Lecture-1

What Is a Computer?

How is a computer defined?

 Electronic machine which accepts data as input,
processes it and gives information as output.

Information
Data Data that is organized,
Raw facts, figures, and meaningful, and useful
symbols

Produces and stores results

p. 6 Next
 Computer Applications in Society

What are some examples

of computer applications
in society?
 Education
 Finance
 Government
 Healthcare
 Science
 Publishing
 Travel
 Industry

Click to view video

p. 33 Figs. 1-42–1-49 Next

 Why Is a Computer So Powerful?
What makes a computer powerful?

Reliability
Reliabilityand
Storage Consistency
and Speed
Consistency

Accuracy Communications

p. 10 Next
 Information Processing Cycle
There are five components of an information
processing cycle?
 Input
 Process
 Output
 Storage
 Communication

p. 6 Fig. 1-2 Next

 The Components of a Computer
What is an input device?
 Hardware used
to enter data
and instructions

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 1, Click Web Link
from left navigation,
then click Input Devices
below Chapter 1
p. 7 Fig. 1-3 Next
 The Components of a Computer
What is an output device?
 Hardware that
conveys
information
to a user

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 1, Click Web Link
from left navigation,
then click Output Devices
below Chapter 1
p. 8 Fig. 1-3 Next
 The Components of a Computer
What is the system unit?
 Box-like case
containing
electronic
components
used to process
data

p. 8 Fig. 1-3 Next

 The Components of a Computer
What are two main components on the motherboard?

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Also called a processor
Carries out instructions that tell computer what to do

Memory
Temporary holding place for data and instructions

p. 8 Next
 The Components of a Computer
What is storage?
 Holds data, instructions, and information
for future use

Storage
Storagemedia
media
Physical
Physicalmaterial
materialon
onwhich
whichdata,
data,instructions,
instructions,
and
andinformation
informationare
arestored
stored

Storage
Storagedevice
device
Records
Recordsand
andretrieves
retrievesitems
itemstotoand
andfrom
from
aastorage
storagemedium
medium

p. 8 Next
 The Components of a Computer
What is a floppy disk?
 Thin, circular,
flexible disk
enclosed in rigid
plastic shell
 A USB flash drive is
portable, and has
much greater
storage capacity

p. 8 Fig. 1-4 Next

 The Components of a Computer
What is a flash drive?
 Provides much
greater storage
capacity than a
floppy disk
 Small and
lightweight enough
to be transported
on a keychain or
in a pocket

p. 9 Fig. 1-5 Next

 The Components of a Computer
What is a hard disk?
 Provides much
greater storage
capacity than a
floppy disk or
USB flash drive
 Housed inside the
system unit

p. 9 Fig. 1-6 Next

 The Components of a Computer
What is a compact disc?
 Flat, round, portable metal disc
 CD-ROM
 CD-RW
 DVD-ROM
 DVD+RW

p. 9 Fig. 1-7 Next

 Computer Hardware

The physical devices that make up the

computer are called Hardware.
Hardware is any part of the computer we
can touch e.g. Keyboard, Monitor,
Processor, Printer, Mouse, Hard Disk etc.
 The System Unit
What are common components inside the system unit?
power supply drive bays
 Processor
 Memory processor
 Adapter cards
 Sound card memory
ports
 Modem card
 Video card
 Network card
sound card
 Ports
 Drive bays
 Power supply
video card
network card modem card

p. 181 Fig. 4-2 Next

 The System Unit
adapter cards
What is the motherboard? processor chip

 Main circuit
board in system
unit
 Contains adapter memory chips

cards, processor
chips, and
memory chips
 Also called
memory slots
system board Expansion
slots for
Click to view Web Link, adapter cards motherboard
click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
Clock Motherboards
below Chapter 4
p. 182 Fig. 4-3 Next
 Processor

What is the central processing unit (CPU)?

 Interprets and carries Processor
out basic instructions Control
Control Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Unit Logic
Logic Unit
Unit (ALU)
that operate a computer Unit (ALU)

 Control unit directs and

Instructions
coordinates operations in Data
computer Informatio
n
 Arithmetic logic unit
(ALU) performs Input Output
Devices
Data Memory Information
Devices
arithmetic, comparison,
and logical operations
Instructions
 Also called the processor Data
Informatio
n

Storage
Devices
p. 183 Fig. 4-5 Next
 Processor
What is a machine cycle?
 Four operations of the CPU comprise a machine cycle
Step 1. Fetch
Obtain program instruction
or data item from memory

Memory
Step 2.
Step 4. Store Decode
Write result to memory Translate
instruction into
Processor commands
ALU Control Unit
Step 3. Execute
Carry out command

p. 184 Fig. 4-6 Next

 Processor
What is a register?
 Temporary high-speed storage area that holds
data and instructions

Stores location
from where instruction
was fetched
Stores Stores data
instruction while it is while ALU
being decoded computes it
Stores results
of calculation

p. 185 Next
 Processor
What are heat sinks and heat pipes?
 Heat sink—component
heat sink fan
with fins that cools
processor
 Heat pipe —smaller
e

device for notebook

computers

heat sink

p. 190 Fig. 4-11 Next

 Processor
What is a coprocessor?

