RISC

ALSO CALLED: Reduced Instruction Set Computer Microprocessors, RISC Microprocessors, Star Processors, Reduced Instruction Set Computer, RISC Processors, Reduced Instruction Set Computing
DEFINITION: RISC (reduced instruction set computer) is a microprocessor that is designed to perform a smaller number of types of computer instructions so that it can operate at a higher speed (perform more millions of instructions per second, or MIPS). Since each instruction type that a computer must perform requires additional transistors and circuitry, a larger list or set of computer instructions tends to  … 
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RISC DEFINITION (continued): …  make the microprocessor more complicated and slower in operation.John Cocke of IBM Research in Yorktown, New York, originated the RISC concept in 1974 by proving that about 20% of the instructions in a computer did 80% of the work. The first computer to benefit from this discovery was IBM's PC/XT in 1980. Later, IBM's RISC System/6000, made use of the idea. The term itself (RISC) is credited to David Patterson, a teacher at the University of California in Berkeley. The concept was used in Sun Microsystems' SPARC microprocessors and led to the founding of what is now MIPS Technologies, part … 
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