Processors are fixed/placed into various devices like phones, laptops, computers, etc. What are such processors called? What are the characteristics considered to design them?
Hi
It is a microprocessor that is embedded/placed into a device. It is software programmable. Performance, power, and cost are the three most important designing features considered for embedded processors. Performance depends on the cycle/ instruction execution time, efficiency in encoding the opcode and parallelism. Power is a function of the voltage, area, execution time and switching frequency. Cost is a function of both areas and the complexity of use.
A microprocessor is a computer processor on a microchip. It is occasionally referred to as a logic chip. It contains nearly all if not the entire CPU or Central Processing Unit functions and is the “engine” that goes into motion when the computer is turned on. It is designed to execute logic and mathematical operations that uses registers or small number-holding areas.
Normal operations of a microprocessor consist of comparing two numbers, adding, subtracting, and obtaining numbers from one area to another. These operations are the outcome of a set of instructions or the so called instruction set which is part of the microprocessor design. When the computer is turned on, the microprocessor obtains its first instruction from the BIOS or the Basic Input/Output System.
The internal assembly of a microprocessor differs according to its intended purposes and age of the design. The intricacy of an IC or integrated circuit is constrained by physical limitations of the amount of transistors that can be fitted into one chip, the number of package terminations that able the processor to connect to other parts of the system, the amount of possible interconnections that can be created on the chip, and the heat that the chip can dissipate.
