Basic Structure of a Computer

Computer
A computer is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its
own memory that can accept data (input), process the data according to specified rules,
produce information (output), and store the information for future use.

Computer Components
Any kind of computer consists of HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.

Hardware:
Computer hardware is the collection of physical elements that make up the computer
system. Computer hardware refers to the physical parts or components of the computer such
as the monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data storage devices, hard disk drive (HDD),
system unit (graphic cards, sound cards, memory, motherboard and chips), etc. all of which
are physical objects that can be touched.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A CPU is the brain of a computer. It is responsible for all functions and processes.
Regarding computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.

The CPU is comprised of three main parts:

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Executes all arithmetic and logical operations. Arithmetic
calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Logical operation like compare numbers, letters, or special characters. The
ALU has all the necessary digital circuits to perform the arithmetic or Logical
operations.
Control Unit (CU): controls and co-ordinates all the computer components. It generates
electrical signals (control signals) to all other units and according to these signal these units
perform is directed operations. All the operations that can be performed by the CPU are
built into the control unit. The basic set of instructions that a CPU can understand is known
as its instruction set. An important function of CU is program execution. Once the Control
Unit receives an instruction, it decodes it and start the process of execution. The execution
of each instruction causes a series of signals to be generated by control unit. Thus control
unit guides the interpretation, flow and manipulation of all data and information. The CPU
in the course of execution of a program goes through what is normally referred as the “fetch
and execute cycle”.

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Fetch and execute cycle
1. Read the code for the next instruction to be executed (Using contents of program
counter (PC) register.
2. Increment the program counter so it points to the next instruction.
3. Read whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory.
4. Provide the necessary data to ALU and/or register(s).
5. If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete, instruct the
hardware to perform the requested operation. Repeated execute from 1.
CPU Registers
Registers are the high speed, temporary storage areas present within the CPU. They are
used for keeping data, instructions, addresses etc. at the time of execution. Every
microprocessor has a set of registers that are used for a variety of purposes during the
execution of instructions. The following are the commonly used registers.
Memory Address Register (MAR): It holds the address of the active memory
location during the execution.
Data Register (DR): Holds the data read from the memory.
Accumulator (AC): Its is a general purpose processing register that stores
intermediate results during execution.
Instruction Register (IR): It is the part of the control unit. It holds the instruction
read from the memory.
Program Counter (PC): Holds the address of the next instruction to be processed.

System buses: There are three buses that carry addresses (Address bus), Data (Data
Bus) and control signals (Control bus). A bus is a collection of conductive paths that
carry electrical signals from one point of an electrical circuit to another.

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Memory (Also Main Memory, Primary Memory)
Data and program instructions have to be stored in memory for the CPU to access
them. When given task is completed, the memory (RAM) can be cleared and reused by
another program. Computer primary memory is made of semiconductors. The main memory
consists of RAM and ROM.
Memory consists of a number of cells, where each cell can store a bit (0 or 1). Each
memory location is a group of cells accessed together as a single unit. This group of bits is
called a word.

Memory organization
Memory is organised into a set of words. The computer manipulates one word at a
time. The number of bits in a word is called a word length. Each word has a unique address
and is referred to as memory location (or storage location). The memory locations are
addressed sequentially starting from 0,1,2,3, . . . (address location are normally specified in
Hexadecimal)
With an ‘n’ bit address it is possible to address 2 n memory locations.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Units of Memory
The following are the common units of memory
Bit: The elementary unit of memory. Two possible values of a bit are 0 or 1
Nibble: A collection of 4-bits
Byte: A group of 8 – bits. A computer needs a byte to represent a single character.
Kilobyte (KB): 1024 bytes = 210 Bytes
Megabyte (M B): 1024 KB = 220 Bytes
Gigabyte (G B): 1024 MB = 230 Bytes
Terabyte (TB): 1024 GB = 240 Bytes
Petabyte(PB): 1024 TB = 2 50 Bytes ( Petabyte is sometimes referred to as pentabyte.
This
is incorrect though commonly used and accepted)

