microcomputer Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ... computers whose CPU is contained on a single integrated semiconductor chip. As large-scale and then very large-scale integration (VLSI) have progressively increased the number of transistors that can be placed on one chip, the processing capacity of microcomputers ... Read more

integrated circuit (IC) Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ... Early ICs of the late 1950s consisted of about 10 components on a chip 0.12 in. (3 mm) square. Very large-scale integration (VLSI) vastly increased circuit density, giving rise to the microprocessor . The first commercially successful IC chip (Intel, 1974 ... Read more

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