2 the computer system hardware

THE COMPUTER
SYSTEM HARDWARE
LECTURE # 02 (COMPUTER APPLICATIONS)

INTRODUCTION
• Computer hardware is related to three terms:
1. Computer architecture refers to the structure and behavior of the
computer. It includes the specifications of the components and how
they connect to the other components.
2. Computer organization focuses on the organizational structure. It deals
with how the hardware components operate and the way they are
connected to form the computer.
3. Computer design focuses on the hardware to be used and the
interconnection of parts. Different kinds of computer may have
different organization; however, basic organization of the computer
remains the same.
• A computer consists of three main components:
a. Input / Output (I/O) Unit
b. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
c. Memory Unit

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT
• CPU consists of Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and Control
Unit (CU). In addition, CPU also has a set of registers which
are temporary storage areas for holding data, and
instructions.
ALU performs the arithmetic and logic operations on the data that
is made available to it.
CU is responsible for organizing the processing of data and
instructions. CU controls and coordinates the activity of the other
units of computer.
Registers are used to store the data, instructions during processing

• CPU executes the stored program instructions, i.e.
instructions and data are stored in memory before execution.
• For processing, CPU gets data and instructions from the
memory.
• It interprets the program instructions and performs the
arithmetic and logic operations required for the processing of
data. Then, it sends the processed data or result to the
memory.
• CPU also acts as an administrator and is responsible for
supervising operations of other parts of the computer.
• The CPU is fabricated as a single Integrated Circuit (IC)
chip, and is also known as the microprocessor.

• The microprocessor is plugged into the motherboard of the
computer
• Motherboard is a circuit board that has electronic circuit
etched on it and connects the microprocessor with the other
hardware components.

ARITHMETIC LOGIC UNIT (ALU)
• ALU consists of two units
Arithmetic unit and
Logic unit.
• The arithmetic unit performs arithmetic operations (+, -, *, /) on
the data that is made available to it.
• The logic unit of ALU is responsible for performing logic
operations.
• Logic unit performs comparisons of numbers, letters and special
characters.
• Logic operations include testing for greater than, less than or
equal to condition.
• ALU performs arithmetic and logic operations, and uses registers
to hold the data that is being processed.

REGISTERS
• Registers are high-speed storage areas within the CPU, but have
the least storage capacity. Registers are directly accessed and
manipulated by the CPU during instruction execution.
• Registers store data, instructions, addresses and intermediate
results of processing.
• Registers are often referred to as the CPU’s working memory.
• The data and instructions that require processing must be brought
in the registers of CPU before they can be processed.
• For example, if two numbers are to be added, both numbers are
brought in the registers, added and the result is also placed in a
register.

REGISTERS
• Some of the important registers in CPU (Figure 2.2) are as
follows:
Accumulator (ACC) stores the result of arithmetic and logic
operations.
Instruction Register (IR) contains the current instruction most
recently fetched.
Program Counter (PC) contains the address of next instruction to
be processed.
Memory Address Register (MAR) contains the address of next
location in the memory to be accessed.
Memory Buffer Register (MBR) temporarily stores data from
memory or the data to be sent to memory.
Data Register (DR) stores the operands and any other data.

REGISTERS
Figure 2.2 CPU registers

REGISTERS
• The number of registers and the size of each (number of bits)
register in a CPU helps to determine the power and the speed of a
CPU.
• The size of register, also called word size, indicates the amount of
data with which the computer can work at any given time.
• The bigger the size, the more quickly it can process data. The size
of a register may be 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits.
• For example, a 32–bit CPU is one in which each register is 32
bits wide and its CPU can manipulate 32 bits of data at a time.
• Nowadays, PCs have 32–bit or 64–bit registers.
• Other factors remaining the same, a 64-bit processor can process
the data twice as fast as one with 32-bit processor.

