Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology

School of Computing and Informatics

Department of Information Technology

Telephone: (056) 30282 Fax P O Box 190

No: (056) 30153 KAKAMEGA
E-mail: [email protected] Website: Kenya
www.mmust.ac.ke

BIT 113: FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTING

WRITTEN BY:
Copyright © Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology
2019
All Rights Reserved
Published by MMUST ODEL
 FOREWORD

The need for a modular system of study in the University in general and in fundamentals of computing in
particular has been necessitated by two issues. The first issue concerns the increased demand for higher
education in Kenya that requires universities to broaden access and inclusion to a greater range of students.
This is driven by the twin agendas of increasing economic competitiveness on the national and world
economic stage and promoting greater social equality by extending access to education to students from
under-represented groups. In addition, the increasing importance attached to the ‘knowledge economy’ and
to ‘lifelong learning’ is encouraging more mature-age, working students to return to formal education to
enhance their professional knowledge and skills. These changes in access to education have necessitated a
move to two key principles of an adaptable curricular namely: modularity and flexibility in course structures
and delivery. Thus, universities have to actively implement systems and approaches in teaching and learning
environments; for example, by means of electronic platforms and applications for course delivery, teaching
and learning support.

Secondly, all first year students in the university need to be ‘academically literate’, that is, they need to
develop and apply with immediate effect a range of academic computing skills to enable them to
participate effectively in the academic community they are entering. Academic computer skills are the
hardware and software skills, an understanding of computer language, data communication and
networking concepts and research skills that students require for effective engagement not only within
their discipline, but also with the wider academic community that a university represents. These skills
include the ability to manage time and resources, engage in academic debate and discussion, argue a
position, locate library resources and work in groups. All these are premised upon an understanding of the
functions of a university and the nature of knowledge and its generation and representation.

It is in this light that I consider the publication and delivery of this module – Fundamentals of Computing
– very timely. The module covers five key topics including: introduction to computers; computer hardware;
data representation and number systems; computer software; data communication and networks.

I am confident that students at MMUST will find this module valuable and responsive to their patterns of
study and participation.

Prof Joseph Bosire Vice Chancellor

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BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course

Preface

There is a common adage that says that if the dinosaurs were clever enough to accept change and adjust,
then they wouldn’t be extinct. Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology is awake to this
reality. Modern technology has necessitated the change from traditional methods of delivery of pedagogical
content. Learning is no longer confined to the traditional classroom as we know it. It is therefore with great
pleasure that I introduce you to this module. The module is one of the first four prepared for university wide
courses.

The publication of this module is therefore a ground breaking event that will see the University develop
learning modules in all teaching subjects. This will enable us to extend educational services to all parts of
the country, continent and the world. This module has been conceptualized as a self-contained resource that
will enable the learner to actively engage the content of this subject.

In this module, there are a number of self-evaluating tasks, activities and assignments, which you should
attempt as you study this course. These activities, tasks and assignments are intended to make your study
of this subject more fulfilling and meaningful. They will support your learning and open up your mind to
more critical interpretation of issues as well as enable you to acquire competences you require in today’s
world. Make sure you attempt all questions and follow all the steps given in order to get the best out of the
module. The lecturers will always be at hand to guide you.

You will notice that this course lays emphasis on mind stimulating tasks, activities and assignments. There
are those activities to be done individually and others to be done in groups. Group activities and tasks should
help you learn from others and share your knowledge with them. This should build teamwork and
cooperation, which is one of the goals of good education.

As a centre for excellence, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology has taken this direction
in order to be in tandem with world trends. To integrate ICT in delivering educational content is the way to
go.

The preparation of this course was painstakingly undertaken by our professionals and has undergone various
reviews for the purpose of making sure it is of high quality. I would like to acknowledge the core team that
spearheaded this initiative. To all of them, I say you are the real pacesetters of our University.

