UNIT 2 COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Structure 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Introduction Objectives Components of a Computer Central Processing Unit (CPU) Storage and Storage Devices I/O Devices Networking and Networking Devices Plug and Play Devices Communication Technology Types of Computers Summary Unit End Exercises References and Suggested Further Readings

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2.1

INTRODUCTION

For an information system, hardware is defined as any machinery that helps in input, processing, storage, and output activities. Similarly for a computer, the hardware is the collection of devices that perform the functions of input, processing, data storage, and output. In other words, all physical units of a computer system constitute computer hardware. The input device gets the data from the outside world and the data is stored in the memory. The central processing unit (CPU) processes this data and the various output devices display the results. The components communicate with each other through system bus. Each hardware component plays an important role in computing. The arrangement of the component within the system even today is what was suggested in 1945 by Von Neumann and is known as Von Neumann architecture.

2.2 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should be able to: Identify the components of a computer system; Describe the elements of a CPU; Explain the concept of networking; and Use plug and play devices

2.3 COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER

Input Devices Control Unit Arithmetic and Logic Unit Output Devices

Primary Storage

Secondary Storage Fig. 2.1 : Components of a Computer

Communication Devices 1

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The computer memory is categorized into primary storage and secondary storage. Primary storage stores the data and programs during processing and secondary storage is used to store the data and programs for future use. Communication devices connect a computer to other computers and devices to facilitate data exchange with them. Computers have been around since 1940s and have been evolving ever since. Computer hardware has evolved through four stages. The so-called first generation (1946-1956) computer was built by vacuum tubes and programming was done by plugging and unplugging chords. The second-generation (1957-1963) computers had transistors. The third generation (1964-1979) computers had integrated circuits. The fourth generation (1979 onwards) systems use very large-scale integrated circuits. Along with the hardware technology, the software also improved in terms of being user friendly and capability. Every system has software as its integral part, which makes the computer work. The most important software is an operating system (OS), which performs two functions:

Extend the machine - OS presents to the user an extended machine that is easier to program than the underlying hardware. Manage resources such as processor(s), memories, timers, disks, mouse, network, printer etc. OS provides an orderly and controlled allocation of the resources among the various programs competing for them.

2.4 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

In order to work, a computer needs some sort of brain. At the core of each computer, there is a device called central processing unit (CPU), which is the brain of the computer. CPU reads the program from the main memory, and executes each step of the program, which may involve calculations and decision-making. The CPU is responsible for controlling all devices of the computer. It initiates a memory operation, which may involve reading data from an input device and storing it into memory or read data from the memory and display it on an output device. The CPU mainly consists of three parts Control Unit, Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), and Primary Storage (also referred to as Main Memory). The ALU is the unit, which performs all mathematical calculations and logical operations. It performs addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It performs a logical operation by comparing two numbers. It can determine the smaller number, larger number or determine if the two numbers are equal. It can also determine whether a number is positive, negative or zero. A program is a sequence of instructions. An instruction may be an arithmetic operation, a logical operation, an assignment, or a jump. The control unit sequentially accesses program instructions, decodes them, and directs ALU, Main Memory, input devices, and output devices so that the program instructions can be carried out. Execution of one program instruction may require control unit to issue many directives. The ALU may also perform many operations to complete one program instruction. Each operation performed by ALU and control unit is referred to as machine instruction. Each program instruction may involve many machine instructions. A single machine instruction is completed in a machine cycle. The number of machine instructions completed in a second is called the speed of the CPU and it is measured in MIPS (Millions of instructions per second). A CPU also contains a set of registers, which are specialized, small, high-speed memory for storing temporary results of ALU and for storing control information.
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Computer Speed The word length of a CPU is the number of bits it can process in a single cycle. A 64-bit machine can process 64 bits in a single cycle. A 64-bit machine is faster than a 32-bit machine. The cycle is defined by the internal clock of the control unit. The Pentium based systems have a clock speed of 1GHz or more whereas 3 years ago the speed used to be 300 MHz. The bus carries data, control signals, and address in a system. If the data bus width is same as the word length, then one word can be moved at a time. If the bus width is half of word length, two cycles are required for moving one word. The instruction set also affects the speed. If the instruction set is simple, as in RISC, one or more instructions may get executed in each cycle. There will be some long instructions, which take more than one cycle. It is possible that a given application extensively uses long instructions (such as scientific computing) and the machine will appear to be slow. There is no direct relationship between clock frequency and the speed of a system. There are benchmark programs that are run to establish the speed of a computer system.

