RESEARCH ARTICLE THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU) ITS HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS

Ho Chi Minh City January 19th, 2021 vaa edu vn 1 The central processing unit (CPU) Its history and functions Hoang Mai Le1 1 Student code 2158420026 – Air Traffic Management – 21ĐHKL01 Email 21584200.

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The central processing unit (CPU): Its history and functions

Hoang Mai Le 1*

1 Student code: 2158420026 – Air Traffic Management – 21ĐHKL01

Email: 2158420026@vaa.edu.vn Telephone number: 0842197297

Abstract

The central processing unit (CPU), or processor, is the unit which performs most of the processing inside a computer It processes all instructions received by software running on the personal computer and by other hardware components, and acts as a powerful calculator This research article aims to provide general information about the central processing unit (CPU) and its history, allowing people to gain a better understanding of the manufacturing process and how it functions on our computers When we know its principle and how it works, we can apply this knowledge to create new and superior devices, and lay a basic foundation for conducting research The methodology is applied by analyzing data from top to bottom, as well as from the inside out The main research trends are: generalizing the topic, systemizing the definitions, and going into details This study has potential outcomes which provides basic background knowledge relevant to the advancement of technology and science

in the future The CPU is considered the brain of not only computers but also smartphones The reason is that it takes on a very important responsibility without which your computer cannot function This component also has a great impact on the operation of programs, and clock speed is vital to the CPU’s specification Getting knowledge about the CPUs is an experience that helps gain more in-depth knowledge

Research Article Vietnam Aviation Academy

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about the details that make up a computer, laptop, or smartphone

Keywords: processor, computer, programs, information

Introduction

According to the international data firm IDC, the current chip shortage is likely to lead

to manufacturers ramping up production massively, thereby causing a chip oversupply

by 2023 We are now in one of the worst chip shortages ever The production capacity

of the semiconductor industry reached its maximum in the period of 2021, which means that from now until the end of the year, the supply of semiconductors will be constant and cannot be significantly improved That's not even taking into account the global shortage of raw materials, and the final production step (the process of turning a finished wafer into a semiconductor chip such as a CPU or GPU) will be further slowed

Many big semiconductor firms like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC are all building new factories massively Most of these factories will start up after 2022 By 2023, the shortage of semiconductor chip supply will end, but companies will have to face the problem of excess chips because supply will have exceeded demand At that time, they will either drown in their chips or be forced to reduce prices and suffer

The world's leading semiconductor chip manufacturers certainly know this very well,

so despite the ongoing global chip shortage, they will still be cautious in their production plans and make chips that are only sold So the situation of excess chips

is still possible, but the possibility is not really high If knowledge of the CPU, its operating principles, and functions is widely spread, there will almost surely be actions taken in the future to develop and improve the CPU even further The first step toward these scientific endeavors is to master the CPU data That is why the author selected the topic The topic is new in how to exploit information on research subjects in a rare aspect that no other topic mentions, although it is really important and affects the way we use computers and other devices in our daily work

Many studies have used GPUs, multicore CPUs, and hybrid CPU/GPU clusters to accelerate hyperspectral image recursive hierarchical segmentation [1]or modular modelling of an Embedded Mobile CPU-GPU Chip for Feature Estimation [2] These works are dedicated and complex; they undoubtedly make use of a wide range of scientific research methods My research represents the way the central processing unit (CPU) works as simply as possible by collecting meaningful insights from many

scientific newspapers, websites, etc., so it will be easier for people to access

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History of the CPU

The CPU structure and

functions

The CPU's new development trends

In the context of modern devices, a desktop or laptop computer is usually equipped with a dedicated CPU that performs many processing functions for the system CPUs are made by placing billions of microscopic transistors onto a single computer chip Those transistors allow it to perform the calculations necessary to run programs stored

in your system memory, such as playing games, watching videos, or writing emails, etc In this research, I furnish details pertaining to the topic central processing unit (CPU), such as: what the CPU is, its history, components of the CPU, functions of the CPU, etc

The remainder of the research article is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the methodology Then, an analysis assessment is presented in Section 3, describing the main research trends It is an attempt to describe and categorize research trends and subjects, as well as to identify and provide recommendations in response to them Finally, in Section 4, the author draws conclusions and offers suggestions for future research

