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 microprocessors
Semiconductor revenue to fall 22 pct in 2009: Gartner
May 28, 2009 |
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Worldwide semiconductor revenue is expected to decline by 22 percent this year, market research firm Gartner said Thursday.
AMD posts deeper loss, shares fall
Apr 21, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s loss widened in the first quarter as demand and prices for its microprocessors slumped and charges for the biggest restructuring in the company's 40-year history took ...
Knowing when to fold: Engineers use 'nano-origami' to build tiny electronic devices (Video)
Feb 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Folding paper into shapes such as a crane or a butterfly is challenging enough for most people. Now imagine trying to fold something that's about a hundred times thinner than a human hair ...
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Cooler, faster, cheaper: Researchers advance process to manufacture silicon chips
Dec 03, 2007 |
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The next generation of laptops, desk computers, cell phones and other semiconductor devices may get faster and more cost-effective with research from Clemson University.
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 ...
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 ...
Report: Intel Gains Back Market Share from AMD
Apr 22, 2007 |
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Following a weak first quarter, AMD lost market share to its main rival, Intel, during the first three months of this year, according to a new report.
New project aims to boost performance on every chip
Technology / Computer Sciences
Apr 07, 2009 |
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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as part of its Architecture Aware Compiler Environment Program, has awarded Rice University $16 million to develop a new set of tools that can improve the performance ...
Berkeley Lab researchers propose a new breed of supercomputers
Technology / Computer Sciences
May 06, 2008 |
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Three researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have proposed an innovative way to improve global climate change predictions by using a supercomputer with low-power ...
IBM Mainframes Go 3-D
Apr 27, 2007 |
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By integrating its Cell processors with the mainframe, the company hopes to create virtual worlds on the Web that benefit gamers as well as the enterprise.
Apple's new direction takes foothold
Jan 16, 2006 |
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For anyone who's watched a nature documentary as a mother bird nudges her young out of the nest or a parent who's fielded calls from a nervous child they just sent away to college, the underlying logic is the ...
Report: AMD ex-CEO said linked to Galleon case
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is "thoroughly reviewing" published reports fingering former chairman and CEO Hector Ruiz as the AMD executive who gave confidential company information to a defendant in the ...
Intel, an infrequent acquirer, snaps up Wind River (Update)
Jun 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Intel Corp. is biting off its biggest acquisition in nearly a decade with an $884 million takeover of Wind River Systems Inc., a software maker with a colorful past.
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