Fundamentals of Computer Processing

Some Basic Terms

Bit a single unit of information, generally in the form of a 1 or 0, when combined

with other bits they can make up words or code in which the computer can
understand and process. The name bit comes from the derivation of Binary and unIT,
Byte a combination of 8 bits, one byte is the length of one character (ex.
10010010)
Binary System a combination of 1s and 0s in order to produce numbers, letters,
symbols, and words. These letters and symbols are translated by the computer in the
form of ASCII and ECBDIC code.
bps, Kbps, Mbps, Gbps, referred to in terms of the rate of data transfer. Can be
known as bauds per second or bits per second, the K, M, G, refer to the metric
system of kilo, mega, and gig which translates into 1000, 1,000,000, or
1,000,000,000 bits per second, as one could surmise the larger the number the
faster the actual transmission of data that occurs
Megahertz (MHz) a measure of clock speed, or the pacing of a events in a
computer; represents 1 million cycles per second; also known as a unit of frequency
in this case 1 million hertz
Latency the number of bits (frames, cells, packets) in transit; a figure that tells us
how quickly a given bit a data will move from one point to another within a network,
usually equated to delay

Some Basic Terminology

Delay the dominant time interval of the transmission of information,

also referred to as the time it takes to send a message from point A to
the time it is received at destination point D. Delay is broken down into
propagation and transmission delay.
Frequency number of vibrations per unit time; number of waves that
cross a given point per unit time
Wavelength the spacing of the crests or troughs in a wave train
Analog a continuous sine wavelength over a certain frequency range
with a positive voltage representing a 1 and a negative charge
representing a 0; mostly used for voice transmissions
Digital a discrete flow in which data are coded as 0-bits and 1-bits and
transmitted as a series of on-and-off electrical pulses
ITTU/CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Union/International
Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) one of the main
governing bodies that is responsible for setting the standards of the
protocols that we deal with

Computer Generations

First Generation 1946-1956 Vacuum Tube

Very large, consumed huge amounts of power and generated much heat, had 2kb RAM,
speed of .01 MHz, printing had to be done manually

Second Generation 1956-1963 Transistors

better than vacuum tubes, used less power, less heat, RAM increased to 32kb, speed of .
2/.3 MHz

Third Generation 1964-1979 Integrated Circuits

printed transistors on small silicon chips, 2mb RAM, speed of 5MHz

Fourth Generation 1980-Present

VLSIC- very large-scale integrated circuit (the microprocessor), .18 micron,
500 MHz, 256 RAM, commercial machines hold gigabyte storage,1000
MHz

Computer Sizes
Mainframes -- the first. Used for business
Supercomputers -- the largest, very complex
Minicomputers -- the first effort to achieve reduced
size (middle-ranged)
Microcomputers -- made possible by
microprocessor
PC -- used by one person, or by a few people in the same
area
Workstations, lap tops, notebooks, and palmtops

The Computer Schematic

Central Processing Unit

Primary Storage

Control Unit

Arithmetic-Logic Unit

Secondary Storage

Bus

Data Bus Address

Bus

Control
Bus

Clock
Input Devices

CRT Terminals
Computer Mouse
Keyboard

Output Devices

Printers
Video Display Terminals
Audio output devices

The Computer Bytes

Computers deal in either
ASCII- American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (7 bits with 1 parity bit)
EX. A = 01000001

EBCDIC- Extended Binary Coded Decimal

Interchange Code an 8-bit code used in IBM
EX. A = 11000001

Understanding Bits and Bytes

The Data Hierarchy
Human Resources Database
Personnel Table
Database

Payroll Table

Table

James Thompson 36 220 Larkin Drive

Anna Harvey
24 63 Whalen Street

Record

James Thompson 36 220 Larkin Drive

Field

James Thompson (name field)

Byte

1011 10010

Bit

1, 0

Converting to Binary
Converting a Binary Number to Its Decimal Equivalent
Place

2^4

2^3

2^2

2^1

2^0

Place Values

16

Binary Number

Decimal Number
1 * 2^0 =
0 * 2^1=
0 * 2^2 =
1 * 2^3 =
1 * 2^4 =
TOTAL

1
0
0
8
16
25

The Computer Process Cycle

ALU- Arithmetic-Logic Unit
performs the principal logical and arithmetic operations
determines quantities, logic operations such as binary
codes pertaining to letters or numbers

Control Unit
coordinates and controls other parts of the computer
system. The series of operations required to process a
single instruction is called a machine cycle.

The Machine Cycle

Instruction Cycle
the control unit retrieves one program from primary storage
and decodes it. It places part of the instruction in the ALU.

