A Survey of Microprocessor Architectures

In this paper, an introductory description of modern microprocessors is given. The goal is to cover the many different aspects of computer architecture without getting weighted down with details. Many of the current trends in design are discussed, along with the differences between several Intel, AMD, and Sun microprocessors. A brief introduction of many broad ideas in architecture accompany to bring the readers to the same understanding, as well as defining certain concepts. The broad ideas are then taken into deeper detail, explaining certain processor implementations.