1. 3/29: Processors Roll Call Lecture: CPU’s Other (?)

2. CPU: General The Microprocessor or CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the “brains” of the computer. All other components (RAM, monitor, disk drive) act like bridges to link you & the processor.

3. CPU: the Helpers Coprocessors are also in PC’s. They handle functions like graphics, 3-D acceleration, and sound cards. This helps take away some of the load off the main processor.

4. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit To RAM

5. Pentium Parts 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit To RAM BIU Bus Interface Unit The BIU sorts through the data and code that is sent from RAM. The code is sent one way, and the data is sent the other way. After the processing, the BIU will send the processed data back to RAM.

6. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit To RAM The caches, one for data and one for code, are the “ready rooms” for the ALU’s.

7. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Floating Point Unit To RAM Branch Predictor Unit The Branch Predictor Unit decides which ALU will be quicker at processing the next instruction.

8. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache ALU Registers Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit To RAM Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit The Instruction Prefetch Buffer retrieves the BPU- specified code from the cache. The Decode Unit converts the code into ALU-usable instructions.

9. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Branch Predictor Unit To RAM Floating Point Unit The Floating Point Unit processes the numbers after the decimal point, as well as other specified commands.

10. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit To RAM ALU Registers The Arithmetic Logic Units process the data using specially wired circuits and transistors. Their output is sent to the registers, a kind of “electronic scratch pad.”

11. Pentium Parts 8K Code Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit 8K Data Cache The Data Cache transfers the processed information from the registers back to the BIU, which sends it to the RAM. BIU Bus Interface Unit To RAM

12. Pentium Parts BIU Bus Interface Unit 8K Code Cache 8K Data Cache Instruction Prefetch Buffer & Decode Unit ALU Registers Floating Point Unit Branch Predictor Unit To RAM

13. 3/31: Types of Pentium Processors Pentium Pentium Pro Pentium MMX Pentium Celeron Pentium II Pentium III