Computer Fundamentals

• Computer is an electronics device that accepts inputs in a particular format and process these inputs according
to predefined instructions and give outputs in a particular format and also can store the processed data(input).

Characteristics of computer.

• SPEED : In general, no human being can compete to solving the complex computation, faster than computer.

• ACCURACY : Since Computer is programmed, so what ever input we give it gives result with accurately.

• STORAGE : Computer can store mass storage of data with appropriate format.

• DILIGENCE : Computer can work for hours without any break and creating error.

• VERSATILITY : We can use computer to perform completely different type of work at the same time.

• POWER OF REMEMBERING : It can remember data for us.

• NO IQ : Computer does not work without instruction.

• NO FEELING : Computer does not have emotions, knowledge, experience, feeling.

Types of Computer

Supercomputer

The most powerful computers in terms of performance and data processing are the Supercomputers. These are
specialized and task specific computers used by large organizations. These computers are used for research and
exploration purposes, like NASA uses supercomputers for launching space shuttles, controlling them and for space
exploration purpose.

Popular Supercomputers

 IBM’s Sequoia, in United States

 Fujitsu’s K Computer in Japan
 IBM’s Mira in United States
 IBM’s SuperMUC in Germany
 NUDT Tianhe-1A in China

Mainframe computer

Although Mainframes are not as powerful as supercomputers, but certainly they are quite expensive nonetheless, and
many large firms & government organizations uses Mainframes to run their business operations. The Mainframe
computers can be accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms because of its size. Super-computers are the fastest
computers with large data storage capacity, Mainframes can also process & store large amount of data. Banks
educational institutions & insurance companies use mainframe computers to store data about their customers, students
& insurance policy holders.

Popular Mainframe computers

 Fujitsu’s ICL VME

 Hitachi’s Z800

Minicomputer

Minicomputers are used by small businesses & firms. Minicomputers are also called as “Midrange Computers”. These
are small machines and can be accommodated on a disk with not as processing and data storage capabilities as super-
computers & Mainframes. These computers are not designed for a single user. Individual departments of a large
company or organizations use Mini-computers for specific purposes. For example, a production department can use
Mini-computers for monitoring certain production process.

Popular Minicomputers

 K-202
 Texas Instrument TI-990
 SDS-92
 IBM Midrange computers
 Microcomputer

Desktop computers, laptops, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablets & smartphones are all types of microcomputers.
The micro-computers are widely used & the fastest growing computers. These computers are the cheapest among the
other three types of computers. The Micro-computers are specially designed for general usage like entertainment,
education and work purposes. Well known manufacturers of Micro-computer are Dell, Apple, Samsung, Sony &
Toshiba.

Desktop computers, Gaming consoles, Sound & Navigation system of a car, Netbooks, Notebooks, PDA’s, Tablet
PC’s, Smartphones, Calculators are all type of Microcomputers

Computer - Generations
Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology a computer is/was being used. Initially, the generation
term was used to distinguish between varying hardware technologies. Nowadays, generation includes both hardware
and software, which together make up an entire computer system.

Generation Duration Memory Features Example

Device
First 1942-1955 Vacuum used vacuum tubes as electronic circuit Mark-I,
Tubes or magnetic drum for primary storage UNIVAC,
Valves mercury delay lined for memory ENIAC
punch-card used as secondary storage etc.
machine level programming used
operating speed was used in terms of millisecond
Second 1955-1964 Transistor magnet core memory used as internal storage IMB 1401,
magnet tapes used as secondary storage ICL 2950/10
little bit faster I/O devices etc.
high level language used as programming
processing speed measured in microsecond
Third 1964-1975 IC(Integrated semi conductor memory used as primary storage IBM 360
circuits) magnetic discs were used as secondary storage series,
massive use of high level language UNIVAC 9000
processing speed increased to nanosecond and etc.
even faster
 Fourth 1975-1990 VLSI or massive use of magnetic and optical storage IBM PC,
Microprocess devices with capacity more than 100 GB Pentium PC,
or advancement in software and high level language Apple/Macinto
th
use of 4 generation language(4GL) sh
operation speed increased beyond picoseconds etc.
and MIPS (Millions of Instructions Per Second)
Fifth 1990+ Bio-Chips AI will make computer Intelligent and -

knowledge based
very high speed, PROLOG (programming
language)

Application of computer
The various applications of computers in today's arena :

› Business
A computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility which made it an integrated
part in all business organisations.
Computer is used in business organisations for: Payroll calculations, Sales analysis, Budgeting, Financial forecasting,
Managing employees database and Maintenance of stocks etc.

› Education
Computers have its dominant use in the education field which can significantly enhance performance in learning.
Even distance learning is made productive and effective through internet and video-based classes. Researchers have
massive usage of these computers in their work from the starting to till the end of their scholarly work.

› Marketing
In marketing, uses of computer are :
Advertising - With computers, advertising professionals create art and graphics, write and revise copy, and print and
disseminate ads with the goal of selling more products.
Home Shopping - Home shopping has been made possible through use of computerised catalogues that provide
access to product information and permit direct entry of orders to be filled by the customers.

