The first processor was
invented in 1937 by Marcian Hoff. Some companies today are known as processor
manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Motorola, Samsung, IBM, etc. The
processor is nothing but a small chip made of silicon that is inserted inside
the device to operate within seconds and its speed is measured.
The main function of a
processor is to bring instructions, decode them, run them, and rewrite them.
These are its four main functions. Today’s state-of-the-art processors are used
in mobiles, laptops, computers, washing machines, etc.
Definition: A processor is nothing but a small
chip or a logical circuit. Which responds and processes the basic instructions
for running a particular computer. The main functions of a processor are to
perform, decode, execute, and rewrite instructions. We can call a processor the
brain of a machine in simple language. These include computers, laptops,
mobiles, embedded systems, etc.
There are two main
types of processors such as ALU (arithmetic logic unit) and CU (control unit).
The arithmetic logic unit performs all the mathematical operations like
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc. and the control unit acts
as the traffic police. It handles commands or instructions. The processor that
communicates with the other component is also the input/output device and the
memory/storage devices.
Types of Processors:
Embedded systems include a wide variety of processors.
General Purpose Processor
The general-purpose processors are as follows:
| Sr. No | General Purpose Processor |
| #1. | Microcontroller |
| #2. | Microprocessor |
| #3. | Embedded Processor |
| #4. | Digital Signal Processor (DSP) |
| #5. | Media Processor |
1. Microcontroller:
A microcontroller
is basically a type of computer that comes in different packages and sizes.
Feedback on reading input and output is the main function of this
Microcontroller. It is also commonly referred to as General Purpose Input Output
(GPIO). Some microcontrollers are Microchip Atmega328-AU, Microchip
P1C16F1503-I / P, Microchip P1C16F671-I / SN, Microchip P1C18F45K22-I / P,
Microchip P1C16F877A-I / P etc.
2. Microprocessor:
All
general-purpose processors are introduced by the microprocessor in the embedded
system. There are different types of companies and different types of
microprocessors available in the market. But a microprocessor has a common
purpose processor consisting of a control unit, ALU, a set of registers. Also
called scratchpad register, control register, and status register.
| Sr.No | Processor | Clock Speed | Bus Width | MIPS | Power | Price |
| 1 | Intel Pentium 111 | The clock speed of this processor is 1GHz | The bus width of this processor is 32 | One million notifications per second of this processor are~ 900 | The power of this processor is 97 W. | The price of this processor is $ 900 |
| 2 | IBM PowerPC 750X | The clock speed of this processor is 550 MHz | The bus width of this processor is 32/64 | One million notifications per second of this processor are ~ 1300 | The power of this processor is 5 W. | The price of this processor is $ 900 |
| 3 | MIPS R5000 | The clock speed of this processor is 250 MHz | The bus width of this processor is 32/64 | NA | NA | NA |
| 4 | StrongARM SA-110 | The clock speed of this processor is 233 MHz | The bus width of this processor is 32 | This processor has 268 million notifications per second | The power of this processor is 1 W. | NA |
There may be on-chip memory and some interfaces to communicate with the outside world. Such as interruption lines, other lines of memory, and a port for communicating with the outside world. A port is often referred to as a programmable port. This means we can program these ports to act as inputs or outputs. Some general-purpose processors are presented in the table below.
3. Embedded Processor:
An embedded processor is a special type of processor designed to control mechanical and electrical work. These include a processor, timer, program memory, and data memory, interrupts controller, power supply, reset and clock oscillator circuit, system application-specific circuits, ports, and many blocks of interfacing circuits.
4. Media Processor:
An image/video
processor is a type of media processor. Which is designed to deal with data in
real-time. Voice user interface and professional audio are audio processor
applications. Some media processors are TN2302AP IP, IN2602 AP IP, DM3730,
TMS320DM6467, DM3725, DM37385, DM388, TMS320DM6431, etc.
5. Digital Signal
Processor (DSP):
| Sr.No | Processor | Clock Speed | Bus Width | MIPS | Price |
| 1 | T1 C5416 Processor | The clock speed of this processor is 160 MHz | The bus width of this processor is 32 | One million notifications per second of this processor are ~ 600 processor | The price of this processor is $ 34 |
| 2 | DSP 32C Processor | The clock speed of this processor is 80 MHz | The bus width of this processor is 32 | A million instructions per second for DSP 32C Processor is 40 | The price of this processor is $ 75 |
Applications of DSP:
The following are some of the
applications of Digital Signal Processor:
- Medical procedure.
- Biometric processing.
- Radar.
- Seismology.
- Speech process.
- Image processing.
Application-Specific
System Processors (ASSPs):
This system
process is a semiconductor integrated circuit product. Which is used to apply a
specific function. The performance, characteristics, and mortality of an
application-specific system processor are similar to those of ASIC. This system
processor is used for video encoding or decoding and audio encoding or decoding
in a variety of industries.
Embedded software
is replaced by an application-specific system processor used to run the
application and provide the solution quickly. For example W3100A, IIM7100,
Application-Specific Instruction Set Processors (ASIPs):
Such a processor
is designed for a specific program. Such a processor has low power consumption,
high computational speed, and good flexibility. The use of data paths in ASIPs
is high due to programmability, and the performance of this instruction set
processor is good.
Multiprocessor:
A Multiprocessor is a computer with more than one CPU. Each one shares the main memory, computer
bus, and peripherals that simultaneously process the program. Another name for
this system is a strictly connected system. The main advantages of
multiprocessors are throughput, increased reliability, and economy of scale.
Such a processor is used when a very large speed is required to process a large
amount of data. An asymmetrical multiprocessor is shown in the figure below.
Characteristics of
Multiprocessors:
The characteristics of multiprocessors are
as follows:
- Multiprocessors include two or more multiprocessors. Which is the same as one.
- Memory input and output features are shared by the processor.
- Memory access time remains the same for each processor as it is simply connected by the processor.
- The same function is performed by all processors.
