Computer Basics

• Computer is an electronic machine that can

1. store,
2. retrieve and
3. Process / manipulate /convert data.
• It performs
1. computations and
2. logical decisions
• It has no power or intelligence by itself and cannot think or do
anything
 Memory Hierarchy

Microprocessor

Closeness Register
Access
With respect
Time
To Processor Built-in cache

External cache

Main memory

Secondary Memory

Capacity
 Work flow of Computer

Input Processing Output

• Input data from disk, keyboard, mouse or from other

storage media
• Process data (Processing units are CPU and Main
Memory)
• Output results to display screen or to store in hard disk
or other media
 Programming Languages
 Computer programs
 Sets of instructions which directs a computer to
perform certain functions.
• Types of programming languages:
 Machine language
 Assembly language
 High-level languages
 Introduction to Microprocessor

• Microprocessor is also known as the CPU

(Central Processing Unit)
• It follows the instructions of the software to
manipulate data into information
• Two basic parts of CPU
A. The Control Unit
B. The Arithmetic Logic Unit
 Introduction to Microprocessor
The Control Unit

• All computer resources are managed from the

CU
• CPU’s own instructions for performing
operations are built into the control unit
• It tells the rest of the computer system how to
execute instructions
• It transfers electronic signals between ALU
and MM and also MM & I/O devices
 Introduction to Microprocessor
The Arithmetic Logic Unit
• ALU performs arithmetic operations and logical operations
and controls the speed of those operations.
➢ Arithmetic operations are fundamental mathematical
operations such as addition (+), subtraction (-),
multiplication (*) and division (/)
➢ Logical operations are comparisons that means ALU
compares two pieces of data whether they are:
a) Equal to (=) or not equal to (!=)
b) Greater than (>) or not greater than (!>)
c) Less than (<) or not less than (!<)
d) Greater than or equal to (>=) or not greater than or equal
to (!>=)
e) Less than or equal to (<=) or not less than or equal to (!<=)
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 4004)
• Microprocessor/Processor is also known as the
brain of the computer.
• The world’s first microprocessor is: Intel 4004
• It was a 4-bit microprocessor
• It addressed a mere 4096, 4-bit wide memory
location
• A 4-bit wide memory location is often called
nibble
• The 4004 instruction set contained only 45
instructions
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 4004)
• Applications:
• The 4-bit Microprocessor still survives in low-
end applications such as
i) microwave ovens and
ii) small control systems and is still available
from some microprocessor manufacturers
iii) Most calculators are still based on 4-bit
microprocessors
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 8008)
• In 1971, Intel Corporation released:
• the Intel 8008 an extended 8-bit version of
the 4004 microprocessor
• The 8008 addressed an expanded memory size
(16K bytes)
• It contained additional instructions ( a total of
48)
 uu

File Storage Capacity by Powers of Two (Base 2)

bit byte Kilobyte Megabyte Gigabyte Terabyte Petabyte Exabyte Zettabyte Yottabyte
bit 2^0 2^3 2^13 2^23 2^33 2^43 2^53 2^63 2^73 2^83
byte 2^3 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50 2^60 2^70 2^80

Kilobyte 2^13 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50 2^60 2^70

Megabyte 2^23 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50 2^60

Gigabyte 2^33 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40 2^50

Terabyte 2^43 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30 2^40

Petabyte 2^53 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20 2^30

Exabyte 2^63 2^60 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10 2^20

Zettabyte 2^73 2^70 2^60 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0 2^10

Yottabyte 2^83 2^80 2^70 2^60 2^50 2^40 2^30 2^20 2^10 2^0
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 8080)
• Due to some limitations:
➢small memory size
➢slow speed and
➢limited instruction sets
• Intel introduced the 8080 microprocessor in
1973-the first of the modern 8-bit
microprocessors
 Introduction to Microprocessor
• Table 1 shows several of these early microprocessors
and their manufacturers.
Table 1. Early 8-bit microprocessors