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2.5 STORAGE AND STORAGE DEVICES

The large amount of data is stored on a computer using various types of storage media. The storage media are distinguished by their relative speed, capacity, and resilience to failure. 1) Volatile Storage: Information residing in such storage needs continuous power supply. The contents are lost if power supply is switched off. Examples of such storage devices are main memory and cache memory, which we will discuss in the next section. Access to volatile storage is very fast, both because of the technology used and because of the access method. 2) Nonvolatile Storage: The nonvolatile storage media do not require power supply to retain their contents. Examples of such storage media are disks and magnetic tapes. Disk is used for online storage, while tapes are used for archival storage. Disks and magnetic tapes are very reliable storage media. The current technology used for nonvolatile storage makes them much slower than volatile storage. Main Memory Main memory holds the programs and data required by the CPU for carrying out its operations. The primary storage is a semiconductor device that is built using integrated circuits. The data is stored in binary form by main memory. Numeric as well as non-numeric data can be represented in binary form. With two binary digits, we can represent 4 different characters. With three binary digits, we can represent 8 different characters. Computes internally use eight binary digits to represent characters and digits (A binary digit is referred to as bit and 8 bits are called a byte). 256 characters can be represented by a byte. The main memory consists of many thousands of bytes. The table given below lists commonly used names, abbreviations and the number of bytes for storage capacity.
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Table 2.1: Commonly Used Names and Abbreviations for Storage Capacity Name Byte Kilobyte Megabyte Gigabyte Terabyte Abbreviation B KB MB GB TB Number of Bytes 1 1,024 1,024 * 1,024 (about one million) 1,024 * 1,024 * 1,024 1,024 * 1,024 * 1,024 * 1,024

Types of Main Memory Memory can be of various types like Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read-Only Memory (ROM). The figure 2.2 given below gives a description of the memory types.

MEMORY TYPES

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Read Only Memory (ROM)

