This post explains some concepts related to computer processors.
You can read about 8-bit microprocessors on this post.
Concepts related to Computer Processors
In the context of computing, a processor is an electrical component (digital circuit) that performs operations on an external data source, usually memory or some other data stream.
A computer has at least a Central Processing Unit (CPU). Sometimes the term processor is used to refer to the CPU, but technically the other co-processors are also processors.
An example of co-processor is the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU).
An instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model of a computer that usually describes the set of instructions, data types and registers. A device that implements an ISA is called an implementation.
CPUs are ISA’s implementations.
The binary code of an executable file is defined by the ISA. This means that implementations of the same ISA share the same binary code, but binary code for different ISAs or their implementations look different and are incompatible.
The power of a microprocessor is measured in a floating-point operations per second (FLOPs).
Type of Processors
Type of processors:
- CPU
- GPU
CPU
Computer Processing Unit (CPU).
The Arithmetical Logic Unit (ALU) is part of the CPU.
You can read about 8-bit microprocessors on this post.
GPU
Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) is a co-processor to process graphical data.
You can read more about GPUs on this post.
Computer Processing Architectures
Computer processing architectures
- Monoprocessor
- Multiprocessor
- Symmetric
- Softly coupled
- Tightly coupled
- NUMA
- UMA
- Asymmetric
- Symmetric
In softly coupled architecture each processor has its own memory.
In tightly coupled each processor has its own memory.
Non-uniform Memory Access (NUMA) means that some processors are closer to the memory and will get access easier.
Uniform Memory Access (UMA) means that all processors get the memory at the same speed.
Asymmetric means that each processor is not treated equally.
Bitness
Processors operates with bit sets:
- 8-bit: became mainstream in the 1970s.
- 16-bit: became mainstream for home computers in the late 1980s.
- 32-bit: became mainstream in the 1990s.
- 64-bit: became mainstream for PCs in the 2000s
Instruction Set Architectures
You can read this post about the instruction set architectures.
Addressing Methods
You can read this post about addressing methods.