Editing Central processing unit

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The '''central processing unit''' ('''CPU''') is the core component of most electronic devices capable of gaming. CPUs have been used in nearly all [[computer]]s since the 1970s, including [[personal computer]]s and [[video game]] systems such as [[console]]s and [[arcade game]] [[Arcade system board|system boards]].

CPUs have typically consisted of a single microprocessor chip since the 1970s. In the 2000s, manufacturers such as [[Intel Corporation|Intel]] and [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]] began creating CPUs with multiple microprocessors; these are called "multi-core" CPUs, and are used in both consumer and enterprise environments.

==History==
{{See also|Computer|Personal computer|Laptop}}

In the 1960s, the development of electronic [[calculator]]s and [[Wikipedia:Wristwatch|wristwatches]] helped make [[Wikipedia:Integrated circuit|integrated circuit]] chips economical and practical. In the late 1960s, [[Wikipedia:Calculator|calculator]] and wristwatch chips began to show that small computers (compared to large mainframes) might be possible with [[Wikipedia:Large-scale integration|large-scale integration]] (LSI). This culminated in the invention of the microprocessor, a single-chip CPU.

The invention of the microprocessor helped in creating a more powerful central processing unit than what was possible in large computers at the time and shrunk it so computers could be smaller. The microprocessor was the major invention that gave birth to the microcomputer, or the [[personal computer]] as it is known today.

===4-bit===
The 4-bit Intel 4004, released in 1971, was the first microprocessor.<ref>{{Cite web | title=The Microcomputer Revolution | first=Pamela E. | last=Mack | date=30 November 2005 | url=http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/PamMack/lec122/micro.htm | accessdate=2009-12-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | title=History in the Computing Curriculum | url=http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/CompHist_9812tla6.PDF | format=PDF | accessdate=2009-12-23}}</ref> The origins of the 4004 date back to the the "Busicom Project",<ref name="ieee">Federico Faggin, [http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4776530 The Making of the First Microprocessor], ''IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine'', Winter 2009, IEEE Xplore</ref> which began at [[Japan]]ese calculator company [https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/Busicom Busicom] in April 1968, when engineer [https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/Masatoshi_Shima Masatoshi Shima] was tasked with designing a special-purpose LSI chipset, along with his supervisor Tadashi Tanba, for use in the [https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/Busicom Busicom 141-PF] [[Wikipedia:Desktop calculator|desktop calculator]] with integrated printer.<ref name=tout1/><ref name="shima">[https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20081219113410/http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/aboutus/history_center/oral_history/pdfs/Shima197.pdf Masatoshi Shima], IEEE</ref> His initial design consisted of seven LSI chips, including a three-chip CPU.<ref name="ieee"/> His design included [[Wikipedia:Arithmetic logic unit|arithmetic units]] ([[Wikipedia:Adder (electronics)|adders]]), multiplier units, [[Wikipedia:Processor register|registers]], [[Read-only memory|ROM]], and a [[Wikipedia:Macro instruction|macro-instruction]] set to control a [[Wikipedia:Decimal computer|decimal computer]] system.<ref name=tout1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/busicom_141-pf_and_intel_4004.html|title=The Busicom 141-PF calculator and the Intel 4004 microprocessor|author=Nigel Tout|accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> Busicom then wanted a general-purpose LSI chipset, for not only desktop calculators, but also other equipment such as a [[Wikipedia:Automated teller machine|teller machine]], [[Wikipedia:Cash register|cash register]] and [[Wikipedia:Change machine|billing machine]]. Shima thus began work on a general-purpose LSI chipset in late 1968.<ref name="shima"/>

[https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/Sharp_Corporation Sharp] engineer [https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/Tadashi_Sasaki Tadashi Sasaki], who became involved with its development, conceived of a single-chip microprocessor in 1968, when he discussed the concept at a brainstorming meeting that was held in Japan. Sasaki attributes the basic invention to break the calculator chipset into four parts with [[ROM]] (4001), [[RAM]] (4002), [[Wikipedia:Shift register|shift registers]] (4003) and CPU (4004) to an unnamed woman, a software engineering researcher from [[Wikipedia:Nara Women's University|Nara Women's College]], who was present at the meeting. Sasaki then had his first meeting with Bob Noyce from [[Intel]] in 1968, and presented the woman's four-division chipset concept to Intel and Busicom.<ref name="sasaki">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Tadashi_Sasaki |title=Oral-History: Tadashi Sasaki |last=Aspray |first=William |date=1994-05-25 |work=Interview #211 for the Center for the History of Electrical Engineering |publisher=The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. |accessdate=2013-01-02}}</ref>

