Computer System

Dr. J.T Kariuki

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Computer System
A computer is a device that works
under the control of stored programs,
automatically accepting, storing and
processing data to produce
information that is the result of that
processing
◦ Hardware: General term that is used to
describe all the electronic and mechanical
elements of the computer, together with
those devices used with the computer.
◦ Software: describes the various programs
that may be used on a computer together
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Components/Overview of a
Computer System

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Input devices
 An input device: Hardware that allows users to enter
data and commands into a computer or other
information processing system.
 Input devices can be defined as hardware components

that allow users to feed data or instructions into a

computer system.
 Inputdevices accept data and instructions and
convert them to a form that the computer can
understand
 Functions of input devices
a. User interface: Provides an interface for users to engage with
the computer system
b. Data input: Allows users to input data into the system. These
devices convert user data into digital data that the computer
can process.
c. Command execution: Allow users to give commands to the
Input Devices - Keyboards
Keyboard is the most basic and widely used
input device, allowing the user to input data
and commands.
A keyboard is a device that converts letters,
numbers, and other characters into
electrical sig­nals that can be read by the
computer's proces­sor. They include:
◦ Traditional keyboard looks like a typewriter
keyboard to which some special keys have been
added.
◦ Specialty keyboards range from Touch-Tone
telephone keypads to keyboards featuring
pictures of food for use in fast-food restaurants.
◦ Terminals may be dumb termi­nals, smart
terminals, intelligent terminals, and Internet
terminals. 8
Input Devices - Keyboards
i. A dumb terminal has a display screen
and a keyboard and can input and
output but not process data. Dumb
terminals cannot perform functions
independent of the system to which they
are linked.
ii. Smart terminals make possible some
processing but do not have full fledged
capabilities of an intelligent terminal.
iii. An intelligent terminal is like a PC and
has its own memory and processor, as
well as a display screen and keyboard.
Such a terminal can perform some
functions indepen­dent of any any other
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Input Devices – Pointing Device
A pointing device is a hardware device
used to control the movement of the
cursor or pointer on a computer screen.
i.e., pointing devices control the posi­tion
of the cursor or pointer on the screen.
It allows users to navigate and interact
with graphical user interfaces (GUI) by
translating physical movements into
digital input.
Examples:
◦ list them & discuss how each of them operates

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Input Devices – Pointing Device
 .

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 Source Data Automation Devices
Source data automation technology captures
data in computer-readable form at the time and
place they are created.
Source data automation devices eliminates
errors that occur from human keyboarding data
as data is captured directly and immediately
Also, time taken to get the data to computer is
reduced.
Examples include: Scanning devices such as
bar-code readers, mark- and char­acter-
recognition devices etc.; Audio-input devices;
Video input, and photographic input (digital
cameras); Voice-recognition systems, sensors,
radio-frequency identification devices, and
human-biology input devices 12
Point of Sale Terminals
 A point of sale
(POS) system includes the
hardware and software to
process payments and
complete purchases.
 Discuss the purpose of each
of the the POS components.

 POS terminals are equipped

with credit and debit card
readers, enabling customers
to make card payments
quickly and easily
 POS reduce waiting time,
faster scanning of items,
quicker & secure payments

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Source Data Automation Devices
Bar code scanners: Scan the black and
white bars written in the universal product
code(UPC). The code specifies the product
ID and the computer finds the price in the
organisation’s database
Optical Character Reader(OCR or
Optical Scanner): An OCR coverts text
and images on paper into digital form and
stores the data on disk or other storage
media. E.g., help publishers to convert
manuscripts instead of typing.
◦ Save time and money
◦ Reduce risk of introducing typographical errors
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Source Data Automation Devices

Optical mark recognition

(OMR) device that reads
presence of marks and converts
them into computer-usable form.
Used for marking of multiple-
choice questions
Discuss the advantages of using
OMR & MICR

