Page 71 - DCAP210_INTRODUCTION__TO_MICROPROCESSORS

Unit 4: Microprocessor Architecture

• The microprocessor can be programmed to perform functions on given data by writing specific Notes
instructions into its memory.
• Microprocessor architecture investigates ways to increase the speed at which the
microprocessor executes programs.

4.6 Keywords

• Arithmetical logical circuit (ALU): ALU is the part of the microprocessor that performs
arithmetic operations. ALUs can typically add, subtract, divide, multiply, and perform logical
operations of two numbers (and, or, nor, not, etc).
• Complex instruction set computer (CISC): A complex instruction set computer (CISC) is a
computer where single instructions can execute several low-level operations (such as a load
from memory, an arithmetic operation, and a memory store) and/or are capable of multi-
step operations or addressing modes within single instructions.
• Data-level parallelism (DLP): Data-level parallelism pertains to performing the same operation
on many data elements at once.

• Instruction-level parallelism (ILP): Instruction-level parallelism pertains to concurrency among
individual instructions.

• Reduced instruction set computing (RISC): Reduced instruction set computing or RISC is a
CPU design strategy based on the insight that simplified (as opposed to complex) instructions
can provide higher performance if this simplicity enables much faster execution of each
instruction.
• Thread-level parallelism (TLP): Thread-level parallelism involves identifying large tasks within
the program, each comprised of many instructions that are conjectured to be thread.

1. Draw the block diagram of the Microprocessor Memory and all the parts of
units.
2. Give the basic difference between RISC and CISC.

4.7 Self-Assessment Questions

1. Stack pointer and Program counter all have 16 bits.

(a) True (b) False
2. 8085 is a ......................... address microprocessor.
(a) One (b) Two
(c) Three (d) Four

3. Intel x86 is an example of a ......................... .
(a) RISC (b) DSP
(c) None (d) CISC

4. MIPS and SPARC are examples of CISC.
(a) True (b) False
5. The length of a register is known as the word length of the computer.

(a) True (b) False

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