CONTROL UNIT
• The control unit of a computer organizes the processing of data
and instructions. It acts as a supervisor and, controls and
coordinates the activity of the other units of computer.
• CU coordinates the input and output devices of a computer. It
directs the computer to carry out stored program instructions by
communicating with the ALU and the registers.
• CU uses the instructions in the Instruction Register (IR) to decide
which circuit needs to be activated. It also instructs the ALU to
perform the arithmetic or logic operations.
• CU tells when to fetch the data and instructions, what to do,
where to store the results, the sequencing of events during
processing etc.
• CU also holds the CPU’s Instruction Set, which is a list of all
operations that the CPU can perform.

MEMORY UNIT
• The memory unit consists of cache memory and primary
memory.
• Primary memory or main memory of the computer is used to
store the data and instructions during execution of the
instructions. Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read
Only Memory (ROM) are the primary memory.
• In addition to the main memory, there is another kind of
storage device known as the secondary memory.
• Secondary memory is non-volatile and is used for permanent
storage of data and programs.
• A program or data that has to be executed is brought into the
RAM from the secondary memory.

CACHE MEMORY
• For processing, it is required that the data and instructions are
accessed from the RAM and stored in the registers.
• The time taken to move the data between RAM and CPU
registers is large. This affects the speed of processing of computer
• Cache memory is a very high speed memory placed in between
RAM and CPU. Cache memory increases the speed of
processing.
• Cache memory is a storage buffer that stores the data that is used
more often, temporarily, and makes them available to CPU at a
fast rate.
• To access the cache memory, CPU does not have to use the
motherboard’s system bus for data transfer.
• The data transfer speed slows the motherboard’s capability, when
data is passed through system bus.

CACHE MEMORY
• Cache memory is built into the processor, and may also be
located next to it on a separate chip between the CPU and
RAM.
• Cache memory is very expensive, so it is smaller in size.
Generally, computers have cache memory of sizes 256 KB to
2 MB
• The CPU has a built-in Level 1 (L1) cache and Level2 (L2)
cache, as shown in Figure below:

PRIMARY MEMORY
• Primary memory is the main memory of computer. It is used to
store data and instructions during the processing of data. Primary
memory is semiconductor memory.
• Primary memory is of two kinds
Random Access Memory (RAM) and
Read Only Memory (ROM).
• RAM is volatile. It stores data when the computer is on. The
information stored in RAM gets erased when the computer is
turned off. RAM provides temporary storage for data and
instructions.
• ROM is non-volatile memory, but is a read only memory. The
storage in ROM is permanent in nature, and is used for storing
standard processing programs that permanently reside in the
computer.

PRIMARY MEMORY
• CPU accesses the data and the instructions from RAM, as it
can access it at a faster speed than the storage devices.
• The input data before processing is stored in RAM.
Similarly, the output data generated after processing is stored
in RAM. Any results generated during the processing are
stored in RAM.
• RAM provides a limited storage capacity, due to its high
cost.

SECONDARY MEMORY
• The secondary memory stores data and instructions
permanently unless erased by the user.
• It provides back-up storage for data and instructions. Hard
disk drive, floppy drive and optical disk drives are some
examples of storage devices.
• The data and instructions that are currently not being used by
CPU, but may be required later for processing, are stored in
secondary memory.
• Secondary memory is cheaper and has a high storage
capacity than the primary memory.
• It takes longer time to access the data and instructions stored
in secondary memory than in primary memory.

INSTRUCTION SET
• A processor has a set of instructions that it understands, called as
instruction set.
• An Instruction Set is the set of all the basic operations that a
processor can accomplish. Examples of some instructions are
shown in Figure 2.7.
• All programs have to communicate with the processor using these
instructions.
• An instruction in the instruction set involves a series of logical
operations to complete each task.
• The instruction set is embedded in the processor (hardwired),
which determines the machine language for the processor.
• All programs written in a high-level language are compiled and
translated into machine code before execution.

INSTRUCTION SET
Figure 2.7 Examples of some instructions
• Two processors are different if they have different instruction
sets. Therefore, the system software is developed within the
processor’s instruction set.
• Microarchitecture is the processor design technique used for
implementing the Instruction Set.