Types of Memory
Memory on computer is broadly classified into primary memory and secondary
memory depending upon the accessibility, storage capacity and permanency. Primary
memory is directly accessible by the CPU. The contents of the secondary storage devices are
first read to the primary memory and then accessed by the CPU.
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Primary Memory
Primary memory is also known as main memory. They are classified into RAM and
ROM.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

RAM is the major portion of the primary memory. It is a read/write memory. We can
read the content of memory, write new contents to it, modify the content and write back. The
effort needed to read and write any location in RAM is same irrespective of its position.
RAM is used for storing programs and data needed by CPU at the time of execution. RAM is
a volatile memory. RAM is classified into DRAM and SRAM.
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
In DRAM a capacitor is used to store a bit as charges. A capacitor either stores a
charge (1) or no charge (0). The charge on the capacitor leaks off easily. So to keep the data
in Dynamic RAM it is frequently refreshed by a circuit. It is comparatively slow to access.
Static RAM (SRAM)
Static RAM is also volatile but as long as the power supply is there the data will
remain in the SRAM. It stores bits in electronic switches called flip-flops. They do not
require an additional refreshing. SRAM are fast to access. SRAM takes more space than
DRAM (low packaging density). They consume more power and are expensive compared to
DRAM.

ROM (Read Only Memory)

A small portion of the main memory is ROM. The contents of ROM cannot be
modified. It stores some programs permanently which are needed at the time of starting the
computer. Such programs that are permanently included in the hardware are called
Firmware. Usually BIOS (Basic Input Output System) are stored in ROM. The different
types of ROM are
Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM)
It can be programmed only once using a device called PROM programmer. Once it is
programmed it cannot be changed.
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM)
In this type the data can be erased and new data can be written to it. The stored data
is erased by exposing it to high intensity ultra violet light for some time.
Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM)
The stored content can be erased and new content can be stored by applying
electricity.

Cache Memory
It is a high-speed memory. It is placed in between CPU and RAM. CPU speed is very
high when compared to the speed of RAM. So data transfer between CPU and RAM is time
consuming. Cache memory speeds up the processing. Cache stores the frequently used
information.
Cache memory is expensive. So it is used in small size. The presence of Cache
increases the system performance.

Secondary Memory: -
Secondary memory (also called secondary storage) stores data and programs permanently or
semi-permanently (referred to as non-volatile): its contents are retained after the power is
turned off

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1. Hard drive (HD): A hard disk is part of a unit, often called a "disk drive," "hard drive," or
"hard disk drive," that stores and provides relatively quick access to large amounts of data
on an electromagnetically charged surface or set of surfaces.
2. Optical Disk: an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disk drive that uses laser light as part of the
process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only read
from discs, but recent drives are commonly both readers and recorders, also called
burners or writers. Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are common types of optical
media which can be read and recorded by such drives. Optical drive is the generic name;
drives are usually described as "CD" "DVD", or "Bluray", followed by "drive", "writer",
etc. There are three main types of optical media: CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc. CDs can
store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of data and DVDs can store up to 8.4 GB of data. Blu-
ray discs, which are the newest type of optical media, can store up to 50 GB of data. This
storage capacity is a clear advantage over the floppy disk storage media (a magnetic
media), which only had a capacity of 1.44 MB.
3. Flash Disk
A storage module made of flash memory chips. A Flash disk has no mechanical platters or
access arms, but the term "disk" is used because the data are accessed as if they were on a
hard drive. The disk storage structure is emulated.

Input Devices
An input device is any peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) that connects to
the computer to provide input data or control signals to an information processing system
such as a computer or other information appliance.
Input devices translate data from the form that humans understand to one that the computer
can work with. The most common input devices are the keyboard and the mouse

Example of Input Devices:-

1. Keyboard 2. Mouse (pointing device) 3. Microphone
4. Touch screen 5. Scanner 6. Cameras
7. Touchpads 8. MIDI keyboard 9 Joystick
19. Gamepad 20. Electronic Whiteboard

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Output devices
An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the
results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a
computer) which converts the electronically generated information into human readable
form.

