Parallel serial processor

The student who represents a single processing computer will only have a fraction of the block-stacking task completed when the parallel processing group is done with the task. This is a very unfair, uneven race; make sure the student who serves as the single, serial processor understands that she or he is in no way at fault for being much slower to finish the task. In each step shown above, the serial processor is shown in the top part of the image and the parallel processor is shown in the bottom portion.

These photos illustrate a setup in which three processors work together in the parallel processing group. Two of the major approaches to designing computer systems are serial or single processor systems and parallel processor systems. Single processor systems have just one processor computer chip.

Although modern processors are very fast, performing calculations in milliseconds or less, these systems are still limited in speed.

The processor performs one calculation at a time, then loads some new data and performs another calculation.

It does this in a rapid-fire fashion, over and over and over again. Parallel processor systems, on the other hand, can have many computer processors working in tandem. Part of the computer breaks each big problem down into many smaller calculations. The central processor then assigns each of these smaller calculations to one of many processors. Each processor works on its share of the problem by itself, at the same time as all the other processors. When the processors are done with their small calculations, they report their results back to the central processor, which then assigns them more work.

Although a small amount of performance is lost due to the need to coordinate tasks, the overall increase in computing efficiency is very, very large when tackling complex computational projects. As an example, NCAR's Cheyenne supercomputer , which began operations in January , has more than ,processors. Supercomputers with many parallel processors are used to run models of extremely complex systems. Examples include:. Breadcrumb Home Classroom Activities. Main content. Learning Objectives Students will learn about two major approaches to computing: serial processing and parallel processing.

Students will experience the significantly greater speed of the parallel processing approach over the serial processing approach via a hands-on activity with blocks. Students will learn that supercomputers make extensive use of the parallel processing approach, which makes them much faster at performing complex calculations than they otherwise would be.

Time Class time: minutes Educational Standards Next Generation Science Standards Science and Engineering Practices developing and using models planning and carrying out investigations analyzing and interpreting data using mathematics and computational thinking Crosscutting Concepts scale, proportion, and quantity structure and function Disciplinary Core Ideas ETS1. In the first six bins, place 18 blocks of the same or similar colors into the first bin, 18 blocks of a different color into the second bin, and so on.

For example, bin 1 would contain 18 red blocks, bin 2 would contain 18 blue blocks, etc. In the seventh bin, place 18 blocks of each color a total of blocks! Keep the different colors segregated by color in different areas of the bin.

The activity can readily be modified for smaller groups of 5 or 6 students as follows: If the group has 5 students, prepare 4 bins with 18 blocks of a single color in each bin and one bin with 18 blocks of each of 4 colors 72 total blocks using the same colors as the 4 individual color bins. For a group of 6 students, prepare 5 bins with 18 blocks of a single color in each bin and one bin with 18 blocks of each of 5 colors 90 blocks total. Directions Arrange students into groups of students per group.

In each group, assign students to the following roles: One student in each group will play the role of the serial or single computer processor. Give this student the bin with the large collection of multicolored blocks. Give each of these students a bin with 18 blocks of a single color. Step-by-step Instructions Explain the block-stacking task to the students. Tell them that they don't need to stack the blocks vertically; it's easier to assemble the stack horizontally on a table or desk.

Arrange the students into groups of students per group. Assign roles within the groups. One student will act as the single, serial processor. The remaining students in each group join the parallel processing system. In real time example, there are multiple queues of people standing to get railway tickets. In this case, each queue is handled by multiple people, so multiple people will get tickets at a time. Similarly, in the operating system, there are multiple queues of tasks and multiple tasks are completed by different processors at a time.

An operating system running on the multicore processor is an example of the parallel operating system. Windows 7, 8, 10 are examples of operating systems which do parallel processing. In today life all latest operating systems support parallel processing. Suppose MS Word program is running on your computer. This program may have several tasks running inside it. Note that processing goes in a sequential way. Now suppose you have multicore processor then, in this case, one task given to each processor CPU and all three tasks get processed simultaneously at a given time.

This type of processing is called parallel processing. Operating system missing - Solved by Junaid Rehman. Difference between centralized, decentralized and distributed processing by Junaid Rehman.

Difference between serial and parallel processing. Post Pagination Next Post Next. Home Computers Difference between serial and parallel processing.

Sequential vs parallel. Sequential processing vs parallel processing. Like it?