SDRAM

DRAM

EPROM

PROM

Fig. 2.2: Types of Memory

RAM has become the synonym for main memory. 20 years ago, the word core memory was used for referring to main memory. RAM is the memory access method and core memory was the technology used in main memory. The core memory technology is not used any more. RAM is an acronym for random access memory. As the name suggests, any location of the memory can be accessed randomly and the access time to is independent of the location. We will continue to use word RAM to refer to main memory. RAM is very fast; the access time is in nano seconds. RAM is volatile that is the contents of RAM are lost when the power supply to the RAM is discontinued. DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) is the most common kind of RAM. The data is stored in the cell of transistors and capacitors and the data has to be refreshed every few milliseconds. SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) does not require periodical refresh. SRAM is faster than DRAM but is more expensive as compared to DRAM.
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A part of computer storage is ROM that cannot be erased or changed. ROM is an acronym for read only memory. ROM is nonvolatile i.e. its contents are not lost when power is switched off. ROM is required for storing the boot program that should not be lost or changed due to any failure. ROM also comes in many flavors such as PROM and EPROM. PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) is used for storing some specialized application by the computer designers instead of chip designers. PROM can be written only once. EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) can be erased and reprogrammed many times. Secondary Memory Main Memory provides a small amount of volatile storage. But a computer needs to store large amount of data and instructions permanently. The secondary memory is non-volatile and has large capacity. The secondary memory is slow as compared to main memory. Various technologies are used for secondary memory, some provide random access, and others provide sequential access. In sequential access, data must be accessed in the order in which it is stored. For example, if we have stored data of students in the order of their roll numbers, then to retrieve data of student with roll number 20, we need to read (and possibly discard) the data of students with roll numbers 01 to 19 before we can access the desired data. If direct access is provided then any part of the data can be accessed directly, without the need to pass by other data in sequence. The sequential access storage devices are referred to as SASD (Sequential Access Storage Devices) and the direct access devices are called DASDs (Direct Access Storage Devices). The most common forms of secondary storage devices are magnetic tapes and magnetic disks. Magnetic tape is one of the common sequential secondary storage mediums. The tape usually is a Mylar film coated with iron oxide. Portions of the tape are magnetized to represent bits. It is sequential access device, to access the nth block on tape; we must first read the preceding n-1 blocks. The main advantages of the magnetic disks are they are inexpensive, long lasting and can store large volume of data (20 GB to 150 GB). Generally it is used for back up or archival storage of data. Magnetic Disk is all made of magnetic material shaped as a thin circular disk and protected by a plastic or acrylic cover. A disk is single sided if it stores information on only one of its surfaces and double sided if both surfaces are used. To increase storage capacity, disks are assembled into a disk pack, which may include as may as 30 surfaces. Information is stored on the disk surface in concentric circles of small width, each having a distinct diameter. Each circle is called a track. For disk packs, the tracks with the same diameter on the various surfaces are called a cylinder. The concept of cylinder is very important because data stored on the same cylinder can be retrieved much faster than if it were distributed among different cylinders. Each concentric circle typically stores the same amount of data. The number of tracks on a disk ranges up to 800. Capacity of each track typically ranges from 4-50 Kbytes. Each track is divided into sectors. The division of a track into equal sized blocks or pages is set by the operating system during disk formatting. There is a read/ write head, which reads data from the disk and writes data to the disk. A disk is mounted on the disk drive, which has the motor that rotates it. A read/write head has a mechanical arm attached to it. All arms are connected to an actuator attached to another electrical motor, which moves the head in unison and positions it over the cylinder of tracks specified in a block address. RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is an array of multiple inexpensive hard disks that provides fault tolerance through redundancy and improved access rates. It provides a method of accessing multiple individual disks, as they are one large disk. The data is spread over these multiple disks, thereby reducing the risk of losing all data if one disk fails. Usually, RAID is used in a computer, which is a file

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server or a transaction server, where data accessibility is critical and fault tolerance is required. Nowadays, RAID is also being used in desktop systems for CAD, multimedia editing, and playback where higher transfer rates are needed. The RAID has following levels: 1) RAID 0: It is also known as Disk Striping. This is technically not a RAID level since it provides no fault tolerance. Data is written in blocks across multiple drives for fast access. The advantages of striping are the higher access rate, and full utilization of the array capacity. The disadvantage is there is no fault tolerance 2) RAID 1: This is also known as Disk Mirroring. Raid 1 provides redundancy by writing the data twice. If one disk fails, the other contains an exact duplicate of the data and the RAID can switch to using the mirror drive with no lapse in user accessibility. The disadvantages of mirroring are no improvement in data access speed, and higher cost, since twice the number of drives is required. However, it provides the best protection of data since the array management software will simply direct all application requests to the surviving disk members when a member of disk fails. 3) RAID 3: RAID level 3 distribute data across multiple discs and stores additional information on one disc for error correction in recovery. It has high reliability and it is fast. 4) RAID 5: It is the most popular configuration. In RAID 5, the additional data, which is used for error detection and correction, is also distributed over many discs. This arrangement has very high reliability and access speed is also good. However, the write operation is slower compared to other RAID configurations. Optical Disks are the disks made of plastic, in which lasers that physically burn pits in the disk record data. Here each pit represents a binary digit 1 and each unpitted area represents binary digit 0. Optical discs are direct access devices. The advantage of optical disks are that the amount of physical disk space needed to record an optical bit is much smaller than usually required by magnetic media and is less susceptible to deterioration. Cache It is high-speed memory. The CPU keeps part of the program and the data into cache memory, which it is likely to use frequently. Typically the cache memory is limited to 256 KB or higher. Cache plays a direct role in increasing Internet speed than RAM does. RAM and cache are both a form of computer memory. Cache stores images and text from web pages as you view them. Pages in cache are not updated while RAM refreshes it again and again. Activity A 1) Computers motherboard, processor, and CPU are the same or different things? ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................

