Chapter -1 Computer System

A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to accept data (input), process it and
generate result (output).A computer system comes in various forms and sizes.It can vary from a high-end
server to personal desktop,laptop, tablet computer, or a smartphone.

Block diagram of a Computer:

Central Processing Unit (CPU): It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries out the
actual processing and usually referred to as the brain of the computer.

CPU fetches the program and data from the memory and performs arithmetic and logic operations as per
the given instructions and stores the result back to memory.

While processing, the CPU stores the data as well as instructions in its local memory called
registers.ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic operations that need to be done as per the instruction
in a program.CU controls sequential instruction execution, interprets instructions and guides data flow
through the computer’s memory, ALU and input or output devices.

Input Devices: The devices through which control signals are sent to a computer are termed as input
devices.These devices convert the input data into a digital form that is acceptable by the computer
system. Some examples of input devices include keyboard, mouse, scanner, touch screen, etc.,

Output Devices: The device that receives data from a computer system for display, physical production,
etc., is called an output device. It converts digital information into human- understandable form. Some
examples of output devices include monitor, projector, headphone, speaker, printer, etc.

Evolution of Computer: From the simple calculator to a modern day powerful data processor,
computing devices have evolved in a relatively short span of time.

Abacus: It was invented 3000 years ago. It was a mechanical device capable of doing simple arithmetic
calculations only.

Pascaline (1642): Blaize Pascal invented a mechanical calculator known as Pascal calculator or
Pascaline to do addition and subtraction of two numbers directly and multiplication and division through
repeated addition and subtraction.

Analytic Engine (1834): Charles Babbage invented analytical engine, a mechanical computing device
for inputting, processing, storing and displaying the output, which is considered to form the basis of
modern
computers.

Tabulating Machine (1890): Herman Hollerith designed a tabulating machine for summarising the data
stored on the punched card. It is a first step towards programming.

Turing Machine ( 1937 ): The Turing machine concept was a general purpose programmable machine
that was capable of solving any problem by executing the program stored on the punched cards.

EDVAC/ENIAC ( 1945 ): John Von Neumann introduced the concept of a stored program computer
which was capable of storing data as well as program in the memory. The EDVAC and then the ENIAC
computers were developed based on this concept.

Transistor ( 1947 ): Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors developed at Bell Labs, using
semiconductor materials.

Integrated Circuit ( 1970 ): An Integrated Circuit (IC) isa silicon chip which contains an entire electronic
circuit on a very small area. The size of computer drastically reduced because of ICs.

Von Neumann architecture:

It consists of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) for processing arithmetic and logical instructions, a
memory to store data and programs, input and output devices and communication channels to send or
receive the output data. Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) is the first binary
programmable computer based on Von Neumann architecture.

Microprocessors: During the 1970s, Large Scale Integration (LSI) of electronic circuits allowed
integration of complete CPU on a single chip, called microprocessor.
In 1980s, the processing power of computers increased exponentially by integrating around 3 million
components on a small-sized chip termed as Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI).
Further advancement in technology has made it feasible to fabricate high density of transistors and other
components on a single IC called Super Large Scale Integration (SLSI)

IBM introduced its first personal computer (PC) for the home user in 1981 and Apple introduced
Macintosh machines in 1984.
Further, with the introduction of laptops, personal computing was made portable to a great extent. This
was followed by smartphones, tablets and other personal digital assistants.
The next wave of computing devices includes the wearable gadgets, such as smart watch, lenses,
headbands, headphones, etc. Further, smart appliances are becoming a part of the Internet of Things
(IoT), by leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Units of Memory: The binary digits 0 and 1, which are the basic units of memory, are called bits.A 4-bit
word is called a Nibble. A two nibble word, i.e., 8-bit word is called a byte.

Unit Description Unit Description

KB (Kilobyte) 1 KB = 1024 Bytes PB (Petabyte) 1 PB = 1024 TB
MB (Megabyte) 1 MB = 1024 KB EB (Exabyte) 1 EB = 1024 PB
GB (Gigabyte) 1 GB = 1024 MB ZB (Zettabyte) 1 ZB = 1024 EB
TB (Terabyte) 1 TB = 1024 GB YB (Yottabyte) 1 YB = 1024 ZB
Measurement units for digital data
Primary Memory: Program and data are loaded into the primary memory before processing. The CPU
interacts directly with the primary memory to perform read or write operation. It is of two types
 1) Random Access Memory : RAM is usually referred to as main memory and it is faster than the
secondary memory or storage devices.RAM is volatile, i.e., as long as the power is supplied to
the computer, it retains the data in it. But as soon as the power supply is turned off, all the
contents of RAM are wiped out. It is used to store data temporarily while the computer is
working.
2) Read Only Memory: ROM is non-volatile, which means its contents are not lost even when the
power is turned off. It is used as a small but faster permanent storage for the contents which are
rarely changed. For example, the startup program (boot loader) that loads the operating system
into primary memory, is stored in ROM.