Dr. Gordon Nguka

Director ODEL MMUST

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 5 of 95

Departmental Position

Fundamentals of Computing course aims to provide all the undergraduate students, of Masinde
Muliro University of Science and Technology, with the relevant skills and knowledge to take on
in their respective disciplines upon graduation and grow into in to competent and an all-round
graduate. The programme encourages the student to acquire the important skills of self-directed
learning, problem solving and effective communication. The graduates who have undertaken this
course is expected to be proficient in a variety of settings, which shall include management of
computer information or systems, apply computer technology in day to day life activities, teaching
and undertaking research activities.

The department of Information Technology wishes to welcome students with their input interms
of compliments or suggestions that could help make the module even much more relevant and
easier to learn.

Dr Daniel Otanga

Chairman, Department of Information Technology

Page 6 of 95

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course

Evaluation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 8

Advanced Organizer ......................................................................................................................................... 10
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 11
COURSE OUTLINE ............................................................................................................................. ............ 12
Aim ........................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Objectives............................................................................................................................................................... 15
Topic 1: Introduction to Computers ........................................................................................................... 17
1.1 Objective ................................................................................................................................................ 17
1.2 This topic consists of four sub-sections namely: ........................................................................ 17 1.3
Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 27 1.3
Self-check Questions ........................................................................................................................... 27
1.4 Scorecard ............................................................................................................................................... 27
Learning Outcomes.......................................................................................................................................... 27
1.5 Further reading ......................................................................................................................................... 28
TOPIC 2: COMPUTER HARDWARE ..................................................................................................... 29
2.1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................................... 29
2.2.1 Basic Computer Operations ................................................................................................................ 30
2.2.2 Computer Components ........................................................................................................................ 31
2.2.3 Computer Organization ....................................................................................................................... 32
2.2.3.1 Input Hardware ............................................................................................................................. . 32
2.2.3.2 Processing Hardware .................................................................................................................... 39
2.2.3.3 Interconnecting the Units of a Computer ............................................................................... 40
2.2.3.4 Output hardware ............................................................................................................................ 41
2.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 53
2.4 Self-check Questions ........................................................................................................................... 53
2.5 Scorecard ............................................................................................................................................... 54
Learning Outcomes.......................................................................................................................................... 54
Further reading ................................................................................................................................................ 54
TOPIC 3: DATA REPRESENTATION AND NUMBER SYSTEMS ..........................................
55
3.1 Objectives............................................................................................................................................... 55
3.2 This topic consists of three sections namely:- ............................................................................. 55
3.3 Coding Schemes ........................................................................................................................................ 56
3.2.1 Basic Concepts ....................................................................................................................................... 56
3.2.2 Bits, Bytes and Nibbles........................................................................................................................ 56
3.2.3 Binary Coding Schemes ...................................................................................................................... 57

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 5 of 102

 3.2.4 Number Systems .................................................................................................................................... 59
3.2.5 Binary Numbers and Algebra ............................................................................................................ 60
3.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 70
3.5 Self-check Questions ........................................................................................................................... 70
3.6 Scorecard ............................................................................................................................................... 70
Learning Outcomes.......................................................................................................................................... 71
Further reading ................................................................................................................................................ 71
TOPIC 4: COMPUTER SOFTWARE ...................................................................................................... 72

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4.1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................................... 72
4.2 This topic consists of four sections namely:-............................................................................... 72
4.2.1 Fundamentals of Software .................................................................................................................. 72
4.2.1.1: Systems Software ............................................................................................................................. 74
4.2.1.2: Application Software ....................................................................................................................... 78
4.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 81
4.5 Self-check Questions ........................................................................................................................... 81
4.6 Scorecard ............................................................................................................................................... 81
Learning Outcomes.......................................................................................................................................... 82
4.6 Further reading ......................................................................................................................................... 82
TOPIC FIVE: DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS .................................................. 83
5.1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................................... 83
5.2 This topic consists of Four sections namely:- ................................................................................... 83
5.2.1 Basic Data communication concepts ............................................................................................... 84
5.2.1.3 Components of Communication Network .................................................................................. 86
5.3 Communications Channels ..................................................................................................................... 87
5.3.2 Data Transmission ................................................................................................................................. 90
5.4 Network Topology .................................................................................................................................... 90
5.3.1 Network Types ....................................................................................................................................... 92
5.5 Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 94
5.6 Self-check Questions ........................................................................................................................... 94
5.7 Scorecard ............................................................................................................................................... 94
Learning Outcomes.......................................................................................................................................... 95
5.6 Further reading ......................................................................................................................................... 95

