I\'m a little confused as to what exactly I\'m researching and writing about. If

Question

I'm a little confused as to what exactly I'm researching and writing about. If someone could break it down and give me a few minor examples so I can structure the essay around it I would really appreciate it:

Do online research on at least three different computer chip set architectures (Intel 80x86, ARM, MIPS R4000, Motorola, etc). Write a two page report on the similarities and differences are of these architectures. Include in your report what you find interesting about the architectures you researched.

Explanation / Answer

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Intel 8086 microprocessor is an upgraded version of the 8085 microprocessor. It is a 16-bit microprocessor. It basically has 20 address lines with 16 data lines and provides 1 megabyte of storage. It has a limited number of registers. It has complex instructions, and also different machine programs can be executed on a CISC machine. It has high-end powerful microprocessors. It gives more performance but consumes a lot of energy.

ARM stands for Advanced RISC machines. it is a 32 bit processors with a high code density. It is basically a Load and Store architecture. it has a 16 bit thump instruction. It uses simple instructions, enables conditional execution and has Inline barrel shifter. It has small and light microprocessors and is commonly used as mobile chips. It is more energy efficient, but is a little less performant. It has 32 bit wide 16 registers of which 12 are general purpose registers. It has many operating modes.

MIPS stands for Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages. It is mostly used in embedded systems. It has many market applications and has opensource implementations available. It has simpler coding syntax and is easier to use. The cost of the devices using MIPS is less. It is mainly used in memory management, networking devices, and audio devices. It is more power efficient and has a less overhead. It has 32 bit wide 32 registers. It has only 2 operating modes which are the kernel mode and the user mode.

RISC vs CISC:-

The difference between ARM/MIPS and 8086 lies within the RISC and CISC. RISC stands for Reduced instruction set computing.

CISC stands for Complex instruction set computing. Basically, CISC has the flexibility of execution multi-step operations within one instruction set.

So 8086 is a CISC processor while both ARM/MIPS are a RISC processor. In CISC processors a single instruction can do multiple things. A small example is like adding an immediate number with a register, then store the computer value to an address using some other register, and also store the arithmetic flags. RISC processors on the other hand would have to use two separate instructions for the same task. One instruction to add two numbers and another instruction to store the computed result. This increases the instruction count.

Power vs Performance:-

Simpler instructions always in most of the cases consume less power. 8086 processors which are CISC are basically designed for higher performance applications like for running a server etc. While processors like ARM/MIPS which are RISC processors are using in mobile applications where a reduced performance is a tradeoff for the better power efficiency. But this is getting better every day. The ARM has added more complexity to its instructions to get a better performance. Intel has broken down its operation codes into micro-operations that are ARM like to be efficient in power consumption. MIPS, on the other hand, is a very simple industry standard architecture which is used in embedded applications where ultra-low power consumption is needed.

Security and virtualization:-

The ARM has TrustZone and Intel has vPRO. Both of these features target hardware security. Both ARM and Intel have supported virtualization and memory management. They only differ in how they are being implemented.

So the mobile software is better developed and maintained for the ARM than it is for 8086. But when it comes to desktop 8086 has a better ecosystem. This is one of the main reasons why Intel is having a very hard time to get into the mobile market while the ARM is unable to get into the servers.

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