Computers

Chapter 4
Inside the Computer

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 2

Computers
Chapter 4 Inside the Computer
Objectives
Understand how data is stored and
represented in a computer
Describe the functions and relationships
between internal computer components
Distinguish processors by word size, speed,
and memory capability
Identify new processor design approaches

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 3

Computers
Inside the Computer
Digital: The Language of Computers
Analog continuous waveforms
Digital data is described using only
two states: on and off

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 4

Computers
Inside the Computer
Digital: The Language of Computers
Digitize to convert data, analog
signals, and images into 1s and 0s
used by computers

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 5

Computers
Inside the Computer
Digital: The Language of Computers
Binary two-digit numbering system
1 represents on
0 represents off

Each 1 or 0 is called a bit

Bit short for binary digit

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 6

Computers
Inside the Computer
Digital: The Language of Computers
Encoding systems
ASCII American Standard Code for
Information Interchange
ANSI American National Standards
Institute
UNICODE capable of handling most
printed languages

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 7

Computers
Inside the Computer
Digital: The Language of Computers
Byte collection of bits that
represent a character
ASCII 7 bits/byte
ANSI 8 bits/byte
UNICODE 16 bits/byte

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 8

Computers
Inside the Computer
Digital: The Language of Computers
Binary (base 2) confusing for
humans; only uses 1s and 0s
Hexadecimal (base 16) used to
represent numbers using fewer digits
A=10, B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, F=15

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 9

Computers
Inside the Computer
The PC System Unit
Motherboard
Chipset group of integrated circuits
(IC) that control communication between
system components

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 10

Computers
Inside the Computer
The PC System Unit
Connected to the Motherboard:
Processor
Chipset
Memory chips
Expansion boards

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 11

Computers
Inside the Computer
The PC System Unit
Motherboard
System bus permits communication
between components
Device controllers control peripheral
devices

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 12

Computers
Inside the Computer
The PC System Unit
The Processor: Computer on a Chip
Pentium 4
Celeron
XeonTM
ItaniumTM

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 13

Computers
Inside the Computer
The PC System Unit
Central Processing Unit
Control unit
Arithmetic and logic unit

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 14

Computers
Inside the Computer
Central Processing Unit
Control unit
Reads and interprets instructions
Directs the operation of internal
processor components
Controls the flow of programs and data
in and out of RAM

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 15

Computers
Inside the Computer
Central Processing Unit
Decoder interprets instructions that
have been retrieved from RAM
Registers high-speed working
storage areas
instruction register contains instruction
to be executed
program register contains location of
next instruction to be executed

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 16

Computers
Inside the Computer
Central Processing Unit
Arithmetic and Logic Unit
Performs computations
Performs logical operations (comparisons)
Accumulator register where answers are
stored

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 17

Computers
Inside the Computer
RAM: Digital Warehouse
High-speed holding area for data and
programs
Volatile memory data is lost if
electrical current is not maintained
Address specific location in RAM

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 18

Computers
Inside the Computer
RAM: Digital Warehouse
DDR SDRAM synchronous
dynamic RAM
SIMMs single in-line memory
modules
DIMMs dual in-line memory
modules

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 19

Computers
Inside the Computer
Cache
Throughput rate at which the
computer works
Cache Memory faster than RAM

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 20

Computers
Inside the Computer
Other High-Speed Memories
ROM (read-only memory) contains
instructions to the computer that the
user cannot change
PROM (programmable ROM) user
can store read-only programs and data

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 21

Computers
Inside the Computer
Other High-Speed Memories
Flash Memory
Nonvolatile memory does not lose data
in a power outage
Easily upgraded
BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
stored in flash memory

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 22

Computers
Inside the Computer
The Instruction Set and the
Instruction Cycle
Machine language what a computer
actually understands
All instructions to a computer must be
converted to binary

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 23

Computers
Inside the Computer
The Instruction Set and the
Instruction Cycle
CISC (complex instruction set
computer) understands many
different instructions
RISC (reduced instruction set
computer) understands a smaller list
of instructions
2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 24

Computers
Inside the Computer
The Instruction Set and the
Instruction Cycle
Instruction Cycle
Instruction time (I-time) instruction is
retrieved from memory and decoded
Execution time (E-time) instruction is
executed and result is placed in memory

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 25

Computers
Inside the Computer
The Instruction Set and the
Instruction Cycle
Pipelining processor begins
working
on another instruction before the
current instruction is completed

2005 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 26