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Source Data Automation
Devices
Magnetic Ink Character
Readers (MICR): reads
information printed on cheques in
magnetic ink.
◦ Bank and account details
◦ Digitizers: Devices that convert
drawings made with a pen on a
sensitised surface to machine-readable
input.
◦ Technology is based on changes in
electrical charges that corresponds to 16
Source Data Automation
Devices
Voice Recognisers: converts
spoken words into digital form.
Make use of natural language
processing which is concerned
with allowing computers to use
natural language
◦ They are fast, free the user’s hands
and results in few entry errors
◦ Allows people with disabilities to
communicate with the computer
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 Source Data Automation Devices
 Digital cameras: A digital camera uses a light-sensitive
processor chip to capture photographic images in digi­tal
form.
 Sensors: A that collects specific data directly from the
environment and trans­mits it to a computer. Sen­sors can be
used to detect all kinds of things: speed, movement, weight,
pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, current, fog, gas,
smoke, light, shapes, images, and so on.
 Radio-frequency identification devices: Also known as
RFID tagging, radio-frequency identification technology is
based on an identifying tag bearing a microchip that
contains specific code numbers. Radio-readable ID tags used
in department stores, ports etc
 Biometric /Human biology-input devices: Biometric
security devices identify a person through a fingerprint,
voice intonation, or other biological characteristic. For
example, reti­nal-identification devices use a ray of light to
identify the distinctive network of blood vessels at the back
of the eyeball. 18
Processor

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Motherboard

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Processor
The processor controls the
operations of the computer
It fetches instructions from the
main memory, interprets them
and issues the necessary signals
to other components
It directs all hardware operations
necessary in obeying instructions

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Control Unit
 Central nervous system of the
computer
 Has the following primary functions:
 To read and interpret program
instructions
 To direct the operation of internal
processor components
 To control the flow of programs
and data
 To maintain order and direct the
operation of the entire system
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Arithmetic Logical Unit
Undertakes the arithmetic and
logical operations
 List the operations
????

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Main storage
Itsoperations are wholly
electronic and consequently very
fast and reliable
Data is almost instantly
accessible due to its electronic
operations and close proximity to
the processor
Data must be transferred to main
storage before it can be
processed by the processor
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Main storage
IT stores:
◦ Instructions awaiting to be processed
◦ Instructions currently being
processed
◦ Data awaiting processing
◦ Data currently being processed
◦ Data awaiting output
Working area or buffer arrea

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Cache Memory
 Cache Memory – used to increase computer
system throughput – the rate at which work can
be performed by the computer system.
 Used to store most frequently used data and
instructions so that the CPU can access them
more quickly.
 Computer learns by experience what data are
most frequently used and then transfer them to
the cache.
 When the processor needs to read from or write
to a location in main memory, it first checks
whether a copy of that data is in the cache. If
so, the processor immediately reads from or
writes to the cache, which is much faster than
reading from or writing to main memory.
 Q Discuss cache memory replacement
algorithms 26
ROM
Read – Only Memory (ROM)
 Made of chips; Non – volatile; Contain special
instructions for detailed computer
operations; Its instructions may start the
computer, give keyboard keys their special
control capabilities, put characters on the
screen etc.
Variations of ROM are:
 Programmable read – only memory (PROM) –
program instructions can be written once and
cannot be erased
 Erasable programmable read-only memory
(EPROM) – allow writing and erasing.
 Electrically erasable programmable read-only
memory EPROM – allow erasing electrically. 27
 Machine Cycle:
 A computer operates in a machine cycle.
Machine Cycle refers to:
 Series of operations required to process a
single machine instruction
 Every computer has a machine cycle in
which operations take place as follows:
a. Instruction time:
 Instruction is fetched
 Instruction is decoded and interpreted
b. Execution time:
 Instruction is executed
 Results are produced and stored appropriately
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Bus
 A data roadway along which electronic
information/instructions (in form of bits)
travel
 Connects parts of CPU together.

Bus Capacity
 The greater the bus capacity, the greater
the amount of bits that can be moved
among CPU components hence the
greater the processing speed.

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PROCESSING SPEED
 Processing speed for
microcomputers is expressed in Hz
(number of cycles per second).
 Overall processing speed
(throughput) is determined by:
 Word size;
 Processor speed;
 Bus capacity; and
 Chip design.
 To increase the speed of a computer
there are a number of things that
you can do.
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Registers

 They are temporary storage locations

within the CPU.
 They are used to hold data and
instructions temporarily during
processing.
 They are special purpose storage locations
usually used by the control units during
the fetch and execute cycle, and by
arithmetic-logic unit to store data during
processing.

