The microprocessor is the heart of any computer. The microprocessor is also successfully used in household electronic devices. He quietly conquered the whole world. And today a huge army of such electronic assistants has come to the aid of humanity.
Definition
A microprocessor is a central unit of a personal computer designed to perform logical and arithmetic operations on information, to process and transmit data and to control the operation of all units of the machine.
The microprocessor is made in one or more interconnected semiconductor chips of integrated circuits. Consists of control circuits, adders, registers, command counters and very fast small memory.
The microprocessor implements the following essential functions:
- decryption and reading of data from main memory
- receiving commands and reading data from the registers of adapters of external devices
- data processing, writing them to the main memory, as well as writing to the registers of adapters of external devices
- formation of control signals of other blocks and nodes of the computer
From the history
For a long time, central processors were built from individual microcircuits of small to medium integration, containing from one to several hundred transistors. Despite its humble beginnings, the continual growth of microprocessor complexity has made other forms of computers completely obsolete.
The first 4-bit microprocessor appeared in the 1970s, and it was used in electronic calculators. The calculators used binary-decimal arithmetic. Soon, microprocessors began to be built into other devices, such as printers, terminals, and various automation.
In the mid-1970s, already 8-bit microprocessors with 16-bit addressing allowed the first consumer microcomputers to be created.
Currently, one or more microprocessors are used as a computing element in literally everything - from mobile devices and small embedded systems to huge supercomputers and mainframes.
If you look around, microprocessors are literally everywhere: in electronic watches, in mobile phones, in game consoles, in pocket electronic games, in modern microwave ovens, washing machines, turntables, laser disks, calculators. Even a modern car is filled with microprocessors, not to mention steamships, airplanes, trains, etc.
"Microprocessor" and "processor"
Some authors classify the devices themselves as microprocessors, which are implemented strictly on one microcircuit. This definition is at odds with both academic sources and commercial practice. For example, microprocessors such as AMD and Intel and in Pentium II and SECC packages have been implemented on multiple microcircuits.
Due to the very small distribution of processors that are not microprocessors, in everyday practice the terms "microprocessor" and "processor" are almost equivalent.