Microprocessors & Central Processing Units

CPU & microprocessor history. A microprocessor is an ultra compact central processing unit (CPU) of a digital computer. It evolved during the 1970s during a trend begun by the minicomputer. By the mid-1980s, microprocessors were incorporating up to 275,000 logical computer elements on a silicon wafer, or chip, 0.5 cm (0.2 in) along one side and 0.05 cm (0.02 in) thick, and by the early 1990s a microprocessor incorporating 3.1 million elements had been produced. Experts project that microprocessors incorporating 100 million elements will be fabricated before the turn of the century. The development of microprocessors was made possible by advances in solid-state electronic circuit manufacture. The links included herein relate to microprocessors and central processing units.