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Motherboard

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Output devices
 Monitor/Screen: An output device that
displays visual information, like text, images,
and videos, generated by a computer.
◦ Old technology used cathode ray tube (CRT)
 The higher the pixels the better
◦ Liquid crystal display (LCD) used in portable
systems & PCs
◦ Gas Plasma used for larger screen
 Super Video Graphics Array, is a display
standard that offers a higher resolution than
the standard VGA
 XGA is Extended Graphics Array. XGA is one of
the most widespread screen resolutions
introduced by IBM- that supports more
simultaneous graphics and colors. 36
Monitor/Screen
 Dot pitch (dp) is the amount of space between
the centers of adja­cent pixels; the closer the
dots, the crisper (clearer) the image.
 Resolution is the image sharpness of a display
screen; the more pixels there are per square
inch, the finer the level of detail attained.
 Each pixel can be assigned a color or a
particular shade of gray.
 Standard resolutions are 640 X 480, 800 X
600, 1024 X 768, 1280 X 1024, 1600 X 1200,
and 1920 X 1440 pixels.
 Refresh rate is the number of times per
second that the pixels are recharged so that
their glow remains bright.
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Printers
 Impact printers: An impact printer forms characters
or images by striking a mechanism such as a print
hammer or wheel against an inked ribbon, leaving an
image on paper.
◦ Examples: dot matrix, daisy wheel, line printers, character printers
◦ Slow and noisy
◦ Subject to mechanical breakdown
◦ Cannot print high resolution graphics
 Nonimpact printers: Nonimpact printers are faster
and quieter than impact printers because they have
fewer moving parts. Nonimpact printers form
characters and images without direct physical contact
between the printing mechanism and paper.
◦ E.g., laser printers – write information on a photosensitive drums, whole
pages at atime; then the paper passes over the drum and picks up the
image with toner. They are fast, high-quality prints hence used for
desktop publishing
◦ Ink-jet printers
◦ Thermal printer
◦ Q discuss how ink-jet & thermal printers works 38
Plotters
Printing devices that use
computer driven pens for
creating high-quality graphical
images –charts, graphs, drawings
Used in engineering and
architecture

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Secondary Storage
Secondary storage is nonvolatile
memory that retains data even
when the computer is turned off.
Secondary storage requires
mechanical movement to gain
access to the data hence relatively
slow compared to the primary
storage

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Magnetic disk
Magnetic disks consist of platters
coated with iron oxide coating.
Data are recorded on this coating
in form of magnetized spots.
They could be floppy or hard

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HDD
• A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive,
or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data
storage device that stores and retrieves digital
data using magnetic storage with one or more
rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with
magnetic material.
• A hard disk drive contains one or more hard
disks mounted on a vertical shaft. Read/write
heads attached to access arms move across
the spin­ning disk or disks to read or write data
on concentric, circular tracks.
• Data are recorded in form of magnetized spots
as disks rotate. The read process converts
data in magnetized spots form into electronic
pulse form and relays them to CPU. 43
Accessing data on disks
• Disk designers use either the
sector (for micros) or the cylinder
(for minis and mainframes)
method to organize and
physically store data.
• Sector method is used with single
disks in which disk surface is
divided into tracks and tracks
into sectors. Sectors store data
and programs.
• Cylinder method is used where
disks are in stacks and a number
of access arms are used. (See the
diagram that follows.)
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Accessing data on disks

