coprocessor

<architecture>

(Or "accelerator") Hardware, often an integrated circuit, which assists the main processor (the "CPU") by performing specific functions faster than the main processor could.

The most common example is a floating point coprocessor (or "FPU"), others are graphics (GPU) and networking.

The coprocessor may decode instructions in parallel with the main processor and execute only those instructions intended for it.

Last updated: 1995-01-05

Nearby terms:

Copper Distributed Data Interface ♦ coprocessor ♦ copy and paste

Try this search on Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Google, OneLook.

Loading