Computer Hardware

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Digital Computer Concept and Practice

Computer (revisited)

„ Computer
p = Hardware + Software
„ Hardware

„ Electronic circuit and mechanism

„ I/O unit, central processing unit, storage unit
„ Bus: channel that allows devices inside computer to
communicate with each component
„ Software
„ Programs that control the operation of the computer
system.
„ Coded by using high-level programming languages,
such
h as C
C, JAVA etc. (easier
( i and d more efficient
ffi i ffor
humans)
 Basic Components (revisited)
„ Input unit
„ C t lP
Central Processing
i Unit
U it (CPU)
„ Output unit
„ S
Storage unit
i (secondary
( d storage))
„ I/O unit, secondary storage, multimedia devices, …
Î Peripheral
P i h l equipment
i

B i Components
Basic C t

„ Input Unit
„ Central Processing Unit (CPU)
„ Memory (Primary Storage)
„ Output Unit
„ Secondary Storage
 Input Unit

„ Input
p unit is any y hardware components
p that allow
users to enter data and instructions.

Input Unit

„ Input device types

„ Typing: keyboard

„ Pointing: mouse, trackball

„ Scanning

„ Barcode reader, handheld/flatbed scanner

„ Terminal (now, it is a concept, not a physical device)
„ Input device + Display + Server Connector
Server
- a computer that provides services
to other
h computers ((clients),
li ) or
- the software that runs on it
e.g. the internet sites like Google and Yahoo
 Where is a CPU Located?
„ Motherboard (Mainboard)
„ Main circuit board in a system unit

„ Contains adapter cards, processor chips and

memory y chips
p

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

„ Interprets and carries out basic instructions that

operate a computer
„ Control input, output and storage units (roughly true)
 CPU Process Cycle
Execute programs: A CPU reads stored instructions in order from
storage units, and it decodes and executes the actions that they indicate.

Step 1. Fetch
Obtain a program
instruction or data
from memory

Memory
Step 2. Decode
Step 4. Store Translate the
W it results
Write lt tto i t ti iinto
instruction t
memory commands
Processor
ALU Control Unit
Step 3. Execute
Carry out command

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Control Arithmetic
Register
Unit
U i (CU) Logic
L i Unit
U i (ALU)

Instructions
D t
Data
Information

Input Output
Data Memory Information
Units Units

Instructions
Data
Information

Storage
U it
Units
 CPU Components

„ CPU: ALU + CU + Registerg

„ Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU)

„ It performs arithmetic, comparison and logical

operations.
„ Control Unit (CU)
( )
„ It directs and coordinates operations in a computer.

„ Register
g
„ Temporary high-speed storage area that holds

data and instructions.

Example
Peripheral equipment
CPU
Register

Control R1
Signal
Control Unit R2
ADD R2
R2, R3
R3, R5

R3
ADD
R4
R5
Arithmetic-Logic Unit R6
R7
Data
Capacity and Performance of a PC (1)
„ Information processing performance
„ 88-bit
bit Machine:
M hi 8 bits
bit (1 b
byte)
t ) processing
i att a ti
time
„ 64-bit Machine: 64 bits (8 bytes) processing at a time
„ Computer processing speed
„ MHz/GHz: the number of machine cycles per second
(1 GHz = one billion ticks of system clock per second)
„ MIPS (Million Instruction Per Second)
„ MFLOPS ((Million Floating-point
gp Operation
p Per Second))
„ GFLOPS, TFLOPS
„ Intel Pentium: 10 GFLOPS
„ IBM Cell (PS3): ~200 GFLOPS

What is the System Clock?

„ Controls timingg of all computer

p operations
p
„ The speed which a processor executes instructions
„ The faster the clock, the more instructions the CPU can
execute per second.

Read Decode Read data Execute Store results

instructions instructions
Capacity and Performance of a PC (2)
„ Memory capacity
„ Number of bytes a storage medium can hold
„ KB: 1 kilobytes = 210 bytes = 1024 bytes
„ MB: 1 megabytes
g y = 1024 x 1024 bytes y
„ GB: 1 gigabytes = 1024 MB
Kilobyte (KB) 1 thousand
Megabyte (MB) 1 million
Gigabyte (GB) 1 billion
T b t (TB)
Terabyte 1 trillion
Petabyte (PB) 1 quadrillion
Exabyte (EB) 1 quintillion
Zettabyte (ZB) 1 sextillion
Yottabyte (YB) 1 septillion