Busicom approached the American company Intel for manufacturing help in 1969. Intel, which was more of a memory company back then, had facilities to manufacture the high density silicon gate MOS chip Busicom required.<ref name="shima"/> A small Busicom team led by Shima went over to Intel in June 1969,<ref name="ew">https://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/mannerisms/yarns/how-the-microprocessor-was-des-2008-07/</ref> to present Shima's design proposal. Due to Intel lacking logic engineers to understand the logic schematics or circuit engineers to convert them, Intel asked Shima to simplify the logic.<ref name="shima"/> Intel wanted a single-chip CPU design,<ref name="shima"/> influenced by Sharp's Tadashi Sasaki who presented the concept to Busicom and Intel in 1968.<ref name="sasaki"/> The single-chip microprocessor design was then formulated by Intel's Ted Hoff in 1969,<ref name="ieee"/> simplifying Shima's initial design down to four chips, including a single-chip CPU.<ref name="ieee"/> Due to Hoff's formulation lacking key details, Shima came up with his own ideas to find solutions for its implementation.<ref name="shima"/><ref name="ew"/> Shima was responsible for the logic design,<ref name="ew"/> adding a 10-bit static shift register to make it useful as a printer's buffer and keyboard interface, many improvements in the [[Wikipedia:Instruction set|instruction set]], making the RAM organization suitable for a calculator, the [[Wikipedia:Memory address|memory address]] information transfer, the key program in an area of performance and program capacity, the functional specification, decimal computer idea, software, desktop calculator logic, real-time [[Wikipedia:I/O|I/O]] control, and data exchange instruction between the [[Wikipedia:Accumulator (computing)|accumulator]] and [[Wikipedia:General purpose register|general purpose register]].<ref name="shima"/> Hoff and Shima eventually realized the 4-bit microprocessor concept together, with the help of Intel's Stanley Mazor to interpret the ideas of Shima and Hoff.<ref name="shima"/> The specifications of the four chips were developed over a period of a few months in 1969, between an Intel team led by Hoff and a Busicom team led by Shima.<ref name="ieee"/>

In late 1969, Shima returned to Japan.<ref name="shima"/> After that, Intel had done no further work on the project until early 1970.<ref name="shima"/><ref name="ieee"/> Shima returned to Intel in early 1970, and found that no further work had been done on the 4004 since he left, and that Hoff had moved on to other projects.<ref name="shima"/> Only a week before Shima had returned to Intel,<ref name="shima"/> Italian engineer Federico Faggin had joined Intel and become the project leader.<ref name="ieee"/> After Shima explained the project to Faggin, they worked together to design the 4004.<ref name="shima"/> Thus, the chief designers of the chip were Shima who produced the initial Busicom design and then assisted in the development of the final Intel design, Faggin who created the design methodology and the silicon-based chip design, and Hoff who formulated the architecture before moving on to other projects.<ref name=tout1/> The 4004 was first introduced in Japan, as the microprocessor for the Busicom 141-PF calculator, in March 1971,<ref name="shima"/><ref name=tout1/> selling 100,000 units.<ref name="ew"/> Busicom also used the 4004 for a cash register, billing machine, and teller machine for [[Wikipedia:NCR Corporation|NCR]].<ref name="ew"/> In North America, the first public mention of the 4004 was an advertisement in the November 15, 1971 edition of ''Electronic News''.<ref name = "Gilder 1990">{{Cite book|last=Gilder|first= George|title=Microcosm: the quantum revolution in economics and technology|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1990|page=107|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUxthKiLOvsC&pg=PA107|isbn= 978-0-671-70592-3| quote= Intel's first advertisement for the 4004 appeared in the November 15, 1971 issue of ''Electronic News''}}</ref>

