TOPIC 2 : COMPUTER SYSTEM

BTC/ETC 1062 – COMPUTING FOR TECHNOLOGY

MADUSHIKA HANSAMALI
CONTENT

 Introduction to a Computer System.

 Computer System Components: Hardware, Software

and Live ware.

 Fetch-Decode-Execution Cycle.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR A COMPUTER SYSTEM

All computer systems, no matter how complex, consists of the following:

 At least one CPU

 Memory to hold programs and data

 I/O devices

 Long-term storage
PERSONAL COMPUTER SYSTEM
PERSONAL COMPTER SYSTEM
COMPUTER SYSTEM (NETWORK)
COMPONENTS OF A
COMPUTER SYSTEM
MAIN COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM

 Hardware
 The physical components of a computer, including the computer itself and its attached peripherals.
 Provides input, output, processing and storage components.
 Software
 The programs that run on computer hardware.
 Gives “life” to the hardware.
 Systems software and application software.
A computer requires both hardware and software. It is essentially useless without each other
 Live ware
 Human users/ working personnel
HARDWARE COMPONENT

o Input, Output devices

o Storage devices
o CPU – Central Processing Unit
 ALU – Arithmetic and Logic Unit
 CU – Control Unit
o Main memory
 Short-term storage for CPU calculations or temporary data storage
BASIC OPERATIONS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM

 Inputting - The process of entering data and instructions into the computer system.
 Storing - Saving data and instructions to make them readily available for initial or additional
processing whenever required.
 Processing - Performing arithmetic operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide, etc.) or logical
operations (comparisons like equal to, less than, greater than, etc.) on data to convert them
into useful information.
 Outputting - The process of producing useful information or results for the user such as a
printed report or visual display.
 Controlling - Directing the manner and sequence in which all of the above operations are
performed
INPUT - PROCESS - OUTPUT MODEL

 Input – Keyboard, mouse, scanner, webcam,

microphone.
 Processing – CPU executes computer
programs.
 Output – Monitor, printer, plotter, projector,
speaker.
 Storage – Hard drive, optical disks, USB
flash drives
BASIC ORGANIZATION OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM
INPUT

An input unit of a computer system performs the following functions:

 It accepts (or reads) instructions and data from outside world.
 It converts these instructions and data in to a computer acceptable form.
 It supplies the converted instructions and data to the computer system for
further processing.
INPUT DEVICES
OUTPUT

An output unit of a computer system performs the following functions:

 It accepts the results produced by the computer, which are in coded form
and hence, cannot be easily understood by us.
 It converts these coded results to human acceptable (readable) form.
 It supplies the converted results to outside world
OUTPUT DEVICES
STORAGE

The storage unit of a computer system holds (or stores) the following:
 Data and instructions required for processing (received from input devices).
 Intermediate results of processing.
 Final results of processing, before they are released to an output device
TYPES OF STORAGE

Primary storage Secondary storage

 Used to hold running program instructions.

 Used to hold stored program instructions.
 Used to hold data, intermediate results, and results of
 Used to hold data and information of stored jobs.
ongoing processing of job(s).
 Slower than primary storage.
 Fast in operation.
 Large capacity.
 Small capacity.
 Cheaper than primary storage.
 Expensive.
 Retains data even without power.
 Examples -
 Examples - Hard disk drives, CD/DVD, Pen drives
 Random Access Memory (RAM) is
primary-volatile memory. Loses data on power loss.
 Read Only Memory (ROM) is primary-non-volatile
memory.
TYPES OF STORAGE

Primary storage Secondary storage

PRIMARY STORAGE VS SECONDARY STORAGE

Property Desirable Primary storage Secondary storage

Storage capacity Large storage capacity Small Large

Access time Fast access time Fast Slow

Cost per bit of storage Lower cost per bit High Low

Volatility Non-volatile RAM - Volatile Non-volatile

ROM - Non-volatile

Access Random access Random access Pseudorandom access

or sequential access
PROCESSING: CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

 CPU is a chip in the motherboard that executes program commands.

 It is the brain of a computer system.
 Performs all major calculations and comparisons.
 It is responsible for controlling the operations of all other units of a computer
system.
 No other single component of a computer determines its overall performance
as much as the CPU
 Mainly it has two parts.


BASIC PROCESSOR AND MEMORY ARCHITECTURE
CONTROL UNIT (CU)

 One of the two basic components of CPU.

 Acts as the central nervous system of a computer system.
 Selects and interprets program instructions, and coordinates execution.
 Has some special purpose registers and a decoder to perform these activities.


ARITHMETIC LOGIC UNIT (ALU)

 One of the two basic components of CPU.