Memory

„ Primaryy storage
g ((main memoryy unit))
„ Consists of one or more chips on motherboard or
other circuit board
„ Memory capacity
„ Usually,
y 512MB or 1GB~ (MS Vista: 2GB~)
 Memory

„ Electronic components that store instructions, data,

and information
„ Stores the bits and bytes (instructions and data)
„ Directly accessible by the CPU
„ Memory types: RAM + ROM

Memory Types: RAM

„ Random Access Memory y ((RAM))

„ Temporary memory

„ Can read/write
/ data
„ Any information stored in RAM is lost when the

p
computer is turned off. Î volatile
„ Hence, need a secondary memory device
 Memory Types: RAM

„ Types
„ SRAM (Static RAM)
„ It does not need to be periodically refreshed.
„ It retains data bits in its memory as long as power is
being supplied.
„ Expensive
„ DRAM (Dynamic RAM)
„ It needs to be periodically refreshed.
„ Structural simplicity
„ Cheaper than SRAM
„ SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM),
DRAM) DDR (Double Data
Rate) SDRAM, RDRAM (Rambus DRAM)

Memory Types: ROM

„ ROM ((Read Only

y Memory)
y)
„ Permanent memory
„ Any information stored is retained when the computer
is turned off Æ non-volatile
„ Types of ROM
„ PROM (Programmable ROM)
„ EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM): rewritable
„ cf.)
f ) BIOS ((or CMOS) setup
„ Before: CMOS (Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor)

„ Now: EEPROM or flash ROM

 Cache Memory

„ Helps
p speed
p up
p computer
p p
processes by
y storing
g
frequently used instructions and data.
CPU

Register

Cache memory
Faster ,
Smaller capacity Cheaper
Pi
Primary storage

S
Secondary
d storage
t

Cache Memory

ƒ L1 cache built into processor

ƒ L2 cache
h slower
l but
b has
h llarger capacity
i
 Output Unit
„ Output: data that has been processed into a useful
form (information)
„ Output device: any hardware components that can
convey information to user.
user

Output Unit: Monitor

„ Monitor (or display)

„ Output device that visually conveys information

„ Information on display device: soft copy

„ Monitor types

„ CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

„ Resolution: number of horizontal and vertical

pixels in a display device

More details Æ
Ch 4. Multimedia
 Output Unit: Printer

„ Printer
„ Output device that produces text
and graphics on a physical
medium (hard copy)
„ Types
„ Resolution: 1200 DPI, 600 DPI
„ Color of contents: B/W, color
„ Printing
g ways:
y laser,, ink-jet,
j , dot
matrix

Secondary Storage

„ Used to store data and programs

„ Mass storage available and more permanent
„ Required for two reasons:
„ The working memory of the CPU is limited in size

and cannot always hold the amount

of data required.
„ Data and programs in secondary storages do not

di
disappear when
h ththe power iis turned
t d off.
ff
„ Secondary storage types
„ Magnetic
M i disks
di k (FDD,
(FDD HDD)
„ Optical discs (CD, DVD)
 FDD
„ Floppy Disk Drive (Diskette)
„ Two
T types
t
„ 3.5 inch: 1.44MB
„ 5 25 iinch:
5.25 h 11.2MB
2MB
„ Strength: cheap and portable
„ W k
Weakness: reading
di andd writing
iti speed
d is
i slow
l

3.5 inch diskette 5.25 inch diskette

HDD
„ Hard Disk Drive
„ Consists
C i off severall iinflexible,
fl ibl circular
i l platters
l that
h store
items electronically
„ High-capacity storage
„ Hard disks are permanently mounted inside the
computer
p ((cf. external HDD))

Hard disks are

installed
in a system unit
 HDD

„ How does a hard disk work?

When software
requests a disk
Small motor access, read/write
spins platters heads determine
while computer current or new
is running. location of data.

Circuit
Ci it board
b d controls
t l
movement of head
actuator and a small
motor.
motor

HDD

Track
Sector
is narrow
recording band
that forms full
circle on disk

- Formatting prepares disk for use and marks bad

sectors as unusable
 Optical Discs

„ Flat, round, portable metal discs made of metal,

plastic, and lacquer
„ Types
„ CD-ROM: 700MB
„ DVD-ROM: 4.7~8.5GB
„ Bl
Blu-ray Di (BD):
Disc (BD) 25~50GB
25 50GB