Unit-I

Fundamentals of Computer
Evolution of Computer
• Operating Systems:
Definition:A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a
computer and the computer hardware is called as an operating system.
Manages hardware: CPU, main memory, IO devices (disk, network card,
mouse, keyboard etc.)
An Operating system is a program that controls the execution of
application programs and acts as an interface between the user of a
computer and the computer hardware.
A more common definition is that the operating system is the one
program running at all times on the computer (usually called the
kernel), with all others being the applications programs.
An Operating system is concerned with the allocation of resources and
services, such as memory, processors, devices and information.
The Operating System correspondingly includes programs to manage
these resources, such as scheduler, memory management module, I/O
programs, and a file system.
Operating System should have three objectives:
• Convenience: An OS makes a computer more convenient to use.
• Efficiency: An OS allows the computer system resources to be used in
an efficient manner.
• Ability to evolve: An OS should be constructed in such a way as to
permit the effective development, testing, and introduction of new
system functions with out interfering with service.
Major Functions/Services of the Operating
System
• Program development: The OS provides a variety of facilities and services,
such as editors and debuggers, to assist the programmer in creating
programs.
• Program execution: A number of steps need to be performed to execute a
program. Instructions and data must be loaded into main memory, I/O
devices and files must be initialized, and other resources must be prepared.
The OS handles these scheduling duties for the user.
• Access to I/O devices: Each I/O device requires its own peculiar set of
instructions or control signals for operations. The OS provides a uniform
interface that hides these details so that programmers can access such
devices using simple reads and writes
Major Functions/Services of the Operating
System
• Controlled access to files: For file access, the OS must reflect a detailed under
standing of not only the nature of the I/O device (disk drive, tape drive) but also
the structure of the data contained in the files on the storage medium.
• System access: The OS controls access to the sys tem as a whole and to specific
system resources. The access function must pro vide protection of resources and
data from unauthorized users and must resolve conflicts for resource contention.
• Error detection and response: A variety of errors can occur while a computer
system is running. These include internal and external hardware errors,such as a
memory error, or a device failure; and various software errors, such as division by
zero, attempt to access forbidden memory location, etc.
• Accounting: A good OS will collect usage statistics for various resources and
monitor performance parameters such as response time.
OS Structure
Relationship between kernel,OS and
hardware
• A kernel is the core of an operating system.
• The kernel manages system resources, such as the CPU, memory, and
devices, to ensure smooth functioning of the computer system.
• It basically manages operations of memory and CPU time.
• It handles tasks like running programs, accessing files, and connecting
to devices like printers and keyboards.
• Kernel acts as a bridge between applications and data processing
performed at the hardware level using inter-process communication
and system calls.
• A system call is a mechanism used by programs to request services
from the operating system (OS).
• A program interacts with the underlying system, such as accessing
hardware resources or performing privileged operations through
system calls.
• System calls are essential for the proper functioning of an operating
system, as they provide a standardized way for programs to access
system resources.
Block diagram of a computer
Evolution of Computers
• A computer is an electronic device that can store, retrieve, and
process data.
• The evolution of this complex system started around 1940.
• Evolution of computers is divided into generations based on the
technology used.
• There are five generations of the computer.
Computer Generations
First Generation (1940s-1950s):
• The first computers used vacuum tubes for processing and magnetic
drums for storage. They were large, expensive, and unreliable.
• J.P.Eckert and J.W.Mauchy invented the first successful electronic
computer called ENIAC, ENIAC stands for “Electronic Numeric
Integrated And Calculator”.
• They were large and taking up entire room.
• First generation computers relied on machine language.
• They were very expensive to operate and generated a lot of heat,
which was often the cause of malfunctions(defect or breakdown).
Magnetic Drum Magnetic Core
• Second Generation Computers (1956-1963)
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second
generation of computers.
• Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine
language to symbolic.
• High-level programming languages were also being developed at this
time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN.
• These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in
their memory.
Third Generation Computers
• The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the
third generation of computers.
• Transistors were miniaturized and placed on siliconchips, called
semiconductors.
• Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third
generation computers through keyboards
and monitors and interfaced with an operating system.
• Allowed the device to run many different applications at one time.
• Fourth Generation of Computers(1972 onward): VLSI (Very Large
Scale Integrated) Circuit or they’re additionally referred to as
microprocessors are utilized in this generation.
• A microprocessor chip is made from hundreds of Integrated Circuits
construct on a single silicon chip.
• The use of Personal Computer(PCs) began in this generation and First
Personal Computer (PC) changed into advanced through IBM. For
example, Apple, CRAY-1, etc.
• Fifth Generation of Computers(Present and Future): It is primarily
based totally on Artificial intelligence (AI) software.
• Artificial intelligence describes the medium and manner of creating
computer systems like people, the manner human thinks, the
manner people act, etc. and that is a rising department and has all
of the scopes for studies work too.
• For example, PARAM 10000, IBM notebooks, etc.
Computer Oranization:
• Input Unit:
• Input devices are used to send signals to the computer for performing
tasks. The receiver at the end is the CPU (Central Processing Unit),
which works to send signals to the output devices. Examples of Input
devices are:
• Keyboard
• Pointing Devices
• Game Controller
• Visual Devices
• Microphone
• Output Unit:
• Output Devices are the devices that shows the result after giving the
input to a computer system. Output can be of many different forms
like image, graphic audio, video, etc. Some of the output devices are
monitor, speaker, printer, etc
• There are four basic functions that a computer can perform:
• Data processing: the raw data should be processed to give desired
output.
• Data storage: the data processed must be saved for future retrieval.
• Data movement :It facilitates movement of data within the
system and even to remote devices.
• Control : A control unit manages the computer’s resources and
orchestrates the performance of its functional parts in response to
instructions .
Functions of the Control Unit
• It coordinates the sequence of data movements into, out of
processor.
• It interprets instructions.
• It controls data flow inside the processor.
• It receives external instructions or commands to which it converts to
sequence of control signals.
• It controls many execution units(i.e. ALU ) contained within a CPU.
• It also handles multiple tasks, such as fetching, decoding, execution
handling and storing results.
Advantages of control unit
• Efficient instruction execution: A well-designed control unit can execute
instructions more efficiently by optimizing the instruction pipeline and
minimizing the number of clock cycles required for each instruction.
• Improved performance: A well-designed control unit can improve the
performance of the CPU by increasing the clock speed, reducing the
latency, and improving the throughput.
• Support for complex instructions: A well-designed control unit can support
complex instructions that require multiple operations, reducing the
number of instructions required to execute a program.
• Improved reliability: A well-designed control unit can improve the
reliability of the CPU by detecting and correcting errors, such as memory
errors and pipeline stalls.
• Lower power consumption: A well-designed control unit can reduce power
consumption by optimizing the use of resources, such as registers and memory ,
and reducing the number of clock cycles required for each instruction.
• Better branch prediction: A well-designed control unit can improve branch
prediction accuracy, reducing the number of branch mispredictions and
improving performance.
• Improved scalability: A well-designed control unit can improve the scalability of
the CPU, allowing it to handle larger and more complex workloads.
• Better support for parallelism: A well-designed control unit can better support
parallelism, allowing the CPU to execute multiple instructions simultaneously and
improve overall performance.
• Improved security: A well-designed control unit can improve the security of the
CPU by implementing security features such as address space layout
randomization and data execution.