Incredible shrinking computers
IEEE Spectrum
The microprocessor: a biography
The microprocessor: a biography
Computer architecture (2nd ed.): a quantitative approach
Computer architecture (2nd ed.): a quantitative approach
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A microcomputer chip, often simply referred to as a microchip or just chip, is an integrated circuit component that is the building block of a computer system. Typically, microcomputer chips are very large-scale integrated circuit components (VLSI) containing millions to tens of millions of transistors. In 1999, the largest such components contained over one hundred million transistors. A computer will typically contain a large number and variety of such components or chips. A typical personal computer will contain about 40 chips of different varieties. Hand-held "personal digital assistants" have very few chips, to save battery power and to keep them small. The best known example of a microcomputer chip is the microprocessor, but "microcomputer chip" is a very broad term that refers to many different kinds of such components. Furthermore, the boundaries and distinctions between the particular forms are constantly changing.