McGraw-Hill Technology Education Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill Technology Education Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Chapter 4A

Transforming Data Into

Information

McGraw-Hill Technology Education Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 How Computers Represent Data
• Number systems
– A manner of counting
– Several different number systems exist
• Decimal number system
– Used by humans to count
– Contains ten distinct digits
– Digits combine to make larger numbers

5A-3
 How Computers Represent Data
• Binary number system
– Used by computers to count
– Two distinct digits, 0 and 1
– 0 and 1 combine to make numbers

5A-4
 Base 10 vs. Base 2

5A-5
 How Computers Represent Data
• Bits and bytes
– Binary numbers are made of bits
– Bit represents a switch
– A byte is 8 bits
– Byte represents one character

5A-6
 Power of 2

5A-7
 How Computers Represent Data
• Text codes
– Converts letters into binary
– Standard codes necessary for data transfer
– ASCII
• American English symbols
– Extended ASCII
• Graphics and other symbols
– Unicode
• All languages on the planet

5A-8
 ASCII Code

5A-9
 How Computers Process Data

5A-10
5A-11
 How Computers Process Data
• The CPU
– Central Processing Unit
– Brain of the computer
– Control unit
• Controls resources in computer
• Instruction set
– Arithmetic logic unit
• Simple math operations
• Registers

5A-12
 Operations Performed by ALU

5A-13
 How Computers Process Data
• Machine cycles
– Steps by CPU to process data
– Instruction cycle
• Fetch
• Decode
– Execution cycle
• Execute
• Store
– Billions of cycles per second (BIPS, MIPS)
– Pipelining processes more data
5A-14
– Multitasking allows multiple instructions
 Instruction Cycle

5A-15
 Execution Cycle

5A-16
 How Computers Process Data
• Memory
– Stores open programs and data
– Small chips on the motherboard
– More memory makes a computer faster

5A-17
 How Computers Process Data

5A-18
 How Computers Process Data

5A-19
 How Computers Process Data
• Nonvolatile memory
– Holds data when power is off
– Read Only Memory (ROM)
– Basic Input Output System (BIOS)
– Power On Self Test (POST)

5A-20
 How Computers Process Data
• Flash memory
– Data is stored using physical switches
– Special form of nonvolatile memory
– Camera cards, USB key chains

5A-21
 How Computers Process Data
• Volatile memory
– Requires power to hold data
– Random Access Memory (RAM)
• SIMM
• DIMM
– Data in RAM has an address
– CPU reads data using the address
– CPU can read any address

5A-22
 RAM (Types)

5A-23
 Components affecting Speed

5A-24
 Affecting Processing Speed
• Registers
– Number of bits processor can handle
– Word size
– Larger indicates more powerful computer
– Increase by purchasing new CPU

5A-25
 Affecting Processing Speed
• RAM
– Loads part of program currently running
– Swap in from hard disk
– Swaps out to hard disk
– Bigger RAM- bigger portion of program
swapped in- faster the CPU speed

5A-26
 Affecting Processing Speed
• Virtual RAM
– Computer is out of actual RAM
– File that emulates RAM
– Computer swaps data to virtual RAM
• Least recently used data is moved

5A-27
 Affecting Processing Speed
• The computer’s internal clock
– Quartz crystal
– Every tick causes a cycle
– Speeds measured in Hertz (Hz)
• Modern machines use Giga Hertz (GHz-billions
of cycles per second)

5A-28
 Affecting Processing Speed
• The bus
– Electronic pathway between components
– Group of parallel wires
– Expansion bus connects to peripherals
– System bus connects CPU and RAM
– Bus width is measured in bits
– Speed is tied to the clock

5A-29
 Affecting Processing Speed

5A-30
 Affecting Processing Speed
• Data Bus
– Electrical path for connecting CPU, memory
and other H/W devices on motherboard
– Collection of parallel wires
– Each wire transmit one bit of data
– No. of wires affect the speed at which data
can travel
– Has its own bus clock
– Bus speed- measured in MHz

5A-31
 Affecting Processing Speed
• Address Bus
– Set of wires
– Carries only memory addresses
– Connects only CPU and RAM

5A-32
 Affecting Processing Speed
• Bus standards
– Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
• External bus
• 16-bit data bus
• Connects slower devices (modem, input
devices)
– Local bus
• Internal bus
• Connects faster devices with CPU
– Peripheral control interface
• Internal bus
5A-33
• Integrate audio, video and graphics
 Affecting Processing Speed
– Accelerated graphics port (AGP)
• Allows Video card to access system’s RAM
directly (increases performance)
– Universal serial bus
• Connects external devices
• Hot swappable
• Allows up to 127 devices
• Cameras, printers, and scanners
– IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
• Connects video devices
• First found in Mac, Now in IBM based PCs as
well
5A-34
 – PC Card
– Used on laptops
– Hot swappable
– Devices are the size of a credit card

5A-35
 Affecting Processing Speed

5A-36
 Affecting Processing Speed
• Cache memory
– Very fast memory
– Resides between RAM and CPU
– Holds common or recently used data
– Speeds up computer processing
– Most computers have several caches
• L1 holds recently used data (CPU resident)
• L2 holds upcoming data (CPU resident)
• L3 holds possible upcoming data (motherboard
resident)

5A-37
 Affecting Processing Speed

5A-38
 Lesson Lab
1. Right Click on start button
2. Select “Task Manager”
3. Select the tab of “Performance”
4. Check the Caches used in your system

5A-39
 Chapter 4A

End of Chapter

McGraw-Hill Technology Education Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.