[[NEC]] released the μPD707 and μPD708, a two-chip 4-bit CPU, in 1971.<ref name="antique">{{Cite web |title=NEC 751 (uCOM-4) |publisher=The Antique Chip Collector's Page |url=http://www.antiquetech.com/chips/NEC751.htm |accessdate=2010-06-11 |archiveurl=https://web-beta.archive.org/web/20110525202756/www.antiquetech.com/chips/NEC751.htm |archivedate=2011-05-25}}</ref> They were followed by NEC's first single-chip microprocessor, the μPD700, in April 1972.<ref name="shmj">[http://www.shmj.or.jp/museum2010/exhibi748.htm 1970年代 マイコンの開発と発展 ～集積回路], [http://www.shmj.or.jp/english/ Semiconductor History Museum of Japan]</ref><ref name="hart">Jeffrey A. Hart & Sangbae Kim (2001), [https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e1bf/dfd3cae56f12507a66c0338a4eedc79a70b4.pdf The Defense of Intellectual Property Rights in the Global Information Order], International Studies Association, Chicago</ref> It was a prototype for the [https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/μCOM-4 μCOM-4] (μPD751), released in April 1973,<ref name="shmj"/> combining the μPD707 and μPD708 into a single microprocessor.<ref name="antique"/>

===8-bit===
The first 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8008, released in 1972. It was used for the first [[Personal computer|microcomputer]], the [https://computer.fandom.com/wiki/Sord_Computer_Corporation Sord] SMP80/08, developed in 1972.<ref name="ipsj">http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/personal/0086.html</ref>

Intel 4004 designers Federico Faggin and Masatoshi Shima went on to design the 8-bit [[Wikipedia:Intel 8080|Intel 8080]], the first truly general-purpose microprocessor, released in 1974. The Intel 8080 was used for early microcomputers such as the Sord SMP80/x series (1974)<ref name="ipsj"/> and Altair 8800 (1975). The Intel 8080 was also the first microprocessor to be used for a video game, the 1975 arcade game ''[[Gun Fight]]'', and was then used for a number of later arcade games, most notably ''[[Space Invaders]]'' (1978).

[http://segaretro.org/Zilog Zilog] was founded by Federico Faggin in 1974 and joined by Masatoshi Shima in 1975. Faggin and Shima went on to design the [http://segaretro.org/Zilog_Z80 Zilog Z80], released in 1976, a successor to their Intel 8080. The Zilog Z80 became the most widely used 8-bit CPU in [[arcade system board]]s, and was used in a number of consoles (including the [[ColecoVision]], [[SG-1000]] and [[Master System]]) and computers (including the [[PC-8801]], [[ZX Spectrum]], [[MSX]], [http://segaretro.org/SC-3000 Sega SC-3000] and [http://segaretro.org/Sega_AI_Computer SEGA AI Computer]).

===12-bit===
In 1973, [[Wikipedia:Toshiba|Toshiba]] released the TLCS-12, the first 12-bit microprocessor.<ref name="shmj"/><ref name="ogdin">{{Cite journal |last=Ogdin |first=Jerry |title=Microprocessor scorecard |journal=Euromicro Newsletter |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=43–77 |date=January 1975 |doi=10.1016/0303-1268(75)90008-5}}</ref> 12-bit microprocessors have since been rare, and are not known to have been used for any video game systems.

===16-bit===
In 1975, [[w:c:computer:Panafacom|Panafacom]] (a conglomerate of [[Wikipedia:Fujitsu|Fujitsu]], [[Wikipedia:Fuji Electric|Fuji Electric]] and [[Wikipedia:Panasonic|Matsushita]]) developed the MN1610, the first 16-bit microprocessor.<ref name="lkit">http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/heritage/PANAFACOM_Lkit-16.html</ref><ref>http://www.cpu-museum.com/161x_e.htm</ref><ref>http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/en/profile/history.html</ref> It was used for the Panafacom Lkit-16, the first 16-bit microcomputer, released in 1977.<ref name="lkit"/>

Zilog Z80 creators Federico Faggin and Masatoshi Shima designed the [[Wikipedia:Zilog Z8000|Zilog Z8000]], a 16-bit CPU released in 1979. It was used for the first 16-bit video game, the arcade [[racing]] game ''[[Pole Position]]'' (1982), which used dual Z8000 processors.

The [http://segaretro.org/Motorola_68000 Motorola 68000] was released in 1979. It was a hybrid 16/32-bit CPU. It became the most widely used 16-bit CPU in arcade system boards. It was also used for a number of consoles (such as the [[Mega Drive]] and [[Neo Geo]]) and computers (such as the [[Amiga]], [[Atari ST]] and [[Sharp X68000]]).

==References==
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