Methodology

The methodology used is searching the CPU’s scientific data by the method of document collection The research models include: systemising the historical events of the CPU; exploring the CPU’s structure and functions; and thereby finding out its new development potential

Fig 1 Steps of research

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The CPU is the component of a computer system, generally known as a machine’s

"brain" The processor, or microprocessor, is also known as the CPU A sequence of the stored instructions known as a program is executed by the CPU, which is a critical part that manages all instructions and calculations that are sent to it from other computer components and peripherals Even the speed at which software programs run depends very much on how powerfully the CPU is functioning [3]

The CPU was first known for its history through various sources of research It has been over a long period that the CPU could now be its best version as much as possible synthesising data from many reference sources, books, and newspapers to get accurate data about the history and development stage of CPUs

A CPU has parameters such as clock speed, type, number of cores, number of transistors, and manufacturing technology By collecting the data available on a CPU, we get the parameters and characteristics of each type, thereby making it easier to arrange the data and determine the stages of the improvement of a CPU

of Ted Hoff and others The 4004 processor, shown in the image, was Intel's first processor [4] Its parameters include:

Clock speed: 108-740 KHz

Type: 4 bit, single - core

Number of transistors: 2,300

Manufacturing technology: 10 microns

Fig 2 The first processor

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By diagramming the data, the author simplifies the internal structure of the CPU, explaining its operating principle in the device in the most understandable way In the CPU, there are three primary components Main memory: stores all instructions, and passes them to other component of the CPU; ALU (arithmetic logic unit): performs mathematical, logical, and decision operations; CU (control unit): directs all the

processor's operations

Fig 3 The components of the CPU (Source: ComputerHope.com)

When studying the functional diagram of the CPU, the author specifies the terminology in the diagram as follows:

 ALU – Arithmetic logic unit: The arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs the arithmetic and logical functions that are the work of the computer The A and B registers hold the input data, and the accumulator receives the result of the operation The instruction register contains the instruction that the ALU is to execute

 Control Unit: The control unit performs this function at a rate determined by the clock speed and is responsible for directing the operations of the other units by using timing signals that extend throughout the CPU

 Main memory manages the data flow between the main memory (RAM) and the CPU It also provides memory protection required in multitasking environments and conversion between virtual memory addresses and physical addresses

 Input/Output Unit

Input unit means all input devices, which are used for inserting instructions from user side such as keyboard, mouse, touchpad and more Every input device consists own

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hardware controller which are linked to CPU and, and they provide the all instructions CPU that how to use them

Output unit means all output devices, which are produced the result in the text or graphic form after processing the entire data that are given by user Some output devices are monitor, printer, speaker etc CPU grabs the binary code like as 0 or 1 and converts

it into appropriate format which are needed by output’s hardware

Other CPU components lists are:

 System Bus – Prime objective of system bus is to transmits all data and instructions, as well as it sends the address locations that aware the CPU where in the main memory all data and instructions are receiving from and where processed data should be saved

 External Bus – It is communication medium in between the main data bus and system board

 Internal Data Bus – This type of data bus makes the connection between the all internal components of processor and system board The size of internal buses are depended that how much information processor can process concurrently

 Address Lines – Address lines are designed to identify the appropriate location

in the memory unit where data is presented

 Registers – Register is also known as “Accumulator”, and it works as temporary storage location where data is coming from main memory side for execution and move

it for storing

 Flags – Flags are embedded into CPU, and they work as registers because they indicate the all currently running states of entire functions and other operations

 Cache – Cache is also integrated into chip, but it is fastest memory to primary memory, and it helps to increase the performance of processor

The above diagram simplifies the CPU's structure and shows its operating steps CPUs operate on a cycle regulated by the control unit and synchronized by the CPU clock This cycle is referred to as the CPU instruction cycle, and it consists of fetching, decoding, and executing components The instruction is fetched and stored

in the instruction register, which may include static data or pointers to variable data The instruction is decoded, and any data that results is stored in the A and B data

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registers The instruction is carried out using the A and B registers, and the result is stored in the accumulator The CPU then increases the value of the instruction pointer

by the length of the preceding one and starts over [5]

Fig 4 The basic CPU instruction cycle.