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

 Advanced Organizer

TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS ........................................................ 6 Hours

Sections 1: Overview
Sections 2: History of Computers
Sections 3: Classification of Computers
Sections 4: Application of Computers

TOPIC 2: COMPUTER HARDWARE ......................................................................... 12

Hours
Sections 1: Introduction
Sections 2: Computer Components
Sections 3: Basic Computer Operation
Sections 4: Computer Organization

TOPIC 3: DATA REPRESENTATION AND NUMBER SYSTEMS .......................... 9 Hours

Sections 1: Introduction Sections 2: Coding Systems
Sections 3: Number Systems Sections 4: Number Systems Conversations & Operations

TOPIC 4: COMPUTER SOFTWARE ............................................................................ 6

Hours
Section 1: Introduction Section 2: System Software
Section 3: Application Software

TOPIC FIVE: DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS................................. 6

Hours
Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Communication Channels
Section 3: Network Topologies
Section 4: Types of Networks
Section 5: The Internet

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 7 of 102

INTRODUCTION

Content Introduction

This is a course for first year students during the first year. Nothing epitomizes modern life
better than the computer. For better or worse, computers have infiltrated every aspect of
our society. Today computers do much more than simply compute: supermarket scanners
calculate our grocery bill while keeping store inventory; computerized telephone switching
centers play traffic cop to millions of calls and keep lines of communication untangled;
and automatic teller machines let us conduct banking transactions from virtually anywhere
in the world. But where did all this technology come from and where is it heading? To fully
understand and appreciate the impact computers have on our lives and promises they hold
for the future, it is important to understand their evolution.

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 COURSE OUTLINE

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing

Lecturer…………………………………… Email
Address…………………………..
Tel No…………………………………..
Contact Hours: 42………………………..

Description…………………………………………………………………………………………

Course Name BCS 110: FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTING

Credit Units 3

Pre-requisite None

Course Purpose To introduce different parts of the computer and its

applications to computing and demystify the way a computer
system works and understanding its underlying theories and
concepts, history and basic data communication of a
computer

Learning At the end of the semester, the students should be able to:
Outcomes)

1. Define a computer

2. Identify the key components of a computer

3. Describe the basic hardware devices

4. Explain the various data representation methods

5. Describe various system/application software

6. Explain the various communication technologies

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 9 of 102

S/No.
Content Week Hours

1 Introduction to Computers: 1 -2 6

Overview
History of Computers
Classification of Computers

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Application of Computers

2 Computer Hardware 3-6 12

Basic Computer Operations

Computer Components
Computer Organization

FIRST FACE-2-FACE SESSION…………..WK 3

3 CAT ONE 7 1

4 Data Representation and Number System 7-9 9

Coding Systems
Number Systems
Number Systems Conversations & Operations

SECOND FACE-2-FACE SESSION………..WK 9

5 Computer Software 10-11 6

Fundamentals of software
Introduction and classification of computer software
System Software
Application Software

THIRD FACE-2-FACE SESSION………..WK 11

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6 CAT TWO 12 1

7 Data Communication and Networks 13-14 6

Basic Data communication Concepts

Communication Channels
Network Topologies
Types of Networks

FINAL FACE-2-FACE SESSION-------------WK 14

TOTAL HOURS 42

Learning and PC assembly and troubleshooting demonstrations, lectures

Teaching using powerpoint, assignments, exams and recitations
Methodologies

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 11 of 102

Assessment Type

Examination

Continuous Assessment

Total

Recommended TITLE AUT PUBLIS HE ISBN

Reading HOR R

Data Processing and C. S. French DP 185805-

information technology Publicat ions 171-1

10th Ed

Computers and T. J. O’Leary, Benjami n/ 0-8053-

information systems Cummin gs, 6942-2
2nd ed,

A Balanced David Reed Prentice 0130467

Introduction to Hall. 20 04 09X

Computer Science

Fundamentals of Rowntree, G. Manche ster 0-

computing NCC 85012-

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

 publicati ons 661-4

Support Texts, audio and video cassettes, computer software

Materials and
Other resources:

Resources
http://www.daileyint.com/hmdpc/manual. htm

ort.htm
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/supp

http://www.pcguide.com/ts/index.htm

Page 14 of 95
Introduction to the Module

Welcome to BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing e-Learning Module. This is a

First year First Semester introductory course to fundamentals of computing (for
undergraduate students).

