Central Processing Unit

1282 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The evolution of computer technology

The CPU

The CPU is the brain of everyday electronics. The microprocessor is a CPU that is small enough to fit in iPods and is the one used today, unlike the past when the CPU was large, almost bigger than a fridge! They weren’t as small as the ones today with very the small parts in the technology humans use today. The CPU has come a long way in its history with its components and types.

The microprocessor all started with the Intel 4004 in 1971. The CPU (Central Processing Unit, also known as the microprocessor) is a very complex part of computers that has many complicated parts, a compound evolution, and different architectures for every deveice (Davis).

Arithmetic unit, logic unit, and registers make up the complicated CPU (Garza). The arithmetic unit is the digital circuit that performs integer arithmetic (things to do with numbers and math) and logical operations (Wikipedia contributors Flip). Now lastly, the registers. These are simple parts in the CPU that help hold data to process. Otherwise the CPU wouldn't work as it needs somewhere to place it’s instructions (What is CPU?).

CPU box labeling is key to giving customers the information they need for their next CPU. For instance, the clock rate the CPU processes at. This is the maximum speed the CPU can process instructions. This is measured in hertz, or more or less, gigahertz. Gigahertz are the equivalent of one billion hertz. A hertz is one second. So if the average clock rate in a CPU is 1.5 GHz the CPU would process one billion five hundred million instructions per second. Now all these instructions are processed one by one, individually. In other words, the CPU has to process an instruction to get to the next (Wikipedia contributors Central).

Another pi...

... middle of paper ...

...unit." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Jan 2014. Web. 27 Jan 2014. .

Wikipedia Contributors. "Dynamic random-access memory." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 17 Feb 2014. Web. 5 Mar 2014. .

Wikipedia Contributors. "Flip-flop (electronics)." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 27 Feb 2014. Web. 27 Feb 2014. .

Wikipedia Contributors. "Intel." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 26 Feb 2014. Web. 27 Feb 2014.
Wikipedia Contributors. "Static random-access memory." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 21 Feb 2014. Web. 27 Feb 2014. .

Wikipedia. Contributors "Mobile processor." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 22 Feb 2014. Web. 5 Mar 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • NVE Corporation Analysis

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    NVE Corporation was founded in 1989 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Originally called Nonvolatile Electronics, the company changed its name to NVE Corporation after going public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2000; their ticker symbol is NVEC. The word “nonvolatile” refers to memory that retains information after a power source has been removed. Since their founding, NVEC has been granted over $50 million in government research contracts, especially for their research in the nonvolatile memory called MRAM or magnetoresistive random access memory. These contracts helped NVEC develop an intellectual property portfolio and accumulate over 50 patents regarding spintronic and MRAM technology. Recently the company has reduced their dependence on research contracts and has grown tremendously through product sales, averaging an increase of 25% top-line growth the past three years.

    Read More

  • Nt1310 Unit 3 Components

    1367 Words  | 3 Pages

    This memory is assists in allowing the computer to simultaneously read and write data at the same time. Simply put, RAM is the most common form of memory that is utilized by computers as well as other devices. There are specific types of RAM that include dynamic random access memory and static random access memory, or DRAM and SRAM respectively. These two RAM are very different in terms of how they allow data to be read and written. Dynamic random access memory is often considered the most frequent type found in computers. Static random access memory is also found in computer, and is usually referred to as the faster of the two types due to the fact that refreshing of this form of memory is not needed whereas with dynamic random access memory it is. The term RAM is often used to describe what the computer uses to function. It is the main memory or primary memory whereby all processes and software run. Since it is random access memory, it is only available at the time a certain process is needed and is not stored anywhere on the computer specifically (2007). This is what makes random access memory often confusing to understand particular since computers also have what is known as read only

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    It has the ability to store many items at the same time. Random accessing of elements is allowed, so any element of an array can be accessed randomly using indexes. It stores the data in linear form. (Sheeba, 2016) The memory arrangements are efficient.

    Read More

  • Parallel Processing

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    The brain functions as the epicenter of the nervous system, similar to the way in which the nervous system acts as the command center of the body. The brain is believed to be the most complex organ in the entire body; with the cerebral cortex being the largest system of the brain. The cerebral cortex contains billions of neurons and the neurons are regulated by synapses which are responsible for communication between other neurons. The communication process of neurons is facilitated by the axon or axon fibers which relay signals or action potentials to the parts of the brain and body, generating either a motor or sensory response and in most cases both. A primary role that the brain serves is translating sensory information into bodily

    Read More

  • Designing a Random Number Generator

    2071 Words  | 5 Pages

    1. G. Marsaglia. A current view of random number generators, Computer Science and Statistics: 16th Symposium on the Interface, Atlanta, 1984.