Manufacturer Part Number

Fairchild F-8
Intel 8080
MOS Technology 6502
Motorola MC6800
National Semiconductor IMP-8
Rockwell International PPS-8
Zilog Z-8
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 8080)
• Specifications of Intel 8080:
o The 8080 addressed four times more memory
(64 K bytes) than the 8008 (16 K bytes)
o Execute additional instructions
o It executed instructions 10 times faster than
8008
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 8085)
• The 8085 Microprocessor:
o In 1977, Intel Corporation introduced an
updated version of the 8080- the 8085
o It was last 8-bit general purpose
microprocessor developed by Intel
Corporation
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(Intel 8085)
• Applications of 8085:
➢ internal clock generator
➢ internal system controller and
➢ higher clock frequency
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Modern Microprocessor: 8086 and 8088)
• In 1978, Intel released:
1. the 8086 microprocessor;
2. a year or so later it released 8088.
• The 8086 and 8088 are 16-bit microprocessor
• The 8086 and 8088 addressed 1 M–byte of
memory which was 16 times more memory
then the 8085
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Modern Microprocessor: 8086 and 8088)
• Applications of 8086 and 8088:
• The higher
1. execution speed
2. larger memory size and
3. Additional instructions allowed the 8086 and
8088
✓ to replace smaller minicomputers in many
applications
✓ led to many sophisticated applications for
microprocessors
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Modern Microprocessor: 8086 and 8088)
• These microprocessors are called CISC (Complex
Instruction Set Computers) because of the number
of complexity of instructions
• Complex instruction set computing (CISC) is a
processor design, where single instructions can
execute several low-level operations such as
• a load from memory,
• an arithmetic operation,
• a memory store,
• capable of multi-step operations or
• addressing mode within single instructions.
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Modern Microprocessor: 8086 and 8088)
• The 16-bit 8086 and 8088 provided 1 M byte of
memory for the following applications:
➢ Spreadsheets
➢ Word processors
➢ Spelling checkers and
➢ Computer-based other applications
• Soon, even 1M-byte memory system proved
limiting for large databases and other applications.
• This led Intel to introduce the 80286
microcomputers, an updated 8086, in 1983
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The 80286 Microprocessor)
• The 80286 microprocessor was a 16-bit
architecture microprocessor
• It was identical to the 8086 and 8088
• except it addressed 16M-byte memory system
instead of a 1M-byte system
• It has a few additional instructions that
managed the extra 15M bytes of memory
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The 80386 Microprocessor)

• Intel Corporation invented the 80386 in 1986 due

to the demand of:
➢ Faster microprocessor speeds
➢ More memory and
➢ Wider data paths
• The 80386 represented a major overhaul of the
16-bit 8086-80286 architecture
• The 80386 was Intel’s first practical 32-bit
microprocessor
• It contained a 32-bit data bus and a 32-bit
memory address
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The 80486 Microprocessor)

• In 1989, Intel released the 80486

microprocessor, which incorporated:
➢An 80386-like microprocessor
➢An 80386-like numeric coprocessor and
➢An 8K-byte cache memory into one integrated
package
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Pentium Microprocessor)

• The Pentium, introduced in 1993, was similar

to the 80386 and 80486 microprocessor
• It contained an:
1. 8K-byte instruction cache and
2. an 8K-byte data cache, altogether 16K-byte
cache
• Pentium also included additional instructions
called multimedia extensions or MMX
instructions
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Pentium Microprocessor)

• The Pentium executes two instructions,

which are dependent on each other,
simultaneously
• Because it contains two independent
internal processors called superscalar
technology.
• This allows the Pentium to often execute two
instructions per clocking period
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Pentium Microprocessor
• RISC (reduced instruction set computer) is a
microprocessor that is designed to perform
1. a smaller number of types of computer instructions
2. it can operate at a higher speed
(perform more millions of instructions per second (MIPS)
• Since each instruction type that a computer must
perform requires
1. additional transistors and circuitry,
2. a larger list or set of computer instructions
This tends to make the microprocessor more complicated
and slower in operation.
 Introduction to Microprocessor
(The Pentium Pro Processor)
• The Pentium Pro Processor, introduced in 1995
• It contained:
1. 21 million transistors
2. Integer units and
3. Floating point unit to increase the performance of
most software
4. 16K level-one (L1) cache (8K for data and 8K for
instruction)
5. It also contained a 256K level-two (L2) cache
 Introduction to Microprocessor
Intel Microprocessor core versions
 Introduction to Microprocessor
Intel family of microprocessor bus and memory sizes