UNIT-I

INTRODUCTION

We live in the computer age. Most of our day-to-day activities are being influenced by the use of
computers. While in areas like Science and Technology improvements cannot be achieved without computers,
it has become necessary for each and every one of us to have a basic knowledge of computers.

Q.WHAT IS A COMPUTER?( 2 Marks)

In simple words, a computer is an electronic device which processes information based upon the
instructions provided and generates the desired output. Like any other system, a computer system also requires
and input which processes to get the desired output is. In the case of computers, two kinds of inputs are
required. One, the basic or raw data, and two, a set of instructions containing the methodology to process this
data. This set of instructions is called program or software in computer speak.

Modern computers are electronic and digital. The actual machinery (wires, transistors and circuits) is
called hardware.

Data
Operations or
Result
calculations
Program

Q.WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTERS? ( 5/10 Marks)

All computers have certain common characteristic irrespective of their type and size. Computers are
what they are because of the following characteristics.

Word length:

A digital computer operates on binary digits 0 and 1. It can understand information only in terms of 0s and
1s. A binary digit is called a bit. A group of 8 bits is called a byte. The number of bits that a computer can
process at a time in parallel is called a word length. Commonly used word lengths are 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits word
length is the measure of the computing power of a computer.

Speed:

Computers can calculate at very high speeds. A microcomputer, for example, can execute millions of
instructions per second over and over again without any mistakes. As the power of the computer increases, the
speed also increases.

Storage:

Computers have their main memory and auxiliary memory systems. A computer can store a large amount of
data. With more and more auxiliary storage devices, which are capable of storing huge amounts of data, the
storage capacity of a computer is virtually unlimited.

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Accuracy:

The accuracy of a computer system is very high. Errors in hardware can occur, but error detecting and
correcting techniques will prevent false results. In most cases, the errors, are due to the human factor rather
than the technology flaws.

Versatility:

Computers are very versatile machines. They can perform activities ranging from simple calculations to
performing complex CAD modeling and simulation to navigating missiles and satellites. In other words, they
are capable of performing almost any task, provided the task can be reduced to a series of logical steps.

Diligence:

Diligence means being constant and earnest in effort and application. Human beings cannot perform the same
or similar tasks over and over again with the same precision, accuracy and enthusiasm as the first time, but the
computers will perform the task that are given to them, irrespective of whether it is interesting, creative,
monotonous or boring irrespective of whether it is the first time or the millionth time, with exactly the same
accuracy and speed.

Automation: The level of automation achieved in a computer is phenomenal. Computers can be programmed
to perform a series of complex tasks involving multiple programs. They will send warning signals or take
corrective actions if the parameters exceed the control level and so on.

Q. EXPLAIN THE TYPES/CLASSIFICATION OF DIGITAL COMPUTER SYSTEMS. ( 5/10 Marks)

Personal Computers (PCs):

A personal computer is the smallest general purpose processing system which is small, single-user computer
based on a microprocessor. Since personal computer can easily be linked to large computers, they form a very
important segment of the integrated systems.

Until recently, PCs were desktop or portable machines. These machines ran comparatively easy to use
applications software such as the word processors, spread sheets etc. Examples of personal computers are
Acers, Aspire, Compaq, Presario etc.

Workstations:

A workstation is like a personal computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher
quality monitor. Workstations are again, until recently, expensive, powerful machines used by engineers,
scientists and other professionals who processed a lot of data. Workstations use sophisticated display screens
featuring high-resolution colour graphics and operating systems such as UNIX that permitted multi tasking.
Workstations also use powerful networking links to other computers.

Portable computers:

Personal computing market is seeing the miniaturization phenomena. Now, computers are becoming
smaller yet more powerful. One type of PC that is rapidly growing in popularity is the portable computer,
which can be easily carried around. There are three categories of portable computers. They are Laptop or
Notebook PCs, sub note books and personal digital assistants.

Laptops/Notebooks:
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 Laptops may be either AC powered, battery-powered or both. These computers are ideal for users who
have to work away from their offices. These computers combine the power of the PC with mobility. An
example is IBM ThinkPad.

Sub notebooks:

Sub notebooks are for frequent flyers and life-on-the-road professionals. Sub notebook users give up a
fully display screen and keyboard in exchange for less weight. They typically have an external floppy disk and
monochrome monitor.

Personal Digital Assistants (PDA):

PDAs are much smaller than the sub notebooks. They combine pen input, writing recognition, personal
organizational tools and communication capabilities in a very small package. An example of a PDA is Apples
Newton.