Cache Memory: To speed up the operations of the CPU, a very high speed memory is placed between
the CPU and the primary memory known as cache. It stores the copies of the data from frequently
accessed primary memory locations.When the CPU needs some data, it first examines the cache. In
case the requirement is met, it is read from the cache, otherwise the primary memory is accessed.

Secondary Memory: Primary memory has limited storage capacity and is either volatile (RAM) or
read-only (ROM). Thus, a computer system needs auxiliary or secondary memory to permanently store
the data or instructions for future use. It is slower and cheaper than the main memory. But, it cannot be
accessed directly by the CPU. Examples of secondary memory devices include Hard Disk Drive (HDD),
CD/DVD, Memory Card, etc.,

Data Transfer between Memory and CPU: Data are transferred between different components of a
computer system using physical wires called bus. Bus is of three types— (i) Data bus to transfer
data between different components, (ii) Address bus to transfer addresses between CPU and main
memory.and (iii) Control bus to communicate control signals between different components of a
computer. All these three buses collectively make the system bus.

Microprocessors: A processor (CPU) which is implemented on a single microchip is called

microprocessor.These days, a microprocessor is built over an integrated circuit comprising millions of
small components like resistors, transistors and diodes. Currently available microprocessors are capable
of processing millions of instructions per millisecond.

Microprocessor Specifications: Microprocessors are classified on the basis of different features which
include chip type, word size, memory size, clock speed, etc.
● Word Size: Word size is the maximum number of bits that a microprocessor can process at a time.
At present, the minimum word size is 16 bits and maximum word size is 64 bits.
● Memory Size: Depending upon the word size, the size of RAM varies. Initially, RAM was very small
(4MB) due to 4/8 bits wordsize. As word size increased to 64 bits, it has become feasible to use
RAM of size upto 16 Exabytes (EB).
● Clock Speed: The clock speed indicates the speed at which the computer can execute instructions.
Earlier, it was measured in Hertz (Hz) and Kilohertz (kHz), it is now measured in Gigahertz (GHz),
● Cores: Core is a basic computation unit of the CPU. Earlier processors had only one computation
unit, thereby capable of performing only one task at a time. With the advent of multicore processors,
it has become possible for the computer to execute multiple tasks, thereby increasing the system’s
performance. CPU with two, four, and eight cores is called dual-core, quad-core and octa-core
processor, respectively.

Microcontrollers: The microcontroller is a small computing device which has a CPU, a fixed amount of
RAM, ROM and other peripherals all embedded on a single chip. Keyboard, mouse, washing machine,
digital camera, pendrive, remote controller, microwave are few examples of microcontrollers.

Data and Its Types: Primarily, there are three types of data.
1. Structured Data: Data with pre-specified tabular format is called structured data. Structured data
may be sorted in ascending or descending order. examples of structured data include sales
transactions, online railway ticket bookings, ATM transactions, etc.
2. Unstructured Data: Data which are not organised in a predefined record format is called
unstructured data. Examples include audio and video files, graphics, text documents, social media
posts, satellite images, etc.
3. Semi-structured Data: Data which have no well-defined structure but maintain internal tags or
markings to separate data elements are called semi-structured data. Examples include email
document, HTML page, comma separated values (csv file), etc.
Data Capturing: It involves the process of gathering data from different sources in the digital form. This
can be done through keyboard, barcode readers, remote sensors etc..
Data Storage: It is the process of storing the captured data for processing later.Numerous digital storage
devices are used such as hard disk, CD/DVD, Pendrive etc.. In large organisations computers with larger
and faster storage called data servers are deployed to store vast amount of data.
Data Retrieval: It involves fetching data from the storage devices, for its processing as per the user
requirement.

Data Deletion and Recovery: Users can accidentally erase data from storage devices, or a hacker or
malware can delete the digital data intentionally.
In case data gets deleted accidentally or corrupted, there arises a need to recover the data. Recovery of
the data is possible only if the contents or memory space marked as deleted have not been overwritten
by some other data. Data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, corrupted and lost data from
secondary storage devices.

Concerns associated with data: One is its deletion by some unauthorised person or software. These
concerns can be avoided by limiting access to the computer system and using passwords for user
accounts and files.
The other concern is related to unwanted recovery of data by unauthorised users or software. This
concern can be mitigated by using proper tools to delete or shred data before disposing off any old or
faulty storage device.

Software: Hardware needs to be operated by a set of instructions. These sets of instructions are referred
to as software. The software can be broadly classified into three categories (i) System software,
(ii) Programming tools and (iii) Application software.