INSTRUCTION CYCLE
• Computer processor executes each instruction in a series of steps
known as instruction cycle. (Figure 2.8)
• A instruction cycle involves four steps:
1. Fetching: The processor fetches the instruction from the
memory.
2. Decoding: The instruction that is fetched is broken down into
parts or decoded.
3. Executing: The decoded instruction or the command is
executed. For example, if it is an ADD instruction, addition is
performed.
4. Storing: CPU stores the results of execution, to the computer’s
memory.

INSTRUCTION CYCLE
Figure 2.8 Instruction cycle

INSTRUCTION CYCLE
• Instructions are of different categories. Some categories of
instructions are:
 Memory access or transfer of data between registers.
Arithmetic operations like addition and subtraction.
Logic operations such as AND, OR and NOT.
Control the sequence, conditional connections, etc.
• A CPU performance is measured by the number of
instructions it executes in a second, i.e., MIPS (million
instructions per second), or BIPS (billion instructions per
second).

MICROPROCESSOR
• The CPU is fabricated as a single Integrated Circuit (IC)
chip, and is also known as the microprocessor.
• The microprocessor is plugged into the motherboard of the
computer.
• On the basis of the instruction set, microprocessors are
classified as:
1. Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)
2. Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC)

MICROPROCESSOR
1. RISC:
• RISC has simple, single-cycle instructions, which performs only basic
instructions.
• RISC architecture does not have hardwired advanced functions. All high-
level language support is done in the software.
• RISC has fewer instructions and requires fewer transistors, which results in
the reduced manufacturing cost of processor.
• The instruction size is fixed (32 bits).
• RISC architecture has a reduced production cost compared to CISC
processors.
• The instructions, simple in nature, are executed in just one clock cycle, which
speeds up the program execution when compared to CISC processors.
• RISC processors can handle multiple instructions simultaneously by
processing them in parallel.
• Apple Mac G3 and PowerPC are based on RISC.

MICROPROCESSOR
2. CISC:
• CISC architecture hardwires the processor with complex instructions, which
are difficult to create.
• CISC has a large instruction set that includes simple and fast instructions, as
well as complex instructions.
• An increased number of instructions (200 to 300) results in a much more
complex processor, requiring millions of transistors.
• Instructions are of variable lengths, using 8, 16 or 32 bits for storage. This
results in the processor’s time being spent in calculating where each
instruction begins and ends.
• With large number of application software programs being written for the
processor, a new processor has to be backwards compatible to the older
version of processors.
• AMD and Cyrix are based on CISC.
• Processors like Athlon XP and Pentium IV use a hybrid of both technologies.

MICROPROCESSOR
• Pipelining is the parallel execution of steps which improves
the instruction execution speed.
• Parallel Processing is the simultaneous execution of
instructions from the same program on different processors

INTERCONNECTING THE UNITS OF A
COMPUTER
• CPU sends data, instructions and information to the
components inside as well as to the devices attached to it.
• Bus is a set of electronic signal pathways that allows
information and signals to travel between components inside
or outside of a computer.
• The data, instructions and the signals are carried between the
different components i.e. CPU, I/O unit, and memory unit
via a bus.
• The functions of a bus are as follows:
A bus is a set of wires used for interconnection, where each wire
can carry one bit of data.
A bus width is defined by the number of wires in the bus.

COMPUTER
• A computer bus can be divided into two types
1. Internal Bus: The Internal Bus connects components inside the motherboard
like, CPU and system memory. It is also called the System Bus.
2. External Bus: The External Bus connects the different external devices to the
rest of computer. It allows for the expansion of computer’s capabilities and is
also referred to as the Expansion Bus. It is generally slower than the system
bus.
• A system bus or expansion bus comprise of three kinds of buses:
i. Control Bus: The command to access the memory or the I/O device is carried
by the control bus.
ii. Address Bus: The address of I/O device or memory is carried by the address
bus.
iii. Data Bus: The data to be transferred is carried by the data bus.
• The interaction of CPU with memory and I/O devices involves all the
three buses.

