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    Characteristics of A Microprocessor

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    Chiraz Trabelsi
    This document discusses key characteristics of microprocessors: Clock speed measures the rate at which a microprocessor executes instructions, stated in MHz or GHz. Faster clock speeds allow a microprocessor to execute more instructions per second. Common clock speeds today range from 1.8GHz to 3.2GHz. The instruction set refers to the set of operations a microprocessor can perform. Software is written based on the microprocessor's instruction set. A larger instruction set can enable better performance. Cache memory holds recently accessed data from main memory to provide faster access and improve performance. There are two levels of cache - L1 cache is on the microprocessor chip while L2 cache is external but still faster than main memory

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    Characteristics of A Microprocessor

    Uploaded by

    Chiraz Trabelsi
    51 views14 pages
    This document discusses key characteristics of microprocessors: Clock speed measures the rate at which a microprocessor executes instructions, stated in MHz or GHz. Faster clock speeds allow a microprocessor to execute more instructions per second. Common clock speeds today range from 1.8GHz to 3.2GHz. The instruction set refers to the set of operations a microprocessor can perform. Software is written based on the microprocessor's instruction set. A larger instruction set can enable better performance. Cache memory holds recently accessed data from main memory to provide faster access and improve performance. There are two levels of cache - L1 cache is on the microprocessor chip while L2 cache is external but still faster than main memory

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    Microprocessor

    Original Title

    Microprocessor

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    This document discusses key characteristics of microprocessors: Clock speed measures the rate at which a microprocessor executes instructions, stated in MHz or GHz. Faster clock speeds allow a microprocessor to execute more instructions per second. Common clock speeds today range from 1.8GHz to 3.2GHz. The instruction set refers to the set of operations a microprocessor can perform. Software is written based on the microprocessor's instruction set. A larger instruction set can enable better performance. Cache memory holds recently accessed data from main memory to provide faster access and improve performance. There are two levels of cache - L1 cache is on the microprocessor chip while L2 cache is external but still faster than main memory

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    51 views14 pages

    Characteristics of A Microprocessor

    Uploaded by

    Chiraz Trabelsi
    This document discusses key characteristics of microprocessors: Clock speed measures the rate at which a microprocessor executes instructions, stated in MHz or GHz. Faster clock speeds allow a microprocessor to execute more instructions per second. Common clock speeds today range from 1.8GHz to 3.2GHz. The instruction set refers to the set of operations a microprocessor can perform. Software is written based on the microprocessor's instruction set. A larger instruction set can enable better performance. Cache memory holds recently accessed data from main memory to provide faster access and improve performance. There are two levels of cache - L1 cache is on the microprocessor chip while L2 cache is external but still faster than main memory

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    Characteristics of a

    Microprocessor

    The microprocessor is the defining


    trait of a computer, so it is
    important to understand the
    characteristics used to describe
    microprocessors.
    This module provides an
    introduction to these
    characteristics.

    Clock speed
    Also called clock rate, the clock speed
    is the speed at which a
    microprocessor executes instructions.
    Every computer contains an internal
    clock that regulates the rate at which
    instructions are executed and
    synchronizes all the various computer
    components.

    The faster the clock, the more


    instructions the microprocessor can
    execute per second. The
    microprocessor requires a fixed number
    of clock ticks (or clock cycles) to
    execute each instruction.
    Clock speed is stated in either MHz or
    GHz. 1 MHz is equal to 1 million cycles
    per second, while 1 GHz is equal to 1
    billion cycles per second.

    At the present time the most


    common microprocessors run from
    1.8 GHz (1.8 billion cycles per
    second) to 3.2 GHz (3.2 billion
    cycles per second.

    Clock speed is a major factor in determining


    the power of a computer.

    Instruction Set
    The possible operations a
    microprocessor can performs is based
    on its instruction set. Programs are
    written for a microprocessor based on
    its instruction set. For example, the
    SIMP computer understands 10
    instructions, and any program written
    for it uses those ten instructions in
    various ways to accomplish some
    surprisingly complicated tasks.

    Meanwhile, advanced processors can


    have from 150 to over 200 instructions,
    allowing for extremely complicated tasks.
    Since software is written with the
    instruction set in mind, sometimes a
    larger instruction set will equal better
    performance. For example, one
    difference between Pentium 4 and
    Pentium 5 is that Pentium 5 has a larger
    instruction set.

    When comparing a 2GHz Pentium 4


    and 2GHz Pentium 5, if they both run
    software designed with the new
    instruction set in mind, the Pentium 5
    will outperform the Pentium 4, despite
    having the same clock speed.
    However, if the two are compared
    while running older software, which
    does not use the new instructions,
    their performance will be similar.

    Cache
    Most programs access the same
    information repeatedly while running.
    Cache memory is intended to take
    advantage of this fact. Memory cache is a
    high speed storage mechanism that holds
    recently read data and instructions from
    main memory, which eliminates the
    processor from having to constantly access
    main memory.

    The program first checks the cache to


    see if the desired information is already
    present there. If it is, the cache sends the
    information back to the microprocessor,
    bypassing the main memory.
    95% of the time the processor is working,
    it is accessing information from cache.
    There are two kinds of cache, L1 and L2.

    L1 cache (also called primary cache)


    is built directly into the
    microprocessor, a location referred
    to as "on-die". Since it is "on-die", it
    is part of the microprocessor and, is
    usually smaller in size than L2
    cache, but since it is built in it runs
    at the same speed as the processor.

    L2 cache (also called secondary cache)


    is not usually built into microprocessor,
    but it is found within the processor's
    external packaging. This location is
    referred to as, "off-die." Since "off-die"
    L2 cache is not included in the
    processor's architecture, it can often be
    of greater sizes. However, since it is
    not included on-die, L2 cache is usually
    slower than L1 cache.

    Bus Speed
    The processor communicates with other
    devices via the data bus, sometimes
    called the front side bus. Bus speed is
    measured in MHz, the same unit used
    to measure clock speed. While a
    processor might be working at up to 3
    GHz, quite often the performance of the
    computer is hampered by a slower data
    bus speed.

    Recently much effort has been put


    into making the data bus have
    speeds more comparable to the
    microprocessor.
    At the present time data bus speeds
    range from 200 MHz up to 1GHz.

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