1.0 Introduction of Single-core processor
A single-core processor is a microprocessor with a single core on a chip, running and computing a
single thread at any one time. The system of single-core consumes a considerable amount of time by doing so. A major improvement occurred after the emergence of multi-core processors which have several independent processors on a single chip and can perform many functions at a time.
1.1 Overview of a single-core processor
A single-core processor machine as shown in Figure 1, consists of one processor, two or
more levels of cache memory, main memory, hard disk, and Input/output (I/O) devices.
Levels of cache relates to the size and distance from the processor as shown in Figure 2
which displays the memory hierarchy, for example accessing data from Level 1 (L1) cache is faster than accessing it from L2 cache, and so on. Consequently, the use of cache memory reduces the Memory Access Time (MAT) resulting in a better performance. According to
Moor’s law that was stated in 1965, the number of transistors on a chip will roughly double each year, then he refined the period in 1975 to be two years. Moore’s law is often quoted as Dave House’s revision that computer performance will double every 18 months. The
problem of adding more transistors on a chip in the amount of generated heat that exceeds the advancements rate of the cooling techniques which is known as “the power wall”
problem.
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1.2 Diagram of a single-core processor
Figure 1. Single-core processor machine
Figure 2. Memory hierarchy
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2.0 Introduction of Multicore Processor
The microprocessor industry continues to have great importance in the course of technological
advancements ever since their coming to existence in 1970s. The growing market and the demand for faster performance drove the industry to manufacture faster and smarter chips. One of the most classic and proven techniques to improve performance is to clock the chip at higher frequency which enables the processor to execute the programs in a much quicker time and the industry has been
following this trend from 1983 – 2002. Additional techniques have also been devised to improve
performance including parallel processing, data level parallelism and instruction level parallelism
which have all proven to be very effective. One such technique which improves significant
performance boost is multi-core processors. Multi-core processors have been in existence since the past decade, but however have gained more importance off late due to technology limitations single- core processors are facing today such as high throughput and long-lasting battery life with high
energy efficiency
2.1
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