Scalar processors work on one data item at a time, while array processors can handle multiple data streams simultaneously. Array processors apply a single instruction to multiple arrays, making them faster. Supercomputers in the 80s and 90s used array processors for scientific data. Microprocessors have narrowed the gap between scalar and array processors. Video game consoles have their own graphics CPU running in parallel with the main scalar CPU.
There is a big difference between two major formats – scalar and array processors – in which a computer system processes information. While scalar processors work on one data item at a time, array processors can deal with multiple data streams simultaneously. Both processors, however, are part of the central processing unit (CPU), which controls all actions of a computer and can manage all data timing. Scalar and array processors perform many of the same tasks, but differently, making each fit a different purpose and making sure that all functions, from the simplest to the most complex, can be performed.
Array processors apply a single instruction to multiple arrays or data arrays simultaneously before moving on to the next instruction. This allows array processors to operate much faster because the processor does not need to wait for the first set of instructions to execute on one element before moving on to the next. Many of the steps required to perform an operation are eliminated because the computer retrieves multiple items at once, performs the operation on all of them, then writes it back to memory, instead of repeating the steps with each new data.
Scalar processors operate on one data item at a time before moving on to the next item. Each statement must be executed on the current element before moving on to the next statement. At the end of the loop, the instruction set is executed on the next element in the sequence. Nearly all mass-market CPUs are scalar although they may have elements that function more like array processors.
Supercomputers of the 1980s and 1990s were designed to process large amounts of data using multiple data with single instructions. Array processors made it possible to manipulate scientific and research data in a shorter time. While it might seem intuitive that array processors handle all CPU functions faster than scalar processors, this is not the case. Array processors can handle large amounts of data efficiently, but because the function requires more CPU complexity, simpler operations are more difficult to perform.
The differences between scalar and array processors became less pronounced with the introduction of microprocessors in 1994. Since then, single-instruction multiple data element microprocessors have become the norm and have further narrowed the gap between scalar and array processors. Video game consoles and graphics accelerators have their own graphics CPU running in parallel with the main scalar CPU, thus freeing up the main CPU to perform non-graphics functions.
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