Microprocessor

The microprocessor has played a very important role in the evolution of the Personal Computer (PC). TV's, fridges, washing machines and obviously the microcomputer are just a few of the products today that implement the use of microprocessors. The development of the microprocessor began in 1959 at Fairchild Semiconductor, where Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore developed the Integrated Circuit (IC). At the same time over in Texas Instruments, another scientist, there called Jack Kilby, had come up with the idea which he also called the (IC). An Integrated Circuit contains semiconductor material where one crystal (or 'chip') is connected with wiring to resistors, transistors and capacitors. The only difference between the two ideas was that they used different semiconductor materials; Noyce used silicon and Kilby used germanium. Both men can be credited with the invention of the (IC).

In 1968, Bob Noyce left Fairchild Semiconductor, co-founded a new company with Gordon Moore called Integrated Electronics and later shortened it to Intel. A group of scientists at Intel developed a way of storing the zeros and ones in computer language on to a microchip. This led to the creation of Random Access Memory (RAM). From here on it was only a matter of time before the development to store the workings of a computer on to a microchip could be made possible. In 1972, Ted Hoff and Federico Faggin invented the microprocessor, the 4004, at Intel. It could only do simple calculations like adding and subtracting and it was used to power the first electronic calculator. Gordon Moore predicted that microprocessors would double in power and the price remain the same every eighteen months, and this came to be known as Moore's Law.

A simple microprocessor works by executing machine code, by controlling the data (the 0s and 1s) and by using millions of switches that can be either on or off. The main functions of the microprocessor are to read and write the computers memory (RAM), the microprocessors instructions and data, that need to be used, are stored there. With this information, the microprocessor must perform the required task and it uses its own set of instructions to achieve this. Finally, it must communicate and coordinate with the computer to accomplish the task. This could mean by communicating with the hard drive and telling it to store some information or by displaying something on the screen.

The microprocessors influence on the PC Industry was a vital one, that allowed computers to be faster, smaller and less expensive. Before the invention of microprocessors, computers would take up the space of whole rooms. Moreover, they were very expensive, much slower and very time consuming to program. The microprocessor changed the way the computer Industry operated and made it possible for the success of the home PC.