 Actual execution of instructions takes place in ALU.
 Has some special purpose registers.
 Has necessary circuitry to carry out all the arithmetic and logic operations
included in the CPU instruction set.
INSTRUCTION SET

 CPU has built-in ability to execute a particular set of machine instructions, called
its instruction set.
 Most CPUs have 200 or more instructions (such as add, subtract, compare, etc.)
in their instruction set.
 CPUs made by different manufacturers have different instruction sets.
 Manufacturers tend to group their CPUs into “families” having similar instruction
sets.
 New CPU whose instruction set includes instruction set of its predecessor CPU is
said to be backward compatible with its predecessor.
REGISTERS

 Special memory units, called registers, are used to hold information on a temporary
basis as the instructions are interpreted and executed by the CPU.
 Registers are part of the CPU (not main memory) of a Computer.
 The length of a register, sometimes called its word size, equals the number of bits it
can store.
 With all other parameters being the same, a CPU with 32-bit registers can process
data twice larger than one with 16-bit registers.
MAIN MEMORY

 Every computer has a temporary storage built into the computer hardware
 It stores instructions and data of a program mainly when the program is being executed
by the CPU.
 This temporary storage is known as main memory, primary storage, or simply memory.
 Physically, it consists of some chips either on the motherboard or on a small circuit
board attached to the motherboard of a computer.
 It has random access property.
 It is volatile.
MAIN MEMORY ORGANIZATION

 Machines having smaller word-length are

slower in operation than machines having
larger word-length.
 A write to a memory location is
destructive to its previous contents.
 A read from a memory location is non-de
structive to its previous contents.
MAIN MEMORY

 Main memory is divided into many memory locations (or

cells)
 Each memory cell has a numeric address, which
uniquely identifies it.
 Each memory cell stores a set of number of bits (usually
8 bits, or one byte)
 Large values are stored in consecutive memory locations
.
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

 Primary memory of a computer is often referred to as

RAM because of its random access capability
 RAM chips are volatile memory.
 A computer’s motherboard is designed in a manner
that the memory capacity can be enhanced
by adding more memory chips.
 SRAM, DRAM
READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM)

 ROM is a non-volatile memory chip

 Data stored in a ROM can only be read and used – they
cannot be changed
 ROMs are mainly used to store programs and data,
which do not change and are frequently used. For
example, BIOS.
 ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM
CACHE MEMORY

 It is commonly used for minimizing the memory

processor speed mismatch.
 It is an extremely fast, small memory between
CPU and main memory whose access time is
closer to the processing speed of the CPU.
 It is used to temporarily store very active data
and instructions during processing.
SECONDARY STORAGE DEVICES
CACHE MEMORY

 Optical storage is the storage of data

on an optically readable medium.
Data is recorded by making marks in a
pattern that can be read back with the
aid of light, usually a beam of laser light
precisely focused on a spinning optical
disc.

 Magnetic storage is the storage of

data on a magnetized medium. It uses
different patterns of magnetisation in a
magnetizable material to store data. The
information is accessed using one or
more read/write heads.

 Flash memory stores information in

an array of memory cells made from
floating-gate transistors.
FETCH - DECODE - EXECUTION
CYCLE
CPU: FETCH – DECODE – EXECUTION CYCLE

 CPU is a microprocessor
 It continuously follows the fetch-decode-execution cycle.
SOFTWARE COMPONENT

 System Software
Eg - Operating system
 Controls all machine activities
 Provides the user interface to the computer
 Manages resources including the CPU and memory
 Eg - Windows, Mac OS, Linux etc.
 Application software
 Software that performs specific tasks for an end-user
 Word processors, spreadsheets, missile control systems, POS systems, games etc
Most modern operating systems and application software have graphical user interfaces.
DIGITAL INFORMATION

Computers store all the information digitally.

 Numbers
 Text
 Graphics
 Audio
 Video
Generally all the information is digitized, in other words they are broken d
own into pieces and represented by numbers.
REPRESENTING TEXT DIGITALLY

 Every character is stored as a number, including spaces, digits and punctuation.

 Corresponding upper and lower case letters are separate characters.
REPRESENTING TEXT DIGITALLY

American Standard Code For

Information Interchange (ASCII)

It is a character encoding standard

for electronic communication.

ASCII codes represent text in

computers, telecommunications
equipment, and other devices.
BINARY NUMBERS

 Once information is digitized, it is represented and stored in memory using the

binary number system.
 A single binary digit (0 or 1) is called a bit.
 A single bit can represent two possible states, like a light bulb that is either on
(1) or off(0).
 Combinations of these bits are used to store values.
 BITS AND BYTES

A byte is eight bits, a word is 2 bytes (16 bits), a doubleword is 4 bytes (32 bits), and a quadword is 8 bytes (64 bits).
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS

 Intel i7-9700K, 3.60 GHz (Max 4.90 GHz), 12 MB Cache

 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM
 1TB HDD, 7200 RPM + 256 SSD M.2
 17” Monitor, 16:9, FHD, 144Hz