Chip
Chip that
that assists
assists processor
processor inin
performing
performing specific
specific tasks
tasks

One
One type
type isis aa floating-point
floating-point coprocessor,
coprocessor also
coprocessor
coprocessor, also
known
known as as aa math
math orornumeric
numericcoprocessor
coprocessor

p. 190 Next
 Processor
What is parallel processing?
 Using multiple Control Processor
processors
simultaneously to
execute a
program faster Processor 1 Processor 2 Processor 3 Processor 4
 Requires special Memory Memory Memory Memory

software to divide
problem and
bring results
together Results combined

p. 190 Fig. 4-12 Next

 Data Representation
How do computers represent data?
 Most computers are digital
 Recognize only two
discrete states: on or off
 Use a binary system to
recognize two states
 Use Number system with
two unique digits: 0 and
1, called bits (short for
binary digits)

p. 191 Fig. 4-13 Next

 Data Representation
What is a byte?
 Eight bits grouped together as a unit
 Provides enough different combinations of 0s and 1s
to represent 256 individual characters
 Numbers
 Uppercase
and lowercase
letters
 Punctuation
marks

p. 191 Fig. 4-14 Next

 Memory
Seat #2B4 Seat #2B3
What is memory?
 Electronic components that
store instructions, data, and
results
 Consists of one or
more chips on
motherboard or
other circuit board
 Each byte stored
in unique location
called an address,
similar to seats
on a passenger train

p. 193 Fig. 4-17 Next

 Memory
How is memory measured?
 By number of bytes available for storage

Term Abbreviation Approximate Size

Kilobyte KB or K 1 thousand bytes
Megabyte MB 1 million bytes
Gigabyte GB 1 billion bytes
Terabyte TB 1 trillion bytes

p. 194 Fig. 4-18 Next

 Memory
What is random access memory (RAM)?

Memory chips that can be

read from and written
to by processor
Most RAM is
Also called
volatile, it is lost
main memory
when computer’s
or primary
power is
storage
turned off

The more RAM a

computer has, the
Click to view Web Link, faster it responds
click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
RAM
below Chapter 4
p. 195 Next
 Memory
dual inline memory module

Where does memory reside?

 Resides on small circuit
board called memory
module
 Memory slots on
motherboard hold memory
memory chip memory slot
modules

p. 196 Fig. 4-20 Next

 Memory
How much RAM do you need?
 Depends on type of applications you intend to run
on your computer
RAM 128 to 256 MB 256 to 1 GB 1 GB and up
Use • Home and business • Users requiring more advanced • Power users creating
users managing multimedia capabilities professional Web sites
personal finance • Running number-intensive • Running sophisticated
• Using standard accounting, financial, or CAD, 3D design, or
application software spreadsheet programs other graphics-intensive
such as word processing • Using voice recognition software
• Using educational • Working with videos, music, and
or entertainment digital imaging
CD-ROMs • Creating Web sites
• Communicating with • Participating in video conferences
others on the Web • Playing Internet games

p. 197 Fig. 4-22 Next

 Memory
What is cache?
 Helps speed computer processes by storing frequently used
instructions and data
 Also called memory cache
 L1 cache built into processor
 L2 cache slower but has larger capacity
 L2 advanced transfer cache is faster,
built directly on processor chip
 L3 cache is separate from processor
chip on motherboard (L3 is only
on computers that use L2 advanced
transfer cache)
Click to view Web Link,
click Chapter 4, Click
Web Link from left
navigation, then click
Cache below Chapter 4
p. 198 Fig. 4-23 Next
 Memory

What is read-only memory (ROM)?

Memory chips that store Nonvolatile memory, it is not
permanent data lost when computer’s
and instructions power is turned off
EEPROM
Three types: (electrically
erasable programmable
read-only memory)—
Firmware— Type of PROM
Manufactured with containing microcode
permanently written PROM
programmer
data, instructions, (programmable can erase
or information read-only
memory)—
Blank ROM
chip onto which
a programmer
can write permanently

p. 198 Next
 Memory
What is flash memory?
 Nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and
reprogrammed
 Used with PDAs, digital cameras, digital cellular phones, music players,
digital voice recorders, printers, Internet receivers, and pagers
Step 3.
Step 1. Plug the headphones into the MP3
Purchase and download MP3 music tracks To headphones player, push a button on the MP3
from a Web site. With one end of a special Flash memory chip player, and listen to the music
cable connected to the system unit, connect through the headphones.
the other end into the MP3 player.

