Multicore computer architecture uses two or more (up to 100's) of cpu's, configured into a multiprocessor on a single chip. Each cpu can fetch and execute its own instructions, and has a method to communicate with the other cpu's. If an embedded chip has a cpu, memory, and I/O on a single chip, a multicore architecture has an entire network of parallel processors on a single chip. In the same sense that a computer used to fill a room, then was reduced to a box, then to a chip, we now see a further reduction of multiple cpu's. It's just Moore's law. Every 18 months or so, the technology can give us a 2x factor of improvement.