History Of Microprocessors

3rd Generation Intel 8086 Around 1978, Intel released 8086, the first 16-bit microprocessor. With 16-bit word size, it was possible to represent signed numbers in the range of −32,768 to +32,767, which is quite a decent range for performing arithmetic calculations. As such, this processor became very popular not only for control applications, but also for number crunching operations. Speeds of those processors were four times better than the 2nd generation processors. Not to be outdone, Motorola came out with 68000, their 16-bit processor. Zilog released Z-8000, again a 16-bit processor. These are the most popular 16-bit processors. 4th Generation Intel 80836 or i386 Intel Pentium In the early 80s, Intel released the 32-bit processor, the Intel 80386, by using HCMOS fabrication. With 32-bit word size, it was possible to represent signed numbers in the range ±2×10 9 , which is quite a large range for performing arithmetic calculations. If floating point

1st Generation Intel 4004   This was the period during 1971 to 1973 of microprocessor’s history. In 1971, INTEL created the first microprocessor 4004 that would run at a clock speed of 108 KHz.With only 4 bits as the word size, the 4004 could only represent signed numbers in the range -8 to +7, which is indeed very small. So, it was not really of practical use for arithmetic calculations. However, it found applications in controlling devices.   2nd Generation   Intel 8008 was the next in the evolution, the first 8-bit microprocessor. This was in the year 1972. This was soon followed by Intel 8080, also an 8-bit microprocessor. Intel 8080 was the first commercially popular 8bit microprocessor. With 8 bits as the word size, it could represent signed numbers in the range of −128 to +127. This is also not a good enough range for performing arithmetic calculations. Thus, the 8080 also was used only for control applications. Some other microprocessors like 6800 from Motoro