Unit-1

Computer Basics

Computer:

Computer is an electronic device, which is used for manipulating data according to a list of
instructions. A list of computer instructions designed to perform some task is known as a
program. It is a complete collection of hardware, software and peripherals designed to work
together. Computers take numerous physical forms. Early electronic computers were the size of a
large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers. Today,
computers can be made small enough to fit into a wrist watch and powered from a watch battery.
the most common form of computer in use today is by far the embedded computer. Embedded
computers are mostly small and simple and they are often used to control other devices. They are
used to control machines from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and even
children’s toys.
The defining feature of modern computers which distinguishes them from all other machines is
that they can be programmed. That is to say that a list of instructions can be given to the
computer and it will store them and carry them out at some time in the future. Instruction is a
command given to a computer to perform specified task. Some computer instructions are simple:
add one number to another, move some data from one location to another, send a message to
some external device, etc. These instructions are read from the computer's memory and are
generally executed in the order they were given.

Computer works mostly on data and information. Data is a collection of raw facts. Data
may be valuable or non-valuable. When these data has been converted and processed, so
that it gets definite form and shape which becomes useful and act as a base for making
any decision. Then it becomes an information, in simple we can say that information is
the processed data. The two principal characteristics of a computer are:

● It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner.

● It can execute a prerecorded list of instructions.
Modern computers are electronic and digital. The actual machinery i.e. wires, transistors, and circuit
is called hardware. The instructions and data are called software.

History Of Computer:

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 The history of computers dates back to 500 BC, when the Chinese invented a calculating
machine called Abacus. Some of these types of inventions discussed below are:
● Abacus
● Jacquard Loom
● Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine
● Hollerith Census Tabulator
● Aiken & Mark1
● Von Neumann

Abacus
An abacus is a calculation tool, often constructed as a wooden frame with beads sliding on
wires. It was in use centuries before the adoption of the written Hindu-Arabic numeral system and
is still widely used by merchants and clerks in the People's Republic of China, Japan, Africa, and
elsewhere.
The Chinese abacus is typically around 20 cm (8 inches) tall and it comes in various widths
depending on the application. It usually has more than seven rods. There are two beads on each
rod in the upper deck and five beads each in the bottom for both decimal and hexadecimal
computation. The beads are usually rounded and made of a hard wood. The beads are counted by
moving them up or down towards the beam. The abacus can be reset to the starting position
instantly by a quick jerk along the horizontal axis to spin all the beads away from the horizontal
beam at the center.
Chinese abaci can be used for functions other than counting. Unlike the simple counting board
used in elementary schools, very efficient suanpan techniques have been developed to do
multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, square root and cube root operations at high speed.
Bead arithmetic is the calculating technique used with various types of abaci, in particular the
Chinese abacus. The similarity of the Roman abacus to the Chinese one suggests that one could
have inspired the other, as there is some evidence of a trade relationship between the Roman
Empire and China. However, no direct connection can be demonstrated, and the similarity of the
abaci may be coincidental, both ultimately arising from counting with five fingers per hand.
Where the Roman model (like most modern Japanese) has 4 plus 1 bead per decimal place, the
standard Chinese abacus has 5 plus 2, allowing less challenging arithmetic algorithms, and also
allowing use with a hexadecimal numeral system. Instead of running on wires as in the Chinese
and Japanese models, the beads of Roman model runs in groves, presumably making arithmetic
calculations much slower. Possibly the Roman abacus was used primarily for simple counting. In
a contest between the Chinese abacus and the electric calculator on November 12, 1946, the
abacus won 4 to 1.
.

2. Jacquard’s Loom
The Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801
which utilized holes punched in pasteboard, each row of which corresponded to one row of the
design. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card and the many cards that comprised
the entire design of the textile were strung together in order

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 Each hole in the card corresponds to a "Bolus" hook, which can either be up or down. The hook
raises or lowers the harness which carries and guides the warp thread so that the weft will either
lie above or below it. The sequence of raised and lowered threads is what creates the pattern.
Each hook can be connected via the harness to a number of threads, allowing more than one
repeat of a pattern. A loom with a 400 hook head might have four threads connected to each
hook, resulting in a fabric that is 1600 warp ends wide with four repeats of the weave going
across.

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 Charles Babbage Difference Engine

The first device that might be considered to be a computer in the modern sense of the word was
conceived in 1822 by the eccentric British mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage.

Babbage's engines were among the first mechanical computers. His engines were not actually
completed, largely because of funding problems and personality issues. Babbage realized that a
machine could do the work better and more reliably than a human being. Babbage directed the
building of some steam-powered machines that more or less did their job, suggesting calculations
could be mechanized to an extent.

The data and program memory were separated, operation was instruction based, the control unit
could make conditional jumps and the machine had a separate I/O unit.

In Babbage’s time numerical tables were calculated by humans called ‘computers’. At

Cambridge he saw the high error rate of the people computing the tables and thus started his
life’s work in trying to calculate the tables mechanically, removing all human error. He began in
1822 with what he called the difference engine, made to compute values of polynomial
functions.
Soon after the attempt at making the difference engine crumbled, Babbage started designing a
different, more complex machine called the Analytical Engine. The engine is not a single physical
machine but a succession of designs that he tinkered with until his death in 1871. The main
difference between the two engines is that the Analytical Engine could be programmed using
punch cards, an idea unheard of in his time.

Hollerith Census Tabulator

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 The US government began to encounter certain problem in data processing. It took seven years
to compile the statistics from the 1880 census and it became apparent that it would be time to
begin a new census before the analysis one was completed. Hollerith designed a device called the
tabulating machine, which used machine readable punched cards. This card has round holes and
forty five columns. His machine reduces the tabulating time to one-eighth the time required by
the old methods.

