Computer

Components
 Types of memory
and storage
 memory is referred as internal devices which the
computer can access directly
 memory can either be user’s workspace, temporary
data or data that is key to the running of the computer
 Storage devices allow users to store applications, data
and files
 storage devices can be internal or removable
 Internal memory includes components such as
registers

 Primary Memory

 Primary memory is the part of

computer memory which can be
accessed directly from the CPU
 It is made up of Read Only
Memory (ROM) and Random
Access Memory (RAM) chips
 RAM
 Any memory location can be accessed
independent of which memory location was last
used
 Access time to locate data is much faster in RAM
than in secondary devices
 RAM can be written to or read from,
 data stored can be changed by the user or by the
computer
 used to store data, files, part of an application or
part of the operating system currently in use
 volatile (memory contents are lost on powering
off the computer).
 Types of RAM
 there are two types of RAM namely Dynamic
RAM(DRAM) and Static RAM(SRAM)
Dynamic RAM(DRAM)
 consists of tiny transistors and capacitors
 Capacitors hold the bits of information (0 or 1)
 saves data by distinguishing these numbers
 Transistors act like switches; they allow the chip control
circuitry to read the capacitor or change the capacitor’s
value
 Capacitors slowly leak their charged, thus the capacitor
needs to be recharged every 15 seconds
Advantages of Dram over
Sram

 aremuch less expensive to

manufacture than SRAMs
 consume less power than
SRAMs
 have a higher memory
capacity than SRAMs
Static RAM (SRAM)
 It makes use of flip flops which hold each bit of memory
 retains data bits in its memory as long as power is being
supplied
 Unlike dynamic RAM (DRAM), which must be
continuously refreshed, SRAM does not have this
requirement, resulting in better performance and lower
power usage
 SRAM is commonly used for a computer's cache
memory
 used also in computer's video or graphic card
 Memory cache is designed to store data and programs
that are frequently accessed by the central processing
unit (CPU)
 ROM
 it cannot be written to or changed.
 non-volatile (the contents are not lost
after powering off the computer)
 permanent memory devices (the
contents cannot be changed)
 often used to store data which the
computer needs to access when
powering up for the first time eg the
basic input/output system (BIOS)
 PROM
 programmable read-only memory
(PROM) is a type of ROM chip that
can be altered once
 made up of a matrix of fuses
 Programming a PROM requires the use of
a PROM writer
 uses an electric current to alter specific
cells by ‘burning’ fuses in the matrix
 They are often used in mobile phones and
in RFID tags
 EPROM
 Erasable programmable read-only memory
(EPROM)
 uses floating gate transistors and capacitors rather
than fuses
 Ultra violet (UV) light is used to program an
EPROM through a quartz window
 They are used in applications which are under
development, such as the programming of new
games consoles
 Embedded
systems

 Embedded systems involve installing

microprocessors into devices to enable
operations to be controlled
 Devices such as cookers, refrigerators and
central heating systems can now all be
activated by a web-enabled device
 The time a central heating system switches
on or off and the temperature can all be set
from an app on a mobile phone from
anywhere in the world
Secondary storage
devices

 storage devices that are not directly accessible

by the CPU
 They are non-volatile devices which allow data
to be stored as long as required by the user
 data access time is considerably slower than
RAM and ROM
 there are different categories of Secondary
storage namely Magnetic, Optical and Solid state
devices
 Magnetic(Hard Disc
Drive)

 Data is stored in a digital format on the

magnetic surfaces of the disks (platters)
 The hard disk drive will have a number of
platters
 number of read-write heads can access all of
the surfaces in the disk drive
 each platter will have two surfaces which can
be used to store the data
 read-write heads can move very quickly –
from the centre of the disk to the edge of the
disk (and back again) 50 times a second
 Data is stored on the surface in sectors and
tracks
 A sector on a given track will contain a
fixed number of bytes
 it is heavily affected with latency
 latency is the time it takes for a specific
block of data on a data track to rotate
around to the read-write head
 fragmentation also leads to slow
performance of a hard disc
 An HDD is a direct access device; however,
data in a given sector will be read
sequentially
 Solid State Drives
 stores data by controlling the movement of
electrons within NAND chips
 The data is stored as 0s and 1s in millions
of tiny transistors
 one transistor is called a floating gate, and
the other is called a control gate
 it is a a non-volatile rewritable memory
 Floating gate and control gate transistors
use CMOS (complementary metal oxide
semi-conductor) NAND technology
 Flash memories make use of a grid
 The floating gate transistor has a
value of 1 when it is charged and
a value of 0 when it is not
 voltage is applied to the control
gate and electrons from the
electron source are attracted to it
 the dielectric coating blocks the
electrons from moving to the
control gate and thus they are
trapped in the floating gate.
 this charge can leak away after
12 months and thus a solid-state
device should be used once a
year
 Advantages of SSDs
 they are more reliable (no moving parts to go wrong)
 they are considerably lighter (which makes them
suitable for laptops)
 they do not have to ‘get up to speed’ before they
work properly
 they have a lower power consumption
 they run much cooler than HDDs
 they are very thin
 SSD data access time is only 0.1 milliseconds
compared to 10 milliseconds for HDD
 data transfer speed for SSDs is also much faster than
for HDDs
Disadvantage

