Short introduction of Scalar processor and Vector processor
Introduction: Scalar processors are those what we talking about usually, like ARM, MSP430, Atemel ... They operate data with one unit, although now some processor can operate multiple data at the same time with multi-core. But it is still called Scalar processor. Vector processor can operate data with vector as unit, which means it can work like MATLAB to calculate vector arithmetics directly, unlike the normal calculators have to go through a lot of steps to get the results of vector arithmetics. So vector processor is a very good tool which can be used in graphic applications, such as high-resolution device, video game ... Actually, in 2000, IBM, Toshiba and Sony collaborated to create the Cell processor, consisting of one scalar processor and eight vector processors, which found use in the Sony PlayStation 3 among other applications. But for the detail on the hardware implementation in Vector processors, and how are they different from the scalar processo...