COMPUTER
Figure 2.11: Interaction between CPU, memory and peripheral devices

SYSTEM BUS
The functions of data bus, address bus and control bus, in the
system bus, are as follows:
Data Bus:
• It transfers data between the CPU and memory.
• The bus width of a data bus affects the speed of computer.
• The size of data bus defines the size of the processor.
• A processor can be 8, 16, 32 or 64-bit processor.
• An 8–bit processor has 8 wire data bus to carry 1 byte of
data. In a 16–bit processor, 16–wire bus can carry 16 bits of
data, i.e., transfer 2 bytes, etc.

SYSTEM BUS
Address Bus
• It connects CPU and RAM with set of wires similar to data
bus.
• The width of address bus determines the maximum number
of memory locations the computer can address.
• Currently, Pentium Pro, II, III, IV have 36–bit address bus
that can address 236 bytes or 64 GB of memory.
Control Bus
• It specifies whether data is to be read or written to the
memory, etc.

EXPANSION BUS
The functions of data bus, address bus and control bus, in the
expansion bus, are as follows:
Data Bus
• It is used to transfer data between I/O devices and CPU.
• The most commonly used standard for data transfer is
Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) which is a
32-bit bus architecture.
• Some of the common bus technologies are:
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus for hard disks, sound
cards, network cards and graphics cards,

EXPANSION BUS
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus for 3–D and full motion
video
Universal Serial Bus (USB) to connect and disconnect different
devices.
Address Bus
• It carries the addresses of different I/O devices to be
accessed like the hard disk, CD ROM, etc.
Control Bus
• It is used to carry read/write commands, status of I/O
devices, etc.

EXTERNAL PORTS
• The peripheral devices interact with the CPU of the
computer via the bus.
• The connections to the bus from the peripheral devices are
made via the ports and sockets provided at the sides of the
computer.
• Some of the standard port connections available on the outer
sides of the computer are: port for mouse, keyboard, monitor,
network, modem, and, audio port, serial port, parallel port
and USB port.

PERFORMANCE OF A COMPUTER
Some of the factors that affect the performance of the
computer are:
1. Registers: The size of the register (word size) indicates the
amount of data with which the computer can work at any
given time. The bigger the size, the more quickly it can
process data. A 32–bit CPU is one in which each register is
32 bits wide.
2. RAM: It is used to store data and instructions during
execution of the instructions. If RAM is less, then the CPU
waits each time the new information is swapped into
memory from the slower devices. Larger the RAM size,
the better it is.

3. System Clock: The clock speed of a CPU is defined as the
frequency with which a processor executes instructions.
The computer’s operating speed is linked to the speed of
the system clock. The clock frequency is measured in
millions of cycles per second or megahertz (MHz) or
gigahertz (GHz) which is billions of cycles per second.
4. Bus Data: Bus is used for transferring data between CPU
and memory. The data bus width affects the speed of
computer. In a 16–bit processor, 16–bit wire bus can carry
16 bits of data. The bus speed is measured in MHz. Higher
the bus speed the better it is.

5. Cache Memory: Two of the main factors that affect a
cache’s performance are its size (amount of cache
memory) and level L1, L2 and L3. Larger the size of
cache, the better it is. PCs nowadays have a L1 cache of
256KB and L2 cache of 1MB.
• The general information about a computer is displayed in the
system properties window.

INSIDE A COMPUTER CABINET
• The computer cabinet encloses the components that are
required for the running of the computer.
• The components inside a computer cabinet include the power
supply, motherboard, memory chips, expansion slots, ports
and interface, processor, cables and storage devices.

MOTHERBOARD
• Motherboard is a large Printed Circuit Board (PCB), having
many chips, connectors and other electronics mounted on it.
• The motherboard is the hub, which is used to connect all the
essential components of a computer.
• The RAM, hard drive, disk drives and optical drives are all
plugged into interfaces on the motherboard.
• The motherboard contains the processor, memory chips,
interfaces and sockets, etc.
• The motherboard may be characterized by the form factor,
chipset, type of processor socket used, BIOS and CMOS.

