Microprocessor Lecture: Overview, Classification, and Features of Microprocessors, Exercises of C programming

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Microprocessor &

Interfacing

Lecture # 01

Microprocessor – Overview & Classification

Microprocessor - Overview

 (^) Microprocessor is a controlling unit of a micro- computer, fabricated on a small chip capable of performing ALU (Arithmetic Logical Unit) operations and communicating with the other devices connected to it. ◦ (^) Microprocessor consists of an ALU , register array , and a control unit. ALU performs arithmetical and logical operations on the data received from the memory or an input device. Register array consists of registers identified by letters like B, C, D, E, H, L and accumulator. The control unit controls the flow of data and instructions within the computer.

List of Terms Used in a Microprocessor Some of the frequently used terms in a microprocessor −  (^) Instruction Set − It is the set of instructions that the microprocessor can understand.  (^) Bandwidth − It is the number of bits processed in a single instruction.  (^) Clock Speed − It determines the number of operations per second the processor can perform. It is expressed in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).It is also known as Clock Rate.  (^) Word Length − It depends upon the width of internal data bus, registers, ALU, etc. An 8-bit microprocessor can process 8-bit data at a time. The word length ranges from 4 bits to 64 bits depending upon the type of the microcomputer.  (^) Data Types − The microprocessor has multiple data type formats like binary, BCD, ASCII, signed and unsigned numbers.

Features of a

Microprocessor

Some of the most prominent features of any microprocessor −  (^) Cost-effective − The microprocessor chips are available at low prices and results its low cost.  (^) Size − The microprocessor is of small size chip, hence is portable.  (^) Low Power Consumption − Microprocessors are manufactured by using metal oxide semiconductor technology, which has low power consumption.  (^) Versatility − The microprocessors are versatile as we can use the same chip in a number of applications by configuring the software program.  (^) Reliability − The failure rate of an IC in microprocessors is very low, hence it is reliable.

RISC Processor

 (^) RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer. It is designed to reduce the execution time by simplifying the instruction set of the computer. Using RISC processors, each instruction requires only one clock cycle to execute results in uniform execution time. This reduces the efficiency as there are more lines of code, hence more RAM is needed to store the instructions. The compiler also has to work more to convert high-level language instructions into machine code. ◦ (^) Some of the RISC processors are −  (^) Power PC: 601, 604, 615, 620  (^) DEC Alpha: 210642, 211066, 21068, 21164  (^) MIPS: TS (R10000) RISC Processor  (^) PA-RISC: HP 7100LC

Architecture of RISC

 (^) RISC microprocessor architecture uses highly- optimized set of instructions. It is used in portable devices like Apple iPod due to its power efficiency.

CISC Processor

 (^) CISC stands for Complex Instruction Set Computer. It is designed to minimize the number of instructions per program, ignoring the number of cycles per instruction. The emphasis is on building complex instructions directly into the hardware.  (^) The compiler has to do very little work to translate a high-level language into assembly level language/machine code because the length of the code is relatively short, so very little RAM is required to store the instructions. ◦ (^) Some of the CISC Processors are −  (^) IBM 370/  (^) VAX 11/  (^) Intel 80486

Architecture of CISC

 (^) Its architecture is designed to decrease the memory cost because more storage is needed in larger programs resulting in higher memory cost. To resolve this, the number of instructions per program can be reduced by embedding the number of operations in a

single instruction.

Special Processors

These are the processors which are designed

for some special purposes. Few of the

special processors are briefly discussed −

Coprocessor

 A coprocessor is a specially designed

microprocessor, which can handle its

particular function many times faster than

the ordinary microprocessor.

◦ (^) For example − Math Coprocessor.  (^) Some Intel math-coprocessors are −  (^) 8087-used with 8086  (^) 80287-used with 80286  (^) 80387-used with 80386

Special Processors

Input/Output Processor

 It is a specially designed microprocessor having a

local memory of its own, which is used to control

I/O devices with minimum CPU involvement.

◦ For example −

 (^) DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller  (^) Keyboard/mouse controller  (^) Graphic display controller  (^) SCSI port controller

Special Processors

DSP (Digital Signal Processor) This processor is specially designed to process the analog signals into a digital form. This is done by sampling the voltage level at regular time intervals and converting the voltage at that instant into a digital form. This process is performed by a circuit called an analogue to digital converter, A to D converter or ADC. A DSP contains the following components − ◦ (^) Program Memory − It stores the programs that DSP will use to process data. ◦ (^) Data Memory − It stores the information to be processed. ◦ (^) Compute Engine − It performs the mathematical processing, accessing the program from the program memory and the data from the data memory. ◦ Input/Output − It connects to the outside world. Its applications are − ◦ Sound and music synthesis ◦ (^) Audio and video compression ◦ Video signal processing ◦ (^) 2D and 3d graphics acceleration.  For example − Texas Instrument’s TMS 320 series, e.g., TMS 320C40, TMS320C50.