Fjölþráðleiðarar

Fjölþráðleiðarar, also known as multithreaded processors or hyper-threaded processors, are a type of CPU architecture that can execute multiple threads of instructions concurrently. This is achieved by duplicating certain architectural components within a single physical processor core, such as the program counter and register sets, while sharing other resources like the execution units and cache.

The core concept behind fjölþráðleiðarar is to improve processor utilization. When one thread encounters a stall, such as waiting for data from memory, the processor can switch to executing instructions from another available thread. This rapid switching between threads, often at a much faster rate than actual context switching between separate processes, can keep the execution units busy and increase overall throughput.

This technology is distinct from having multiple physical cores. A single fjölþráðaleiðari core can present itself to the operating system as multiple logical processors, each capable of handling a separate thread. While this can significantly boost performance in multithreaded applications and when running many programs simultaneously, it does not offer the same level of true parallelism as having multiple independent physical cores, as the shared execution resources can still become a bottleneck if multiple threads heavily compete for them. The effectiveness of fjölþráðaleiðarar depends on the workload and how well the software is designed to take advantage of concurrent execution.