The history of the processor, part I

Moore's Law

The new Intel Core 2 Duo processor consists of no less than 290 million transisitors, all pakced on a small slice of silicon no larger than 143 mm2. As if this is not a big enough achievement in itself, the new processor has a speed of 2,93GHz, meaning that all 290 million transistors can switch 3 billion times per second! Needless to say that this processor is able of very complex calculations on a very high speed. We were curious how processors got to this unbelievable stage, and dug up some history on the microprocessors.

The history of the processor is almost identical to that of the history of Intel. Intel is not the only manufacturer of processors in the world, but they have proven themselves the most innovative over the years. Next to this Intel was the company that gave birth to the world first processor.

Moore's Law

In April 1965, more than 40 years ago now, Gordon Moore wrote an article for "Electronics Magazine" about a new invention, the Integrated Circuit (IC). Moore was a researcher for Fairchild Semiconductors at the time. Up to 1965 all electronic switches were made up of seperate components, but the IC integrated everything into one small piece of silicon. At the start the techniques for manufactering the IC were just enough to get around 50 components onto one piece of silicon, but that did not stop Moore from making a very bold statement. In the article he wrote he predicted that the technology would evolve so that every one or two years the number of components on an IC would double, and that in 1975 it would be possible to produce IC's with more than 65.000 components. He also predicted that the IC woudl drastically change the world we live in, and in an age where most people did not know what an IC or computer was, he predicted the home PC, cars with onboard computers and even portable communication devices. Remember, these statements were made in a time when it was only possible to make an IC with 50 components on it.

Gordon Moore feels himself restrained by his current employer, and decides to start his own company; in 1968 Intel (INTegrated Electronics) is founded by Gorden Moore and Robert Noyce. The new company immediately starts on a very ambitious project, they want to make the first microprocessor. This meant making a computer (literally, a calculator), that fits onto one IC.

In 1965 Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transisitors on a chip would double every two years. As our graph shows his predictions are still very accurate, even in this day and age.