› Banking
Today banking is almost totally dependent on computer. Banks provide the facilities of:
Banks provide online accounting facility, which includes current balances, deposits, overdrafts, interest charges,
shares, and trustee records.
ATM machines are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.

› Insurance
Insurance companies are keeping all records up-to-date with the help of computers. The insurance companies,
finance houses and stock broking firms are widely using computers for their concerns.

› Communication
Communication means to convey a message, an idea, a picture or speech that is received and understood clearly and
correctly by the person for whom it is meant for. Some main areas in this category are: Chatting, E-mail, Usenet, FTP,
Video-conferencing and Telnet.

› Health Care
Most of the medical information can now be digitized from the prescription to reports. Computation in the field of
medicine allows us tooffer varied miraculous therapies to the patients. ECG’s, radiotherapy wasn’t possible
without computers.

› Military
Computers are the main tools which help in developing missiles and other equipment in the deference system.
Designing and the maintenance are possible only through computers. Computer builds the links between the
soldiers and commanders through the satellite. Construction of weapons and controlling their function is not
possible without the aid of computers. The list of the criminals and the records of the cops are maintained regularly
in the system.

› Engineering Design
As per the title,computers aid in designing buildings, magazines, prints, newspapers, books and many others. The
construction layouts are designed beautifully on system using different tools and software’s.

Von Neumann Architecture

Von Neumann architecture was first published by John von Neumann in 1945.

His computer architecture design consists of a Control Unit, Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU), Memory
Unit, Registers and Inputs/Outputs.

Von Neumann architecture is based on the stored-program computer concept, where instruction data and
program data are stored in the same memory. This design is still used in most computers produced today.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the electronic circuit responsible for executing the instructions of a
computer program.

It is sometimes referred to as the microprocessor or processor.

The CPU contains the ALU, CU and a variety of registers.

Registers

Registers are high speed storage areas in the CPU. All data must be stored in a register before it can be
processed.

MAR Memory Address Register Holds the memory location of data that needs to be accessed

MDR Memory Data Register Holds data that is being transferred to or from memory

AC Accumulator Where intermediate arithmetic and logic results are stored

PC Program Counter Contains the address of the next instruction to be executed

CIR Current Instruction Register Contains the current instruction during processing

Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

The ALU allows arithmetic (add, subtract etc) and logic (AND, OR, NOT etc) operations to be carried out.

Control Unit (CU)

The control unit controls the operation of the computer’s ALU, memory and input/output devices, telling
them how to respond to the program instructions it has just read and interpreted from the memory unit. The
control unit also provides the timing and control signals required by other computer components.

Buses
Buses are the means by which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another, connecting all
major internal components to the CPU and memory.

A standard CPU system bus is comprised of a control bus, data bus and address bus.

Address Bus Carries the addresses of data (but not the data) between the processor and memory
Data Bus Carries data between the processor, the memory unit and the input/output devices
Carries control signals/commands from the CPU (and status signals from other
Control Bus
devices) in order to control and coordinate all the activities within the computer

Memory Unit
The memory unit consists of RAM, sometimes referred to as primary or main memory. Unlike a hard drive
(secondary memory), this memory is fast and also directly accessible by the CPU.

RAM is split into partitions. Each partition consists of an address and its contents (both in binary form).

The address will uniquely identify every location in the memory.

Loading data from permanent memory (hard drive), into the faster and directly accessible temporary
memory (RAM), allows the CPU to operate much quicker.
Memory Hierarchy Design and its Characteristics

In the Computer System Design, Memory Hierarchy is an enhancement to organize the memory such that it
can minimize the access time. The Memory Hierarchy was developed based on a program behavior known
as locality of references.The figure below clearly demonstrates the different levels of memory hierarchy :

This Memory Hierarchy Design is divided into 2 main types:

1. External Memory or Secondary Memory –

Comprising of Magnetic Disk, Optical Disk, Magnetic Tape i.e. peripheral storage devices which are accessible
by the processor via I/O Module.
2. Internal Memory or Primary Memory –
Comprising of Main Memory, Cache Memory & CPU registers. This is directly accessible by the processor.

We can infer the following characteristics of Memory Hierarchy Design from above figure:

1. Capacity:
It is the global volume of information the memory can store. As we move from top to bottom in the
Hierarchy, the capacity increases.
2. Access Time:
It is the time interval between the read/write request and the availability of the data. As we move from top
to bottom in the Hierarchy, the access time increases.
3. Performance:
Earlier when the computer system was designed without Memory Hierarchy design, the speed gap increases
between the CPU registers and Main Memory due to large difference in access time. This results in lower
performance of the system and thus, enhancement was required. This enhancement was made in the form
of Memory Hierarchy Design because of which the performance of the system increases. One of the most
significant ways to increase system performance is minimizing how far down the memory hierarchy one has
to go to manipulate data.
4. Cost per bit:
As we move from bottom to top in the Hierarchy, the cost per bit increases i.e. Internal Memory is costlier
than External Memory.