The CPU uses output devices to process and supply the required output after receiving instructions from input devices The functions of the CPU are shown through each of its components in the figure in Figure 5 Each portion has a distinct purpose, and each function has gone through several stages of development

The CPU is an input and output device because it receives data from the memory unit for processing and, after manipulation, moves it to the display unit for displaying the result on the screen

The CPU obtains various instructions from input devices (mouse, keyboard, trackball) and processes them into four different phases, finally producing the appropriate output Figure 6 below describes each of the four main functions of the CPU

Fig 5 Uses of CPU (Processor) and its Function

 Fetch Phase

In this phase, the CPU fetches all instructions from the memory unit All instructions are stored in the memory unit at their own address location, and the CPU gets the

address number to fetch instructions with the help of a program counter When the CPU fetches the first instruction, the program counter increases itself automatically, and then the CPU takes the next instruction in consecutively

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 Decode Phase

After completing the fetching phase, the CPU decides whether to perform the next step

of receiving data In this phase, the CPU decodes the fetched data with the help of the

"Decoder Circuit" These data are converted into Assembly instructions, and the

Assembly instructions are further decoded in the form of binary language, which the CPU can easily understand

 Execute Phase

After completing the fetching and decoding phases, the next phase executes to be

performed, but it totally depends upon the CPU architecture This means execution is done in serial or parallel fashion

The execution phase is completed into three steps, such as performing calculations along with ALU (Arithmetically Logical Unit), and then transferring data from one memory place to another, finally switching to their allotted address location

 Store Phase

After completing the above three phases, the CPU releases the feedback, and the

produced output data is moved to memory units for storage But these memories have slow speeds and are cheaper to register

This research aims to discover the new development trends of the CPU in the future

An analysis assessment was conducted in order to do research programmes and to provide needs and recommendations for future scientific work The results are presented in the next section

Results

Along with the ongoing advancement of science and technology, particularly computer science, organizations specializing in the manufacture of CPUs and scientists who are passionate about electrical components are continuously trying to create new goods with highly competitive products

Intel’s Comet Lake (10th gen) in 2019 was the first clear sign that Intel is finally bringing some competition against AMD High-end CPUs with high frequency and core count, solid thermals, and fair pricing The very next year (2021), we got Rocket Lake (11th gen), an upgrade for the tenth generation CPUs, but nothing too

impressive However, Intel’s 12th-Gen Alder Lake is a completely different story [6]

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Fig 6 Intel's 12th-gen

Intel has improved the temperature of the 12th generation by tweaking the IHS (integrated heat spreader) heatsink, using a thinner STIM (Solder Thermal Interface Material), and the die is also made thinner Furthermore, users can change the core ratio

of power-saving cores, allowing them to push these cores above the default frequency threshold and get increased performance However, the efficient core ratio can only be modified at the block level, which means you can only alter four power-saving cores at once These power-saving cores also share the same L2 cache, so if they run at different clock speeds, the results will be chaotic [7]It has been discovered that the performance score of the Core i7-12700H on Cinebench R20 This CPU has a single-core score of

689 points, 12% higher than the Core i9-11950H and 21% higher than the Ryzen 9 5900HX, the top laptop CPU from AMD Multi-core, the Core i7-12700H scored 7158 points, up to 47% higher than the Ryzen 9 5900HX In addition, this performance score also blows away the Apple M1 Max chip with 49% stronger multi-core performance

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Fig 7 10 Game Avarage 1080 [High Quality] 6900 XT

(Source: Hardware Unboxed)

The i7-12700K is only about 1% faster in gaming performance compared to the 5900X and the 5800X A negligible difference The reality is that all of these high-end chips perform (almost) the same

The chip's potential is still enormous, but Intel is not fully utilizing it at the factory This

is most likely due to a change in the process These will be the first chips manufactured using the Intel 7 process Another factor could be concerns about power consumption

At times, the Core i9-12900K may generate up to 241W of turbo power [8] [9]

Discussion

Intel and AMD are continually releasing new products that are intensely competitive

in the market This demonstrates that the heat generated by the CPU, as well as the device's manufacturing process, will continue to improve in the future However, the CPU's potential is unbounded, regardless of advances in structure, clock speed, or performance score The goal of the reasearch article is to raise awareness of the CPU's widespread use in other mechanical and electrical machinery Intel's 12th-generation hybrid core design provides some apparent improvements for productivity workloads and will undoubtedly be very advantageous in the mobile space The constant invention of CPUs allows the technology market to heat up year after year, indicating

a thriving science and technology business Learning about the CPU, its history, and its functioning principles allows us to gain a broader perspective and better grasp the