Topics: Components : Processors
The processor is the heart, the central working element, of a computer or other digital information handling system. It is the part that does all of the processing, the actual work of performing arithmetic and logic operations. Everything else in current computers mostly only holds information, as bits. Some technical names for processors: Central Processing Unit (CPU), Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). Processors can be made in many parts or in one part (monolithic). Older processors were always in many parts, current ones are usually monolithic. There is no one necessary model or configuration for processors. The term's meaning varies with context, mainly by how processors are defined or implemented. Historically, the evolution was as: many cabinets in several rooms, then many cabinets in one room, then many boards in one cabinet, then many chip carriers on one board, then some as a few chips in one chip carrier (package). Key trait: all parts are treated, and work, as one processing unit during some task. Processors that fit fully on one integrated circuit chip are usually called microprocessors, and have parts (features) measured in microns or micrometers (millionths of a meter), or in nanometers (billionths of a meter). The future will bring nanoprocessors, with parts measured in a few nanometers, and made with a technology called nanotechnology.
65xx
The 65xx family of computer processors have 8- and 16-bit architectures, use low power, and are used in high volumes, mostly in embedded systems.
More »
68k
The term 68k means the Motorola 68000 series processors. Some variants: 68000, 68010, 68020, 68030, 68040, 68060; CPU32 (68330), 68360 (QUICC), ColdFire, DragonBall.
More »
Alpha
Alpha is a RISC CPU that was created by DEC: Digital Equipment Corp. When DEC merged with Compaq, the Alpha went with them, so now Compaq sells Alpha.
More »
ARM
ARM is an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines. These processors are named after the firm that first made them: Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.
More »
Asynchronous
Synchronous processors have one central clock, which synchronizes and coordinates the progress of operations throughout a processor.
More »
AVR
The AVR RISC microcontroller family is made by Atmel Corp. It uses a RISC core running single cycle instructions, and a well defined I/O structure that limits need for external components.
More »
Barrel
Barrel processors switch between execution threads on every machine cycle. This is also known as interleaved or fine-grained multithreading.
More »
Bit Slice
Bit slice processors are modules used to build up larger processors. A larger processor of word size X is built up of several smaller modules, ALUs (Arithmetic and Logic Units), of word size usually X/16, X/8, X/4, or X/2; i.e., of 1, 2, 4 or 8 bits.
More »
Cellular Automata
Cellular Automata (CA) processors are a physical, not software only, implementation of CA concepts, which can process information computationally.
More »
CISC
CISC is an acronym for Complex Instruction Set Computer. It is a processor design philosophy favoring larger and more complex sets of instructions, that usually execute in many, and varying numbers of, clock cycles and varying amounts of time.
More »
DLX
The DLX is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor architecture. It is mainly a cleaner, simpler MIPS architecture, with a simple 32-bit load/store design, and intended mainly for education, as are Donald Knuth's MIX and MMIX architectures.
More »
Education
This category covers processors, central processing units (CPUs), which were created, and have as a main or major purpose, to educate and teach about computer concepts, design, programming, and/or larger, more general system issues; and/or support other types of education (networking, mathematics, physics); processors existing solely or in large part, to educate.
More »
iAPX-432
The iAPX-432 was Intel's first 32-bit processor, released in 1981 as a set of 3 integrated circuits.
More »
Minimal
This category is for minimal processors: CPUs that use various design strategies to strongly minimize the component count needed to do work; to be as simple as possible.
More »
MIPS
MIPS is an acronym for: Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages. It is a RISC processor architecture, developed by MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
Emotion Engine,
More »
Multiprocessors
Multiprocessors are processors made of two or more processing subunits; single computers containing more than one processor.
More »
Nios
Nios is a soft configurable RISC processor, designed for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), for embedded uses, by Altera Corp.
More »
Open Source
This category holds links on computer central processors for which one or more: body of writing, specification, or implementation exists, that meet the definition of open source software found at Opensource.org; they are developed and licensed openly and freely.
More »
PA-RISC
The PA-RISC (Precision Architecture Reduced Instruction Set Computing), a.k.a. HP/PA (Hewlett Packard Precision Architecture) was developed by Hewlett-Packard's Systems & VLSI Technology Operation in the late 1980s.
More »
Parallel
Parallel processors are computers that can do more than one operation at once, concurrently, during the same cycle.
More »
PIC
PIC is a family of RISC microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650, originally developed by General Instrument's Microelectronics Division.
Jal,
More »
POWER
POWER is an acronym for: Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC; a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) acrhitecture central processor, designed, produced, and sold by International Business Machines: IBM.
Cell,
More »
Reconfigurable
Reconfigurable processors process information via normal (von Neumann) processors used with highly flexible computing fabrics often made of field-programmable gate arrays, FPGAs.
More »
Reversible
Reversible or adiabatic computing/logic uses processors that can reconstruct a prior state of a computation, from a later state; they are time-invertible, can produce time-reversed version of a process; run it backwards.
More »
RISC
RISC is an acronym for Reduced Instruction Set Computer. It is a processor design philosophy favoring smaller and simpler sets of instructions, that all execute in one, and the same number of, clock cycles and same amount of time.
More »
SPARC
SPARC is an acronym for Scalable Processor ARChitecture. It is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) design created and licensed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Open Source,
More »
SuperH
The SuperH (SH) is a microprocessor/controller architecture. It is basically a 32-bit load/store RISC core design, with a 16-bit instruction set, but 32-bit register length and data paths.
More »
Transmeta
Transmeta: a highly secretive California firm working on a microprocessor that will emulate many microprocessors, though its main target seems to be Intel's Pentium.
More »
Transputer
Transputer is a word meaning transistor computer. It is officially spelled with lower case. It was made by British semiconductor firm INMOS Ltd.
More »
TRON
A TRON processor is any processor with a core based on the free specifications defined by the Japanese TRON Project, an acronym for: The Real-time Operating system Nucleus.
More »
VLIW
VLIW is an acronym for: Very Long Instruction Word. This processor architecture implements a type of instruction level parallelism; multiple words executed per processor cycle.
More »
x86
This category holds links on Intel and compatible x86-based architecture central processor units: CPUs. Main members of the Intel x86 family: 8086, 8088, 80186, 80286, 80386, 80486, 80586 (Pentium), 80686 (Pentium II), 80786 (Pentium III), 80886 (Pentium 4), and more to come.
More »
Z80
The Z80 family of processors began as an 8-bit microprocessor, a compatible, improvment on the Intel 8080.
More »
ZISC
ZISC is an acronym for Zero Instruction Set Computer. It is a processing method based on: pattern matching only, with no (micro-)instructions of any usual type, using ideas from artificial neural networks.
More »