The advent of the microprocessor: Part I

The story of microprocessors dates back to the invention of transistors and integrated circuits(ICs). Invention of transistors was one of the most important milestones in the world of technology.Shockley, Brattain and Bardeen were credited for the invention of transistors and were awarded with nobel prize in physics in 1956 for their research on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect.

In the following years it was found that a group of transistors could be arranged on a single platform to perform the same functions which we today call as Integrated circuits (IC). Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments was awarded the Nobel prize for invention of integrated circuits.

Around the same time Fairchild semiconductor’s Robert Noyce made a parallel development in Integrated circuit technology.In later years complex development in IC technology led to increasing number of complex functions on a single chip.This led to necessity for single controlling circuit for computer functions. Ted Hoff and Frederico Fagin of Intel corporation designed microprocessors.

In 1969 a japanese calculator company named Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation(later changed name to Busicom) gave orders to Intel to build a few chips for their Busicom 141-PF printing calculator. Hoff felt that design could integrate a number of functions on a single chip making it feasible for providing the required functionality. This led to the design of the world's first ever microprocessor called Intel 4004.
Intel purchased the rights from Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation and launched the Intel® 4004 processor and its chipset with an advertisement in the November 15, 1971, issue of Electronic News: ”Announcing A New Era In Integrated Electronics.”

In April 1972, Intel 8008 an early byte-oriented microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel which was the first ever 8-bit microprocessor.
Its clock speed was 500 KHz and Could execute 50,000 instructions per second.

In 1974 Intel 8080 was introduced whose clock speed was 2 MHz and had 6,000 transistors.It was 10 times faster than 8008 and could execute 5,00,000 instructions per second.

Then Intel 8085 was introduced in 1976.The "5" in the part number highlighted the fact that the 8085 uses a single +5-volt (V) power supply by using depletion-mode transistors, rather than requiring the +5 V, −5 V and +12 V supplies needed by the 8080. It was also an 8-bit microprocessor. Its clock speed was 3 MHz. Its data bus is 8-bit and the address bus was 16-bit. It had 6,500 transistors and could execute 7,69,230 instructions per second. It could access 64 KB of memory and had 246 instructions. Over 100 million Intel 8085 microprocessors were sold.

Intel 8086 was introduced in 1978 and was the first 16-bit microprocessor. Its clock speed is 4.77 MHz, 8 MHz and 10 MHz, depending on the version. Its data bus is 16-bit and the address bus is 20-bit. It had 29,000 transistors. Could execute 2.5 million instructions per second. It could access 1 MB of memory and had 22,000 instructions. It had Multiply and Divide instructions.

The 1990s saw a large scale application of microprocessors in the personal computer applications developed by the newly formed Apple, IBM and Microsoft corporation. It witnessed a revolution in the use of computers, which by then was a household entity.

From 1986 to 2006 intel came up with 32-bit microprocessors like Intel 80386,Intel 80486 and in 1993, Intel brought out its 'Pentium Processor' which is one of the most popular processors in use till date. Intel pentium, Intel pentium pro, Intel pentium II,Intel pentium II Xeon,Intel pentium III,Intel pentium IV, Intel dual core.The latest one in commercial use is the Pentium Dual Core technology and the Xeon processor.

The 32-bit microprocessors were followed by 64-bit microprocessors which are used in modern day computers. Intel Core 2, Intel coreI3, Intel coreI5, Intel coreI7, Intel coreI9 are some of the 64-bit microprocessors released by Intel till date.

References:

https://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/pdf/bell_labs_journals/bell_labs_technical_journal_autumn_1997_3.pdf
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/museum-story-of-intel-4004.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8085
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/409546159834327063/
https://education.ti.com/en/success-story/jack-kilby-day
https://www.yourtechstory.com/2018/09/18/robert-noyce-co-founder-intel-co-inventor-integrated-circuit/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://vsbytes.com/i3-vs-i5-vs-i7-vs-i9/
https://www.google.com/search?q=1080p+microprocessor+wallpaper&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjTvYiEsZTtAhUXALcAHV7wCzEQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=1080p+microprocessor+wallpaper&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1DyE1j4GmC4HmgAcAB4AIABVIgBiwOSAQE1mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=BWy5X5OnC5eA3LUP3uCviAM&bih=838&biw=1688&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIN882IN882&hl=en#imgrc=4PPoxeG4huBubM