Example on Output Devices:

1. Monitor 2. LCD Projection Panels
3. Printers (all types) 4. Computer Output Microfilm (COM)
5. Plotters 6. Speaker(s)
7. Projector

Note Basic types of monitors are a).Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). b). Liquid Crystal Displays
(LCD). c) light-emitting diode (LED) d) Plasma
Printer types: 1-Laser Printer. 2-Ink Jet Printer. 3-Dot Matrix Printer

Software
Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data and instructions, often
broken into two major categories: system software that provides the basic none task specific
functions of the computer, and application software which is used by users to accomplish
specific tasks.

Software Types
A. System software is responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing the
individual hardware components of a computer system so that other software and the
users of the system see it as a functional unit without having to be concerned with the
low-level details such as transferring data from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a
display. Generally, system software consists of an operating system and some
fundamental utilities such as disk formatters, file managers, display managers, text
editors, user authentication (login) and management tools, and networking and device
control software.

B. Application software is used to accomplish specific tasks other than just running the
computer system. Application software may consist of a single program, such as an
image viewer; a small collection of programs (often called a software package) that
work closely together to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet or text processing
system; a larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but independent
programs and packages that have a common user interface or shared data format, such
as Microsoft Office, which consists of closely integrated word processor, spreadsheet,
database, etc.; or a software system, such as a database management system, which is a
collection of fundamental programs that may provide some service to a variety of other
independent applications.

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 Comparison Application Software and System Software
System Software Application Software
Computer software, or just software is a
general term primarily used for digitally Application software, also known as an
stored data such as computer programs and application or an "app", is computer software
other kinds of information read and written by designed to help the user to perform specific
computers. tasks.

Example: 1) Opera (Web Browser)

1) Microsoft Windows
2) Microsoft Word (Word Processing)
2) Linux
3) Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet software)
3) Unix
4) MySQL (Database Software)
4) Mac OSX
5) Microsoft PowerPoint (Presentation Software)
5) DOS
6) Adobe Photoshop (Graphics Software)
Interaction: Users always interact with application software
Generally, users do not interact with system
while doing different activities.
software as it works in the background.
Dependency: System software can run independently of the Application software cannot run without the
application software. presence of the system software.

Units of Measurement
Storage measurements: The basic unit used in computer data storage is called a bit (binary
digit). Computers use these little bits, which are composed of ones and zeros,
to do things and talk to other computers. All your files, for instance, are kept in
the computer as binary files and translated into words and pictures by the
software (which is also ones and zeros). This two number system, is called a
“binary number system” since it has only two numbers in it. The decimal
number system in contrast has ten unique digits, zero through nine.
Computer Storage units
Bit BIT 0 or 1
Kilobyte KB 1024 bytes
Megabyte MB 1024 kilobytes
Gigabyte GB 1024 megabytes
Terabyte TB 1024 gigabytes
Size example

• 1 bit - answer to a yes/no question

• 1 byte – a decimal number from 0 to 255.
• 90 bytes: enough to store a typical line of text from a book.
• 4 KB: about one page of text.
• 120 KB: the text of a typical pocket book.
Speed measurement: The speed of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) is measured by the
Hertz (Hz), which represents a CPU cycle. The speed of the CPU is taken as the Computer
Speed.

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 CPU SPEED MEASURES
1 hertz or Hz 1 cycle per second
1 MHz 1 million cycles per second or 1000 KHz
1 GHz 1 billion cycles per second or 1000 MHz

Computer classification
Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows, though there is
Considerable overlap:

• Personal computer: A small, single-user computer based on a microprocessor. In addition

to the microprocessor, a personal computer has a keyboard for entering data, a monitor for
displaying information, and a storage device for saving data.

• Workstation : A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a personal

computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-quality monitor.

• Minicomputer : A multi-user computer capable of supporting from 10 to hundreds of

users simultaneously.

• Mainframe : A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many hundreds or

thousands of users simultaneously.

• Supercomputer : An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of millions of

instructions per second.

