What is superscalar technology?
Q: What is superscalar technology?
A: Superscalar technology is a form of basic parallel computing that allows more than one instruction to be processed in each clock cycle by using multiple execution units at the same time.
Q: How does superscalar technology work?
A: Superscalar technology involves instructions coming into the processor in order, looking for data dependencies while it runs, and loading more than one instruction in each clock cycle.
Q: What is the difference between scalar and vector processors?
A: On a scalar processor, instructions usually work with one or two data items at once whereas on a vector processor, instructions usually work with many data items at once. A superscalar processor is a mix of both as each instruction processes one data item but more than one instruction runs at once so many data items are handled at once by the processor.
Q: What role does an accurate instruction dispatcher play in a superscalar processor?
A: An accurate instruction dispatcher is very important for a superscalar processor as it ensures that the execution units are always busy with work that will likely be needed. If the instruction dispatcher isn't accurate, then some of the work may have to be thrown away which would make it no faster than a scaler processor.
Q: In what year did all normal CPUs become superscalar?
A: All normal CPUs became superscaler in 2008.
Q: How many ALUs, FPUs and SIMD units can there be on a normal CPU?
A: On a normal CPU there can be up to 4 ALUs, 2 FPUs and 2 SIMD units.
