Thursday, 30 January 2014

digital logic - Is there a name for "chips out of which one can build a CPU"?


Some people enjoy building "homebrew" CPUs out of simpler ICs.


Is there a name for "chips out of which one can build a CPU, if you have enough of them"? Is there a name for the other chips, "chips that one cannot build a CPU out of, no matter how many of them you have"?


One can build a CPU out of sufficiently large quantities of 4:1 mux chips ( multiplexers are the tactical Nuke of Logic Design ). One can build a CPU out of (somewhat larger) quantities of 2-in NAND gates. Or from 2-in NOR gates. Or from a few (perhaps one) CPLD or FPGA.


However,


One cannot build a CPU out of 2-in XOR gates alone. One cannot build a CPU entirely out of diode-resistor logic alone. One cannot build a CPU entirely out of D-type flip-flops alone.


Is there some term or phrase for distinguishing these two categories of chips that is less awkward than "chips out of which one can build a CPU"?





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