Understanding RISC

20/10/2019

Understanding RISC AS A TYPE OF PROCESSOR

RISC is a type of processor which simply means
R - Reduced
I - instruction
S - Set
C – Computer

When computers process, they require a microprocessor for the task, this microprocessor also requires instructions in order to operate.
The instructions are written in a language that only the computer can understand, basically in the form of binary and assembly languages coded in schemes such as ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange and EBCDIC – Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code.

Processor Architecture

The idea was to make microprocessor changes that were more independent of coding schemes since instructions require more equipment.

The more the instructions the slow the processing speed simply because more instructions require additional circuitry and transistors which makes the whole process complicated, difficult to setup, additional power consumption, rising of heat during processing and additional circuitry means more path links (buses).
In 1974 John Cocke of IBM Research in Yorktown, New York, originated the RISC concept by proving that about 20% of the instructions in a computer did 80% of the work. The term itself (RISC) is credited to David Patterson, a teacher at the University of California in Berkeley. The concept was used in Sun Microsystems' SPARC microprocessors and led to the founding of what is now MIPS Technologies (MIPS - millions of instructions per second), part of Silicon Graphics. A number of current microchips now use the RISC concept.

The first computer to benefit from this discovery was IBM's PC/XT in 1980. Later, IBM's RISC System/6000, made use of the idea.
Discovery of RISC led to a more thoughtful architecture of microprocessors such as how well an instruction can be mapped to the clock speed of the microprocessor this led to the improvement of microprocessor manufacture and design.

Advantages of RISC

A new microprocessor can be developed and tested more quickly if one of its aims is to be less complicated.
Operating system and application programmers who use the microprocessor's instructions will find it easier to develop code with a smaller instruction set.
The simplicity of RISC allows more freedom to choose how to use the space on a microprocessor.
Higher-level language compilers produce more efficient code than formerly because they have always tended to use the smaller set of instructions to be found in a RISC computer.

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