560
Digital Electronics
Pentium brand name. The Pentium Extreme Edition series of microprocessors was introduced by Intel
in the year 2005. It is based on the dual-core Pentium D processor.
13.12.6 Celeron and Xeon Processors
Celeron processors were introduced by Intel as a low-cost CPU alternative for the Pentium processors.
They were basically Pentium II processors without any L2 cache at all. However, this reduced the
performance of Celeron processors as compared with AMD and Cyrix chips. Hence, subsequent Celeron
versions (300A and up) were provided with 128 kB of L2 cache. It was about one-fourth the size
of the Pentium cache but operated at the full speed of the respective CPU, rather than at half-speed
as in the Pentium processors. Later Celeron versions were based on the Pentium III, Pentium IV
and Pentium M processors. These processors are suitable for most applications, but their performance
is somewhat limited when it comes to running intense applications. Xeon are high-end processors
having a full-speed L2 cache of the same size as the Pentium cache. These processors are used for
high-performance servers and workstations.
13.13 Microprocessors for Embedded Applications
Embedded microprocessors are microprocessors designed for embedded applications and not for use
in personal computers. They are mostly used for embedded data control applications such as data
processing, data formatting, I/O control, DMA data transfer, etc. In other words, they are designed
for specific applications rather than for general-purpose applications. Intel has developed a number
of embedded microprocessors, namely Intel 80960, Intel 80376 and embedded versions of 80486,
80386 and 80186 microprocessors. Other embedded microprocessors include Motorola’s Coldfire,
Sun’s Sparc, Hitachi’s SuperH, Advanced RISC Machines’ ARM, and MIPS Computer Systems Inc.’s
MIPS processors.
The Intel 80960 and 80376 microprocessors are 32-bit microprocessors designed for sophisticated
industrial control applications. Embedded versions of 80486 include 486GX, 486SX, 496DX2
and 486DX4 microprocessors. The embedded versions of 80386 include 386CXSA, 386CXSB,
386EX and 386SXSA microprocessors. Scalable processor architecture (SPARC) microprocessors are
32-bit and 64-bit CISC processors from Sun Microsystems. ARM microprocessors are 32-bit RISC
microprocessors and are mostly used in the mobile electronics market, where low power is the most
critical design requirement. MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) is a RISC
microprocessor from MIPS Computer Systems Inc. They are available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
13.14 Peripheral Devices
Microprocessors and peripheral devices provide a complete solution in increasingly complex application
environments. A peripheral device typically belongs to the category of MSI logic devices. This section
gives an introduction to the popular peripheral devices that are used along with the microprocessor
in a microcomputer system. The different peripheral devices used in a microcomputer system
include a programmable counter/timer, a programmable peripheral interface (PPI), EPROM, RAM, a
programmable interrupt controller (PIC), a direct memory access (DMA) controller, a programmable
communication interface – a universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver/transmitter (USART), a
math coprocessor, a programmable keyboard/display interface, a CRT controller, a floppy disk
controller and clock generators and transceivers.
Digital Electronics
Pentium brand name. The Pentium Extreme Edition series of microprocessors was introduced by Intel
in the year 2005. It is based on the dual-core Pentium D processor.
13.12.6 Celeron and Xeon Processors
Celeron processors were introduced by Intel as a low-cost CPU alternative for the Pentium processors.
They were basically Pentium II processors without any L2 cache at all. However, this reduced the
performance of Celeron processors as compared with AMD and Cyrix chips. Hence, subsequent Celeron
versions (300A and up) were provided with 128 kB of L2 cache. It was about one-fourth the size
of the Pentium cache but operated at the full speed of the respective CPU, rather than at half-speed
as in the Pentium processors. Later Celeron versions were based on the Pentium III, Pentium IV
and Pentium M processors. These processors are suitable for most applications, but their performance
is somewhat limited when it comes to running intense applications. Xeon are high-end processors
having a full-speed L2 cache of the same size as the Pentium cache. These processors are used for
high-performance servers and workstations.
13.13 Microprocessors for Embedded Applications
Embedded microprocessors are microprocessors designed for embedded applications and not for use
in personal computers. They are mostly used for embedded data control applications such as data
processing, data formatting, I/O control, DMA data transfer, etc. In other words, they are designed
for specific applications rather than for general-purpose applications. Intel has developed a number
of embedded microprocessors, namely Intel 80960, Intel 80376 and embedded versions of 80486,
80386 and 80186 microprocessors. Other embedded microprocessors include Motorola’s Coldfire,
Sun’s Sparc, Hitachi’s SuperH, Advanced RISC Machines’ ARM, and MIPS Computer Systems Inc.’s
MIPS processors.
The Intel 80960 and 80376 microprocessors are 32-bit microprocessors designed for sophisticated
industrial control applications. Embedded versions of 80486 include 486GX, 486SX, 496DX2
and 486DX4 microprocessors. The embedded versions of 80386 include 386CXSA, 386CXSB,
386EX and 386SXSA microprocessors. Scalable processor architecture (SPARC) microprocessors are
32-bit and 64-bit CISC processors from Sun Microsystems. ARM microprocessors are 32-bit RISC
microprocessors and are mostly used in the mobile electronics market, where low power is the most
critical design requirement. MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) is a RISC
microprocessor from MIPS Computer Systems Inc. They are available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
13.14 Peripheral Devices
Microprocessors and peripheral devices provide a complete solution in increasingly complex application
environments. A peripheral device typically belongs to the category of MSI logic devices. This section
gives an introduction to the popular peripheral devices that are used along with the microprocessor
in a microcomputer system. The different peripheral devices used in a microcomputer system
include a programmable counter/timer, a programmable peripheral interface (PPI), EPROM, RAM, a
programmable interrupt controller (PIC), a direct memory access (DMA) controller, a programmable
communication interface – a universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver/transmitter (USART), a
math coprocessor, a programmable keyboard/display interface, a CRT controller, a floppy disk
controller and clock generators and transceivers.