Chapter - 2

Computer Architecture
Basics of Computer Systems

1 Information Communication Technology

 What is Computer System?
Software User

Data (Texts, audio, video, etc.)

Hardware

Computer system is made up of hardware, software, data and

communication.

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Definitions to know!
• Hardware: Hardware is the physical component that makes up the computer
system.
• Software: Software is the programs that control the computer systems.
• Communication: Communication is the act of transferring data.
• Data: Data is the information that computer works with and it could be
anything that is being transferred in the process of communication. (E.g. Texts,
images, audio, videos and so on.)

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Types of Hardware
• External Hardware
• Hardware outside of the computer (e.g. Keyboard, mouse, monitor)
• Internal Hardware
• Hardware inside of the computer (e.g. CPU, RAM, Motherboard)

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Types of Software
• Application Software
• Programs that allows the user to do specific tasks
• E.g. Word processing, spreadsheets, games, etc.
• System Software
• Programs that allow computer to run smoothly
• Background tasks that enable computer to run smoothly and help with activities.
• E.g Operating system, Anti-virus software, Device drivers, etc.

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Roles of hardware devices
• Input
• Receive data from users
• Output
• Send and display data to users
• Processing
• Carry out calculations and logics for each user actions.
• Storage
• Store data in the computer.

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Basic Computer Architecture

Input Processing Output

Storage
Data

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Types of Computers
• Desktop
• Laptop
• Smart Phone
• Tablets
• Phablets

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Desktop
• Made up of separate components; monitor, keyboard, mouse and processor
unit
• Each parts can be bought separately
• Assemble together to work together

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Advantages
• Spare parts can be easily accessed
• Easier and less expensive to upgrade
• Harder to get stolen
• Have better specifications for given price

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Disadvantages
• Not portable
• Complicated wiring for assembling multiple components
• Necessary to copy files when working elsewhere
• Takes more space

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Uses
• office and business work (word processing, spreadsheets, finance software and
databases being the main use)
• educational use (using interactive software to teach or learn from)
• use as a gaming device (for example, games such as chess, crossword
puzzles, fantasy games, and so on)
• general entertainment (for example, live or ‘catch-up’ streaming of television
programmes).

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Laptop
• Type of computer where monitor, keyboard, pointing device and processor are
all together in one single unit
• Lightweight
• Low power consumption Relatively (Depends on type of laptop)
• Low heat output

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Advantages
• Very portable, can be taken anywhere
• No trailing wires as everything is in one single unit
• Does not take up much desk space, thus can be used anywhere
• Have sustainable battery

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Disadvantages
• Easier to get stolen/damaged
• Have to carry adapter around due to limited battery life
• Not convenient to use pointing device and keyboard
• Harder and expensive to upgrade

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Smart Phone
• Allow phone calls and have operating system to enable running of apps
• Make use of touchscreen technology
• Front- and back-facing cameras
• Lower weight than laptop and have longer battery life
• Include multiple sensors:
• Accelerometers
• Proximity

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Advantages
• Lightweight and small in size therefore very portable and have on your person
all the time
• Can be used to make phone call as well as connecting to the internet
• Have long battery life
• Can be used anywhere as they make use of mobile phone network and Wi-Fi
• Can make use of GPS and other features that are not available in desktop and
laptop

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Disadvantages
• Very easy to get lost or stolen
• Small screen size make pages and texts difficult to read
• More difficult to type on phone due to smaller screen size
• Limited memory size compared to desktop and laptop
• Not all website features are compatible with phone

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Tablets
• Much like a smartphone but bigger
• Make use of virtual keyboard on touchscreen
• Make use of touch screen technology

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Advantages
• Very fast to switch on
• Portable thus can be carried around anywhere
• Easy to use and does not need other input devices due to touch screen
technology
• Does not produce much heat
• Have a very long battery life

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Disadvantages
• Expensive
• Limited memory storage
• Typing on touch screen can be error prone
• Support less file types compared to desktop and laptop

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Phablet
• A hybrid between a tablet and a smartphone.
• These are referred to as a phablet.
• They have much larger screens than a smartphone but are smaller than a
tablet.

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Input Devices

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What are input devices?
• Input devices are devices that user can perform specific action on.
• Examples of input devices includes:
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Microphone
• Touchpad

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Keyboard
• Mainly used for inputting data into application software
• Can be connected to computer via USB or wireless connection
• Can also be used to type in commands or shortcuts to the computer

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Advantages
• Fast entry of new text into document
• Easy to use

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Disadvantages
• Can be difficult to use if the user have arm/wrist use
• Fairly large device that take up desk space

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Mouse
• Can control the position of a pointer on the screen by moving it around
• Mainly have two buttons:
• Left button that can open or select items
• Right button that brings up drop-down menus
• Also have a scroll wheel to scroll through documents

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Advantages
• Faster method for choosing an option than using a keyboard
• Quick way to navigate through applications and the internet
• Do not need large desk space compared to keyboard

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Disadvantages
• Can be difficult to use for people who have difficult moving hand/wrist
• Easy to get damaged
• Difficult to use if no flat surface is available

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Touchpad
• Pointing device that is integrated in a laptop
• Control the pointer by user moving their finger on the touchpad
• Some touchpads includes left and right buttons that functions as the ones
from mouse

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Advantages
• There is no need for separate mouse as it is integrated into the laptop
• Can use where there is no flat surface available

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Disadvantages
• Can be difficult to use for people who have difficult moving hand/wrist
• Harder to control the pointer compared to mouse
• Harder to carry out operations like drag and drop

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Output Devices

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What are output devices?
• Output devices are devices that gives back user a response.
• Example of output devices includes:
• Projectors
• 3D printers

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Projectors
• Receive source from a computer, television or DVD player.
• Image is magnified and projected on a screen.
• Mainly used in presentations and cinema systems.