Aiken & Mark1

The IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), called the Mark I by Harvard
University[1], was the first large-scale automatic digital computer in the USA. It is considered by
some to be the first universal calculator.
The electromechanical ASCC was devised by Howard H. Aiken, created at IBM, shipped to
Harvard in February 1944, and formally delivered there on August 7, 1944. The main advantage of
the Mark I was that it was fully automatic—it didn't need any human intervention once it started.
It was the first fully automatic computer to be completed. It was also very reliable, much more so
than early electronic computers. It is considered to be "the beginning of the era of the modern
computer"
The building elements of the ASCC were switches, relays, rotating shafts, and clutches. It was built
using 765,000 components and hundreds of miles of wire, amounting to a size of 51 feet (16 m)
in length, eight feet (2.4 m) in height, and two feet deep. It had a weight of about 10,000 pounds
(4500 kg). The basic calculating units had to be synchronized mechanically, so they were run by
a 50 foot (15 m) shaft driven by a five-horsepower (4 kW) electric motor.
The Mark I could store 72 numbers, each 23 decimal digits long. It could do three additions or
subtractions in a second. A multiplication took six seconds, a division took 15.3 seconds, and a
logarithm or a trigonometric function took over one minute.
The Mark I read its instructions from a 24 channel punched paper tape and executed the current
instruction and then read in the next one. It had no conditional branch instruction. This meant that
complex programs had to be physically long. A loop was accomplished by joining the end of the
paper tape containing the program back to the beginning of the tape.
Von Neuumann
The von Neumann architecture is a computer design model that uses a processing unit and a
single separate storage structure to hold both instructions and data.
The separation between the CPU and memory leads to the von Neumann bottleneck, the limited
throughput (data transfer rate) between the CPU and memory compared to the amount of
memory. In modern machines, throughput is much smaller than the rate at which the CPU can
work. This seriously limits the effective processing speed when the CPU is required to perform
minimal processing on large amounts of data. The CPU is continuously forced to wait for vital
data to be transferred to or from memory. As CPU speed and memory size have increased much
faster than the throughput between them, the bottleneck has become more of a problem.

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 Technical Evolution Of Computer:
The term generation is used to characterise the major developments in the computer industry.
There are five generations of computers and the term generation means we are able to distinguish
between different hardware technologies.
● First Generation 1946-1956
● Second Generation 1956-1964
● Third Generation 1964-1971
● Fourth Generation 1971-Present
● Fifth Generation Present-Future
First Genration Computers
The era of the first generation computers began in 1946 because that was the year when people
consciously set out to build stored program computers. In 1946 there was no 'best' way of storing
instructions and data in a computer memory. There were four competing technologies for
providing computer memory: electrostatic storage tubes, acoustic delay lines (mercury or nickel),
magnetic drums (and disks), and magnetic core storage.
Electrostatic Storage tubes: A high-speed electrostatic store was the heart of several early
computers. The great advantage of this type of "memory" is that, by suitably controlling the
deflector plates of the cathode ray tube, it is possible to redirect the beam almost instantaneously
to any part of the screen
Acoustic delay lines: It is based on the principle that electricity travels at the speed of light
while mechanical vibrations travel at about the speed of sound. So data can be stored as a string
of mechanical pulses circulating in a loop, through a delay line with its output connected
electrically back to its input. The sequence of bits flowing through the delay line is just a
continuously repeating stream of pulses and spaces, so a separate source of regular clock pulses
is needed to determine the boundaries between words in the stream and to regulate the use of the
stream. Delay lines have some obvious drawbacks. One is that the match between their length
and the speed of the pulses is critical, yet both are dependent on temperature. Another is a
programming consideration. The data is available only at the instant it leaves the delay line. If it
is not used then, it is not available again until all the other pulses have made their way through
the line.
● A mercury delay line is a tube filled with mercury, with a piezo-electric crystal at each
end. Piezo-electric crystals, such as quartz, have the special property that they expand or
contract when the electrical voltage across the crystal faces is changed. Conversley, they
generate a change in electrical voltage when they are deformed. So when a series of
electrical pulses representing binary data is applied to the transmitting crystal at one end
of the mercury tube, it is transformed into corresponding mechanical pressure waves. The
waves travel through the mercury until they hit the receiving crystal at the far end of the
tube, where the crystal transforms the mechanical vibrations back into the original
electrical pulses. Mercury delay lines had been developed for data storage in radar
applications.

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 ● Nickel delay lines take the form of a nickel wire. Pulses of current representing bits of
data are passed through a coil surrounding one end of the wire. A receiving coil at the
other end of the wire is used to convert these pressure waves back into electrical pulse.

Magnetic Drum: The magnetic drum is a more familiar technology, comparable with modern
magnetic discs. It consisted of a non-magnetic cylinder coated with a magnetic material, and an
array of read/write heads to provide a set of parallel tracks of data round the circumference of the
cylinder as it rotated. Drums had the same program optimization problem as delay lines.
Magnetic Core Memory: The most important contribution made by the MIT(Massachusetts
Institute of Technology) group was the development of the magnetic core memory, which they
later installed in Whirlwind. The MIT group made their core memory designs available to the
computer industry .

