1. 1 Intel Microprocessors Daniel Rodocker CSCI 1005

2. 2 Overview History of the Microprocessor. The Role of the Microprocessor. How a Microprocessor works. Transistors and System clock Differences between the 2 levels of Cache.

3. 3 The History of the Microprocessor. In November 1971, Intel introduced the world’s first microprocessor on the commercial market. It was called the 4004, invented by 3 Intel engineers. Considered primitive by the standards of today. 2,300 transistors and performed about 60,000 calculations in a second.

4. 4 History cont. The first Pentium processor was introduced in 1995. The most widely distributed processor in most computers is the Pentium IV. The Pentium M series processor which was released earlier this year is the latest commercially used processor. This processor is capable of wireless internet through the use of Centrino technology.

5. 5 The Role of a Microprocessor. Thought of as the “heart” of the computer system. Contains plug-ins for insertion of new hardware. Control Unit: uses electrical signals to carry out, or execute, stored program instructions. The Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU): performs four different kinds of calculations addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

6. 6 How a Microprocessor works. 1. The control unit fetches the instruction from the memory and places the instruction into a register (temporary storage) 2. Then the control unit decodes the instruction and decides where to place the instruction within the memory. 3. The control unit moves the instruction into the ALU where it proceeds to carry out the operation of the instruction. 4. The control unit then stores the result in memory or in a register.

7. 7 Transistors and System Clocks The microprocessor is essentially made up of millions of transistors which transport bytes of data. With the new technology Intel has been able to make faster Microprocessors on smaller chips. The system clock is like a speedometer in a car, it tells you how fast your microprocessor is working.

8. 8 Differences between Caches. Level 1 cache: storage unit placed on the same chip as microprocessor. Level 2 cache: storage unit seperated from the microprocessor usually a little slower.