    Read More

  • Difference Between CISC, And Reduced Instruction Set Computer

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to (www.ecomputernotes.com) a Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) supplies a large number of complex instructions at the assembly language level. The primary goal of CISC architecture is to complete a task in as few lines of assembly as possible. This is achieved by building processor hardware that is capable of understanding and executing a series of operations.

    Read More

  • Exploring Virtual Memory

    1713 Words  | 4 Pages

    Paging is one of the memory-management schemes by which a computer can store and retrieve data from secondary storage for use in main memory. Paging is used for faster access to data. The paging memory-management scheme works by having the operating system retrieve data from the secondary storage in same-size blocks called pages. Paging writes data to secondary storage from main memory and also reads data from secondary storage to bring into main memory. The main advantage of paging over memory segmentation is that is allows the physical address space of a process to be noncontiguous. Before paging was implemented, systems had to fit whole programs into storage, contiguously, which would cause various storage problems and fragmentation inside the operating system (Belzer, Holzman, & Kent, 1981). Paging is a very important part of virtual memory impl...

    Read More

  • Essay On Von Neumann Architecture

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the dictionary, Memory is defined as a device that is used to store data or programs (sequences of instructions) on a temporary or permanent basis for use in an electronic digital computer. Computers represent information in binary code, written as sequences of 0s and 1s. Each binary digit (or "bit") may be stored by any physical system that can be in either of two stable states, to represent 0 and 1. Such a system is called bistable. This could be an on-off switch, an electrical capacitor that can store or lose a charge, a magnet with its polarity up or down, or a surface that can have a pit or not. Today capacitors and transistors, functioning as tiny electrical switches, are used for temporary storage, and either disks or tape with a magnetic coating, or plastic discs with patterns of pits are used for long-term storage.(Dictionary.com 20014)

    Read More

  • Von Neumann Architecture Essay

    1898 Words  | 4 Pages

    RAM is split into partitions, every partition will consist of its own address and will have its own individual contents, the data that is stored in these partitions are in binary form, (Computer Science GCSE GURU, 2017).

    Read More

  • Brief History Of Microprocessor

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first microprocessor was developed by a small company called Intel (Integrated Electronics) in the early 1970s. But it faced no consumer market so they decided to market the chipset as “general purpose” microprocessing system where digital logic chips would have been used. This idea was a success and the Intel team developed 4 bit microprocessor called the 4004.

    Read More

  • The History of The Microprocessor

    1787 Words  | 4 Pages

    We have the microprocessor to thank for all of our consumer electronic devices, because without them, our devices would be much larger. Microprocessors are the feat of generations of research and development. Microprocessors were invented in 1972 by Intel Corporation and have made it so that computers could shrink to the sizes we know today. Before, computers took a room because the transistors or vacuum tubes were individual components. Microprocessors unified the technology on one chip while reducing the costs. Microprocessor technology has been the most important revolution in the computer industry in the past forty years, as microprocessors have allowed our consumer electronics to exist.

    Read More

  • Computer Processors

    471 Words  | 1 Pages

    Processor speeds are measured in megahertz (MHz) and now come in speeds of up to 1000 MHz (1 GHz), which is very fast. This is almost ten times faster than the speed of most home computers, which average from 133 MHz to 166 MHz. Intel and AMD have been in a race to break the 1 GHz speed barrier, and the number of megahertz in the newest processors is not as significant as it was in earlier processors. For example, the difference between a 133 MHz processor and a 166 MHz processor is

    Read More

  • Essay On Motherboard

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    CPU Stands for "Central Processing Unit." The CPU is the primary component of a computer that processes instructions. It runs the operating system and applications, constantly receiving input from the user or active software

    Read More

  • Statement of Purpose for a Masters in Computer Science

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    My interest in Computers dates back to early days of my high school. The field of CS has always fascinated me. The reason for choosing CS stream was not a hasty decision. My interest started developing in the early stage of my life, when I studied about the invention of computers. The transformation from the large size to small palmtops enticed me to know about the factors responsible for making computers, also the electronic gadgets so small. I was quite impressed after seeing a small chip for the first time in my school days, especially after I learnt that it contained more than 1000 transistors, “integrated circuits”.

    Read More

  • computer architecture

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    In designing a computer system, architects consider five major elements that make up the system's hardware: the arithmetic/logic unit, control unit, memory, input, and output. The arithmetic/logic unit performs arithmetic and compares numerical values. The control unit directs the operation of the computer by taking the user instructions and transforming them into electrical signals that the computer's circuitry can understand. The combination of the arithmetic/logic unit and the control unit is called the central processing unit (CPU). The memory stores instructions and data.

    Read More

More about Central Processing Unit

Open Document