fourth generation computer

architecture A computer built using Very Large ScaleIntegration (VLSI) integrated circuits, especially a

microcomputer based on a microprocesseor, or a parallelprocessor containing two to thousands of CPUs.

VLSI made it routine to fabricate an entire CPU, main memory,

or similar device with a single integrated circuit that can be

mass produced at very low cost. This has resulted in new

classes of machines such as personal computers, and high

performance parallel processors that contains thousands of

CPUs.

(1996-11-22)