2) Whats the difference between cache and RAM? ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................

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2.6

INPUT/ OUTPUT DEVICES

They are used as a medium of communication between the external environment and the CPU. The input is provided to the computer through the input devices and the output is given through the output devices. The input and output devices are controlled by the CPU. A computer system may also have devices under the control of CPU dedicated for controlling the input output devices. Input Devices Table 2.2 give below highlights the categories into which the input devices fall.
Table 2.2: Categories of Input devices Category Keying Device Name of Device Keyboard Punched card reader Mouse Pointing Devices Touch Screen Joy Stick Light Pen Voice Recognizers Bar Code Reader Optical Character Recognizer Optical Mark Reader Optical Character Reader / Optical Scanner Cameras Other Devices Digitizers ( for maps, graphs etc) Smart Cards Telephone.

Voice Recognition devices are used to recognize human speech. It converts human voice signals received through microphone to digital signals using software tools. Voice recognition systems are becoming popular. Bar Code Reader scans the code (black and white bars), which specifies the name of the product and its manufacturer. The computer then finds the price of the product from the database. It is used for high- volume processing of data where use of keyboard entry can be very time consuming, for example they are used in supermarkets. Digital cameras are used to capture pictures. The pictures are digitized and stored in computers. The pictures can be reviewed, deleted, edited, and saved for future use.

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Images can be transmitted from a PC to a printer or to other cameras. They can be mailed to friends. Digitizers are devices that convert drawings made on sensitized surface with the help of pen to machine-readable input. These inputs are transferred to the computer. A smart card is a card that is embedded with either a microprocessor and a memory chip or only a memory chip with non-programmable logic. The microprocessor card can add, delete, and otherwise manipulate information on the card, while a memory-chip card (for example, pre-paid phone cards) can only undertake a pre-defined operation. Output Devices The output generated by a computer can be transmitted to the user via several devices and media. These devices are called output devices. Following are some important output devices: 1) Monitors: It is a video screen that displays both input and output data. It comes in different sizes ranging from few inches to several feet. It is interactive in nature, which is the main advantage associated with this device. It consists of CRT (Cathode Ray tube) technology. It is the electronic gun that shoots the beam of electrons and illuminates the pixels on the screen. 2) Printers: There are two broad categories of printers i.e. Impact and Non Impact Printers. Impact printer uses striking action to press a carbon against paper to create a character. Dot matrix, Line, and Daisy wheel are some important type of Impact printers. They are slow and noisy. They dont support graphics and are susceptible to mechanical breakdowns. Non Impact Printers use laser beams to write information on photosensitive drums. The paper passes over the drum and picks the image with toner. Laser Printer is the example of Non Impact Printers. They have high speed and can produce print- quality text and graphics. Ink-jet printers are Non Impact Printers, which shoot tiny dots of ink on the paper. They are inexpensive and are used for low volume graphical applications when different colors of ink are required. 3) Plotter: They use computer driven pens for creating black and white or color graphic images likes charts, graphs etc. They are used in engineering and architectural drawings.

