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general purpose processor[edit]

The system designer only needs to program the processors memory to carry out the
required functionality: software portion.
These types are created to produce large numbers for a variety of applications
Here are some general characteristics from a general purpose processor:
Advantages:
easy to design and use (only programming the memory)
design time is thus low
design cost is thus low
reprogrammability (changing functionalities or improving a system becomes easy w
hen you only need to change the program)
Disadvantages:
performance is not very good
size is high ( because they are built to be used in a variety of applications wi
th different specifications and all these specifications must be possible on the
processor)
they consume much power
Usually they are used to put in a product the first time it goes to the market,
because of their cheap design cost and ease to use.
Because of the use of code, a designer usually strives to minimize compiled code
size, rather than maximize performance.
example:Microcontroller (MCU), Microprocessor
Basically a microprocessor performs all the tasks that must be accomplished by a
microcontroller/embedded system.
A general microprocessor consists of a bus unit which is a pathway to communica
te with the (computer) memory,
an instruction cache to keep track of instructions coming from the computer memo
ry through the bus unit,
a (pre)fetch unit copying instructions from the instruction cache for further pr
ocessing, a decode unit getting
instructions from the prefetch unit that will be converted to a binary code unde
rstood by the processor,
a control unit that performs tasks or instructions which are comprised in the bi
nary code coming from the decode unit ,
data cache to save instructions or data, an ALU (arithmetic logic unit) that execu
tes mathematic operations such as adding, multiplying,
and finally registers which are also some memory used by the ALU to store the r
esults of performed operations.
A microcontroller does not have a data bus or bus unit as described above for a
general microprocessor.
The reason is that there is no need to communicate to memory because memory is i
ncorporated on the same chip as the microprocessor itself.
A MCU is typically used as a systems controller, with many conditional operatio
ns and frequent changes in program flow. The MCU code is written in C or C++.
Theres a wide variety of MCUs available: from 4-bit, 32 kHz models to 32-bit, 500
MHz devices, and beyond
(The "-bit" designation refers to the width of a device's data bus, registers, e
xecution units, etc.)
If you choose an embedded operating system (Windows, Linux, Dos...) a microproce
ssor is needed.
But for real-time operations you better not use a microprocessor. The microcont
roller is actually a low-end microprocessor,
and is used in more simple tasks (traffic light to hold the light for a certain
time...)
single purpose processor[edit]
This type of processor is designed to execute exactly one program. An embedded d
esigner creates a single-purpose processor by designing a custom digital
circuit Advantages and disadvantages are more or less the opposite of the genera
l-purpose processor:
Advantages:
performance is very good
small size (exact to fit one solution)
they consume little power
Disadvantages:
not very easy to design and design time is thus high
design cost is thus higher
reprogramming is difficult
limited flexibility: not easy to make changes, accommodate features
In design we can make a difference between standard single-purpose processors an
d custom single-purpose processors (ASSP). The standard single-purpose processor
s (hardware peripherals) are explained in a different chapter Hardware Periphera
ls. They are used for in a wide variety of applications for the same task.
example: application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC),application-specific sta
ndard product (ASSP)
They are designed to fit the specific requirements of an end product. In the des
ign process they will be optimised for both power and performance. An ASIC is in
troduced for a product usually after a product is stabilised on the market (with
non-ASIC solution), because of the higher development time and cost. After the
stabilisation the producer can look for extra margin by making the processor as
good as possible for his application. A disadvantage is that when you make a mis
take, you will need to make a whole new chip, but for a general-purpose processo
r you just change the code and recompile. You can use an ASIC in a stable market
where technology and requirements aren't going to change rapidly

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