Microprocessor

A microprocessor is a special kind of chip that acts as the brain of a computer. It contains all the parts needed to do calculations and follow instructions, all built into one tiny piece of material. This makes computers smaller, faster, and cheaper. The first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, was made in 1971 by Federico Faggin. Since then, microprocessors have become very powerful and are used in almost every kind of electronic device, from tiny watches to huge supercomputers.

Microprocessors work by taking in information in a special code called binary and processing it according to instructions stored in memory. They can do many tasks very quickly, like solving math problems or controlling machines. As technology improves, these chips get better and more powerful, following what is called Rock's law. This means that even though the chips get smaller, they can do more work than ever before. Today, you’ll find microprocessors in everything from your handheld devices to large mainframes and supercomputers.

Structure

The complexity of a chip is limited by how many tiny parts called transistors can fit on it, how well it can connect to other parts, and how much heat it can handle. As technology improves, we can make more powerful chips.

A basic microprocessor might just have parts that do math and control what the chip does. As chips got better, they could do more things and handle bigger numbers. Some chips also include extra parts to make certain jobs, like drawing pictures, faster.

Special kinds of chips exist for specific jobs, like processing sounds or images. Some chips are made just for controlling small devices or putting many parts together in one chip, like in phones and tablets.

Different chips are chosen for different jobs based on how much they can handle and how much power they use. Smaller chips use less power and are good for simple jobs, while bigger chips can handle more complex tasks but use more power.

Embedded applications

Many everyday items that aren’t usually thought of as computers have microprocessors. These include household appliances, vehicles and their accessories, tools, toys, light switches, electrical circuit breakers, smoke alarms, battery packs, and audio/visual components like DVD players and phonograph turntables. Devices such as cell phones, DVD video systems, and HDTV broadcasts need powerful, affordable microprocessors to work.

A microprocessor control program, known as embedded software, can be specially designed for a product, making it easy to improve performance without changing the product much. This allows unique features to be added to different models without increasing the cost much. Microprocessor control can manage systems in ways that would be hard to do with older control methods. For example, a car’s engine control can change the timing of the ignition based on speed, load, temperature, and other factors, letting the engine work well with different types of fuel.

History

See also: Microprocessor chronology

The creation of affordable computers using tiny parts changed our world. Microprocessors in personal computers help us do calculations, write and edit text, show pictures and videos, and connect to the internet. Many microprocessors are hidden inside everyday devices like kitchen appliances, cars, cell phones, and machines that control factories.

After scientists made a special kind of tiny chip in the 1960s, these chips got better and cheaper. They could hold more parts and do more things. This growth followed a rule called Moore’s law, which said the number of parts on a chip would double every year (later changed to every two years).

First projects

Some important early microprocessors appeared around the same time:

• Garrett AiResearch’s Central Air Data Computer (1970)
• Texas Instruments’s TMS 1802NC (September 1971)
• Intel’s 4004 (November 1971)

Other notable early designs included the Four-Phase Systems AL1 (1969).

Four-Phase Systems AL1 (1969)

The Four-Phase Systems AL1 was an early chip designed by Lee Boysel in 1969. It was part of a bigger computer system and later became known as a microprocessor.

Garrett AiResearch CADC (1970)

In 1968, Garrett AiResearch began designing a computer for the US Navy’s new F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. The design was finished in 1970 and was much smaller and more reliable than older systems. It stayed secret until 1998.

Gilbert Hyatt (1970)

In 1990, engineer Gilbert Hyatt received a patent for a computer he built in 1969. Though never made, it led to legal battles over who invented the microprocessor.

Texas Instruments TMX 1795 (1970–1971)

Texas Instruments made a chip called TMX 1795 for a terminal, but it was never produced.

Texas Instruments TMS 1802NC (1971)

The TMS1802NC, announced in September 1971, was the first chip to act like a tiny calculator. It could be programmed during manufacturing.

Pico/General Instrument (1971)

In 1971, Pico Electronics and General Instrument made a chip for a calculator. It had memory and basic instructions built-in.

Intel 4004 (1971)

Main article: Intel 4004

The Intel 4004 is often called the first true single-chip microprocessor. It was created by Federico Faggin, Marcian Hoff, Stanley Mazor, and Masatoshi Shima. It began as a project for a Japanese calculator company and became a single chip in 1971.

8-bit designs

The Intel 4004 was followed by the Intel 8008 in 1972, Intel’s first 8-bit microprocessor. The 8008 came from a project for a terminal and led to the famous "Mark-8" computer kit in 1974. The 8008 was the basis for the more powerful Intel 8080 in 1974. Other important 8-bit chips included Motorola’s MC6809 in 1978 and MOS Technology’s 6502 in 1975, which helped start the home computer era.

12-bit designs

The Intersil 6100 family was a 12-bit microprocessor that could run instructions from the DEC PDP-8 minicomputer.

16-bit designs

The first 16-bit microprocessor was the National Semiconductor IMP-16 in 1973. In 1974, National introduced the first 16-bit single-chip microprocessor, the National Semiconductor PACE. Another was General Instrument’s CP1600 in 1975, used in the Intellivision console. TI’s TMS 9900 in 1976 was another 16-bit chip.

Intel’s big step was the Intel 8086 in 1978, the first of the x86 family used in most PCs today.

32-bit designs

32-bit microprocessors began appearing in the late 1970s. The most famous was Motorola’s MC68000 in 1979, used in computers like the Apple Lisa and Macintosh. Intel’s first 32-bit chip was the iAPX 432 in 1981, though it wasn’t very successful. ARM appeared in 1985 and became very popular in small devices.

64-bit designs in personal computers

64-bit microprocessors for PCs began appearing in the early 2000s. AMD introduced x86-64 in 2003, and Intel followed with Intel 64. This allowed PCs to run both old 32-bit programs and new 64-bit software.

RISC

In the 1980s and 1990s, new types of microprocessors called RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) appeared. These included MIPS, HP’s PA-RISC, ARM, IBM’s POWER, and Sun’s SPARC.

SMP and multi-core design

Since the 1990s, many computers have used SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing), which means using two or more processors together. Later, multi-core processors put several processors on one chip. This lets computers do many things at once, making them faster for tasks like games and big calculations.

Market statistics

In 1997, around 55% of all the tiny brains inside machines, called CPUs, sold around the world were small ones called 8-bit microcontrollers. Over 2 billion of these tiny brains were sold that year.

By 2002, very few of the CPUs sold were big ones used in regular computers. Most of these tiny brains were used to help run things like kitchen gadgets, cars, and computer parts. In 2003, people spent about $44 billion (which is like $77 billion today) on buying these tiny brains for machines. Even though half of that money was spent on the ones used in laptops and desktops, these only made up a small part of all the tiny brains sold. Most tiny brains made each year are used inside other machines.