Computer - The foundation of the new world

Professor Jeffrey Rayport, Harvard University, had an interesting comparison between the speed of microprocessor development and the two car and aircraft industries: 'If these two industries grow at the same speed the development of semiconductor industry in the past 30 years, a Rolls-Royce will cost 2.75 USD and will go nearly 5 million km with 4 liters of gasoline; and a Boeing 767 will cost $ 500 and fly around the earth for 20 minutes with 20 liters of fuel '.

Today's desktop computer is hundreds of times more powerful than the computer system used in the mission to bring people to the Moon with Apollo 11 spacecraft in 1969.

Computer revolution deeply changed life

Twenty-five years ago, in 1981, IBM introduced the first personal computer (PC) with an internal "brain" to be the Intel 8088 processor (CPU). Today, the number of computers is spent. receptors worldwide up to 200 million sets / year. When we use newer PCs with CPUs containing hundreds of millions of transistors (transistors) and speeds in Gigahertz, it's hard to imagine the Intel 8088 CPU that day only has no more than 10 Megahertz and only contains 29,000 transistors.

Intel's success with CPU 8088 has put Intel in Fortune 500 (Fortune 500) world ranking and this magazine has called Intel one of the '70s Business Success. "After 25 years from this milestone, Intel's CPU is present in almost all types of computers, from PCs to servers (servers), handheld computers (pocket PCs).

Today, Microsoft 's Windows operating system duo and Intel' s CPUs are tied together in almost all types of computers, making an important contribution to opening the new era of global computing. It is estimated that the number of networked computers in the world reaches 1 billion units.

On the 25th anniversary of the PC's birthday, it is difficult to see all the impact that ¼ century of personal computing has brought to life every day. But one thing is for sure, many of us today can hardly imagine what life would be like without our home or office computer.

Personal computers have profoundly affected the lives of millions of people in many regions of the world. In its development history, the computer has evolved from a pure typewriter into a device that plays a fundamental role in the way that millions of us work, communicate, learn, entertainment and many other use models. Just like phones, cars and televisions that were born earlier, computers changed the way people communicate, buy and sell, gather information and entertain .

Moore's Law - The foundation that creates power

Along with Intel's introduction, Moore's law, co-founded by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel: "Every two years, the number of transistors on the same silicon area doubles." Moore's Law has become the foundation for CPU manufacturing technology ever since. In contrast to the history of CPU production, we will see this very clearly.

Many PC users in Vietnam still remember nearly 20 years ago, a set of "486 computers" is almost a fortune. Not only in Vietnam, but the PC with Intel 486 CPU also made a deep impression on many others. " For the first time I have a color screen computer and do screen operations at a high speed " - technology historian David K. Allison of the Smithsonian National Museum of Flower History Ky recalls. Intel 486 CPU contains 1.2 million transistors, the highest speed is 50MHz.

10 years ago (1997) Intel continued to excite the PC market by launching Pentium II CPU manufactured with 0.35 µm (350nm) technology, with 7.5 million transistors, 66MHz system bus, speeding. 300MHz.

CPU power continues to increase steadily according to Moore's Law and the speed of processors has surpassed 3GHz 5 years ago, in 2002. At the same time, Intel introduced CPU support for Hyper-Threading technology (Hyper Threading). - HT). HT created a generation of computers that can handle many different applications simultaneously, helping to increase computer performance by 25%. The first Intel Pentium 4 CPU supports HT at 3.06 GHz, manufactured with 0.13 µm (130 nanometer) technology, with 55 million transistors.

And the latest breakthrough in CPU manufacturing technology is in November this year: Intel announced the Penryn processor manufactured with 45 nanometer technology, containing more than 400 million transistors for 2-core types and more than 800 million transistors. for 4-core type.

The foundation of the digital world

Although the 'power' of the PC has increased tremendously, the demand of life has increased rapidly. The problem manufacturers have to solve is how the system can meet not only current needs but also the future. Microprocessor manufacturers are always looking for solutions to produce products that not only have stronger performance but also have to be compact, save more power, have less heat emission, etc. Next to the CPU is constantly being upgraded to a more advanced technology platform, the technology platform from 130nm has been switched to 90nm in recent years, then 65nm then 45nm today and 32nm in the next few years. CPUs are getting smaller and smaller, consuming less power but increasing power.

The power consumption of the processor seems to be very low but it is a problem that CPU manufacturers are always focused on finding solutions. This is a matter of concern not only for users (laptop users want to be able to use the battery for 6 hours instead of the current 3 hours) but by large corporations. If you know that the amount of electricity that Google 's computer system "consumes" for a year is up to $ 50 million, we will see a new technology platform that helps CPU save 20% -40% of electricity to benefit businesses. how.

The spread of the personal computing revolution into life will become faster and deeper, to every corner. In 2006, Intel CEO Paul S. Otellini predicted: ' The exponential effects of computers, internet and education can double the impact of the benefits that technology brings. worldwide in the next 5 years