Execution Cycle
the control unit locates the required data in primary
storage, places it in a storage register, instructs the ALU to
perform the function, finally places the result in primary
storage

As each instruction is completed the CU advances

CPU Clock Speed Example

100%
80%

0
8000 chars/sec
Parameters
1,000,000 cycles per second
100 cycles to handle the communications interrupt
8000 characters/second = 64,000 bits/second

Formula
X characters/second * X cycles/characters
Total cycles/second

= % Communication use of CPU

8000 chars/sec * 100 cycles/characters = 80%

1,000,000 cycles/sec

The
Computer
Schematic

Input Data

Central Processing Unit

(CPU)
Control Unit

Primary
Storage Unit

Arithmetic and
Logic Unit

Output
Information

Secondary
Storage
Unit

Improving Performance
There are three main ways to accomplish this
word length -the number of bits that can be processed
together as a unit
current computers are either 16 or 32 bit

bus width - the amount of bits that can be transferred

within the computer at any given computer interrupt
bus width range also varies

clock speed
RISC- reduced instruction set computing
MMX- MultiMedia eXtension

Computer History
Prior to 1950s
Keydriven machines
(some were called bookkeeping machines)

Punched card machines

Computer History Cont.

1951 -- first commercial computer (a UNIVAC
I) installed at the Census Bureau
1954 -- first computer installed in a business
(another UNIVAC I at GE)
Early 1970s -- minicomputers
Late 1970s -- microcomputers (TRS-80,
Commodore PET)
1982 -- IBM PC

Other Computer Parts

Secondary Storage

long-term nonvolatile storage of data outside of CPU and primary storage

retains data even when power is turned off
requires mechanical movement to gain access to data, much slower than primary
storage (which moves at the speed of light)

types of secondary storage

magnetic tape
hard disks
CD-ROM, CD-R, CD_RW
WORM (write once, read many)
DVD
RAID -Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
Direct Access Storage Device

Secondary Storage to Processing

Batch processing - hold transactions in a group and
once a batch has been accumulated, process all
the transactions
many batches are on a daily, weekly, or monthly cycle

Online processing - as a transaction is received,

process the transaction without waiting for a batch
of them to accumulate
Realtime systems - often used to control a physical
system

Batch
transaction
data

Step 1

Sort into item

number sequence

Sorted
transaction
data

Step 2

Update inventory
file

Transaction
data

Step 3

Sort into customer

number sequence

Batch
Processing
Old
Inventory
file
New
Inventory
file

Batch
Processing
(continued)

Step 4

Sorted
transaction
data
Update
Accounts Receivable file

Transaction
data
Step 5

New
Accounts
Receivable
file

Sort into salesperson

number sequence

Sorted
transaction
data
Step 6

Old
Accounts
Receivable
file

Update Sales
Analysis file

Old
Sales
Analysis
file
New
Sales
Analysis
file

Online Processing
Enter single
transaction
record

Files
Inventory

Update

Accounts
Receivable
Sales
Analysis

Applications Determine Media

Applications

Batch

Online

Realtime
Sequential

Direct

Input Devices
Keyboard
Ergonomic considerations (human
engineering, human factor considerations)
QWERTY keyboard vs. Dvorak keyboard

Input- Pointing Devices

Mouse
Trackball
Touch screen
Light pen
Remote control device

Source Data Automation (SDA)

Input bottleneck
Optical character recognition (OCR) is big in retailing
Supermarket scanners (bar code)
Point of sale (POS) terminals
Handprint, character readers

Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) was big for

banks starting in the late 1950s
digital scanners
pen/voice input - the UPS example, voice recognition programs
sensors

Speech Recognition
Speaker dependent
Speaker independent

 Displayed

Output Devices

CRT- Cathode Ray Tube - most popular, allows for bit

mapping (this is how you can manipulate photo images)
Flat-panel

Printed
Speed
Quality

Speech (audio response unit)

digitized or playback

Means of
Producing
Computer
Output
Computer

Displayed
Output
Devices
ABC123

Printers

Speech
Output
Devices
Plotters

Microfilm

Output Devices Cont.

Plotters
Flatbed
Drum

Microform
Microfilm (roll)
Microfiche (sheet)

Tabular versus graphical versus narrative

Printers
Impact
Line

Nonimpact

Character

Dot
matrix

Daisy
wheel

Page

Ink Laser
jet

Types of Processing
Serial Processing/ Central Processing one computer one result

Parallel Processing/ Distributed Processing

many computers to achieve one result

Client/Server Computing
a model that allows clients to connect to a main server
to allow quicker processing and sharing

Downsizing- The process of transferring

applications to smaller ones.

Network Computing
The idea of thin clients
the bulk of processing occurs on the server

Is this cheaper? The idea of TCO

total cost of ownership

What about failures?, No access to data.

Future of Computers
Multimedia Capabilities
Real Vid, Tivo
MP3
Smart Cards

Massively Parallel Computers, MERCED

What does this mean to IT?

Increasing technology
What do we purchase? Why?
How will it impact performance?
How will it affect our current IT
investment?