Some computers of these generations are given below:

ENIAC: The first generation of computers is said by some to have started in 1946 with
ENIAC, the first 'computer' to use electronic valves i.e. vacuum tubes. It is developed at the
university of Pennsylvania in U.S.A by the team of Eckert and Mauchly. The full form of
ENIAC is Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. It has a very small memory and
mostly used for calculating the trajectory of missiles.
EDVAC: The full form of EDVAC is Electronic discrete variable Automatic Computer. In this
machine instruction of the program are stored with the data internally. By the help of this the
accessing of computer becomes faster.
EDSAC: In May 1949 there is a introduction of EDSAC, the first stored program computer.
EDSAC stands for Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer. It makes use of mercury
delay lines for storage of data.
UNIVAC: The first commercial production of stored electronic computer was UNIVAC.
UNIVAC stands for Universal Automatic Computer. Univac division of Remington Rand
develops it.
Characteristics of First Generation Computers
● Used vaccum tubes
● Not reliable
● Big and clumsy computers
● Electric consumption is very high
● This type of computers generate too much heat, therefore air conditioners are required.
● Batch processing
● Slow Input/Output operations.
Second Generation Computers
The invention of Transistors marked the start of the second generation. These transistors took
place of the vacuum tubes used in the first generation computers. First large-scale machines were

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 made using these technologies to meet the requirements of atomic energy laboratories. One of
the other benefits to the programming group was that the second generation replaced Machine
language with the assembly language. Even though complex in itself Assembly language was
much easier than the binary code.
Second generation computers also started showing the characteristics of modern day computers
with utilities such as printers, disk storage and operating systems. Much financial information was
processed using these computers.
In Second Generation computers, the instructions could be stored inside the computer's memory.
High-level languages such as COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Language) and FORTRAN
(Formula Translator) were used.
Characteristics of Second Generation Computers
● Transistor takes place of vaccum tubes.
● Faster than first generation.
● Assembly language is used instead of machine language.
● Generate less heat
● Smaller in size
● Magnetic tapes and disks are used.
Third Generation Computers
Although transistors were great deal of improvement over the vacuum tubes, they generated heat
and damaged the sensitive areas of the computer. In third generation of computers, Integrated
Circuit replaces the transistors. The Integrated Circuit(IC) was invented in 1958 by Jack Kilby. It
combined electronic components onto a small silicon disc, made from quartz. More advancement
made possible the fitings of even more components on a small chip or a semi conductor. Also in
third generation computers, the operating systems allowed the machines to run many different
applications. These applications were monitored and coordinated by the computer's memory.
From small-scale integrated circuits (SSI) , which had about 10 transistors per chip, technology
developed to medium scale integrated circuit with 100 transistors per chip. Magnetic disk
technology also improved and it become feasible to have drive having capacity up to 100 MBs.
Characteristics of Third Generation Computers
● Transistors is replaced integrated circuits
● Increases speed as well as reliability.
● Uses multiprogramming operating system .
● Lower power consumption
● Magnetic disk can be used as a secondary storage.

Fourth Generation Computers

Fourth Generation computers are the modern day computers. The Size started to go down with
the improvement in the integrated circuits. Very Large Scale (VLSI) and Ultra Large scale
(ULSI) ensured that millions of components could be fit into a small chip. It reduced the size and

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 price of the computers at the same time increasing power, efficiency and reliability. "The Intel
4004 chip, developed in 1971, took the integrated circuit one step further by locating all the
components of a computer i.e. central processing unit, memory, and input and output controls on
a minuscule chip."
Due to the reduction of cost and the availability of the computers power at a small place allowed
everyday user to benefit. In 1981, IBM introduced personal computers for home and office use..
It went to laptops to Palmtops. Machintosh introduced Graphic User Interface in which the users
didn’t' have to type instructions but could use Mouse for the purpose. The continued
improvement allowed the networking of computers for the sharing of data. Local Area Networks
(LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN), were potential benefits.
Characteristics of Fourth Generation Computers
● Very large scale and ultra large scale integrated circuits has been developed.
● Computers now becomes portable.
● Semiconductor can be used as primary storage.
● Database Management system can be used
● Distributed data processing.
Fifth Generation Computers
Fifth generations computers are only in the minds of advance research scientists and being tested
out in the laboratories. These computers will be under Artificial Intelligence (AI), They will be
able to take commands in a audio visual way and carry out instructions. These computers will
perform many of the operations, which require low human intelligence.
Parallel Processing is coming and showing the possibility that the power of many CPU's can be
used side by side, and computers will be more powerful than those under central processing.
Advances in Super Conductor technology will greatly improve the speed of information traffic.
Future looks bright for the computers.
Analog and digital computer and Evolution
The computers can be broadly classified into three types
1. Analog Computers.
2. Digital Computers.
3. Hybrid Computers.
1. Analog Computers
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses electrical or mechanical phenomena to
model the problem being solved. Modeling a real physical system in a computer is called
simulation. In this computations are carried out with physical quantities such as voltage, length ,
temperature etc. The devices that measure such quantities are voltmeter and ammeter.
Computations are often performed, in analog computers, by using properties of electrical
resistance, voltages and so on. For example, a simple two variable adder can be created by two
current sources in parallel. The first value is set by adjusting the first current source (to say x
milliamperes), and the second value is set by adjusting the second current source (say y
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 milliamperes). The use of electrical properties in analog computers means that calculations are
normally performed in real time. The core mathematical operations used in an electric analog
computer are:
● summation
● inversion
● exponentiation
● logarithm
● integration with respect to time
● differentiation with respect to time
● multiplication and division
Analog computers are limited by real, non-ideal effects. An analog signal is composed of four
basic components: DC and AC magnitudes, frequency, and phase. The real limits of range on
these characteristics limit analog computers.
2. Digital Computers
Computers which are used today is digital computers. They work on binary digits, incase of
some alphabetic information, the information must be coded in the form of by binary digit.
Digital computers can be classified into two types:
1. Purpose wise: Purpose wise digital computers can be classified into two categories.First
is, special purpose computer which is designed to perform some specific task.Second is,
General purpose computer, whichis used to develop for work on different types of
program.
2. Size And Performance wise: These digital computers can be classified as follow:
Personal Computer : A small, single-user computer based on a
microprocessor. In addition to the microprocessor, a personal computer has a
keyboard for entering data, a monitor for displaying information, and a
storage device for saving data. The most common personal computers are
desktop machines. The machines made by IBM are called IBM PCs. Other
manufacturers use IBM’s specification and design their own PC are known
as IBM compatible PC.
Workstation : A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a
personal computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-
quality monitor. They are single user computers having a lot of features of
personal computer. Their processing speed is like mini computers. This
powerful machine is greatly used by the scientist, engineers and other
professionals. They are very expensive.

