Microprocessor
hideA microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (IC). The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using binary-coded decimal (BCD) arithmetic on 4-bit words. Other embedded uses of 4- and 8-bit microprocessors, such as terminals, printers, various kinds of automation etc, followed rather quickly. Affordable 8-bit microprocessors with 16-bit addressing also led to the first general purpose microcomputers in the mid-1970s.
Computer processors were for a long period constructed out of small and medium-scale ICs containing the equivalent of a few to a few hundred transistors. The integration of the whole CPU onto a single VLSI chip therefore greatly reduced the cost of processing capacity. From their humble beginnings, continued increases in microprocessor capacity have rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of computing hardware), with one or more microprocessor as processing element in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers.
Since the early 1970s, the increase in capacity of microprocessors has been known to generally follow Moore's Law, which suggests that the complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every two years. In the late 1990s, and in the high-performance microprocessor segment, heat generation (TDP), due to switching losses, static current leakage, and other factors, emerged as a leading developmental constraint.
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News tagged with microprocessor
Observers wary of 'truce' between Intel, AMD
Nov 19, 2009 |
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Can Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, Silicon Valley's version of the long-squabbling Hatfields and McCoys, really get along?
NY files antitrust suit against Intel (Update)
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- New York's attorney general hit Intel Corp. with an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday, claiming the company used "illegal threats and collusion" to dominate the market for computer microprocessors.
AMD sales better than expected, CPU demand rises
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc. lost money in the third quarter but said Thursday that sales were stronger than expected, adding to mounting evidence that consumer spending is fueling a turnaround in ...
ARM Announces 45nm SOI Test Chip Results That Demonstrate 40 Percent Power Savings Over Bulk Process
Oct 08, 2009 |
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ARM announced at the IEEE SOI Conference, Foster City, Calif., the results from a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) 45nm test chip that demonstrate potential power savings of up to 40 percent over traditional bulk process for manufacturing ...
Intel's Light Peak Will Replace Copper Wires
Sep 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco Wednesday, the company announced a new optical cable that will be able to transfer data, between electrical devices, starting at speeds of 10 ...
Moore's Law Marches on at Intel
Sep 22, 2009 |
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Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini today displayed a silicon wafer containing the world's first working chips built on 22nm process technology. The 22nm test circuits include both SRAM memory as well as ...
Two chips in one: Researchers combine microprocessor materials
Sep 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An MIT team led by Tomás Palacios, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has succeeded in combining two semiconductor materials, silicon ...
Intel Launches Three New Quad-core Processors
Sep 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Intel has launched three new quad-core processors utilizing Intel's new Nehalem architecture. These processors, formerly codenamed Lynnfield, are aimed at desktop computers, as well as the ...
Sun's server share hit as antitrust scrutiny looms
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Uncertainty about Sun Microsystems Inc.'s future appears to have contributed to serious erosion in the company's market share for computer servers in the latest quarter, according to new data being released Wednesday.
Intel raises sales forecast; shares jump 4 percent
Aug 28, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Intel Corp. raised its third-quarter revenue forecast above Wall Street's expectations Friday, citing strong demand for its chips and giving another signal that business is improving for one of the ...
Next-generation sound systems to minimise background noise
Jul 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The whole listening experience in cars, cinemas, theatres, and even during videoconferences, is likely to improve radically thanks to a new set of tools for application development being assembled ...
Silicon with afterburners: New process could be boon to electronics manufacturer
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jul 23, 2009 |
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Scientists at Rice University and North Carolina State University have found a method of attaching molecules to semiconducting silicon that may help manufacturers reach beyond the current limits of Moore's ...
Intel's strong numbers suggest PC business on mend
Jul 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Intel Corp.'s second-quarter results bolster the company's position that the computer business is on the mend after its roughest patch in years.
Intel to report 2Q numbers
Jul 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Intel Corp. is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings after the market closes Tuesday. Below is a summary of analyst opinion and key developments related to the period.
A glimpse at Intel's futuristic gadgets
Jul 01, 2009 |
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Wouldn't it be useful to have a gadget that immediately warned you when the information you just saw on the Internet or heard from a buddy might be baloney?
