Processor (computing)

This article is about the computer hardware. For software and systems uses, see Processor § Computing.

Circuits of a microprocessor at 200x magnification

In computing, a processor or processing unit is an electronic circuit which performs operations on some external data source, usually memory or some other data stream. It typically takes the form of a microprocessor, which is fabricated on a single metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chip.

The term is frequently used to refer to the central processing unit in a system. However, it can also refer to other co-processors.

Examples

• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
  • If designed conforming to the von Neumann architecture, it contains at least a control unit (CU), arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and processor registers.
• Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
• Sound chips and sound cards
• Vision Processing Unit (VPU)
• Tensor Processing Unit (TPU)
• Neural Processing Unit (NPU)
• Physics Processing Unit (PPU)
• Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
• Image Signal Processor (ISP)
• Synergistic Processing Element or Unit (SPE or SPU) in the cell microprocessor
• Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)

See also

• Microprocessor
• Multi-core processor
• Superscalar processor
• Hardware acceleration
• Von Neumann architecture
• All pages with titles containing processing unit