Mini Computer : These are medium sized computers. They possess more
work efficiency in comparison with micro computers. Mini computers are
more expensive than a micro computers and one cannot think of purchasing a
mini computer for personal use. These computers are generally useful for
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 small & medium sized company. More than one person can use this computer
at a time. Mini computer possess multiple CPUs. They have bigger memory
and higher speed than micro computer but less than that of main frame. They
are cheaper than mainframe. A multi-user computer capable of supporting
from 10 to hundreds of users simultaneously. Medium sized company can be
used for following purpose:

1. Employees Payroll
2. Maintenance of books of accounts.
3. Cost Analysis.
4. Sales Supervision.

Mainframe : A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many

hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously. These are large computer
with bigger storage capacity. These can store huge data bases and can also
process the data wit more speed. Due to there speed in processing huge data
bases, they are being used by big companies, banks etc as a centralized
computer system. It can continuously work round the clock and hundreds of
users can work on them simultaneously. Mainframe can easily attached to
any network and even to microcomputer. These computers are used for
following purpose.

To maintain customer details

1. To maintain payment details
2. To process bills
3. To process notices.

Super Computer : An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of

millions of instructions per second. These computers with biggest capacity and
higher working speed among all the catgories of computers. It has multiple CPU
arranged and working parallel to each other. In a super computer, a CPU consist
of many ALU and each ALU is assigned for specific process, working parallel.
These computers are used in the following fields:

1. In modeling nuclear fission

2. In weather forecasting
3. In space research and space exploration.

● Laptop: A laptop computer or simply laptop is a small mobile personal

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 computer, which usually weights 4-12 pounds (2-6 kilograms), depending on size,
materials and other factors.
Laptops usually run on a single battery or from an external AC/DC adapter which can
charge the battery while also supplying power to the computer itself.
Distributed Computer System: A configuration in which several computers are
interconnected by a communication network is called distributed computer system. A
common use of distributed computer system is called client server computing. The PC
which is requesting for the srevices is called client and the computer providing the
services is called server.
Sometime there are problems requiring either large storage or high speed processing
which cannot be solved using a single computer in a network. In such cases it may be possible to
get a set of computers connected to the network to cooperate and solve the problem. In distributed
computer system it often happens that many computers are not fully utilized. In such cases a user
requiring more CPU resources than what he as in his computer can steal CPU cycles from idle
processor to do his job. The communication network connecting te computers in a distributed
system is normally slow and allows only one message to be communicated between two
computers at a time. This type of network is called LAN(Local Area Network).
Parallel Computers: A set of computers connected together by a high speed
communication network and programmed in sucha way that they can cooperate to solve a
single large problem is called a parallel computer. There are two major types of parallel
computers. One of them is called a shared parallel computer. In this case a number of
processing elements are connected to a common main memory by a communication
network. A program for this computer is written in such a way that multiple processsor
can work independently and cooperate to solve problem. The processes are allocated to
different processors and they read and modify the data accessible to all of them in
memory.

The other type of parallel computer is called a distributed memory computer. In this
type a number of processors, each with its own memory are interconnected by a
communication network. A program is divided into many parts and each computer work
independently. Whenever processo need to exchange data to continue with computation
they do so by sending messages across the network.Such computers are called message
passing multicomputers. A popular interconnection network is called a hypercube.
3 Hybrid Computers
Hybrid computers are made by combining features of analog computers and digital computers. In
general, analog computers are extraordinarily fast, since they can solve most complex equations
at the rate at which a signal traverses the circuit, which is generally an appreciable fraction of the
speed of light. Digital computers can be built to take the solution of equations to almost
unlimited precision, but quite slowly compared to analog computers. Hybrid computers can be
used to obtain a very good but relatively imprecise 'seed' value, using an analog computer front-
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 end, which is then fed into a digital computer iterative process to achieve the final desired degree
of precision. Hybrid computers utilizes the best qualities of digital and analog computer.

Major Component of computer

A. Central Processing Unit
A central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply called processor, is the component in a
digital computer that interprets instructions and processes data contained in computer programs.
CPUs provide the fundamental digital computer trait of programmability, and are one of the
necessary components found in computers of any era, along with primary storage and
input/output facilities. A CPU that is manufactured using integrated circuits is known as a
microprocessor. A typical central processor unit (CPU) consists of the following interconnected
functional units:
● Registers
● Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)
● Control Unit
B. Registers:

Register consist of flip flops. These flip flops are connected in parallel. A CPU contains a
number of registers to store data temporarily during the execution of a program. The no of
register is differ from processor to processor. The advantages of storing the data in register are
that it can be retrieved faster than memory because the number of register in the memory is very
less. The drawback of using the register is that it is very expensive. Register are classified as
follows:

1. Accumulator: It is a register, which holds one of the operand prior to the execution of
instruction and receives the result of most of the arithmetic and logic operations. It is one
of the frequently used registers.
2. General Purpose Register: These register stores data and intermediate result during
the execution of a program. These are accessible to the user if the user is working in
assembly language.
3. Special Purpose Register: A CPU contains a number of special purpose registers.
It is used for different purpose. These are:
● Program counter
● Stack pointer
● Status register
● Instruction register
● Memory address register
● Memory buffer register

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 Program Counter: It holds the address of the memory location, which contains the
next instruction, which is to be fetched from the memory. It content is automatically
incremented after the execution of an instruction.