From computer

Flash memory card

Click to view Web Link, Step 2.

click Chapter 4, Click Web Link Instruct the computer to copy the MP3 music track
MP3 Player
from left navigation, then click to the flash memory chip in the MP3 player.
Flash Memory
below Chapter 4
p. 199 Fig. 4-24 Next
 Memory
What is CMOS?

Complementary Used in some

metal-oxide RAM chips, flash
semiconductor memory chips, and
memory other types of
memory chips

Uses battery Stores date,

power to retain time, and
information when computer’s
other power is startup
turned off information

p. 200 Next
 Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
Types of Adapter Cards
What is an adapter card?
 Enhances system unit or
provides connections to
external devices called
peripherals
 Also called an expansion card

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
Adapter Cards
below Chapter 4
p. 201 Fig. 4-27 Next
 Expansion Slots and Adapter Cards
What is an expansion slot?
 An opening, or socket,
on the motherboard
that can hold an
adapter card
 With Plug and Play,
the computer
automatically
configures cards
and other devices
as you install them

p. 201 Fig. 4-28 Next

 Ports and Connectors
What are ports and connectors?
 Port connects external devices to system unit
 Connector joins cable to peripheral

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
Ports and Connectors
below Chapter 4
p. 203 Fig. 4-31–4.32 Next
 Ports and Connectors
What is a serial port?
 Transmits one bit of data at a
time
 Connects slow-speed devices,
such as mouse, keyboard,
modem

p. 205 Fig. 4-34 Next

 Ports and Connectors
What is a parallel port?
 Connects devices that can
transfer more than one bit at
a time, such as a printer

p. 205 Fig. 4-35 Next

 Buses
What is a bus?
 Channel that allows devices
inside computer to
communicate with each other
 System bus or Address bus
connects processor and RAM
 Bus width determines number
of bits transmitted at one time
 Word size is the number of
bits processor can interpret
and execute at a given time

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 4, Click Web Link
from left navigation, then click
Buses
below Chapter 4
p. 208 Fig. 4-38 Next
 Bays
What is a bay?
 Open area inside
system unit used to
install additional
equipment
 Drive bays typically
hold disk drives

p. 210 Fig. 4-40 Next

 Power Supply
What is a power supply?

Converts Fan keeps

AC Power system unit
into components
DC Power cool

External peripherals
might use an AC
adapter, which is an
external power supply

p. 211 Next
 Categories of Computers

What are the categories of computers?

Personal computers (desktop)

Mobile computers
and mobile devices

Midrange servers

Mainframe computers

Supercomputers

p. 18 Next
 Personal Computers
What is a desktop computer?
 Designed so all of the components fit on or under
a desk or table

p. 19 Fig. 1-18 Next

 Personal Computers
What is a notebook computer?
 Portable, small enough to
fit on your lap
 Also called a laptop
computer
 Generally more expensive
than a desktop computer

Click to view Web Link,

click Chapter 1, Click Web Link
from left navigation,
then click Notebook Computers
below Chapter 1
p. 20 Fig. 1-20 Next
 Handheld Computers
What is a tablet PC?
 Resembles a letter-sized slate
 Allows you to write on the screen using a digital pen

 Especially useful for taking

notes

p. 20 Fig. 1-21 Next

 Handheld Computers

What are Web-enabled handheld computers?

 Allow you to check e-mail
and access the Internet
 Web-enabled telephone is
a “smart phone”

p. 21 Fig. 1-23 Next

 Handheld Computers
What is a handheld computer?

Small
enough to fit
Used
in your
by mobile
hand
employees such as
meter readers and
delivery people

p. 21 Next
 Handheld Computers
What is a personal digital assistant (PDA)?
 Provides personal organizer functions
 Calendar
 Appointment book
 Address book
 Calculator
 Notepad

Click to view video

p. 21 Fig. 1-23 Next

 Servers
What types of servers are there?
Midrange server Powerful, large
computer that supports up to a few
thousand computers

Mainframe Very powerful,

expensive computer that supports
thousands of computers

Supercomputer The fastest, most

powerful, most expensive
computer. Used for applications
requiring complex mathematical
calculations

p. 22 and 23 Figs. 1-25–1-27 Next