2.7

NETWORKING AND NETWORKING DEVICES

A network is a group of computers, printers, and other devices that are connected together with cables. Data travels over the cables, allowing network users to exchange documents and data with each other. Many users can use the same printer and share hardware and software that are connected to the network. Each computer, printer, or other peripheral device that is connected to the network is called a node. A network can have tens, thousands, or even millions of nodes. The number of possible ways to logically arrange the nodes, or computer systems and devices on the networks are mainly of five types. They are termed as network topologies, i.e. the logical model that describes the network structure or configuration. These types are bus, ring, hierarchical, star and hybrid. The computers in the ring network are connected in ring or circle. There is no central computer and messages are routed around the ring from one device to another in one direction. In the bus network the devices are connected on the single line. Each device is connected to the single bus and can directly communicate with all other devices on the network. A star network has a central computer. This central computer controls and directs messages. If the central computer breaks down, entire system is broken down. The hierarchical structure has tree like structure and does

not have a central computer. Messages pass through all the branches of the tree till they reach the destination. This structure is easy to repair as any branch can be isolated and repaired without affecting any other branch. Hybrid network is the combination of two or more topologies.

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Ring Structure

Hybrid Structured

Star Structure

Tree Structure

Bus Structure

Fig. 2.3: Types of Network Topologies

Network Devices Network devices allow multiple computers to exchange data and information through Internet or Intranet connection. Many people can use a single printer, or share other devices and resources on the network. Every network has a router which is a device that connects two or more networks and determines the next point to which a packet of data should be forwarded towards its destination. A packet is the smallest unit of data that travels on the network. A hub is the center point where several network connections converge i.e. it the point where data comes in from one or more directions and is forwarded to one or more directions. Sometimes the same device serves as both the hub and router. NIC (Network Interface Card) is a card installed on a computer that connects the computer to the network. It provides dedicated and full-time connection to the computer.

2.8 PLUG AND PLAY DEVICES

Plug and Play (also called PnP) specification was developed by Microsoft with cooperation from Intel and many other hardware manufacturers. The goal of Plug and Play is to create a computer whose hardware and software work together to automatically configure devices and assign resources, to allow for hardware changes and additions without the need for large-scale resource assignment tweaking. As the name suggests, the goal is to be able to just plug in a new device and immediately be able to use it, without complicated setup maneuvers. The plug and play feature was introduced in Windows 2000. One can plug in, for instance, an USB device and it is detected and accepted by the system so that the device can be used without rebooting the system. Operating system has drivers for most of the devices. When a device, for which operating system has the driver, is plugged in, the communication between the driver and the device is established by the OS.

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These devices are connected to the computer in several ways. Some devices, such as network adapters and sound cards, are connected to expansion slots inside the computer. Other devices, such as printers and scanners, are connected to ports outside the computer. Some devices, known as PC Cards, connect only to PC Card slots on a portable computer. The operation system must have device drivers for all plug and play devices. USB (Universal Serial Bus) is the new industry standard for attaching peripheral devices to the computer. This technology is designed for use with numerous devices, including printers, digital cameras, game pads, joysticks, keyboards and mice, and storage devices. USB hardware is identical across platforms. It replaces all the different kinds of serial and parallel port connectors with one standardized plug and port combination. The devices can plug in without opening the PC.

Fig. 2.4: Universal Serial Bus (USB)

There are two types of USB connectors 1) The Type A connector (below) is used to connect a USB device to a hub or CPU and is sometimes referred to as a downstream connector (The CPU is always in the upstream direction). It is rectangular in shape and is friction fit into a Type A plug. Type A plugs exist in the CPU and keyboard. 2) The Type B connector (below) is used to attach a USB cable to an endpoint device such as a camera, scanner, or mouse and is sometimes referred to as an upstream connector. It is easily identified by its house shape (square with a V-shaped roof).

Fig. 2.5: Types of Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors

Activity B What were the main reasons for the change from the serial, printer, game, and ps/2 ports to the USB 1.1 port? ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................
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2.9

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

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Communications is the transmission of a signal by a way of particular medium from a sender to a receiver. For example in human speech, the sender transmits a signal through the transmission medium air.

Signal Sender Receiver

Transmission Medium

For the effective communication both the sender and the receiver should understand the signals and have common interpretation for them. When communication has to be established a medium is required for transmission. This pathway/medium is called as communication media. It includes twisted pair, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, microwave transmission, and satellite transmission. The table 2.3 lists main characteristics of these mediums.
Table 2.3: Main characteristics of mediums

Medium

Advantages

Disadvantages

Twisted Pair

Inexpensive Widely available Easy to work with Higher Bandwidth Less susceptible to
electromagnetic interference.