MOTHERBOARD
• Form factor refers to the motherboard’s geometry,
dimensions, arrangement and electrical requirements.
• Chipset is a circuit, which controls the majority of resources.
Its job is to coordinate data transfers between the various
components of the computer.
• Processor socket may be a rectangular connector into which
the processor is mounted vertically called slot or a square-
shaped connector with many small connectors into which the
processor is directly inserted called socket.

MOTHERBOARD
• BIOS: (Basic Input Output System) is the basic program
used as an interface between the operating system and the
motherboard. BIOS contain the instructions for the starting
up of the computer. Some of the functions of BIOS are:
It checks that the hardware is functioning.
It checks the presence of operating system.
It loads the operating system into memory.
• CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor):
BIOS ROMs are accompanied by a smaller CMOS which
acts as a memory chip. CMOS chip saves some system
information, such as time, system date and essential system
settings even when the power is turned off.

PORTS AND INTERFACES
• Motherboard has a certain number of I/O sockets that are
connected to the ports and interfaces found on the rear side
of a computer (Figure 2.16).
• External devices can be connected to the ports and
interfaces, which get connected to the computer’s
motherboard.
Figure 2.16: Ports on the rear side of a PC

PORTS AND INTERFACES
• Serial Port: to connect old peripherals.
• Parallel Port: to connect old printers.
• USB Ports: to connect newer peripherals like cameras, scanners and
printers to the computer
• Firewire is another bus, used today mostly for video cameras and
external hard drives.
• RJ45 connector (called LAN or Ethernet port) is used to connect the
computer to a network
• VGA connector for connecting a monitor.
• Audio plugs (line-in, line-out and microphone), for connecting sound
speakers and the microphone.
• PS/2 port to connect mouse and keyboard into PC.
• SCSI port for connecting the hard disk drives and network connectors.

EXPANSION SLOTS
• The expansion slots are located on the motherboard. (Figure
2.17)
• The expansion cards are inserted in the expansion slots.
• These cards give the computer new features or increased
performance.

EXPANSION SLOTS
• There are several types of slots:
1. ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) slot: To connect modem and
input devices.
2. PCI (Peripheral Component InterConnect) slot: To connect audio,
video and graphics.
3. AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) slot: A fast port for a graphics
card.
4. PCI (Peripheral Component InterConnect) Express slot: Faster
bus architecture than AGP and PCI buses.
5. PC Card: It is used in laptop computers. It includes Wi-Fi card,
network card and external modem.

RIBBON CABLES
• Ribbon cables are flat, insulated and consist of several tiny
wires molded together that carry data to different
components on the motherboard.
• There is a wire for each bit of the word or byte and
additional wires to coordinate the activity of moving
information.
• They also connect the floppy drives, disk drives and CD-
ROM drives to the connectors in the motherboard.
• Nowadays, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
cables have replaced the ribbon cables to connect the drives
to the motherboard.

MEMORY CHIPS
• The RAM consists of chips on a small circuit board (Figure
2.19).
• Two types of memory chips:
1. Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM)
2. Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM)
• The CPU can retrieve information from DIMM chip at 64
bits compared to 32 bits or 16 bits transfer with SIMM chips.
• DIMM chips are used in Pentium 4 onwards to increase the
access speed.

MEMORY CHIPS
Figure 2.16: RAM memory chip

STORAGE DEVICES
• The disk drives are present inside the machine.
• The common disk drives in a machine are hard disk drive,
floppy drive and CD drive or DVD drive.
• These storage devices can store large amounts of data,
permanently.

PROCESSOR
• The processor or the CPU is the main component of the
computer.
• Select a processor based on factors like its speed,
performance, reliability and motherboard support.
• Pentium Pro, Pentium 4, Core i3, Core i5 are some of the
processors.

ASSIGNMENT # 01 (DUE 11-03-19)
Write down the following topics from provided notes:
1. Digital and analog computers.
2. Characteristics of computer.
3. Generations of computer.
4. Classification of computers with diagram.
5. The input-process-output concept.
6. Components of computer hardware.
Students will not be allowed to leave college on 11th of march
2019 till they submit the above mentioned assignment.

2 the computer system hardware

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