The main drawback of

SSDs is the longevity of
the technology
 rated at only 20 GB
write operations per day
over a three-year period
 Optical Devices
 these include CDs,DVDs and Blue Ray
Discs
 CDs are made of polycarbonate plastic
 Laser light is used to read data from,
and write data onto, the surface of a disk
 use a thin layer of metal alloy or light-
sensitive organic dye to store the data
 The shiny metal layer reflects the laser
that is used to read or write to the device
 use a single, spiral track which runs
from the centre of the disk to the edge
 The data is stored in ‘pits’ and
‘bumps’ on the spiral track
 A space between pits is called land
 A change from a pit to a land or a
land to a pit is a "1" in binary data
 while no-change is a "0“
 Data from a CD-Rom is read by
spinning the disk around and basically
bouncing a laser from the aluminum
 the light from the laser hits the aluminum lands, it will be reflected
into a prism and registered as voltage
 When the laser hits a pit, most of the light will be scattered and not
be returned into the detector, thus registering no voltage
 DVD
 DVDs use dual layering
 Two layers of a standard DVD are joined together with a transparent
(polycarbonate) spacer,
 single layer DVDs have a larger storage capacity than CDs because
the ‘pit’ size and track width are both smaller
 DVDs use lasers with a wavelength of 650 nanometres
 CDs use lasers with a wavelength of 780 nanometres
 The shorter the wavelength of the laser light, the greater the storage
capacity of the medium.
Blu-Ray Disc
 Blu-ray uses a blue laser, rather than a red laser
 the wavelength of blue light is only 405 nanometres (compared to 650 nm for red
light)
 ‘pits’ and ‘bumps’ can be much smaller
 a Blu-ray can store up to five times more data than a DVD.
 Blu-ray uses a single 1.1 mm thick polycarbonate disk; DVDs use a sandwich of two
0.6 mm thick disks
 two sandwich discs can cause birefringence
 this is when light is refracted into two separate beams causing reading errors
 Blu-ray discs automatically come with a secure encryption system which helps to
prevent piracy and copyright infringement.
Input and Output

 Laser printers use dry powder ink

rather than liquid ink
 make use of the properties of static
electricity to produce the text and
images.
 laser printers print the whole page in
one go
 Colour laser printers use four toner
cartridges
Steps involved in printing
 data from the document is sent to a printer driver
 printer driver ensures that the data is in a format
that the chosen printer can understand
 contact with the printer is made to check if its
available (hand shake)
 data is sent to the printer and stored in a
temporary memory known as a printer buffer
 printing drum given a positive charge
 a laser beam scans across it removing the positive
charge in certain areas, leaving negatively charged
areas which exactly match the text/images of the
page to be printed
 drum is coated with positively charged toner
(powdered ink).
 the toner it only sticks to the negatively charged
parts of the drum
 negatively charged sheet of paper is rolled over
the drum
 toner on the drumsticks to the paper to produce
an exact copy of the page sent to the printer
 the electric charge on the paper is removed after
one rotation of the drum
 the paper goes through a fuser (a set of heated
rollers), where the heat melts the ink so that it
fixes permanently to the paper
 a discharge lamp removes all the electric charge
from the drum so it is ready to print the next page
Inkjet
 inkjet consist of print head consisting of nozzles that spray droplets
of ink onto the paper to form characters
 an ink cartridge or cartridges
 a stepper motor and belt which moves the print head assembly
across the page from side to side
 a paper feed which automatically feeds the printer with pages as
they are required.
Ink droplets production
 ink droplets can be produced using one of two technologies: thermal
bubble or piezoelectric
Thermal bubble -tiny resistors create localised heat which makes the
ink vaporize
 ink forms a tiny bubble , which expands and gets ejected on the
paper
 vacuum is created which allows more ink to drawn into the print
head
Piezoelectric
 crystal is located at the back of the ink reservoir for each nozzle
 a tiny electric charge is induced on the crystal which makes it vibrate
 vibration forces ink to be ejected onto the paper and at the same
time more ink is drawn in for further printing.
Steps in an Inkjet printer
 data from the document is sent to a printer driver
 printer driver ensures that the data is in a format that the chosen printer
can understand
 contact with the printer is made to check if its available (hand shake)
 data is sent to the printer and stored in a temporary memory known as a
printer buffer
 a sheet of paper is fed into the main body of the printer
 A sensor detects whether paper is available in the paper feed tray
 if it is out of paper (or the paper is jammed), an error message is sent back
to the computer
 the print head moves from side to side across the paper printing the
text or image as the paper is fed
 at the end of each full pass of the print head, the paper is advanced
very slightly to allow the next line to be printed
 This process is done until the whole page is printed
3 D Printers
3D printers are used to produce solid objects that actually work
 The solid object is built up layer by layer using materials such as:
powdered resin, powdered metal, paper or ceramic
 3D printers use additive manufacturing (i.e. the object is built up
layer by layer)
 two methods can be used in 3D printing
Direct 3D printing
 uses inkjet technology
 a print head can move left to right as in a normal printer
 the head can also move upwards and downwards building up layers
Binder 3D printing
 uses two passes for each of the layers
 the first pass sprays dry powder
 the second pass a binder (a type of glue) is sprayed to form a solid
layer
 Newer technologies are using lasers and UV light to harden liquid
polymers
Steps in creating objects in 3D
printing
 A design is made using computer aided design (CAD) software
 The finalised drawing is imported into some special software that
prepares it in a format that is understood by the 3D printer
 The 3D printer is first set up to allow the solid object to be made
 The solid object is built up layer by layer (often only 0.1 mm thick);
 The object is removed from the printer and is then prepared