Functional Units of
Digital System
A computer organization describes the
functions and design of the various units of a
digital system.
A general-purpose computer system is the
best-known example of a digital system.
Other examples include telephone switching
exchanges, digital voltmeters, digital
counters, electronic calculators and digital
displays.
Computer architecture deals with the
specification of the instruction set and the
hardware units that implement the
Computer hardware consists of electronic
circuits, displays, magnetic and optic
storage media and also the communication
facilities.
A computer consists of five main
components namely, Input unit, Central
Processing Unit, Memory unit Arithmetic &
logical unit, Control unit and an Output unit.
Input unit
Input units are used by the computer to read
the data. The most commonly used input
devices are keyboards, mouse, joysticks,
trackballs, microphones, etc.
However, the most well-known input device is
a keyboard. Whenever a key is pressed, the
corresponding letter or digit is automatically
translated into its corresponding binary code
and transmitted over a cable to either the
memory or the processor.
Central processing unit
Central processing unit commonly known
as CPU can be referred as an electronic
circuitry within a computer that carries
out the instructions given by a computer
program by performing the basic
arithmetic, logical, control and
input/output (I/O) operations specified by
the instructions.
Arithmetic & logical unit
Most of all the arithmetic and logical
operations of a computer are executed
in the ALU (Arithmetic and Logical Unit)
of the processor. It performs arithmetic
operations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division and also the
logical operations like AND, OR, NOT
operations.
Control unit
The control unit is a component of a
computer's central processing unit that
coordinates the operation of the
processor. It tells the computer's
memory, arithmetic/logic unit and input
and output devices how to respond to a
program's instructions.
The control unit is also known as the
nerve center of a computer system.
Memory unit
The Memory unit can be referred to as the
storage area in which programs are kept which
are running, and that contains data needed by
the running programs.
The Memory unit can be categorized in two
ways namely, primary memory and secondary
memory.
It enables a processor to access running
execution applications and services that are
temporarily stored in a specific memory
location.
Primary storage is the fastest memory that
operates at electronic speeds. Primary
memory contains a large number of
semiconductor storage cells, capable of
storing a bit of information. The word length
of a computer is between 16-64 bits.
It is also known as the volatile form of
memory, means when the computer is shut
down, anything contained in RAM is lost.
Cache memory is also a kind of memory
which is used to fetch the data very soon.
They are highly coupled with the processor.
The most common examples of primary
memory are RAM and ROM.
Secondary memory is used when a
large amount of data and programs
have to be stored for a long-term
basis.
It is also known as the Non-volatile
memory form of memory, means the
data is stored permanently
irrespective of shut down.
The most common examples of
secondary memory are magnetic
disks, magnetic tapes, and optical
disks.
Arithmetic & logical unit
Most of all the arithmetic and logical
operations of a computer are executed in
the ALU (Arithmetic and Logical Unit) of
the processor. It performs arithmetic
operations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division and also the
logical operations like AND, OR, NOT
operations.
Control unit
The control unit is a component of a computer's
central processing unit that coordinates the
operation of the processor. It tells the computer's
memory, arithmetic/logic unit and input and
output devices how to respond to a program's
instructions.
The control unit is also known as the nerve
center of a computer system.
Output Unit
The primary function of the output unit is
to send the processed results to the user.
Output devices display information in a
way that the user can understand.
Output devices are pieces of equipment
that are used to generate information or
any other response processed by the
computer. These devices display
information that has been held or
generated within a computer.
The most common example of an output
device is a monitor.
Basic Operational Concepts
The primary function of a computer system is
to execute a program, sequence of
instructions. These instructions are stored in
computer memory.
These instructions are executed to process
data which are already loaded in the
computer memory through some input
devices.
After processing the data, the result is either
stored in the memory for further reference, or
it is sent to the outside world through some
To perform the execution of an instruction, in
addition to the arithmetic logic unit, and control
unit, the processor contains a number of registers
used for temporary storage of data and some
special function registers.
The special function registers include program
counters (PC), instruction registers (IR), memory
address registers (MAR) and memory and memory
data registers (MDR).
The Program counter is one of the most critical
registers in CPU.
The Program counter monitors the execution of
instructions. It keeps track on which instruction is
being executed and what the next instruction will
be.
