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Components of Digital Computer

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23 views

Components of Digital Computer

Uploaded by

phronesisquansah3
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Components of Digital Computer

A digital computer can be broadly classified as a collection of the following components are –
 Input unit
 Central Processing Unit
 Output Unit
 Secondary memory

The Input Unit


The Input Unit provides an interface between the users and the machine, for inputting data and
instructions etc. One of the most common examples is the keyboard. Data can be input in many
more forms – audio, visual, graphical, etc. Some common input devices are – Keyboard, Mouse,
Joystick, Light pen and Scanner. The data in many forms is first digitized, i.e., converted into
binary form, by the input device before being fed to the Central processing Unit (CPU).
Central Processing Unit (CPU): Most important part of a computer system. It interprets the
instructions in the programme and executes these one by one. It consists of three major units
which are:
 Control unit: It controls and directs the transfer of programme instructions and data
between various units.
 Arithmetic and Logic unit (ALU): Performs arithmetic operations like (+, -, *, ^, /),
logical operations like (AND, OR, NOT) and relational operations like (, <=, >=).
 Registers: They are used to store instructions and data for further use.

The Output Unit


Like the Input Unit, the Output also provides an interface between the user and the machine. A
common example is the visual display unit (monitor) of a personal computer. The output unit
receives the data from the CPU in the form of binary bits. This is then converted into the desired
form (graphical, audio, visual, etc., and understandable by the user. Some common output
devices are Visual Display unit (Monitor), Printers, Speakers, and Secondary Storage Devices.
The input and output unit collectively are referred to as ‘peripherals’
Memory Systems
By memory system, we mean some storage device along with information on how to manage and
control these storage devices. Every computer system must have memory to store and retrieve
the instructions and data. A computer system can have different variety of memories to store the
information which are required for operation. The information stored on computer is classified
into two categories – instruction and data. A memory system is a simple system, but it exhibits a
wide range of technology and types. It has fast, as well as slow, memories.
Different technologies are employed to manufacture these memories. The fast memories are
expensive because the technology used to develop these it is expensive. Also, fast memories
require continuous power supply as long as they have to store the data. The slow memories are
cheap and they are slow because of high access time. The high access time results in slower
operation of the CPU. A word is a group of bits, which are stored and retrieved as a unit. A
memory system is organised to store a number of words. A byte consists of 8 bits. A word may
store one or more bytes. The storage capacity of a memory is the number of bytes it can store.
The time taken to write a word is known as write time and the time to retrieve information is
called as the Access Time of the Main Memory.
Capacity of Memory
In computers, the capacity of memory is measured in Mega Bytes, Byte is the smaller unit and
means a set of 8 bits. Higher units are kilobytes, Megabytes and Giga Bytes.
1 character = 1 byte = 8 bits
1 kilobytes (KB) = 1024 bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 KB = 1024 X 1024 bytes.
1 Giga byte (GB) = 1024 MB = 1024 X 1024 X 1024 bytes
A memory system consists of three main groups of memories. These are –
 Internal processor memory
 Primary Memory
 Secondary Memory

Primary Memory: This memory consists of some chips either on the mother board or on a small
circuit board attached to the motherboard. This built – in memory allows the CPU to store and
retrieve data very quickly. This built-in memory is called as main memory.

There are two types of built-in memory – Non-Volatile Memory and Volatile memory
Non Volatile Memory:
ROM: Read only memory, as the name specifies, there is no way of changing it, i.e., they are
nonvolatile and in addition the data in them cannot be changed. Putting data permanently into
this kind of memory is called “burning in the data”. One of the main reasons that a computer
needs, ROM is that it helps in knowing what to do when the power is first turned on. It contains a
set of startup instructions that check to see that the rest of memory is functioning properly and
look for an operating system and hardware devices. There are other types of ROM, viz, PROM,
EPROM, EEPROM, which can be programmed after manufactured.
Volatile Memory:
RAM: Random Access Memory: Memory that can be changed is called RAM. The purpose of
RAM is to hold programmes and data. Information can be read off a RAM chip and written to it.
When a computer is switched off, any information stored in RAM is lost, i.e., memory is volatile.
RAM is also called read/write memory or user memory. It is used to store user program and data.

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