CHAPTER 3

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SYSTEM:

STRUCTURE & PROCESSES
 Module Objectives
• At the end of the module, students should be able to:
– understand the concept and functions of a computer
system
– identify the component of a computer
– identify the components of the central processing unit and
explain how they work together and interact with
memory
– describe how program instructions are executed by the
computer
– explain how data is represented in the computer
– understand the concept of bit and byte
– identify the types of ports and connectors
 What is A Computer System ?
• A functional unit, consisting of one or more
computers and associated software, that
uses common storage for the execution of
the program.
• Consists of three components
– People
• Computer programmer
• Users/End-user
– Software
– Hardware
Functions of a Computer System
 Components Of A Computer

Peripherals
Computer

CPU Input /
Output

Systems
Interconnection
i.e. bus

Main
Memory

Communication Lines
 Central Processing Unit
Stores data and programs
• Complex set of Secondary storage

electronic
circuitry
• Executes stored
program Makes
Sends
instructions data to
the CPU
Central Processing Unit processed
info
available
• Three parts Input Control
Unit
ALU
Unit Output

1. Control unit
2. Arithmetic/ Registers
logic unit (ALU)
3. Registers
Processing
 Control Unit
• Directs the computer system to execute
stored program instructions
• Must communicate with memory and ALU
• Sends data and instructions from secondary
storage to memory as needed
 Arithmetic Logic Unit
• Executes all arithmetic and logical operations
• Arithmetic operations
– Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
• Logical operations
– Compare numbers, letters, or special characters
– Tests for one of three conditions
• Equal-to condition
• Less-than condition
• Greater-than condition
 Registers
• One of a small set of data holding places
• Temporarily store instructions, address, or
any kind of data (such as a bit sequence or
individual characters) that fetched from
memory
 Popular CPUs
Intel Advanced
Micro Devices
Core i7 Atom (AMD)

Core i5

Cyrix Apple
Systems Interconnection (Bus)
• shared communication link
• set of wires used to connect multiple subsystems
• A Bus is also a fundamental tool for composing large,
complex systems
• The input/output bus provides a pathway so that the
microprocessor can communicate with input/output
devices
Processor
Input
Memory

Control

Data
path Output
 Input / Output Bus
• An input/output bus contains
PCI slots
expansion slots which hold expansion
cards
– ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) slot phased out
– PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots
– AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot  usually for
graphics card
– USB (Universal Serial Bus)
– PCI Express (PCI-E)  latest tech.

AGP slots PCI-E slots Expansion Card

 Data Storage and the CPU
• Two types of storage:
– Primary storage (memory)
• Stores data temporarily / volatile
• CPU refers to it for both program
instructions and data
• Holds input to be processed or
holds results of processing
– Secondary storage
• Long-term storage / non-volatile
• Stored on external medium, such as
a disk
 The CPU and Memory
• CPU cannot process data from disk or input device
– It must first reside in memory
– Control unit retrieves data from disk and moves it into
memory
• Items sent to ALU for processing
– Control unit sends items to ALU, then sends back to
memory after processing
• Data and instructions held in memory until sent to
an output or storage device or program is shut
down
 Temporary Storage Areas
Registers
• High-speed temporary
storage areas
– located within the CPU
• Work under direction of
control unit
– Accept, hold, and transfer
instructions or data
– Keep track of where the
next instruction to be
executed or needed data is
stored
Memory
• Also known as primary
storage / main memory
– Often expressed as random-
access memory (RAM)
– Not part of the CPU
• Holds data and instructions
for processing
• Stores information only as
long as the program is in
operation
 The Machine Cycle
• The time required to
retrieve, execute,
and store an
operation
• Components
– Instruction time
– Execution time
• System clock
synchronizes
operations
 The Machine Cycle
• Instruction Time = I-Time
– Fetch – Gets the next program instruction from the
computer’s memory
– Decode – Figures out what the program is telling the
computer to do
• Execution Time = E-Time
– Execute – Performs the requested action
– Write-back (Store) – Writes (stores) the results to a
register or to memory
How Computers Represent Data
OFF ON
ON
OFF
OR = 1 bit
0 1
= 1 Byte
0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
OR
= 1 Byte
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

