Introduction
Starting with the advent of the Pentium® Pro processor, IA32 processors no longer execute the complex, multi-byte, IA32 instruction set. Rather, the front end logic within the processor decodes each IA32 instruction into a series of one or more fixed-length, primitive instructions referred to as μops (micro-ops). The resulting μops are the instructions executed by the processor core.
The Pentium® Pro processor also introduced the FSB that is utilized on subsequent IA32 processors up to and including the Pentium® 4 and Pentium® M processor families.
Figure 23-1 on page 545 illustrates the basic elements that comprise a P6 family processor.
Figure 23-1. P6 Overview
Get The Unabridged Pentium 4 IA32 Processor Genealogy now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