Minicomputers:

A minicomputer is a medium sized computer that is more costly and more powerful than a personal computer.
They were used, for instance, to control machines in a manufacturing unit. An important distinction between a
personal computer and mini computer is that a mini computer is usually designed to serve multiple users
simultaneously, a system that supports multiple users is called multi terminal, time-sharing system.

Minicomputers also known as mid range computers were first developed as special purpose mainframe
computers. However, now they are widely used as general-purpose computers. Thus the line between minis
and mainframe has blurred and is constantly changing. Indeed, the more powerful minicomputer models are
called super minis.

Mainframes:

Computers with large storage capacities and very high speed of processing are known as mainframe
computers. Large organizations rely on these room-size systems to handle large programs with lots of data.
Mainframes are mainly used by insurance companies, banks, airline and railway reservation systems etc. An
advanced mainframe made by IBM is S/390.

Supercomputers:

A supercomputer, by contrast, can operate at speeds measured in nanoseconds and even in picoseconds
one thousand to one million times as fast as micro-computers. Typically the super computer is used for large
scale numerical problems in scientific and engineering disciplines. These machines are for applications
requiring very large programs and huge amounts of data that must be processed quickly. Examples of such task
are weather forecasting, oil exploration, weapons research and large scale simulation.

Network computers:

Network computers are computers with minimal memory disk storage and processor power designed to
connect to a network, especially the internet. The idea behind network computers is that many users who are
connected to a network dont need all the computer power they get from a typical personal computer. Instead,
they can rely on the power of the network servers.

This is really a variation on an old idea diskless workstation which are computers that contain
memory and a processor but no disk storage; instead, they rely on a server to store data. Network computers
designed to connect to the internet are sometimes called internet boxes.
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ANATOMY OF DIGITAL COMPUTER

Q. EXPLAIN IN DETAIL THE ANATOMY OF DIGITAL COMPUTERS/ COMPONENETS OF

DIGITAL COMPUTER/ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL COMPUTERS. (10 Marks)

To function properly, the computer needs both hardware and software. Hardware means the machine i.e.
electronic and mechanical devices and software means programs. We can see the physical presence of hardware
where software is stored in memory or in storage devices. If compared with human, body is the hardware and
intelligence is software.

Computer does the following four functions:

Receive the input data through input devices

Process the data with the help of CPU
Generate the output through output devices
Stores the input/output in storage devices
Central processing unit (CPU)
The central processing unit is the most important component of a computer system. It is called the heart of
computer system. CPU consists of three components:

(i) Control units

(ii) Arithmetical and Logic unit (ALU)

To understand how these units function, two terms must be known first. They are Registers and Addresses.

Registers:

Registers are storage locations in Control Unit and ALU. They are used to hold data and instructions
temporarily. The contents are handled very fast to make processing faster. They are parts of the control unit &
ALU rather than the memory.

Addresses:

Each Register is identified by its address. The contents of a register can be referenced in future use by its
address. The addresses of the registers are stored in main memory in address-registers, simply called address.

Output
Control Unit
Devices
Input
Devices

ALU

Main Memory

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Data Flow

Control Flow

Control Unit

It is the nerve center of the computer system. Its function is to interpret and execute the instructions.
It controls, supervises all activities of a computer and monitors the execution of programs.
It coordinates various parts of computer system like ALU, Main memory and Peripheral devices.
It controls transfer of data from input devices, storage in memory, movement of data from memory to
working space and back and finally to output devices.
Stores programs, data, and results in main memory in separate partition made for them.
Permits the users to wants to have access to computer simultaneously.
In the first phase, Control unit takes an instruction from the primary memory and stores it into instruction
register and interpret the instruction with the help of instructions operation code table. The time required to
perform this is called instruction time. In the second phase, CU actually performs the task as indicated by the
instruction. The time required for this is called execution time. The execution of job of CU may involve
transferring data from one location to another and/or computation by ALU.

Cycle time = instruction time + execution time.

Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

There are three gates in ALU mathematical gates, logic gates and register. A gate is an electronic switch.
Mathematical gates perform the mathematical calculation, logic gates do the logical operations and register are
used for temporary storage of data. Logical operations are basically comparing, selecting, matching of data
whereas Arithmetic operation means addition only. In computer, subtraction is addition of complements,
multiplication is repetitive additions and division means repetitive subtractions.

