The ongoing evolution of computer architectures
Chapter 1, Introducing Computer Architecture, presented a brief history of automated computing devices from the mechanical design of Babbage’s Analytical Engine to the advent of the x86 architecture that continues to serve as the basis for most modern personal computers. This progress relied on several groundbreaking technological achievements, most notably the invention of the transistor and the development of integrated circuit manufacturing processes.
Through the decades since the introduction of the Intel 4004 in 1971, processors have grown dramatically in terms of the sheer number of transistors and other circuit components integrated on a single-circuit die. In concert with the growth in the number of circuit elements per chip, the clock speed of modern devices has increased by several orders of magnitude.
The increase in processor capability and instruction execution speed has unleashed the growth of software development...
