BASIC COMPUTER

ORGANIZATION
 A Computer
• Information Processing Machine
– It is a system, which consists of a number of
interrelated components that work together with the
aim of converting data into information
• To attain information:
– Data is entered through input devices
– The data is processes using the central processing unit
– The processed data (information) is displayed to the
users using output devices
• All these parts constitute the computer hardware
 A Computer
• A computer is an “intelligent thinking
machine” -> this is not true
• Every computer needs to be told exactly what
to do and how to do
• This is done by giving instructions to the
computer
• These instructions are given in the form of
computer programs, which constitute the
software
 Computer Organization
• The basic hardware units of a computer
system are
– Central Processing Unit (CPU)
– Memory Unit
– Input Unit
– Output Unit

Hardware Devices
 Input Devices
• Input devices are electromechanical device
• Human communicate with computers through input devices
• Data and instructions are entered into the memory of a
computer through input devices
• It captures information and translates it into a form that can
be processed by the central processing unit
• Computer accepts input in two ways: manually or directly
• In manual data entry, the user enters the data into the
computer by hand, for example by using keyboard or mouse
• In direct entry, information is fed into the computer
automatically from a source document (like barcode)
• Some Input Devices are: Keyboard, pointing device like
mouse and joystick, and scanners
 Input Devices

Keyboard & Mouse

Scanner

Joy Stick Pen Drive

 Input Devices

Barcode Scanner
Scanner scanning
Barcode

Barcode
 Output Devices
• Computers communicate with human being using output
devices
• Output devices take the machine-coded output results
from the CPU and convert them into a form that is easily
readable (such as characters, graphical, or audio visual) by
human beings
• Output unit processes data into useful information
• The outputs are in the form of: softcopy and hardcopy
• The physical form of output is known as hard copy
• The electronic version of an output, that reside in computer
memory and/or disk, is known as soft copy
• Some Output Devices are: Monitors, Printers, and audio
response
 Output Devices

Printer
Monitor

Audio Response
 Central Processing Unit
• “Brain” of a computer system
• Converts data (input) into meaningful
information (output)
• A CPU controls all internal and external devices,
performs arithmetic and logic operations, and
operate only on binary data, i.e., data composed
of 1s and 0s
• It also controls the usage of main memory to
store data and instructions and controls the
sequence of operations
 Central Processing Unit
• CPU consists of three
main subsystems:
– The arithmetic logic
unit
– The control unit
– The registers

• The three subsystem

work together to provide
operational capabilities
to the computer

CPU
 Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)
• The arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) contains the electronic
circuitry that executes all arithmetic and logical
operations on the data made available to it
• ALU comprises of two units: Arithmetic Unit and Logic
Unit
• Arithmetic Unit:-
– The arithmetic unit contains the circuitry that is
responsible for performing the actual computing and
carrying out the arithmetic calculations, such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division.
– It can perform these operations at a very high speed
 Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)
• Logic Unit:-
– Enable the CPU to perform logical operations based
on the instructions provided to it.
– These operations are logical comparison between
data items
– The unit can compare numbers, letters, or special
characters and then take action based on the result of
the comparison
– Logical operations of logic unit can test for three
conditions: equal-to condition, less-than condition,
and greater-than condition
 Control Unit
• This unit checks the correctness of sequence
of operations
• It fetches program instruction from the
primary unit, interprets them, and ensures
correct execution of the program
• It also controls the input/output devices and
directs the overall functioning of the other
units of the computer
 Registers
• Special-purpose, high speed temporary
memory units that holds various types of
information such as data, instructions,
addresses, and the intermediate results of
calculations
• They hold the information that the CPU is
currently working on
• Registers can be thought of as CPU’s working
memory
 Memory Unit
• Components such as input device, output device, and CPU
are not sufficient for the working of the computer
• A storage area is needed in a computer to store data and
instructions either temporarily or permanently
• The memory unit stores information is a group of memory
cells, called memory locations, as binary digits
• Each memory location has a unique memory address
• The CPU accesses the contents of the desired memory
locations by referring to the address of the memory
location
• The computer memory is broadly categorized as:
– Primary memory (to handle the data)
– Secondary memory (to store the output)
 Primary Memory
• Main Memory
• Stores data and instructions for processing
• This main memory forms the working area of the program, where
the results generated are normally stored during the time of its run
• A memory module interface with other parts of a computer system
through a set of address lines, data lines, and control lines
• These are called address bus, data bus and control bus
• The relevant address on the address bus and appropriate control
data cause data to be written on a read from the required part of
the memory
• Primary memory device are expensive
• They occupy very little space, consume very low power, and are
faster as compared to secondary memory devices
• Primary Memory is further classified into
– Random Access Memory (RAM) – Volatile memory
– Read Only Memory (ROM)
Primary Memory
 Secondary Memory
• Auxiliary memory or external memory or bulk memory
• Least expensive and has much large storage capacity
than in primary memory
• Instructions and data stored on such storage devices
are permanent in nature (non-volatile)
• The access time in secondary memory is much large
than in primary memory
• Common secondary storage devices are magnetic disks
and tapes
• Dist drives are available in the forms, ‘floppy’ disks
drive and ‘hard’ disk drive
Secondary Memory

Hard Disk
 Memory Operations
• Some operations are common to both primary
and secondary memory. They are
– Read operation: During this operation, data is
retrieved from memory
– Write operation: In this operation, data is stored
in the memory
• Using read and write operations, many other
memory-related functions such as copy and
delete are carried out
 Unit of Memory
• The memory’s interface circuits is designed to logically
access a byte or a multiple of a byte of data from he
memory during each access
• The smallest block of memory is considered to be a
byte, which comprises eight bits
• The total memory space is measured in terms of bytes
• The unit of memory is a byte
• The capacity of memory is the maximum amount of
information it is capable of storing
• The memory capacity is also expressed in number of
bytes
 Unit of Memory
Units used to express memory capacity are:
• Byte:- The smallest meaningful storage block.
It represents one addressable storage location
in memory. It consists of eight bits
• KB:- One Kilobyte is equal to 1024 bytes
• MB:- One megabyte is equal to 1024 Kilobytes
• GB:- One Gigabyte is equal to 1024 megabytes
• TB:- One terabyte is equal to 1024 gigabytes
THE END