Laptop and Smartphone Computers

LAPTOP: A laptop is a battery or AC-powered personal computer that can be easily carried
and used in a variety of locations. Many laptops are designed to have all of the
functionality of a desktop computer, whichmeans they can generally run the
same software and open the same types of files. However, some laptops, such
as netbooks, sacrifice some functionality in order to be even more portable.

Netbook: A netbook is a type of laptop that is designed to be even more portable. Netbooks
are often cheaper than laptops or desktops. They are generally less powerful
than other types of computers, but they provide enough power for email and
internet access, which is where the name "netbook" comes from.
Mobile Device: A mobile device is basically any handheld computer. It is designed to be
extremely portable, often fitting in the palm of your hand or in your pocket. Some
mobile devices are more powerful, and they allow you to do many of the same
things you can do with a desktop or laptop computer. These include tablet
computers, e-readers, and smartphones.

Tablet Computers: Like laptops, tablet computers are designed to be portable. However,
they provide a very different computing experience. The most obvious difference is that

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tablet computers don't have keyboards or touchpads. Instead, the entire screen is touch-
sensitive, allowing you to type on a virtual keyboard and use your finger as a mouse pointer.
Tablet computers are mostly designed for consuming media, and they are optimized for tasks
like web browsing, watching videos, reading e-books, and playing games. For many people,
a "regular" computer like a desktop or laptop is still needed in order to use some programs.
However, the convenience of a tablet computer means that it may be ideal as a second
computer.

Data, Information and Knowledge

Data: Facts and figures which relay something specific, but which are not organized in any
way and which provide no further information regarding patterns, context, etc. So data
means "unstructured facts and figures that have the least impact on the typical user."
Information: For data to become information, it must be contextualized, categorized,
calculated and condensed. Information thus paints a bigger picture; it is data with relevance
and purpose. It may convey a trend in the environment, or perhaps indicate a pattern of sales
for a given period of time. Essentially information is found "in answers to questions that
begin with such words as who, what, where, when, and how many".

Knowledge: Knowledge is closely linked to doing and implies know-how and

understanding. The knowledge possessed by each individual is a product of his experience,
and encompasses the norms by which he evaluates new inputs from his surroundings.

The content of the human mind/thought process can be classified into four categories:

1. Data: symbols
2. Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to "who", "what",
"where", and "when" questions

3. Knowledge: application of data and information; answers "how" questions

4. Wisdom: evaluated understanding.
We need to understand that processing data produces Information and processed
Information produces Knowledge and so on

Characteristics of a Computer
Speed, accuracy, diligence, storage capability and versatility are some of the key
characteristics of a computer.

• Speed: The computer can process data very fast, at the rate of millions of instructions per
second. Some calculations that would have taken hours and days to complete otherwise,
can be completed in a few seconds using the computer. For example, calculation and
generation of salary slips of thousands of employees of an organization, weather
forecasting that requires analysis of a large amount of data related to temperature,
pressure and humidity of various places, etc.

• Accuracy: A Computer provides a high degree of accuracy. For example, the computer
can accurately give the result of division of any two numbers up to 10 decimal places.

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 • Diligence: When used for a longer period of time, the computer does not get tired or
fatigued. It can perform long and complex calculations with the same speed and accuracy
from the start till the end.

• Storage Capability: Large volumes of data and information can be stored in the computer
and also retrieved whenever required. A limited amount of data can be stored,
temporarily, in the primary memory. Secondary storage devices like floppy disk and
compact disk can store a large amount of data permanently.

• Versatility: Computer is versatile in nature. It can perform different types of tasks with
the same ease. At one moment you can use the computer to prepare a letter document and
in the next moment you may play music or print a document.

• Computers have several limitations too. A Computer can only perform tasks that it has been
programmed to do. Computer cannot do any work without instructions from the user. It
executes instructions as specified by the user and does not take its own decisions.
Computer Viruses*
Viruses: A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example,
a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time
the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to
reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.
•E-mail viruses: An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and usually
replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the
victim's e-mail address book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double-
click -- they launch when you view the infected message in the preview pane of
your e-mail software [source: Johnson].
•Trojan horses: A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do
one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it
(it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate
automatically.
•Worms: A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security
holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another
machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine
using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.

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