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 Disc Access
 Disks are divided into tracks which are numbered. Tracks on
the same vertical line form cylinders.
 To access a record, a record disk address must be provided.
This specifies track number, sector number and record
number. It actually specifies the location of the record on
the disks surface. A record is identified by a key field and
this is mapped into the details specifying the address.
 This also applies to the cylinder method in which, however,
to access a record, the record address must be given which
specifies cylinder (or track), recording surface, and the
sector number.
 The addressing schemes vary from systems to systems.
 Disk access time depends on four things.
1. Seek time – how quickly access arm can get into position over a particular
track
2. Head switching time – how fast a particular read/write head can be activated
3. Rotational delay time – time required to spin the needed data under the head
4. Data transfer time – how long it takes for data to transfer from the disk to
primary storage.
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Access on Tapes & Optical Discs
Magnetic tape
 Magnetic tape is a thin plastic tape coated with magnetizable material.
 Old storage technology that employed sequential storage & access of
stored data.
 Large volumes of information or in mainframe batch applications and
for archiv­ing data.
Optical disks
 Optical disks, also called compact disks or laser optical disks, store
data at densities many times greater than those of magnetic disks
and are available for both PCs and large comput­ers.
 Data are recorded on optical disks when a laser device burns
microscopic pits in the re­flective layer of a spiral track.
 Binary information is encoded by the length of these pits and the
space between them. Optical disks can store massive quantities of
data, including text, pictures, sound, and full-motion video, in a
highly compact form.
 The optical disk is read by having a low-power laser beam from an
optical head scan the disk.
 Optical disks include: CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW. The most
common optical disk system used with PCs is CD-ROM (compact disk
read-only memory). 48
 CD-R (compact disk-recordable) optical disk system
allow users to record data only once on an optical
disk. Once written, the data cannot be erased but can
be read indefinitely.
 CD-RW (CD-ReWritable) for re-use. Rewritable optical
disks are useful primarily for applications requiring
large volumes of storage where the information is only
occasionally updated or for making a backup copy of
the data in a computer system. Optical disk storage
may become more popular and more powerful in
years to come, and access speeds will improve
 Digital video disks (DVDs), also called digital versatile
disks, are optical disks that are the same size as CD-
ROMs but of even higher capacity. They can hold a lot
of information, enough to store a full-length, high-
quality motion picture. DVDs are initially being used to
store movies and multimedia applications using large
amounts of video and graphics, but they may replace
CD-ROMs because they can store such large amounts
of digitized text, graphics, audio, and video data 49
Flash memory

 Flash memory is a solid-state chip

that maintains stored data without
any external power source.
 It is commonly used in portable
electronics and removable storage
devices, and to replace computer
hard drives.
 It is an electronic non-volatile storage
medium that can be electrically
erased and reprogrammed. It was
introduced by Toshiba in 1984 and
was developed from EEPROM
(electrically erasable programmable
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SSD (solid state drive)
 SSD like HDD (hard disk drive) is nonvolatile
storage on a computer and does much the
same job functionally (e.g., saving your data
while the system is off, booting your system,
etc.) as an HDD.
 However, instead of a magnetic coating on top
of platters, the data is stored on
interconnected flash memory chips that retain
the data even when there's no power present.
 The chips can either be permanently installed
on the system's motherboard (e.g., in laptops
and ultrabooks), on a PCI card (in some high-
end workstations), or in a box that's sized,
shaped, and wired to slot in for a laptop or
desktop's hard drive
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Smart card
 A smart card is a device that includes an embedded integrated
circuit that can be either a secure microcontroller or equivalent
intelligence with internal memory or a memory chip alone.
 The card connects to a reader with direct physical contact or with a
remote contactless radio frequency interface.

Magnetic stripe card

 A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by
modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a
band of magnetic material on the card.
 The magnetic stripe, sometimes called swipe card or magstripe, is
read by swiping past a magnetic reading head. Magnetic stripe
cards are commonly used in credit cards, identity cards, and
transportation tickets.
 The encoded data might include name, account number, and PIN
(personal identification number). They may also contain an RFID
tag, a transponder device (that receives and transmits signals)
and/or a microchip mostly used for business premises access
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control or electronic payment.
Factors to consider in selection of secondary storage
device

 Manner of access supported by the device – is it direct or sequential and what does
the operation need?
 Secondary storage medium storage capacity – how large is it and what does the
application need?
 Durability: medium and data retention – if data were to be stored for long time,
would it still retain it?
 Speed of access – data transfer rate. How fast can data be accessed and transferred
to RAM?
 Availability of technical, hardware and software support – from suppliers
 Cost of the device acquisition and maintenance
 Data stored amenability to edit – can the data be edited, and is it necessary for the
kind of data stored or the data are ready for archival storage?
 Size
 Robustness
 ?
 ?
 ? 53
OSI Model
Read about OSI model and
discuss the business implications
of the model

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