PRESIDENTIAL SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS

INFORMATION COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY
FOR 7TH GRADE

BUSTON – 2018
 CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 — Introduction to Computer Systems ............... 3
Hardware and Software .............................................................. 4
Components of a Computer System ........................................ 5
Hardware Components ............................................................... 7
Memory ......................................................................................... 9
Main Memory .................................................................................. 11
Secondary Memory ....................................................................... 13
Input and Output Devices ........................................................... 16
I/O ...................................................................................................... 17
Embedded Systems...................................................................... 18
Software .......................................................................................... 20
Types of Programs ........................................................................ 21
Operating Systems ....................................................................... 24
Starting a Program........................................................................ 25
Networks ......................................................................................... 27
Wide-Area Networks ..................................................................... 28
Internet............................................................................................. 29
World Wide Web ............................................................................ 31
Hyperlinks ....................................................................................... 33
End of the Chapter ........................................................................ 35
 CHAPTER 1 — Introduction to
Computer Systems
A computer is a complex system consisting of
both hardware and software components. This chapter discusses
these components.

Chapter Topics:

 Hardware and Software

 Components of a Computer System
 Networks
 World-Wide Web

QUESTION 1:
What do you think about the movie The Wizard of Oz?
Answer:
A classic movie!
(You should make an effort to answer the question at the
bottom of each page of these notes. Doing so will reinforce the
concepts being discussed.)

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 Hardware and Software
In thinking about The Wizard of Oz, you are thinking about
information, not about something physical. You would not usually
think about the actual material used to store the information
(movie film or a DVD) nor about the device which uses the
information (a movie projector or a DVD player). A DVD is
physical, but the movie itself is intangible information.

When you speak of a movie, you usually mean the intangible

movie, not a particular device that has a record of it. (Although
human language is wonderfully flexible; if you were in a video
store and someone asked you to hand them "The Wizard of Oz"
you would probably hand them the correct DVD.)

The word hardware is used for physical devices such as TV

sets, DVD players and computers. The word software is used for
the information used with such devices: movies, music, novels,
web pages, computer programs, and data.

When talking about computer systems, hardware means the

physical parts of the computer. Software means the programs
and data used with the physical computer.

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 QUESTION 2:
Imagine that you have a copy of the book Tom Sawyer. You
tear it to pieces and push the shreds through your garbage
disposal. (It was probably assigned reading.) Have you destroyed
the novel Tom Sawyer?
Answer:
No. You have destroyed a particular physical book, but not
the information that is the novel Tom Sawyer. (You will still have
to write that book report.)

Components of a Computer System

Information is funny stuff. The information for the web page
you are looking at is recorded on a hard disk inside a computer
located in New Britain, Connecticut. The information was copied
from that physical device to other physical devices perhaps
hundreds of times before it got to your computer where your web
browser is using it to display these words on your monitor. Clearly
information is something different from the devices used to store
and transmit it.

A computer system consists of both hardware and

information stored on hardware. Information stored on computer
hardware is often called software.

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 The hardware components of a computer system are the
electronic and mechanical parts.

The software components of a computer system are the

data and the computer programs.

Click Here to see the desktop system these notes were

originally prepared on. (This was back when anything to do with
computers had to be beige. Everything in this picture has since
been replaced, except for the gargoyle.)

The major hardware components of a computer system are:

 Processor
 Main memory
 Secondary memory
 Input devices
 Output devices

For typical desktop computers, the processor, main memory,

secondary memory, power supply, and supporting hardware are
housed in a metal case. Many of the components are connected
to the main circuit board of the computer, called the motherboard.
The power supply supplies power for most of the components.

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Various input devices (such as the keyboard) and output devices
(such as the monitor) are attached through connectors at the rear
of the case.

QUESTION 3:

Is a mouse an input device or an output device?

Answer:
A mouse is an input device.

Hardware Components

The terms input and output say if data flow into or out of the
computer. The picture shows the major hardware components of
a computer system. The arrows show the direction of data flow.

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 A bus is a group of wires on the main circuit board of the
computer. It is a pathway for data flowing between components.
Most devices are connected to the bus through
a controller which coordinates the activities of the device with
the bus.

The processor is an electronic device about a one inch

square, covered in plastic. Inside the square is an even smaller
square of silicon containing millions of tiny electrical parts. A
modern processor may contain billions of transistors. It does the
fundamental computing within the system, and directly or
indirectly controls all the other components.

