Computer processor contained on an integrated-circuit chip

Microprocessor

Microprocessor

A microprocessor is a <a href="/en/Computer" title="Computer" class="wl">computer</a> <a href="/en/Processor_(computing)" title="Processor (computing)" class="wl">processor</a> where the data processing logic and control is included on a single <a href="/en/Integrated_circuit" title="Integrated circuit" class="wl">integrated circuit</a> (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's <a href="/en/Central_processing_unit" title="Central processing unit" class="wl">central processing unit</a> (CPU). The IC is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations.<a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a> The microprocessor is a multipurpose, <a href="/en/Clock_signal" title="Clock signal" class="wl">clock</a>-driven, <a href="/en/Processor_register" title="Processor register" class="wl">register</a>-based, <a href="/en/Digital_integrated_circuit" title="Digital integrated circuit" class="mw-redirect wl">digital integrated circuit</a> that accepts <a href="/en/Binary_code" title="Binary code" class="wl">binary</a> data as input, processes it according to <a href="/en/Instruction_(computing)" title="Instruction (computing)" class="mw-redirect wl">instructions</a> stored in its <a href="/en/Computer_memory" title="Computer memory" class="wl">memory</a>, and provides results (also in binary form) as output. Microprocessors contain both <a href="/en/Combinational_logic" title="Combinational logic" class="wl">combinational logic</a> and <a href="/en/Sequential_logic" title="Sequential logic" class="wl">sequential digital logic</a>, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the <a href="/en/Binary_number" title="Binary number" class="wl">binary number</a> system.

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Computer processor contained on an integrated-circuit chip</div>


<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg/200px-TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="461" data-file-height="302" data-file-type="bitmap" height="131" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg/300px-TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg/400px-TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg 2x" alt="TI_TMS1000NLL_1.jpg"></a><figcaption>Texas Instruments <a href="/en/Texas_Instruments_TMS1000" title="Texas Instruments TMS1000" class="wl">TMS1000</a></figcaption></figure>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:C4004_two_lines.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:C4004_two_lines.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/C4004_two_lines.jpg/200px-C4004_two_lines.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="599" data-file-type="bitmap" height="150" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/C4004_two_lines.jpg/300px-C4004_two_lines.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/C4004_two_lines.jpg/400px-C4004_two_lines.jpg 2x" alt="C4004_two_lines.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="/en/Intel_4004" title="Intel 4004" class="wl">Intel 4004</a> </figcaption></figure>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg/200px-Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="671" data-file-height="439" data-file-type="bitmap" height="131" width="200" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg/300px-Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg/400px-Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg 2x" alt="Motorola_XC6800A_1.jpg"></a><figcaption><a href="/en/Motorola_6800" title="Motorola 6800" class="wl">Motorola 6800</a> (MC6800)</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_(39851733273).jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_(39851733273).jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg/220px-AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="3706" data-file-height="2778" data-file-type="bitmap" height="165" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg/330px-AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg/440px-AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg 2x" alt="AMD_Ryzen_5_2600_%2839851733273%29.jpg"></a><figcaption>A modern <a href="/en/64-bit_computing" title="64-bit computing" class="wl">64 bit</a> <a href="/en/X86-64" title="X86-64" class="wl">x86-64</a> processor (AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Based on <a href="/en/Zen+" title="Zen+" class="wl">Zen+</a>, 2018)</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg/220px-AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="6020" data-file-height="4016" data-file-type="bitmap" height="147" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg/330px-AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg/440px-AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg 2x" alt="AMD_Ryzen_7_1800X.jpg"></a><figcaption>AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (2017, based on <a href="/en/Zen_(microarchitecture)" title="Zen (microarchitecture)" class="wl">Zen</a>) processor in a <a href="/en/Socket_AM4" title="Socket AM4" class="wl">AM4</a> socket on a motherboard</figcaption></figure>

The integration of a whole CPU onto a single or a few integrated circuits using <a href="/en/Very-Large-Scale_Integration" title="Very-Large-Scale Integration" class="mw-redirect wl">Very-Large-Scale Integration</a> (VLSI) greatly reduced the cost of processing power. Integrated circuit processors are produced in large numbers by highly automated <a href="/en/Metal–oxide–semiconductor" title="Metal–oxide–semiconductor" class="mw-redirect wl">metal–oxide–semiconductor</a> (MOS) <a href="/en/Semiconductor_device_fabrication" title="Semiconductor device fabrication" class="wl">fabrication processes</a>, resulting in a relatively low <a href="/en/Unit_price" title="Unit price" class="wl">unit price</a>. Single-chip processors increase reliability because there are fewer electrical connections that could fail. As microprocessor designs improve, the cost of manufacturing a chip (with smaller components built on a semiconductor chip the same size) generally stays the same according to <a href="/en/Rock's_law" title="Rock's law" class="mw-redirect wl">Rock's law</a>.

Before microprocessors, small computers had been built using racks of <a href="/en/Circuit_board" title="Circuit board" class="mw-redirect wl">circuit boards</a> with many <a href="/en/Medium-scale_integration" title="Medium-scale integration" class="mw-redirect wl">medium-</a> and <a href="/en/Small-scale_integration" title="Small-scale integration" class="mw-redirect wl">small-scale integrated circuits</a>, typically of <a href="/en/Transistor–transistor_logic" title="Transistor–transistor logic" class="wl">TTL</a> type. Microprocessors combined this into one or a few <a href="/en/Large-scale_integration" title="Large-scale integration" class="mw-redirect wl">large-scale</a> ICs. While there is disagreement over who deserves credit for the invention of the microprocessor, the first commercially available microprocessor was the <a href="/en/Intel_4004" title="Intel 4004" class="wl">Intel 4004</a>, designed by <a href="/en/Federico_Faggin" title="Federico Faggin" class="wl">Federico Faggin</a> and introduced in 1971.<a href="#cite_note-IEEE-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a>

Continued increases in microprocessor capacity have since rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see <a href="/en/History_of_computing_hardware" title="History of computing hardware" class="wl">history of computing hardware</a>), with one or more microprocessors used in everything from the smallest <a href="/en/Embedded_system" title="Embedded system" class="wl">embedded systems</a> and <a href="/en/Handheld_device" title="Handheld device" class="mw-redirect wl">handheld devices</a> to the largest <a href="/en/Mainframe_computer" title="Mainframe computer" class="wl">mainframes</a> and <a href="/en/Supercomputer" title="Supercomputer" class="wl">supercomputers</a>.

Microprocessors are related but distinct from a <a href="/en/System_on_a_chip" title="System on a chip" class="wl">system on a chip</a>, <a href="/en/Microcontroller" title="Microcontroller" class="wl">microcontrollers</a>, and <a href="/en/Digital_signal_processor" title="Digital signal processor" class="wl">digital signal processor</a>.

A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit , or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's central processing unit . The IC is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock-driven, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system. The integration of a whole CPU onto a single or a few integrated circuits using Very-Large-Scale Integration greatly reduced the cost of processing power. Integrated circuit processors are produced in large numbers by highly automated metal–oxide–semiconductor fabrication processes, resulting in a relatively low unit price. Single-chip processors increase reliability because there are fewer electrical connections that could fail. As microprocessor designs improve, the cost of manufacturing a chip generally stays the same according to Rock's law. 