I7 processor

17 Microprocessor Architecture

1. Processor history

2. 1978-81 1984
8086/8088 80286
1987-88
80386 DX/SX
1990-92
80486 SX/DX
1993-95
Pentium
1997
Pentium MMX
1 2 3 4 5 5+

3. Itanium dual core
1995
Pentium Pro
1997
Pentium II
20011999
Pentium III
2001
Pentium 4
1997
Mobile Pentium
6 6+ 7+ 87

4. 2006-9
Itanium Core duo i3
2010
i5
2012
i7
2013
9 10 11 12

5. i3,i5,i7….
No. of cores- 2 – i3
No. of cores- 4 – i5.
No. of cores- 4 – i7

6. Internal snap of i7

7. Features of i7 Micro processor
 Quad Core Processor
 — Supports 4 core on single die
 — 3 level (L1,L2,L3)cache
 — 8 dedicated threads for multitasking and multithreaded operation
 Integrated memory controller
 — Supports DDR3( Double data RAM)
 — DDR3 used for storage at high speed
 — Allows I/O bus to run 4 times faster
Execute Disable Bit
 — Provides enhanced virus protection
 — Execute Disable Bit allows memory to be marked as executable or
non executable
 — it raises an error to OS if code is run in non executable memory
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8. Features of i7 Micro processor
 Hyper threading technology
 — one physical processor seems like two logical processor
 — improves performance in multitasking
 — execution unit ,caches, buses are shared
 —logical processor has data reg, segment reg, control reg, debug reg
 — i7 processor can process 2 thread simultaneously
 — it appears to OS as 8 CPUs
Turbo Boost Technology
 — allows processor to run faster than base operating frequency
 — power of passives cores are provided to the active cores
 — it can increase frequency of all 4 cores till they can handle current
payload
 — it does not require any hardware support
 — It can enable/disable by OS and BIOS

9. Features of i7 Micro processor
Enhanced speed step technology
 — running processor at high clock speeds for better performance
 — If operating on low frequency, less heat generated then less power
consumption
Intel Quick Path Interconnect(QPI)
 — used to link processor and system components
 — provide higher memory performance and flexibility
 — replaces front side bus
 — QPI high speed data transfer up to 25.6 Gbps
 —Concurrent bi-directional traffic
Virtualization technology
 — one hardware platform to function a multiple virtual platform
Trusted Execution technology
 —hardware based mechanism to help protect against s/w based attacks
 —It helps to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data
 —by enabling trusted environment application can run in their own space
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10. Features of i7 Micro processor
Smart cache and cache memory
— 3 level (L1,L2,L3)cache
— level 1 L1 cache 32 KB each (instruction and data)
— level 2 L2 cache 256 KB ( combined instruction and data)
— level 3 L3 cache 8 MB ( used for communication for
different cores of processor)
Inclusive shared 8 MB L3 cache
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 1
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 2
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 3
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 0

11. Block Diagram of i7 Micro processor
Architecture of one core of i7 processor
Inclusive shared 8 MB L3 cache
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 1
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 2
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 3
L2 cache 256 kb
L1 cache 32 kb
Core 0
Quick path Interconnect interface (QPI), Integrated Memory Controller
Execution
Engine
L2 cache 256 kb
Execution EngineExecution
Engine
Execution
Engine

13. Registers f i7 Micro processor
16 GPRS 64 bit wide
6 segment reg 16 bit wide
Rflag reg 64 bit wide
RIP reg 64 bit
8 MMX reg 64 bit wide
16 XMM registers 128 bit wide
MXCSR reg 32 bit wide
8 FPU data reg 80 bit wide
1 control reg 16 bit wide
1 status reg 16 bit wide
1 tag reg 16 bit wide
11 bit opcode reg
64 bit FPU data pointer reg
64 bit FPU instruction pointer reg