The processor is sometimes called the Central Processing

Unit or CPU. A particular computer will have a particular type of
processor, such as a Pentium processor or a SPARC processor.

QUESTION 4:
A modern processor chip (in 2014) may have up to 2.5 billion
transistors.
How many transistors do you think the first commercial
processor chip had in 1971? Click on a guess:
a) 2.5 hundred transistors
b) 2.5 thousand transistors
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 c) 2.5 million transistors
d) 2.5 billion transistors
Answer:
The first microprocessor chip, the Intel 4004, had 2300
transistors in 1971.

Memory
The processor performs all the fundamental computation of
the computer system. Other components contribute to the
computation by doing such things as storing data or moving data
into and out of the processor. But the processor is where the
fundamental action takes place.

A processor chip has relatively little memory. It has only

enough memory to hold a few instructions of a program and the
data they process. Complete programs and data sets are held in
memory external to the processor. This memory is of two
fundamental types: main memory, and secondary memory.

Main memory is sometimes called volatile because it looses

its information when power is removed. Secondary memory is
usually nonvolatile because it retains its information when power

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is removed. (However, it needs power when information is stored
into memory or retrieved from it.)

Main memory is sometimes called main storage and

secondary memory is sometimes called secondary
storage or mass storage.

 Main memory:
o closely connected to the processor.
o stored data are quickly and easily changed.
o holds the programs and data that the
processor is actively working with.
o interacts with the processor millions of times
per second.
o needs constant electric power to keep its
information.

 Secondary memory:
o connected to main memory through the bus
and a controller.
o stored data are easily changed, but changes
are slow compared to main memory.

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 o used for long-term storage of programs and
data.
o before data and programs can be used, they
must be copied from secondary memory into main
memory.
o does not need electric power to keep its
information.

QUESTION 5:
Which is fastest? Main memory or secondary memory?
Answer:

Main memory.

Main Memory
Main memory is where programs and data are kept when the
processor is actively using them. When programs and data
become active, they are copied from secondary memory into
main memory where the processor can interact with them. A copy
remains in secondary memory.

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 Main memory is intimately connected to the processor, so
moving instructions and data into and out of the processor is very
fast.

Main memory is sometimes called RAM. RAM stands

for Random Access Memory. "Random" means that the
memory cells can be accessed in any order. However, properly
speaking, "RAM" means the type of silicon chip used to
implement main memory.

When people say that a computer has "512 megabytes of

RAM" they are talking about how big its main memory is. One
megabyte of memory is enough to hold approximately one million
(106) characters of a word processing document. (There will be
more about bytes and megabytes later on in these notes.)

Nothing permanent is kept in main memory. Sometimes data

are placed in main memory for just a few seconds, only as long
as they are needed.

QUESTION 6:
Imagine that you are using a computer to write a book report
on Tom Sawyer.
 Where is the word processor program that you are
running located?
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  Where are the characters you have typed?
Answer:
 Where is the program you are running?
o In main memory.
o Running programs are always located in main
memory.
o A permanent copy will also be in secondary
memory on the hard disk.
 Where are the characters you have typed?
o In main memory.
o When you "save" your document, the
characters are copied to a file on the hard disk.

Secondary Memory
Secondary memory is where programs and data are kept on
a long-term basis. Common secondary storage devices are the
hard disk and optical disks.

 The hard disk has enormous storage capacity

compared to main memory.
 The hard disk is usually contained inside the case
of a computer.
 The hard disk is used for long-term storage of
programs and data.

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  Data and programs on the hard disk are organized
into files.
 A file is a collection of data on the disk that has a
name.

A hard disk might have a storage capacity of 500 gigabytes

(room for about 500 x 109 characters). This is about 100 times
the capacity of main memory. A hard disk is slow compared to
main memory. If the disk were the only type of memory the
computer system would slow down to a crawl. The reason for
having two types of storage is this difference in speed and
capacity.

Large blocks of data are copied from disk into main memory.
The operation is slow, but lots of data is copied. Then the
processor can quickly read and write small sections of that data
in main memory. When it is done, a large block of data is written
to disk.

Often, while the processor is computing with one block of

data in main memory, the next block of data from disk is read into
another section of main memory and made ready for the

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processor. One of the jobs of an operating system is to manage
main storage and disks this way.

