Exercise 2

Microprocessor

-A silicon chip that contains a CPU. In the world of personal computers, the terms microprocessor and CPU are used interchangeably. At the heart of all personal computers and most workstations sits a microprocessor. Microprocessors also control the logic of almost all digital devices, from clock radios to fuel-injection systems for automobiles.

*CISC
Complex Instruction Set Computing. The general term for chip sets which use complex programming, versus RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing), which needs less instructions to accomplish the same task. Intel Pentium chips are CISC chips while Sun chipsets are RISC.

*RISC
Reduced Instruction Set Computers (RISC) have a small number of instructions. The idea of RISC is that it is better to have a small, sleek, fast instruction set than to have a big collection of poorly coordinated, ungainly, complex instructions.
If a small set of instructions is implemented on a chip, the chip now has room for more general purpose registers, a larger on-chip memory cache, an instruction pipeline, and other features that add speed.
For the last decade or so RISC chips have been ahead of CISC chips. But modern CISC chips now include many of the features of RISC chips (such as cache and pipelining). Modern CISC chips have greater throughput than older RISC chips. Consumer and office computers use CISC chips to be compatible with existing Windows software. High-end workstations and recently designed systems (such as embedded systems) typically use RISC.

*Controversy











Memory chip-

The chip, called magnetoresistive random-access memory (Mram), maintains data by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge.
One analyst told the Associated Press news agency that the chip was the most significant development in computer memory for a decade.
Mram chips could find their way into many different electronic devices.
The benefit of Mram chips is that they will hold information after power has been switched off.
Freescale has been producing the four-megabit Mram chips at an Arizona factory for two months to build up levels of stock.
A number of chip makers have been pursuing the technology for a decade or more, including IBM, but Freescale is the first company to offer a chip with practical usage for many of today's electronic devices.

*kinds of memory chips

-Memory Integrated Circuits
Another name for a chip, an integrated circuit (IC) is a small electronic device made out of a semiconductor material. The first integrated circuit was developed in the 1950s by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor.
Integrated circuits are used for a variety of devices, including microprocessors, audio and video equipment, and automobiles. Integrated circuits are often classified by the number of transistors and other electronic components they contain

-Computer Storage
an electronic memory device: "a memory and the CPU form the central part of a computer to which peripherals are attached.

-Semiconductro memory
a substance, as silicon or germanium, with electrical conductivity intermediate between that of an insulator and a conductor: a basic component of various kinds of electronic circuit element (semiconductor device) used in communications, control, and detection technology and in computers.

-FIFO
In computer programming, FIFO (first-in, first-out) is an approach to handling program work requests from queues or stacks so that the oldest request is handled next. LIFO (last-in, first-out) is an approach in which the most recent request is handled next and the oldest request doesn't get handled until it is the only remaining request on the queue (or in the stack). Although LIFO seems "unfair," it may be more efficient. A stack that is handled using LIFO is sometimes referred to as a push-down or push-down pop-up stack or list.


Expansion Chips-
(computer science) A printed circuit board that can be plugged into a computer to provide it with additional peripherals or enhancements, such as increased memory or communications facilities.

*Types of Expansion Chips-

Memory expansion boards - hold additional memory chips
Network adapter cards - allow computers to connect to others via cables
Small computer system interface (SCSI) - can connect up to seven external devices
PC cards - credit card sized cards typically used in portable computers