually designed to reduce the cost of memory by

reducing the program length.

• Complex instruction set

• Smaller program
• Less number of registers
• Complex processor circuitry (a greater number of transistors)
• Little RAM usage
• Variable length instructions
• Variety of addressing modes
• Variable number of clock cycles for each instruction

Special Purpose Processors

There are some processors which are designed to handle some specific
functions.

• DSP – Digital Signal Processors

• Coprocessors – processors used along with a main processor (8087
math-coprocessor used with 8086)
• Input/Output processors
• Transputer – Transistor Computer: Microprocessor with its own
local memory

Examples:

• Intel 4004 – The First Microprocessor

• Intel 8085
• Intel 8086
• Intel Pentium 4
• Intel Core i7
• AMD Athlon

The Microprocessor as a Turning Point for Modern Computing

CPUs used to be enormous. It wasn't until the 1960s that designers were
attempting to integrate the functions of a CPU onto microprocessor units.
It was the successful development of the microprocessor that led to the home
computer. General purpose microprocessors are what allows our computers to
be used for text editing, multimedia display, computation, and communication
over the Internet. Because of how fast, small, and energy-efficient they
are, they have been integral to the development of everyday technology,
including appliances, smartphones, and more. Since the microprocessor
basically changed the world, it's worth understanding what it is and how it
functions!

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

Intel Microprocessor

Intel is the world’s largest manufacturer of PC microprocessors and the

holder of the x86 processor architecture patent.

Intel 4004, released in 1971, was one of the first microprocessors ever
produced. x86 is the series of Intel microprocessor families that began with
the 80286 microprocessors. Often called simply the 286, 80286 was a 16-bit
microprocessor chip introduced in 1982. The 80286 introduced a new generation
of microprocessors with memory management. It also offered more than twice
as much performance per clock cycle as the 8086 or 8088. It quickly became
popular and could be found in many machines into the 1990s. In 1985, Intel
introduced the successor to the 80286, the 80386 (386), a 32-bit processor.
The Pentium, first offered in 1993, quickly replaced Intel's subsequent 486
as the microchip-of-choice for PCs.

Itanium was Intel's first microprocessor based on the 64-bit architecture

known as IA-64. The Intel Core series, which launched in 2006, includes
Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell processors. In 2013, Intel announced
Quark, an embedded system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor design intended for
smaller mobile devices like wearable computers.

The company has also produced embedded processors, SRAM, DRAM, flash,
integrated circuits (IC), network interface controllers, and motherboard and
graphics chipsets. Intel competes primarily with AMD, the world’s second-
largest manufacturer of processors.

Gordon Moore, famous for Moores law, and Robert Noyce, co-inventor of the
IC, founded Intel in 1968. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara,
California.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Microprocessor

In 1969, Jerry Sanders and Edwin Turney started up a company which would
produce products such as processors, microprocessors, and motherboard
chipsets. The company they started was called Advanced Micro Devices or AMD.
The processors AMD produced consisted of basic components, the ALU, or
Arithmetic Logic Unit and the Control Unit. AMD was incorporated in 1969 but
their first processor like component didn't release until 1970 with the
Am2501 logic counter. At this point, the company was still public but that
changed in 1972. When the 1980s came around, AMD started to take off because
two main reasons. The first was AMD had expanded their producing facilities
to other states, which made the company much larger. The second reason was
IBM, in 1982, offered AMD a contract with Intel giving AMD the rights to
make the 8086 and the 8088 processors. This pact lasted until 1986 when the
demand and sales of AMD chips plummeted. This led AMD to research
microprocessors that were going be able to be compatible with network and
communication chips as well as IBM computers.

The 90s were a very important time period for AMD because with the release
of the Am386 chip, they broke the monopoly that Intel had on the CPU market.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

Compaq struck a long-term deal with AMD in 1994 to supply the AMD 486 chips
in Compaq computers. In 1997 AMD had a breakthrough making a microprocessor
that would be affordable for the average every day home user. The price of
a personal computer was now below $1,000 with the release of the AMD-K6
microprocessor. AMD was also the first processor to be brand to make a
seventh-generation processor for Microsoft windows computing in 1999 with
the AMD Athlon MP processor. That same processor was the first to break the
1GHz barrier in processors in 2000. AMD continued to up their processors but
the next major move didn't happen until 2006 when AMD bought ATI Technologies
Inc, which gave AMD into 3d graphics chips the next year AMD introduced the
ATI Radeon HD 2000 graphic processors. These processors were used in both
PCs and Mobile phones.

AMD VS. Intel

A. Market Share

When it comes to processors, there are only two main choices, AMD and Intel.
These two power houses in the processor business have been at it for over
40 years. The two companies were opened a year after each other, Intel in
1968 and AMD in 1969.

B. AMD compared Intel

1. Power Consumption

The first is power consumption. AMD had the initial advantage because the
Pentium 4 processors had a 150-watt TDP. When the duo core processors came
out, Intel tried changed to a 75-watt TDP but that did nothing. Comparing
the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and the AMD Sempron the AMD processor, AMD
used 7 less watts of power less than the Intel version.

2. Price vs. Performance

The second category is price vs. performance and again AMD has an edge.
Intel has their Quadcore and Core2 Duo processors which perform great but
the prices were always high. Recently Intel has closed the gap because the
prices have been dropping but still haven't caught up to AMD.

3. 3d Gaming

The third category is 3d gaming, and yet again AMD has had the advantage.
Comparing AMD's 64 bit and the Pentium 4 computers it wasn't even a contest
when it came to gaming and AMD won hands down. Again Intel, with the advent
of the Quadcore and Core 2 Duo processors, the gap has narrowed because
these processors can support dual video card where the AMD Athlon 64 can't.

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 UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY
Tuguegarao City

School of Criminology
Second Semester, S.Y. 2020
--2021

4. Graphics

The fourth criteria would be graphics and it has the same aspects as the 3d
gaming category. AMD started out on top but with Intel's Quadcore and Core2
Duo processors the gap has narrowed.

5. MP3 and Video Encoding

The fifth category is MP3 and video encoding where it shows the same pattern
as the above categories. To the average user today both companies offer the
same speed and quality of encoding.

6. Cooling and Productivity

The next to last category is cooling and productivity. Intel holds a definite
advance with better cooling features and better heat sinks.

7. Office Productivity and Multitasking

The last category is office productivity and multitasking. This is an even

match until multitasking is put into the picture; the AMD 64-bit processors
had a distinct advantage. But again, with the advent of the Quadcore and
Core 2 Duo processors from Intel this category is completely even.

References:

https://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/microprocessor/
https://electrosome.com/microprocessor/
https://www.brainspire.com/blog/what-is-a-microprocessor-and-how-does-it-
work
https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Intel
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~gasaunde/BriefsExample/web/Brief1.html
Prepared by:

Prepared by:

IT Instructors

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