Primary memory Secondary memory

 Slow
Fast
 Cheap
 Expensive
 Large capacity
 Low capacity
 Not connected
 Works directly
directly to the
with the processor
processor

QUESTION 7:
Say that you have purchased the game Doom IV and have
installed it on your computer. The game consists of
 A program (that controls the action of the game)
 Data (the images and other information)
After installation, where is each of these parts located in your
computer system?
After you have installed the game, where are its parts
located?
Answer:
 A program
o On the hard disk
 Data
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 o On the hard disk
When you play the game, its various parts are copied from
the hard disk into main memory as needed.

Input and Output Devices

Input and output devices allow the computer system to
interact with the outside world by moving data into and out of the
system. An input device is used to bring data into the system.
Some input devices are:

 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Microphone
 Bar code reader
 Graphics tablet

An output device is used to send data out of the system.

Some output devices are:

 Monitor
 Printer
 Speaker

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 A network interface acts as both input and output. Data flows
from the network into the computer, and out of the computer into
the network.

QUESTION 8:

Do you think that data transfer from the network is slower or

faster than from main memory?

Answer:

Data transfers from the network are much slower than from
main memory and even slower than from hard disk.

I/O
Input/output devices are usually called I/O devices. They are
directly connected to an electronic module attached to the
motherboard called a device controller. For example, the
speakers of a multimedia computer system are directly
connected to a device controller called an audio card, which in
turn is plugged into a bus on the motherboard.

With many recent computers, the functions of a device

controller are integerated with the motherboard. Some

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motherboards have audio, graphics, and network controllers built
in.

Sometimes secondary memory devices like the hard disk are

called I/O devices (because they move data in and out of main
memory). What counts as an I/O device depends on context. To
a user, an I/O device is something outside of the computer case.
To a programmer, anything outside of the processor and main
memory is an I/O device. To an engineer working on the design
of a processor everything outside of the processor is an I/O
device.

QUESTION 9:
Is a game controller an input device or an output device?
Answer:
Input. (Although some game controllers have tactile
feedback and so are output devices as well as input devices.)

Embedded Systems
A computer system that is part of a larger machine and which
controls how that machine operates is an embedded system.
Usually the processor constantly runs a single control program
which is permanently kept in ROM (Read Only Memory).

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 ROM is used to make a section of main memory read-only.
Main memory looks the same as before to the processor, except
a section of it permanently contains the program the processor is
running. This section of memory retains its data even when power
is off.

A typical embedded system is a cell phone. This is obvious,

but there are many less obvious embedded systems. Your car
contains dozens of processors, and even more in its audio
system. For instance, each airbag is controlled by its own
computer chip. Digital cameras, DVD players, medical
equipment, and even home appliances contain dedicated
processors.

The overwhelming majority of processor chips are used in

embedded systems. Less than 1% of processor chips are used
in the familiar desktop computer!

QUESTION 10:
Your automobile engine is controlled by a computer. Do you
think that this computer has:
 Input devices?
 Output devices?
 Main storage?
 Secondary storage?
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 Answer:
Does the computer controlling an automobile engine have:
 Input devices? Yes — various sensors throughout
the car deliver data to the computer.
 Output devices? Yes — various actuators (that
perform actions) are controlled by the computer.
 Main storage? Yes — ROM holds the program
and there must be enough RAM to hold the current data
and results.
 Secondary storage? No — Hard disks do not hold
up well next to a car engine.

Software
Computer software consists of both programs and data.
Programs consist of instructions for the processor. Data can be
any information that a program needs: character data, numerical
data, image data, audio data, and countless other types. The
distinction between programs and data is not as clear-cut as you
might think, however.

Fundamental Idea: Both programs and data are saved in

computer memory in the same way. The electronics of computer
memory (both main memory and secondary memory) make no
distinction between programs and data.
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 The insight that both programs and data can be saved using
the same electronic methods is an important concept in computer
science. Computer systems use memory for either programs or
data, as needed.

QUESTION 11:
Which of the following can be saved on a disk?
 A game program
 Accounting data (numbers)
 Audio data
 Graphics data
 Digital photographs
 Video data
Answer:
Everything on the list can be stored on a disk (or on any other
kind of computer memory, for that matter).

Types of Programs
There are two categories of
programs. Application programs (usually called just
"applications") are programs that people use to get their work
done. Computers exist because people want to run these
programs. Systemsprograms keep the hardware and software
running together smoothly. The difference between "application
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program" and "system program" is fuzzy. Often it is more a matter
of marketing than of logic.

