Generation of Computer

According to the component and technology used in

computer system they are divided into different
generations as follows:
Generation Year Component used
1st 1946-1955 Vacuum tube
2nd 1956-1965 Transistors
3rd 1966-1975 Integrated Circuits (IC Chip)
with SSI and MSI technology
4th 1976-1989 Microprocessor with LSI and
VLSI technology
5th 1989 to Micro processor with ULSI
till now technology
SSI(Small Scale Integration):- Integration of only
about ten or twenty electronic component on a single
Chip.
MSI(Medium Scale Integration):- A circuit with about
100 transistors fabricated on a single chip.
LSI(Large Scale Integration):- Integration of over
30,000 electronic components on a single chip.
VLSI(Very Large Scale Integration):- An electronic
circuit with about 1 lakh transistors fabricated on a
single chip.
ULSI(Ultra Large Scale Integration):- Integration of
about 10 million electronic
component on a single chip.
First Generation of Computer:- It is considered that
the first generation of computer is related with the
era of vacuum tube, when vacuum tube was the main
component o the computer. Example of some first
generation computers are ENIAC, UNIVAC, EDVAC, EDSAC
etc.
The memory of these computers used electromagnetic
relays and all data and instructions were fed into
system from punched cards. The instructions were
written inn machine and assemble language.
Characteristics of First Generation of Computers:-
• They were fastest calculating devices of their
time.
• They were too bulky in size, requiring large rooms
for installation.
• They used thousands of vacuum tube that emitted
large amount of heat.
• Power consumption of these computers were very
high.
• This machine had limited storage capacity.
• Needed more maintenance.
2. Minicomputer:- The term minicomputer is originated
in 1960. Initially minicomputers were 8 bit and 12 bit
machines but by 1970 almost all minicomputers were 16
bit machines. 16 bit minicomputer was more powerful
machine which could be used in variety of applications
and could support business applications along with
scientific applications. The minicomputer was used as
a multiuser system which can be used by various users
at the same time. It allows 50 users to work at a
time.
Gradually architectural requirement of minicomputer
grew and a 32 bit minicomputer developed which called
super mini computer.
Ex:- PDP -8, PDP-II, VAX -7500, HCL Daysis etc.
3. Mainframe Computer:- Mainframe computers are
generally 32 bit machines or on the higher side. These
are suited to big organizations to manage high volume
applications. Mainframes are also used as central host
computers in distributed system. It allows 200 users
to work at a time.
The mainframes are used to support large Data Base
Management System.
Ex:- DEC-1090, Cyber 170, IBM-360/370, etc.
4. Super Computer:- The upper end of the state of the
art mainframes are the super computer. These are
amongst the fastest machines in terms of processing
speed and uses multiprocessing techniques, where a
number of processors are used to solve a problem.
 Super computer are mainly being used for weather
for casting, image processing, bio-medical
applications, remote sensing etc.
The word length of super computer is ranging from
64 bit to 128 bits
Ex:- PARAM 10000, ROBOT, CRAY, CRAY-2, NEX SY-2
Super Main frame Mini Micro
Computer computer computer computer
CPU Very Fast Fast Moderate Slow
Speed
Speed Pico second Nano second Micro Milli
Measured second second
in
CPU Base Very large Large Multi Single
Multiprocess Multiprocess processo Processo
or or r r
Storage Very large Large Moderate Small
Cost Very costly Costly Medium Cheap
No. of Many(500) Many(200) Many(50) Single
Users
Processi MUMT MUMT MUMT SUMT
ng

Hardware :- Hardware is physical component of a

computer system. This is the actual machine that
includes the mechanical, electrical and electronic
equipment. Ex. Keyboard, Monitor, Scanner, Printer,
Hard disk, Floppy disk etc.
The hardware of the computer is usually divided into
three major categories (1) The Central Processing Unit
which contains arithmetic and logic unit for
manipulating data (2) A number of registers for
storing data and (3) Control circuits for fetching and
executing instructions.

RAM

CPU

INPUT INPUT/OUTPUT
OUTPUT
DEVICE PROCESSOR

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF DIGITAL COMPUTER

Software:- The software of the computer constitutes of

the programs and instructions to be executed.
S program is a set of instructions that are
arranged in a sequence that guides the computer to
solve a problem. The process of writing a program is
called programming.
A computer software can be broadly classified into
two categories.
1. System software/program
2. Application software and program
1. System software:- System programs are designed to
make the computer easier to use. An example of
system software is operating system, which consists
of many other programs for controlling input/output
devices, memory, processor etc. C language is
broadly used to develop system software. System
 software performs one or more of the following
functions.
1. Support to develop application software
2. Support in execution of application software
.
3. Monitors various hardware resources, such as
CPU, memory etc.
4. Communicates and controls operations of
peripheral devices such as printer, disk
etc.
2. Application Software:- Application software is
written to enable the computer to solve a specific
data processing task. There are two categories of
application software.
1. Pre written software package
2. User application program.
Ex of some application software are:- Word processing
software, Spreadsheet software, Database software,
Graphics software, Entertainment software etc.