Low Bandwidth Low security (easily tapped) Emits electromagnetic

interference

Coaxial Cable

Expensive and Inflexible Easily tapped Expensive Difficult to splice Inflexible Uses Encryption for security Expensive Signals experience
propagation delay.

High Bandwidth Fiber Optic Cable Difficult to tap Lighter than coaxial cable
Microwave

Very High Bandwidth Relatively Inexpensive Very High Bandwidth Large coverage

Satellite

Uses Encryption for security

There are two modes of communication Synchronous and Asynchronous. In Synchronous transmission, data bits are sent over a communication link and the data transfer is controlled by a timing signal initiated by the sending device. Each data block is preceded by unique characters called sync bits. The receiving device synchronizes itself with a stream of these bits. Synchronous transmission is generally used for transmitting large volume of data at high speed. For Asynchronous transmission, one character is transmitted or received at a time.
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Each character is preceded by start bit and ended with end bit, so that the receiving device knows where the character begins and ends. It is inefficient due to the overhead of transmitting start and stop bits. It is generally used for low speed data transmission. Data transmission occurs in one of the following three directions: Simplex, half duplex, or full duplex. In simplex data transmission, the data transmission takes place in only one direction. Public announcement systems such as radio and television use simplex mode of data transmission. It is simple and relatively inexpensive. In halfduplex transmission mode, the transmission takes place in both directions but only in one direction at a time. Full duplex mode of transmission allows transmission in both directions simultaneously. For example, on telephone both parties can communicate simultaneously. The cost of full duplex transmission is high as compared to both simplex and half duplex.

2.10 TYPES OF COMPUTERS

Mainframes: Mainframes are not as powerful and not as expensive as super computers. A large organization generally uses a mainframe as a contact database and file server. Minicomputers: There are also called midrange computers. There are less powerful than mainframes. Minicomputers are used for specific tasks such as scientific research and engineering applications. Some times, large organizations install many minicomputers instead of one mainframe. The application, and data are distributed ones minicomputer to achieve better reliability. Small organizations use a minicomputer as a server. Workstations: A workstation is usually based RISC architecture, provides high solution graphic displays and high-speed calculations. Scientific and business community uses these machines. Microcomputer: Microcomputers, also called personal computers, are generalpurpose computers. A PC that sits on a desk is called desktop personal computer in contrast to a laptop computer, which is portable. Network Computer: A network computer (NC) is a desktop terminal that is connected to a central computer. A NC has essentially no storage, no CPU, and no secondary storage. It has a keyboard and a video display. It uses processing power and storage of its central processor.

2.11 SUMMARY
In this unit, we have discussed an introduction to computer systems. The components of computer, which we explained in detail include: CPU, ALU, storage, and I/O devices. The CPU works as the brain of the system, while RAM is the working memory of the system. Todays computers come with possibilities to use many plug and play devices, and they are also network compatible. We have also discussed the concepts related to networking in this unit, where we have described the various media used such as co-axial cable, satellite, fiber optics, and microwave communication. At the end, we have given a brief overview of different types of computers though generatiaons.
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2.12 UNIT END EXERCISES

1) What are the components of a computer system? 2) What are the components of a CPU? 3) What factors affects the speed of a computer? 4) Write a detailed note on primary memory. 5) Write a detailed note on secondary memory. 6) Write a detailed note on Input-Output devices. 7) What are plug-and-play devices? 8) What are various types of computer?

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2.13

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED FURTHER READINGS

Fitzherald, J.and Dennnis A, Business Data Communications and Networking; John Wiley & Cons. Inc. Laudon C K & Laudon J P, Management Information Systems, Pearson Education, Asia. Turban, T., Ephraim, M. and Wetherbe J., Information Technology for Management, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1998.

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