The most important systems program is the operating

system. The operating system is always present when a
computer is running. It coordinates the operation of the other
hardware and software components of the computer system. The
operating system is responsible for starting up application
programs, running them, and managing the resources that they
need. When an application program is running, the operating
system manages the details of the hardware for it. For example,
when you type characters on the keyboard, the operating system
determines which application program they are intended for and
does the work of getting them there.

Some embedded systems do not use an operating system,

but run their programs directly on the processor.

Modern operating systems for desktop computers come with

a user interfacethat enables users to easily interact with
application programs (and with the operating system itself) by
using windows, buttons, menus, icons, the mouse, and the

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keyboard. Examples of operating systems are Unix, Linux,
Android, Mac OS, and Windows.

Application
Systems Programs
Programs

Word
processors
Operating system
 Game programs
 Networking system
 Spreadsheets
 Programming
 Data base
language software
systems
 Web site server
 Graphics
 Data backup
programs
 Web browsers

QUESTION 12:
(Thought question:) Imagine that you have just turned on
your computer and have not yet started any application. Are any
programs running?
Answer:
Yes—the operating system is running. Mostly it is managing
the user interface, waiting for some input to tell it what to do.

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 Operating Systems
An operating system is a complex program that keeps the
hardware and software components of a computer system
coordinated and functioning. It is like the owner of a small shop,
who keeps everything in order by attending to customers,
accepting deliveries, stocking the shelves, doing the
bookkeeping, and so on. The shopkeeper must promptly attend
to tasks as they arise. Without the shopkeeper the shop could not
function.

Most computer systems can potentially run any of several

operating systems. For example, most Pentium-based computers
can run either Linux or a Windows operating systems. Usually
only one operating system is installed on a computer system,
although some computers have several. In any case, only one
operating system at a time can be in control of the computer
system. The computer user makes a choice when the computer
is turned on, and that operating system remains in control until
the computer is turned off.

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 QUESTION 13:
(Review:) What component of a computer system holds the
operating system when the computer is not running?
Answer:
The hard disk. The hard disk is used for long-term storage of
all software, including the operating system.

Starting a Program
When a computer is first started, the hardware automatically
loads the operating system and starts it running. This process is
called booting. The reason for this odd term is that the operating
system is itself involved in getting itself running—a process that
is like someone "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps". Once
the operating system is running, it is used to start up application
programs.

Here is a (simplified) list of what happens when the user

(you) starts up an application. Assume that the operating system
(OS) is already running.

1. The user asks to run an application.

o This is done by clicking on an icon, making a
menu choice, or by other means.
2. The OS determines the name of the application.
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 3. The OS finds the files on the hard disk where the
application and its data are stored.
4. The OS finds an unused section of main memory
that is large enough for the application.
5. The OS makes a copy of the application and its
data in that section of main memory.
o The software on the hard disk is unchanged;
main memory holds a copy of what is on disk.
6. The OS sets up resources for the application.
7. Finally, the OS starts the application running.

As the application runs, the OS is there in the background

managing resources, doing input and output for the application,
and keeping everything else running.

QUESTION 14:
(Thought Question: ) When an application stops running, do
you think that it is copied from main memory back to the hard
disk?
Answer:
No. The hard disk already has a copy, and that copy will be
used the next time the application is run.

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 Networks
A computer network consists of two or more computers
connected so that they can exchange data and programs. When
a computer is a member of a network, the programs it runs and
the data it uses can be on the hard disk of some other computer
on the network. In business and industrial settings, most
computers are on a network. The operating system that runs on
a networked computer must manage its share of the network
(along with managing all its other responsibilities). The operating
system is able to find programs and data that are stored on other
network computers, and copy them into its own main memory.

In a local-area network only a few dozen computers are

connected together, usually all located within the same building.
Each computer has a network address that the other computers
use to access it. Usually the computers share a printer. There
may be an especially powerful computer called a server whose
hard disk holds application programs and data that the other
computers are expected to need.

Each computer in a network has a network interface card.

This is an input/output device that sends and receives data over
27
cables. The network interface cards of computers on a network
are connected together with cables.

QUESTION 15:
Can a local area network be implemented using radio waves
instead of cables?
Answer:
Yes.

Wide-Area Networks
Large organizations need to connect many more computers
than can be handled with a local area network. A wide-area
network can connect thousands of computers together over
great distances. The long distance connections are made by
using optical fiber, telephone lines, microwave radio, and satellite
communications. Each computer in the network has a network
address (as with local-area networks) to uniquely identify it.

