1

210254: MICROPROCESSOR

UNIT I-Lecture-1
Introduction

Nikita Singhal
Department of Computer Engineering
 Why Do we need
2
Microprocessor?
 Introduction to
3
Microprocessors
 The microprocessor is one of the most
important components of a digital
computer.
 It acts as the brain of the computer
system.
 As technology has progressed,
microprocessors have become faster,
smaller and capable of doing more work
per clock cycle.
 Sometimes, microprocessor is written as
µP. ( µ is pronounced as Mu )
 Introduction to
4
Microprocessors
 Definition:
 Microprocessor is the controlling unit or
CPU of a micro-computer, fabricated on a
very small chip capable of performing ALU
operations and communicating with the
external devices connected to it.
 A Computer
5

 A computer:
 Accepts the data from the user.
 Stores the data and the set of instructions
supplied by the user in memory.
 Processes the data according to the
instructions in the processing unit.
 Communicates the result to the user or
stores it for a further reference.
 A Computer (Cont…)
6

 A computer has the following units:

 Input Unit
 Output Unit
 Memory Unit
 Central Processing Unit
 A Micro-Computer
7

 As the name implies, microcomputers

are small computers
 The block diagram of the microcomputer
is similar to the computer except that
the central processing unit of the
microcomputer is contained in a single
IC called the microprocessor.
 A Micro-Computer
8

 The basic function of the microprocessor

is:
 to fetch the instructions stored in the main
memory
 identify the operations and the devices
involved in it
 and accordingly generate control signals to
determine when a given action is to take
place.
 Multiprocessor System
9

 The CPU of a large powerful digital

computer contains more than one
microprocessor.
 High-end powerful servers, mainframe
computers, supercomputers, etc.
contain more than one microprocessor to
act as CPU.
 A computer whose CPU contains more
than one microprocessor is called
Multiprocessor System.
 Microcontroller
10

 A highly integrated chip that contains all

the components such as CPU, RAM,
some form of ROM, I/O ports, and timers
is called Microcontroller.
 Unlike a general-purpose computer,
which also includes all of these
components, a microcontroller is
designed for a very specific task to
control a particular system.
 Microcontroller
11
 Microprocessor
12
Characteristics
 Instruction Set:
 The set of instructions that a
microprocessor can understand.
 Bandwidth:
 The number of bits processed in a single
instruction.
 Capability:
 It depends upon the number of instructions
and capability of each instruction.
 Microprocessor
13
Characteristics
 Clock Speed:
 The clock speed determines how many operations per
second the processor can perform.
 It is also called Clock Rate.
 Every computer contains an internal clock that
regulates the rate at which instructions are executed
and synchronizes the various computer components.
 The faster the clock, the more instructions the CPU can
execute per second.
 Clock speeds are expressed in megahertz (MHz) or
gigahertz (GHz).
 The microprocessors of personal computers have clock
speeds of anywhere from 300 MHz to over 3.8 GHz.
 Microprocessor
14
Characteristics
 Word Length:
 It depends upon the width of internal data
bus, registers, ALU etc.
 An 8-bit microprocessor can process 8 bit
data at a time.
 A processor with longer word length is more
powerful and can process data at a faster
speed as compared to processor with
shorter word length.
 The word length ranges from 4 bits for
small microprocessor, to 64 bits for high-
end microcomputers.
 Microprocessor
15
Characteristics
 Width of Data Bus:
 This is the size of the data bus. It defines the number
of bits that can be transferred through data bus.
 Width of Address Bus:
 This parameter decides the memory addressing
capability of the microprocessor. The maximum size
of the memory unit is decided by this parameter.
 Input/Output Addressing Capability:
 The maximum number of the input/output ports
accessed by the microprocessor depends upon the
width of the input/output address provided in the
input/output instruction.
 Microprocessor
16
Characteristics
 Data Types:
 The microprocessor handles various types
of data formats like binary, BCD, ASCII,
signed and unsigned numbers.
 Interrupt Capability:
 Interrupts are used to handle unpredictable
and random events in the microcomputer.
 It is used to interrupt the microprocessor.
 Interrupt driven input/output improves the
throughput of a system.
 Microprocessor
17
Characteristics
 Cost:
 The most important feature of a microcomputer is its low
cost.
 Because of the widespread use of microprocessors, the
volume of production is very high.
 That is why, microprocessor chips are available at fairly low
prices.
 Size:
 The second important feature of a microprocessor is its
small size.
 As a result of improvement in fabrication technology, VLSI,
electronic circuitry has become so dense that a minute
silicon chip can contain hundred and thousands of
transistors.
 Microprocessor
18
Characteristics
 Power Consumption:
 Another important feature is its low power consumption.
 Microprocessors are normally manufactured by Metal-Oxide
semiconductor technology, which has the feature of low power
consumption.
 Versatility:
 The microprocessors are versatile.
 Keeping the same basic hardware, a microprocessor-based system
can be configured for a number of applications by simply altering the
software program.
 Reliability:
 Another important property of microprocessors is its extreme
reliability.
 It has been established that the failure rate of an IC is fairly uniform
at the package level, regardless of its complexity.
 History of Intel Microprocessors
19
 History of Intel Microprocessors till 2020
20
 Intel 4004
21

 1969
 Clock speed : 108 KHz
 Number of transistors:2300
 4-bit register and 4-bit data bus.
 The world first microprocessor
 Intel 4004
22
 Intel 8008
23

 1972
 Clock speed : 800 KHz
 Number of transistor: 3500
 8-bit register and 8-bit data bus.
 Intel 8008
24
 Intel 8080
25

 1974
 Clock speed : 2 MHz
 Number of transistor: 4500
 8-bit register and data bus.
 Intel 8080
26
 Intel 8086
27

 1978
 Clock speed : 4.47 MHz
 Number of transistors: 29000
 16-bit register and data bus.
 The first x86 CPU
 Intel 8086
28
 Intel 8088
29

 1981
 Clock speed : 4.47 MHz
 Number of transistors: 29000
 16-bit internal architecture
 External data bus width: 8 bits, address
bus: 20 bits
 Intel 8088
30
 Intel 286
31

 1982
 Clock speed: 12 MHz
 Number of transistor: 134000
 16-bit register and data bus.
 Intel 286
32
 Intel 386
33

 1985
 Clock speed: 16 MHz
 Number of transistors: 275000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel 386
34
 Intel 486
35

 1989
 Clock speed: 25 MHz
 Number of transistor: 1,200,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel 486
36
 Intel Pentium
37

 1993
 Clock speed: 66 MHz
 Number of transistor: 3,300,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel Pentium
38
 Intel Pentium Pro
39

 1995
 Clock speed: 200 MHz
 Number of transistor: 5,500,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel Pentium Pro
40
 Intel Pentium Pro
41
 Intel Pentium II
42

 1997
 Clock speed: 300 MHz
 Number of transistor: 7,500,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel Pentium II
43
 Intel Pentium III
44

 1999
 Clock speed: 500 MHz
 Number of transistor: 9,500,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel Pentium 4
45

 2000
 Clock speed: 1 GHz
 Number of transistor: 15,500,000
 64-bit register and data bus.
 Intel Pentium 4
46
 Intel Pentium D
47

 2005
 Clock speed: 3.6 GHz
 Number of transistor: 47,500,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 Intel Core 2 / Quad
48

 2006/2007
 Clock speed: 3.6 GHz
 Number of transistor: 214,500,000
 32-bit register and data bus.
 References
49

 Computer History Museum.

 Wikipedia’s page on Intel Microprocessor
History.