Primary Memory or Main Memory

Primary memory is for storing program, data, and doing the processing. In fact, it can be visualized as
consisting of five areas for storing different sets of programs and related data as given below:

(i) Operating System i.e. Supervisor Program

(ii) Program (software) storage area to store program for execution

(iii) Input storage area for holding data from input devices

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(iv) Working storage area for processing the data

(v) Output storage area for temporary storage of results as a buffer which are sent to output devices.

Q. HOW THE CPU AND MEMORY WORKS? ( 5/10 Marks)

The various steps involved for multiplying two numbers is shown explained below:

1. The control unit recognizes that the program has been loaded into memory. It begins to execute the first
step in the program.
2. The program tells the user, Enter 1st Number.
3. The user types the number 10 on the keyboard. An electronic signal is sent to the CPU.
4. The control unit recognizes this signal and routes the signal to an address in memory- address7.
5. After completing the above instruction, the next instruction tells user, Enter 2nd Number.
6. The user types the number 4 on the keyboard. An electronic signal is sent to the CPU.
7. The control unit recognizes this signal and routes it to memory address 8.
8. The next program instruction is executed-Multiply 1st and 2nd Numbers.
9. To execute this instruction, the control unit informs the ALU that two numbers are coming and the ALU
is to multiply is to multiply them. The control unit next sends to the ALU a copy of the contents of address
7(10) and address 8(4).
10. ALU performs the multiplication: 10x4=40.
11. The control unit sends a copy of the multiplied result (40) back to memory, to address 9.
12. The next program instruction is executed: print the result.
13. To execute this instruction, the control unit sends the contents of the address9 (40) to the monitor.
14. Monitor displays the value 40.
15. Final instruction is executed : End. The program is complete.
This is a simplified version of the actual processing activity. The actual working of the CPU and memory is
much more complicated

MEMORY UNITS

Q. WHAT ARE MEMORY UNITS OF DIGITAL COMPUTERS? ( 2 Marks)

The memory section holds (stores) all data and results temporarily. It also stores the program of instructions
that are used for processing of data. The memory consists of hundreds of thousands of cells called storage
locations, each capable of storing one piece of information.

Moreover the term memory is usually used as a short form for physical memory, which refers to the
actual chips capable of holding data.

Some computers also use virtual memory, therefore, can hold about 1 million byte (or character) of
information. The memory section is called by different names such as storage, internal storage, primary storage,
main memory or memory.

Q. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEMORY? ( 5/10 Marks)

There are several different types of memory.

RAM (Random Access Memory):

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The term RAM itself indicate that this kind of memory allows to reading and writing both possible random
access this making it very fast. RAM is volatile in the sense that this type of space is used for temporary
working area and contents are lost as soon as the power in the machine is switched off.

There are two types of RAM:

- Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

- Static RAM (SRAM)

The difference in DRAM and SRAM is in technology in terms of holding data. DRAM has to be refreshed
frequently (thousands in one sec) whereas refreshing need of SRAM is very less, but it is also more expensive
then dynamic RAM. In common usage, the term RAM is synonymous with main memory, the memory
available to programs.

ROM (Read Only Memory):

The term itself indicates that this type of memory is used for permanent data storage and allows only reading.
ROMs are normally used to store information which is used by the computer for its own operation. Unlike
RAM, ROM is not volatile i.e. contents of ROM is not lost as soon as switch of the machine is made off.
Computers uses ROM chip to store permanent program for example program for booting the computer. At the
time of manufacturing of ROM chip, program is stored.

Computers almost always contain a small amount of read-only memory that holds instructions for
starting up the computer. In addition, ROMs are used extensively in calculators & peripheral devices such as
laser printers, whose fonts are often stored in ROMs.

PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory):

PROM chip is used to store program of permanent nature. PROM is used for microprocessor dedicated for a
particular job. At the time of manufacturing, PROM chip remains blank and program is written on it afterwards.

The difference between a PROM & a ROM is that a PROM is manufactured as blank memory whereas
a ROM is programmed during this manufacturing process. To write data onto a PROM chip, you need a special
device called a PROM programmer or a PROM burner. The process of programming a PROM is sometimes
called burning the PROM.

EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory):

This kind of ROM is used for storing programs. It is different of PROM in the sense that earlier program can be
erased by lesser rays and new program can be stored there.

An EPROM differs from a PROM in that a PROM can be written only once and cannot be erased.
EPROMs are used widely in personal computers because they enable the manufacturer to change the contents
of the PROM therefore the computer is actually shipped. This means that bugs can be removed and new
versions installed shortly before delivery.

EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory):

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