Stack Pointer: It is used to save the contents of the register if it is required during the
execution of a program.

Status Register: It is a 1-bit flag, which is used to indicate certain condition that arises
during the arithmetic and logic operation.

Instruction Register: It holds the instruction until it is decoded.

Memory Address Register: It holds the address of the instruction or data to be fetched

from the memory.

Memory Buffer Register: It holds the instruction code or data received from or sent to
the memory. The data which are written into the memory are held in this register until
write operation is completed.

● Arithmetic/Logic Unit: All processors contain an arithmetic/logic unit, which is

often referred to simply as the ALU. The ALU, as its name implies, is that portion of the
CPU hardware which performs the arithmetic and logical operations on the binary data
.The ALU must contain an Adder which is capable of combining the contents of two
registers in accordance with the logic of binary arithmetic. This provision permits the
processor to perform arithmetic manipulations on the data it obtains from memory and
from its other inputs. The ALU contains Flag Bits, which specify certain conditions that
arise in the course of arithmetic and logical manipulations. Flags typically include Carry,
Zero, Sign, and Parity.
● Control Unit: The control unit is the primary functional unit within a CPU. Using
clock inputs, the control circuitry maintains the proper sequence of events required for
any processing task. After an instruction is fetched and decoded, the control circuitry
issues the appropriate signals for initiating the proper processing action. Often the control
circuitry will be capable of responding to external signals, such as an interrupt or wait
request An Interrupt request will cause the control circuitry to temporarily interrupt main
program execution.
Microprocessor
Microprocessor is a controlling unit of a micro-computer, fabricated on a small chip
capable of performing ALU (Arithmetic Logical Unit) operations and communicating
with the other devices connected to it.
Microprocessor consists of an ALU, register array, and a control unit. ALU performs
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 arithmetical and logical operations on the data received from the memory or an input
device. Register array consists of registers identified by letters like B, C, D, E, H, L and
accumulator. The control unit controls the flow of data and instructions within the
computer.

Block Diagram of a Basic Microcomputer

How does a Microprocessor Work?

The microprocessor follows a sequence: Fetch, Decode, and then Execute.
Initially, the instructions are stored in the memory in a sequential order. The
microprocessor fetches those instructions from the memory, then decodes it and
executes those instructions till STOP instruction is reached. Later, it sends the result in
binary to the output port. Between these processes, the register stores the temporarily
data and ALU performs the computing functions.

List of Terms Used in a Microprocessor

Here is a list of some of the frequently used terms in a microprocessor −

 Instruction Set − It is the set of instructions that the microprocessor can
understand.
 Bandwidth − It is the number of bits processed in a single instruction.
 Clock Speed − It determines the number of operations per second the
processor can perform. It is expressed in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz).It
is also known as Clock Rate.
 Word Length − It depends upon the width of internal data bus, registers, ALU,

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 etc. An 8-bit microprocessor can process 8-bit data at a time. The word length
ranges from 4 bits to 64 bits depending upon the type of the microcomputer.
 Data Types − The microprocessor has multiple data type formats like binary,
BCD, ASCII, signed and unsigned numbers.

Features of a Microprocessor
Here is a list of some of the most prominent features of any microprocessor −
 Cost-effective − The microprocessor chips are available at low prices and
results its low cost.
 Size − The microprocessor is of small size chip, hence is portable.
 Low Power Consumption − Microprocessors are manufactured by using
metaloxide semiconductor technology, which has low power consumption.
 Versatility − The microprocessors are versatile as we can use the same chip in
a number of applications by configuring the software program.
 Reliability − The failure rate of an IC in microprocessors is very low, hence it is
reliable.

Types Of Computers(Large and Small computer)

The computers can be broadly classified into three types
4. Analog Computers.
5. Digital Computers.
6. Hybrid Computers.
Analog Computers
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses electrical or mechanical phenomena to
model the problem being solved. Modeling a real physical system in a computer is called
simulation. In this computations are carried out with physical quantities such as voltage, length ,
temperature etc. The devices that measure such quantities are voltmeter and ammeter.
Computations are often performed, in analog computers, by using properties of electrical
resistance, voltages and so on. For example, a simple two variable adder can be created by two
current sources in parallel. The first value is set by adjusting the first current source (to say x
milliamperes), and the second value is set by adjusting the second current source (say y
milliamperes). The use of electrical properties in analog computers means that calculations are
normally performed in real time. The core mathematical operations used in an electric analog
computer are:
● summation
● inversion
● exponentiation

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 ● logarithm
● integration with respect to time
● differentiation with respect to time
● multiplication and division
Analog computers are limited by real, non-ideal effects. An analog signal is composed of four
basic components: DC and AC magnitudes, frequency, and phase. The real limits of range on
these characteristics limit analog computers.
Digital Computers
Computers which are used today is digital computers. They work on binary digits, incase of
some alphabetic information, the information must be coded in the form of by binary digit.
Digital computers can be classified into two types:
3. Purpose wise: Purpose wise digital computers can be classified into two categories.First
is, special purpose computer which is designed to perform some specific task.Second is,
General purpose computer, whichis used to develop for work on different types of
program.
4. Size And Performance wise: These digital computers can be classified as follow:
Personal Computer : A small, single-user computer based on a
microprocessor. In addition to the microprocessor, a personal computer has a
keyboard for entering data, a monitor for displaying information, and a
storage device for saving data. The most common personal computers are
desktop machines. The machines made by IBM are called IBM PCs. Other
manufacturers use IBM’s specification and design their own PC are known
as IBM compatible PC.
Workstation : A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a
personal computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-
quality monitor. They are single user computers having a lot of features of
personal computer. Their processing speed is like mini computers. This
powerful machine is greatly used by the scientist, engineers and other
professionals. They are very expensive.
Mini Computer : These are medium sized computers. They possess more
work efficiency in comparison with micro computers. Mini computers are
more expensive than a micro computers and one cannot think of purchasing a
mini computer for personal use. These computers are generally useful for
small & medium sized company. More than one person can use this computer
at a time. Mini computer possess multiple CPUs. They have bigger memory
and higher speed than micro computer but less than that of main frame. They
are cheaper than mainframe. A multi-user computer capable of supporting
from 10 to hundreds of users simultaneously. Medium sized company can be
used for following purpose:

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 5. Employees Payroll
6. Maintenance of books of accounts.
7. Cost Analysis.
8. Sales Supervision.