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Advantages
• Enables many people to see a presentation rather than crowding around a
small computer screen.
• Newer models can also be connected wireless without the need of HDMI cable.

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Disadvantages
• Images can be fuzzy
• Expensive to buy
• Setting the device up can be a little complicated

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3D Printers
• 3D printers are printers that can produce a solid object.
• They can be used for prototyping the product.
• There are 2 methods of that can be used for 3D printing
• Additive manufacturing
• Subtractive manufacturing

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Advantages
• Medical benefits are emerging, such as producing artificial organs, prosthetics
and precision-made items for reconstructive surgery.
• Allows rapid prototyping, it means that it will take short length of time to
convert design into a prototype product.

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Disadvantages
• Potential to make counterfeit items, there can be fake items in the market.
• There is potential job losses.

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Processing Devices

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Motherboard
• Circuit board in the computer
• All hardware are connected to
motherboard
• Contains sockets and slots for other
devices to connect

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What are processing units?
• Processing units deal with the logics, calculations and the control of the
computer components
• Different processors handle different tasks in the computer

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Central Processing Unit
• Brain of the computer
• Carries out the command from computer
hardware and software
• Also referred to as microprocessor
• Can also be found on smart devices

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Structure of CPU
• CPU has two parts
• ALU – arithmetic and logic unit
• CU – control unit
• ALU deals with mathematical calculations
and logical processing
• CU gives instructions to other hardware
devices

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Sound Card
• Provides computer with the ability to
produce sound
• Often integrated into the motherboard

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Memory Devices

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Two types of Storages
• Primary storage and Secondary storage
• Primary storage has small size and very fast
• Secondary storage has large size and store files permanently
• When we say memory, we generally refer to primary storage
• Primary storage includes RAM and ROM

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RAM (Random Access Memory)
• Stores data temporarily
• Volatile memory – data is lost when the power
is turned off
• Can be read and written from
• Used to store data of program currently in use

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ROM (Read Only Memory)
• Stores data permanently
• Non-volatile memory – data is not lost when
the power is turned off
• Can only be read from
• Used to store settings needed to boot the
system
• Also used to store game programs in game
stations

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Storage Devices

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Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
• Data is stored in a digital format on the
magnetic surfaces of the hard disks (also
known as platters).
• Number of platter in hard disk may depends on
capacity of it.
• Data can be accessed through the read/write
head.
• Read/write heads contain a tiny magnet which
allows the data on the platter to be read.
• Platter can rotate up to 10000rpm (10000
rotation per minute)

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How does HDD works?
• Actuators are used to control the read/write heads.
• Tiny magnets in the read/write heads allows the read/write operations on the
disk.
• Data is stored in circular tracks and each track is broken up into sectors.
• A map of sector is stored on the HDD and is known as file allocation table
(FAT).
• When computer wants to store new files, HDD looks at FAT to know which
sector is free and move the read/write head to the free sector to store data.
• When computer wants to read existing files, HDD looks at FAT to know where
the data is stored and move the read/write head to free sector to read data.

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HDD (Tracks and Sectors)

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Advantages
• HDDs have large memory capacities.
• They have fast data transfer rate and data access time.

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Disadvantages
• They can be easily damaged if correct procedure on computer has not been
performed.
• Having many moving parts can affect their overall reliability.
• They can be quite noisy at times.
• Have latency issues as platter have to be spinning for read/write operations.

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Solid State Drives (SSD)
• Solid state technology does not have latency issues as all data can be retrieve
at the same rate.
• Solid state does not rely on magnetic properties and they have no moving
parts.
• They store data by controlling the movement of electrons.
• Data is stored as 0s and 1s in millions of tiny transistors.

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Advantages
• Lighter than HDD
• Does not produces as much heat as HDD
• Have faster data access time HDD
• Have faster data read/write time than HDD
• Have lower power consumption than HDD

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Disadvantages
• More expensive than HDD
• Have shorter life span compared to HDD

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Computational Model

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What are computational models?
• Computational models are steps that computer takes to solve a problem.
• They can be classified into 3 categories:
• Sequential
• Parallel
• Multi-agent

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Sequential
• Sequential model executes instructions steps by steps from start to end.
• For example, making a sandwich step by step:
1. Get the bread
2. Add the filling
3. Server the sandwich

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Parallel
• In parallel model, computer processes are broken down into smaller tasks and
then distributed to the processors or cores in a computer.
• Each separate processors/cores executes the given instruction, which can then
be combined to get the final output.
• Example of parallel processing is, a car factory where different components of
the car is being made at the same time in different section which are all
assembled together to produce a car.

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Multi-agent
• In multi-agent model, it involves agents working together to solve a problem,
hence the name.
• Each agents carries out a separate tasks and communicate with others to
complete the task.
• Think of it, as a group of friends working on a project:
• One will search information online
• One will create presentation slides
• One will write script for the presentation
• The friend who search information will have to share the information with the
one who will write the script.
• Script writer will have to tell the one who’s making the slides to include
specific points from the script.
• Only then they will be able to make a successful project.
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 Any Questions?

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