Wide-area networks use a variety of special hardware to

manage the flow of data. When two computers share data, this
hardware makes it appear that the two computers are connected
together directly. In reality, there may be dozens of network
devices between the two computers.

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 All these devices use the same method for dealing with data.
Without a common method of dealing with data, a large network
would become a hopeless muddle. An agreement about how to
represent and transmit data over a network is called a protocol.
Usually large networks use a protocol called TCP/IP (for
transmission control protocol / internet protocol).

QUESTION 16:
(Thought Question: ) When two computers communicate
must they both use the same protocol?
Answer:
Yes. There are several protocols available, but when two
computers communicate they must agree on which one to use.

Internet
The Internet consists of many networks that have been
connected together to form one huge worldwide network. Even
on this huge network, each computer must have a unique
network address, called an IP address, much like each
telephone in the world has a unique telephone number (including
the country code and area code).

Here a typical IP address:

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 149.152.21.203

IP addresses actually are 32-bit binary numbers. Networking

equipment uses these addresses to route information over the
network. The above example shows the standard way of writing
these bits using decimal digits.

But even when written in decimal the address is not clear to

humans. One of the features of the World Wide Web is that it
allows humans to use computer names rather than numbers.
Here is a typical computer name:

chortle.ccsu.edu

This computer name corresponds to the above IP address.

When you use it in a Web browser it is converted into the 32
binary digits of the computer's IP address.

As an experiment, enter the above IP address into the

address field of your browser and hit return. Now do the same
with the computer name. You will get to the same web page with
each.

QUESTION 17:

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 (Thought Question: ) With so many computers connected to
the Web, do you suppose that there is trouble giving each
computer its own address?
Answer:
Yes. The Web is running out of addresses. The next
generation of Internet hardware and software will fix this (and
other) problems.

World Wide Web

Remember that important idea (discussed several pages
back):

Fundamental Idea: Both programs and data are saved in

computer memory in the same way. The electronics of computer
memory (both main memory and secondary memory) make no
distinction between programs and data.

31
 Communications equipment makes no distinction between
programs and data, either. It is all information as far as it is
concerned, and all information is transmitted the same way. The
Internet is like a worldwide package delivery service. It is
concerned with moving packages from one address to another,
without concern about what is in the packages.

The Internet provides the hardware and the information

transmission protocols for the World-Wide Web. Data intended
for the Web is transmitted over the Internet just like any data.
What makes Web data special is that it is intended for Web
browsers (such as the one you are probably looking at). A
browser is a program that can read Web pages and display them
in a nicely formatted way.

A Web page is a package of data that contains information

on how it is to be displayed on a monitor. This information is given
using a language called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).
If you want to see the HTML that describes this page, look at the
menu at the top of your Web browser, and select Tools/Web
Developer/Page Source. For older browsers, select View in the
menu then left-click on Source. This will bring up a new window
with the HTML of this page in it. After you are done viewing, close
32
the window by clicking on the close button in its upper right corner
(the button marked with X).

QUESTION 18:
Can programs, as well as data, be exchanged over the
Internet?
Answer:
Yes.
Recall the fundamental idea, that programs and data are
saved in the same fashion. They both can be transmitted over
the Internet in the same fashion, too.

Hyperlinks
One Web page is connected to another with a hyperlink. If
you have been reading these notes over the Web, you have been
linking between Web pages by using hyperlinks.

A Web browser usually displays a hyperlink in a

distinguishing color (usually blue). When you click on it, the
browser asks the operating system to get a particular Web page
from another computer connected to the Internet.

The Web page to get is specified with a uniform resource

locator URL. A URL specifies the exact computer (among all the

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Internet computers in the world) and the exact Web page on that
computer.

To see some examples of URLs, keep watching the box at

the top of your browser labeled "Address".

QUESTION 19:
When you click on the following hyperlink, will the URL in the
address box change?
Answer:
Yes. The new Web page is specified with its unique URL.

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 End of the Chapter
This ends the general overview of computer systems. At this
point, you should have an idea of what computer systems are all
about. But you will likely be uncertain about quite a few things.
The following chapters will clarify some topics, and others
will remain mystifying until later courses. For now, you may wish
to review the following. Click on a subject that interests you to go
to where it was discussed.
 Hardware and software.
 Major hardware components of a computer
system
 Types of memory

 Characteristics of a hard disk.

 I/O devices
 Two categories of programs
 The operating system.
 How programs start running.
 Computer networks

The next chapter will discuss analog and binary signals and
why binary signals are important in computer systems.
You have reached the end of the chapter.

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