Mainframe : A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many

hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously. These are large computer
with bigger storage capacity. These can store huge data bases and can also
process the data wit more speed. Due to there speed in processing huge data

bases, they are being used by big companies, banks etc as a centralized
computer system. It can continuously work round the clock and hundreds of
users can work on them simultaneously. Mainframe can easily attached to
any network and even to microcomputer. These computers are used for
following purpose.

To maintain customer details

4. To maintain payment details
5. To process bills
6. To process notices.

Super Computer : An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of

millions of instructions per second. These computers with biggest capacity and
higher working speed among all the catgories of computers. It has multiple CPU
arranged and working parallel to each other. In a super computer, a CPU consist
of many ALU and each ALU is assigned for specific process, working parallel.
These computers are used in the following fields:

4. In modeling nuclear fission

5. In weather forecasting
6. In space research and space exploration.

● Laptop: A laptop computer or simply laptop is a small mobile personal

computer, which usually weights 4-12 pounds (2-6 kilograms), depending on size,
materials and other factors.
Laptops usually run on a single battery or from an external AC/DC adapter which can
charge the battery while also supplying power to the computer itself.
Distributed Computer System: A configuration in which several computers are
interconnected by a communication network is called distributed computer system. A

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 common use of distributed computer system is called client server computing. The PC
which is requesting for the srevices is called client and the computer providing the
services is called server.
Sometime there are problems requirng either large
storage or high speed processing which cannot be solved using a single computer in a
network. In such cases it may be possible to get a set of computers connected to the
network to cooperate and solve the problem. In distributed computer system it often
happens that many computers are not fully utilized. In such cases a user requiring more
CPU resources than what he as in his computer can steal CPU cycles from idle processor
to do his job. The communication network connecting te computers in a distributed
system is normally slow and allows only one message to be communicated between two
computers at a time. This type of network is called LAN(Local Area Network).

Parallel Computers: A set of computers connected together by a high speed

communication network and programmed in sucha way that they can cooperate to solve a
single large problem is called a parallel computer. There are two major types of parallel
computers. One of them is called a shared parallel computer. In this case a number of
processing elements are connected to a common main memory by a communication
network. A program for this computer is written in such a way that multiple processsor
can work independently and cooperate to solve problem. The processes are allocated to
different processors and they read and modify the data accessible to all of them in
memory.

The other type of parallel computer is called a distributed memory computer. In this
type a number of processors, each with its own memory are interconnected by a
communication network. A program is divided into many parts and each computer work
independently. Whenever processo need to exchange data to continue with computation
they do so by sending messages across the network.Such computers are called message
passing multicomputers. A popular interconnection network is called a hypercube.
Hybrid Computers
Hybrid computers are made by combining features of analog computers and digital computers. In
general, analog computers are extraordinarily fast, since they can solve most complex equations
at the rate at which a signal traverses the circuit, which is generally an appreciable fraction of the
speed of light. Digital computers can be built to take the solution of equations to almost
unlimited precision, but quite slowly compared to analog computers. Hybrid computers can be
used to obtain a very good but relatively imprecise 'seed' value, using an analog computer front-
end, which is then fed into a digital computer iterative process to achieve the final desired degree
of precision. Hybrid computers utilizes the best qualities of digital and analog computer.

Introduction to Single Chip Microcomputer

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 1 Basic Units of Microcomputer System
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
The arithmetic and logical unit (ALU) performs arithmetic operations such as
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and or division, and logical operation such as
AND, OR, NOT and XOR needed to carry out the instructions.
2. Control Unit (CU)
The control unit (CU) is responsible for fetching instructions from main memory and
determining their type.
3. Memory Unit (MU)
The memory unit (MU) is used to store information such as number or character data.
By store we mean that the memory has the ability to hold this information for
processing or for outputting at a later time.
The memory unit is divided into primary storage memory and secondary storage
memory. Typically, Primary storage memory is implemented with semiconductor
memories: read-only memory (ROM) and random access read/write memory (RAM)
integrated circuits. Secondary storage memory is used for long-term storage of
information that is not currently being used such as disk and CD ROM.
Semiconductor Memories
Rom (Read-Only memory)
By using ROM, the information is made nonvolatile; that is, the information is not
lost if power is turned off. ROMs can be divided into:
1. Mask ROM
Mask ROMs cannot be changed or erased, internationally or otherwise. The data in a
mask ROM are inserted during its manufacture, essentially by exposing a
photosensitive material through a mask containing the desired bit pattern and then
etching away the exposed or unexposed surface. The only way to change the program
in a mask ROM is to replace the entire chip.
2. PROM
The PROM (Programmable) is like a mask ROM, except that it can be programmed
once in the field.
3. EPROM
The EPROM (Erasable PROM) cannot only be field – programmed but also field
erased. When the quartz window in an EPROM is expressed to storage ultraviolet
light for 15-20 minutes, all the bits are sets to 1. If many changes are expected during
the design cycle, EPROMs are far more economical than PROMs because they can be
reused.
4. EEPROM
The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM) or E2PROM can be erased by applying
pulses to it instead of requiring it to be put in a special chamber for exposure to
ultraviolet light . The new type of ROM called Flash memory is similar to EEPROM
in configuration. Flash memory can be programmed on a circuit board by the use of
ISP (In-System Programming).
RAM (Random access Memory)