System Software: The software that provides the basic functionality to operate a computer by interacting
directly with its constituent hardware is termed as system software. Examples of system software include
operating systems, system utilities, device drivers, etc.

a) Operating System: The operating system manages other application programs and provides
access and security to the users of the system. Some of the popular operating systems are
Windows, Linux, Macintosh, Ubuntu, Fedora, Android, iOS, etc.
b) System Utilities: Software used for maintenance and configuration of the computer system is
called system utility. Eg: disk defragmentation tool, formatting utility, system restore utility, anti-virus
software, disk cleaner tool, etc
c) Device Drivers: the purpose of a device driver is to ensure proper functioning of a particular
device.The device driver acts as an interface between the device and the operating system.

Programming Tools: In order to get some work done by the computer, we need to give instructions.
Computer languages are developed for writing these instructions.Also, to write the instruction, code
editors (e.g., IDLE in Python) are needed. Types of programming lanuages are
Machine level language: Machine language uses 1s and 0s to write instructions which are directly
understood and executed by the computer. But writing a code in machine language is difficult as one has
to remember all operation codes and machine addresses. Also finding errors in the code written in
machine language is difficult.
Assembly language: Assembly language was developed that allowed usage of English-like words
and symbols instead of 1s and 0s. But one major drawback of writing a code in this language is that the
code is computer specific, i.e., the code written for one type of CPU cannot be used for another type of
CPU.
High level languages: High level languages are machine independent and are simpler to write code.
Instructions are using English like sentences and each high level language follows a set of rules.
Examples of high level language include C++, Java, Python, etc.
Language Translators: As the computer can understand only machine language, a translator is
needed to convert program written in assembly or high level language to machine language.
The translator used to convert the code written in assembly language to machine language is called
assembler.
Compiler converts high level language (source code) to machine understandable form (machine code).
An interpreter translates one line at a time instead of the whole program at one go.
Application Software: There are two broad categories of application software
1) General Purpose Software: The application software developed for generic applications, are
called general purpose software. Such ready-made application software can be used by end users
as per their requirements. Eg: Adobe Photoshop, Mozilla web browser, Microsoft office etc
2) Customised Software: These are custom or tailor-made application software, that are developed
to meet the requirements of a specific organisation or an individual. Eg: websites, school
management software, accounting software,etc

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS): some application software provide their source code as well
as the software freely to the public, with an aim to develop and improve further with each other’s help.
Such software is known as Free and Open Source Software. Eg: Python, Openoffice, Mozilla Firefox, etc.
Freeware: Sometimes, software is freely available for use but source code may not be available. Such
software is called freeware. Eg: Skype, Adobe Reader, etc..
Proprietary software: When the software to be used has to be purchased from the vendor who has the
copyright of the software, then it is a proprietary software. Eg: Microsoft Windows, Tally, Quickheal, etc..

Operating System: An operating system (OS) can be considered to be a resource manager which
manages all the resources of a computer, i.e., its hardware including CPU, RAM, Disk, Network and other
input-output devices.
The first objectives of an operating system to provide services for building and running application
programs. The second objective of an operating system is to provide an interface to the user through
which the user can interact with the computer.

A user interface is a software component which is a part of the operating system and whose job is to take
commands or inputs from a user for the operating system to process. Commonly used interfaces are
1) Command-based Interface: Command-based interface requires a user to enter the commands to
perform different tasks like creating, opening, editing or deleting a file, etc. Eg: MS-DOS and Unix.
2) Graphical User Interface: Graphical User Interface (GUI) lets users run programs or give
instructions to the computer in the form of icons, menus and other visual options. Eg: Ubuntu,
Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, etc..
3) Touch-based Interface: Using the touchscreen, a user provides inputs to the operating system,
which are interpreted by the OS as commands like opening an app, closing an app, dialing a
number, scrolling across apps, etc. Eg: Android and iOS.
4) Voice-based Interface: Users today can use voice-based commands to make a computer work in
the desired way. Eg: iOS (Siri), Android (Google Now or “OK Google”),etc..
5) Gesture-based Interface: Some smartphones let users interact with the devices using gestures
like waving, tilting, eye motion and shaking. Eg: Android and iOS.

Functions of Operating System: Some functions of Operating System are

a) Process Management: process management concerns the management of multiple processes,
allocation of required resources, and exchange of information among processes.
b) Memory Management: The main task of memory management is to give (allocate) and take (free)
memory from running processes. Also it keeps track of memory as free or occupied.
c) File Management: File management involves the creation, updation, deletion and protection of
these files in the secondary memory. File management system manages secondary memory, while
memory management system handles the main memory of a computer system.
d) Device Management: The operating system interacts with the device driver and the related
software to make such device functional.Just like files, devices also need security measures and
their access to different devices must be restricted by the operating system to the authorised
users, software and other hardware only.