• Bit (Binary digit) – On or off state of electric current; considered the

basic unit of information; represented by 1s and 0s (binary numbers)
• Byte – Eight bits grouped together to represent a character (an
alphabetical letter, a number, or a punctuation symbol); 256 different
combinations
 Bits
1000 bits = 1 kilobit (kb)
1,000,000 bits = 1 megabit (mb)
1,000,000,000 bits = 1 gigabit (gb)

 Kilobits per second (Kbps), Megabits per

second (Mbps), and Gigabits per second (Gbps)
are terms that describe units of data used in
measuring data transfer rates
– Example: 56 Kbps modem
 Bytes
8 bits = 1 Byte
1024 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte (KB)
1,048,576 Bytes = 1 Megabyte (MB)
1,043,741,824 Bytes = 1 Gigabyte (GB)
1,099,511,627,776 Bytes = 1 Terabyte (TB)

• Kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, and terabyte are terms

that describe large units of data used in measuring data
storage
–Example: 20 GB hard drive
• Each byte has 256 (28) possible values
 Storage Sizes
• Kilobyte: 1024 (210) bytes
– Memory capacity of older personal computers
• Megabyte: roughly one million (220) bytes
– Personal computer memory
– Portable storage devices (diskette, CD-ROM)
• Gigabyte: roughly one billion (230) bytes
– Storage devices (hard drives)
– Mainframe and network server memory
• Terabyte: roughly one trillion (240) bytes
– Storage devices on very large systems
 About Binary
Understanding of Binary and its conversion is VERY
IMPORTANT!
IT / CS student must know the steps of converting between
decimal to binary, and vice versa using manual method.
Decimal to Binary
33 = ??
Binary to Decimal 2 33 1
00001011 = ?? 2 16 0
2 8 0 So,
23 + 21 + 20 = 11 2 4 0 33 = 00100001
2 2 0
2 1 1
 Coding Schemes
• Provide a common way of representing a
character of data
• Needed so computers can exchange data
• Common Schemes
– ASCII
– EBCDIC
– Unicode
Representing Characters: Character Codes

 Character codes translate numerical data into

characters readable by humans
– American Standard Code for Information Interchange
(ASCII) – Eight bits equals one character; used by
minicomputers and personal computers
– Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
(EBCDIC) – Eight bits equals one character; used by
mainframe computers
– Unicode – Sixteen bits equals one character; over 65,000
combinations; used for foreign language symbols

ASCII =4
0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0

EBCDIC =4
1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
ASCII Table
 Inside the System Unit / Casing
 Motherboard (mainboard) – Large
printed circuit board with thousands
of electrical circuits
 Power supply – Transforms
alternating current (AC) from wall
outlets to direct current (DC) needed
by the computer
 Cooling fan – Keeps the system unit
cool
 Internal Speaker – Used for beeps
when errors are encountered
 Drive bays – Housing for the
computer’s hard drive, floppy drive,
and CD-ROM / DVD-ROM drives
 Outside the System Unit

Drive bays

On/off switch

Indicator lights

FRONT BACK

 The front panel contains drive bays, various buttons, and

indicator lights
 Connectors and ports are physical receptacles located on
the back to connect peripheral devices to the computer
 Types of Connectors / Ports
Mouse
port –
Special Data flows through eight wires allowing the
transfer of eight bits of data simultaneously; For graphics-intensive
serial port
faster than serial ports interaction
to connect
mouse.

keyboard Serial port – Data A 15 pin connector

Allows up to
port - Also called jacks, sound
127 devices flows in a series of used for monitors
Special card connectors accept
to be pulses, one after
serial port stereo mini-plugs.
connected at another one bit at
to connect Microphone, line-in,
a time. a time; slow data
keyboard. line-out, and speaker
transfer rate.
connectors are plugged
into the card.
 Other Types of Connectors
• Small computer system interface (SCSI)
port – A parallel interface that enables up to
eight devices to be connected to it
• 1394 (FireWire) port – A high-speed
connection for up to 63 devices
• Infrared Data Association (IrDa) port –
Infrared signals are used to communicate
between peripheral devices and the system
unit
 References

• Slides adapted from course materials of

Daley, B. “ Computers Are Your Future
2006, Complete Ed”. Prentice Hall, 2006.