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 By using RAM, the information is made volatile; that is, the information is lost if
power is turned off. RAMs come in tow varieties: static and dynamic.1. SRAMs are
constructed internally using circuits similar to the basic D latch. Thesememories have the
property that their continents are retained as long as the power iskept on.
2. DRAM (Dynamic RAM)
DRAMs, in contrast, do not use latch – like circuits. Instead, a dynamic RAM is an
array of tiny capacitors, each of which can be charged or discharged, allowing 0 and 1
to be stored. Because the electric charge tends to leak out, each bit in a dynamic RAM
must be refreshed every few milliseconds to prevent the data from leaking away.
Input unit (IU)
The input unit (IU) is used to input the information to be processed from external
input device such as a card reader, keyboard, or switch.
5. Output Unit (OU)
The output unit (OU) is used to output the processed results of computer to the
external output devices such as a printer, monitor, 7- segment display, and LED.
A bus is a collection of wires used to transmit signals in parallel. According to the
purpose, the buses of a microcomputer can be divided into three types: address
bus,data bus, and control bus.
1. Address Bus
The unidirectional address bus transmits the address signals emitted from CPU to
memory and I/O port.
2. Data Bus
The signal on the bidirectional data bus is the data either from CPU to memory and
I/O or from memory and I/O to CPU.
3. Control Bus
The control bus is used to transmit the control signals such as read, write, and
interrupt control signal.
Single-Chip Microcomputer
Microcomputer control system such as air-conditioner, clothes washer-dryer, and
security system, etc, are widely used in our everyday life. How to build up a
microcomputer control system? The earlier multi-chip 8088 solutions were initially
replaced by highly integrated 8-bit single-chip microcomputer devices such as the

USER INTERFACE

The user interface (UI) is the point of human-computer interaction and communication in a
device. This can include display screens, keyboards, a mouse and the appearance of a desktop. It
is also the way through which a user interacts with an application or a website. The growing
dependence of many businesses on web applications and mobile applications has led many
companies to place increased priority on UI in an effort to improve the user's overall experience.

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 Types of user interfaces

The various types of user interfaces include:

 graphical user interface (GUI)

 command line interface (CLI)

 menu-driven user interface

Command-line interfaces

A command-line interface allows the user to interact with the computer by typing in commands.
The computer displays a prompt, the user keys in the command and presses enter or return.

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 n the early days of personal computers, all PCs used command-line interfaces.

Features of a command-line interface

 Commands must be typed correctly and in the right order or the command will not work.
 Experienced users who know the commands can work very quickly without having to find
their way around menus.
 An advantage of command driven programs is that they do not need
the memory and processing power of the latest computer and will often run on lower spec
machines.
 Command driven programs do not need to run in Windows.
 A command-line interface can run many programs, for example a batch file could launch half
a dozen programs to do its task.
 An inexperienced user can sometimes find a command driven program difficult to use because
of the number of commands that have to be learnt.

Menu driven interfaces

Simple menu

The user is offered a simple menu from which to choose an option. One menu often leads to a
further menu. Part of the screen may have an instruction followed by a numbered list of options
to choose from.

Full screen menu

A full screen menu takes up the entire screen.

Menu bar

A menu bar is the set of options at the top of the screen. When an option is chosen a drop-down
menu may be offered.

Features of menu driven interfaces include:

 they are easy to use as the user does not have to remember sets of commands
 they are user friendly - you can often guess your way around the options
 they can be irritating if there are too many levels of menus to move around - with a command-
line interface you can go to the option required immediately

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 Graphical user interfaces

Graphical user interface is sometimes shortened to GUI. The user chooses an option usually by
pointing a mouse at an icon representing that option.

Features of GUIs include:

 They are much easier to use for beginners.

 They enable you to easily exchange information between software using cut and paste or 'drag
and drop'.
 They use a lot of memory and processing power. It can be slower to use than a command-line
interface if you are an expert user.
 They can be irritating to experienced users when simple tasks require a number of operations.
When discussing user interfaces, it is important to note that Windows XP, Windows Vista, Apple
OSX and Ubuntu all have graphical user interfaces.

Good user interfaces

A good user interface should:

 be attractive and pleasing to the eye

 allow the user to try out different options easily
 be easy to use
 use suitable colours for key areas
 use words that are easy to understand aimed at the type of user
 have help documentation

A Multi-user operating system

is a computer operating system which allows multiple users to access the single system
with one operating system on it. It is generally used on large mainframe computers.
Example: Linux, Unix, Windows 2000, Ubuntu, Mac OS etc.,In the multi-user operating
system, different users connected at different terminals and we can access, these
users through the network

Features of the Multi-user Operating System

• Multi-tasking- Using multi-user operating system we can perform multiple tasks at a
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DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE Page 24
 time, i.e. we can run more than one program at a time.

Example: we can edit a word document while browsing the internet.

• Resource sharing- we can share different peripherals like printers, hard drives or we
can share a file or data. For this, each user is given a small time slice of CPU time.
• Background processing- It means that when commands are not processed firstly, then
they are executed in the background while another programs are interacting with the
system in the real time.

Types of Multi-user Operating System

A multi-user operating system is of 3 types which are as follows:
1. Distributed Systems: in this, different computers are managed in such a way so that
they can appear as a single computer. So, a sort of network is formed through which
they can communicate with each other.
2. Time-sliced Systems: in this, a short period is assigned to each task, i.e. each user
is given a time slice of the CPU time. As we know these time slices are tiny, so it
appears to the users that they all are using the mainframe computer at the same time.
3. Multiprocessor Systems: in this, the operating system utilises more than one
processor.
Example: Linux, Unix, Windows XP

Advantages of the Multi-user Operating System

When one computer in the network gets affected, then it does not affect
another computer in the network. So, the system can be handled efficiently.
Also, different users can access the same document on their computer.
Example: if one computer contains the pdf file which the other user wants to
access, then the other user can access that file.
We use the multi-user operating system in the printing process so that different
users can access the same printer and regular operating system can not do this
process.
Airlines also use this operating system for ticket reservation.
We make use of the multiuser operating system in teachers and library staff for
handling and searching for books. In this, the book record is stored in one
computer while the other systems which are connected can access that
computer for querying of books.

Disadvantages of the Multi-user Operating System

• Sometimes sharing your data becomes dangerous for you as your private Data also
gets shared.
• Virus attacking takes place on all computer simultaneously as the computers are
shared. So if one computer is affected then other also gets affected.
• Also, computer information is shared.
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical
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 A computer network is a set of connected computers. Computers on a network are called
nodes. The connection between computers can be done via cabling, most commonly the Ethernet

cable, or wirelessly through radio waves. Connected computers can share resources, like access
to the Internet, printers, file servers, and others. A network is a multipurpose connection, which
allows a single computer to do more.
Types of network
A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and peripheral devices that share a common
communications line or wireless link to a server within a distinct geographic area.
Features of lan network

Local Area Network

A local area network may serve as few as two or three users in a home-office or several
hundred users in a corporation’s central office. Home owners and information technology (IT)
administrators set up LANs so that network nodes can share resources such as printers or
network storage.
LAN networking requires cables, switches, routers and other components that let users
connect to internal servers, websites and other LANs that belong to the same wide area network
(WAN).
Ethernet and Wi-Fi are the two primary ways to enable LAN connections.
Ethernet is a specification that enables computers to communicate with each other. Wi-Fi uses
radio waves to connect computers to the LAN.

A wide area network (WAN)

is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographical area for the primary
purpose of computer networking. Wide area networks are often established with leased
telecommunication circuits.
Features of WAN

WANs are used to connect LANs and other types of networks together so that users and
computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in other locations. Many
WANs are built for one particular organization and are private.
it may be best to view WANs as computer networking technologies used to transmit data over
long distances, and between different LANs, MANs and other localised computer networking
architectures.

A metropolitan area network (MAN)

is a computer network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic region of
the size of a metropolitan area. The term MAN is applied to the interconnection of local area

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 networks (LANs) in a city into a single larger network which may then also offer efficient
connection to a wide area network.
Features of MAN
A MAN is ideal for many kinds of network users because it is a medium-size network. MANs
are used to build networks with high data connection speeds for cities and towns. The working

mechanism of a MAN is similar to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), but a MAN is not owned
by a single organization.
Like a WAN, a MAN provides shared network connections to its users..

Virtual Private network :- VPN meaning that it is a private point-to-point connection between
two machines or networks over a shared or public network such as the internet. A Virtual Private
Network is a combination of software and hardware. VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology,
can be use in organization to extend its connection over less secure internet to connect remote
users, branch , offices, and partner private, internal network. VPN turn the Internet into a private
WAN.
It uses “virtual” connections through the internet from a business’s private network to the remote
site. A Virtual Private Network is a technology which creates a network, and that network is
virtually private.
The letter V in VPN stands for “virtual” means that it shares phy.

Flynn's taxonomy is a classification of computer architectures, proposed by Michael J. Flynn

classification system has stuck, and has been used as a tool in design of modern processors and
their functionalities. 1Classifications
o Single instruction stream, single data stream (SISD)
o Single instruction stream, multiple data streams (SIMD)
o Multiple instruction streams, single data stream (MISD)
o Multiple instruction streams, multiple data streams (MIMD)

ClassificationThe four classifications defined by Flynn are based upon the number of concurrent
instruction (or control) streams and data streams available in the architecture.
Single instruction stream, single data stream (SISD)
SISD
A sequential computer which exploits no parallelism in either the instruction or data streams.
Single control unit (CU) fetches single instruction stream (IS) from memory. The CU then
generates appropriate control signals to direct single processing element (PE) to operate on
single data stream (DS) i.e., one operation at a time.
Examples of SISD architecture are the traditional uniprocessor machines like older personal
computers (PCs; by 2010, many PCs had multiple cores) and mainframe computers.
Single instruction stream, multiple data streams (SIMD)
A single instruction operates on multiple different data streams. Instructions can be executed

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 sequentially, such as by pipelining, or in parallel by multiple functional units.
Single instruction, multiple threads (SIMT) is an execution model used in parallel computing
where single instruction, multiple data(SIMD) is combined with multithreading. This is not a
distinct classification in Flynn's taxonomy, where it would be a subset of SIMD. Nvidia
commonly uses the term in its marketing materials and technical documents where it argues for
the novelty of Nvidia architecture.
Multiple instruction streams, single data stream (MISD)MISD
Multiple instructions operate on one data stream. This is an uncommon architecture which is
generally used for fault tolerance. Heterogeneous systems operate on the same data stream and
must agree on the result. Examples include the Space Shuttleflight control computer.
Multiple instruction streams, multiple data streams (MIMD)MIMD
Multiple autonomous processors simultaneously executing different instructions on different
data. MIMD architectures include multi-core superscalar processors, and distributed systems,
using either one shared memory space or a distributed memory space.
Diagram comparing classifications[edit]
These four architectures are shown below visually. Each processing unit (PU) is shown for a uni-
core or multi-core computer:

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