This module has ten topics with every lesson having several sub topics. Ensure that you have read
and understood every lesson before you proceed to the next one. In every lesson you will find
symbols that give instructions on what is expected of you; for example to take a note on an
important aspect, to perform an activity or even to refer to previous Modules. At the end of every
topic there will be a self-check where you are expected to assess your understanding. It is our hope
that you will enjoy reading this Module and please feel free to comment on the whole Module

Aim

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing intends to provide a comprehensive understanding of the

key components of the computer, how it works, present the basic concepts of various computing
environments and give a broad view of how technology is improving communications.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 13 of 102

 Objectives

On completion of this course you should be able to:

1. Define a computer
2. Identify the key components of a computer
3. Describe the basic hardware devices
4. Explain the various data representation methods
5. Describe various system/application software
6. Explain the various communication technologies

This module consists of FIVE topics namely:

Topic 1: Introduction to Computers
Topic 2: Computer Hardware
Topic 3: Data Representation and Number Systems
Topic 4: Computer Software
Topic 5: Data Communication and Networks

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Topic 1: Introduction to Computers

Today, virtually everything is managed or controlled by computers. For better or

worse, computers have infiltrated every aspect of our society. Today computers do much more
than simply compute: supermarket scanners calculate our grocery bill while keeping store
inventory; computerized telephone switching centers play traffic cop to millions of calls and keep

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

lines of communication untangled; and automatic teller machines let us conduct banking
transactions from virtually anywhere in the world.

1.1 Objective

Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Define the concept of computer system

2. Explain the evolution of computing technology and the technical advancement in

computer architecture
3. Explain the different types of computer categories based on size, capabilities &
prizes
4. Describe the current trends in computer applications
.

1.2 This topic consists of four sub-sections namely:

Sections 1: Overview
Sections 2: History of Computers
Sections 3: Classification of Computers Sections
4: Application of Computers

Let us discuss each one of them in details.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 15 of 102

1.2.1. Overview

Today's world is an information-rich world and it has become a necessity for everyone to know
about computers. Purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you about computer systems and its
fundamentals.

The word computer comes from the word “compute” which means, “to calculate.” Thereby, a

computer is an electronic device that can perform arithmetic operations at high speed. A

computer is also called a data processor because it can store, process, and retrieve data whenever

desired. The activity of processing data using a computer is called data processing.

Definition

Computer System is an electronic data processing device, which does the following:

Accept and store an input data.

Process the data input.
And output the processed data in required format.

A computer Is made up of two key components: the hardware and the software. This will be
discussed more in the next topics

Any digital computer carries out five functions in gross terms:

Takes data as input.

Stores the data/instructions in its memory and can use them when required.
Processes the data and converts it into useful information.
Outputs the information.
Controls all the above four steps.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 16 of 102

 Figure 1.1 Basic computer operation

Advantages

Following list demonstrates the advantages of Computers in today's arena.

High Speed

Computer is a very fast device.

It is capable of performing addition of very big data.
The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond and even the picosecond.

It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man, who can
spend many months for doing the same task.

Accuracy

In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.

The computer has performed calculations 100% error-free.
Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy.

Storage Capability

Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.

The computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.
It can store large amount of data.
It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio and any other type.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 17 of 102

Diligenc
e

Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness and lack of
concentration.
It can work continuously without creating any error and boredom.
It can do repeated work with same speed and accuracy.

Versatility

A computer is a very versatile machine.

A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
This machine can be used to solve the problems relating to various different fields.

At one instant, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and the very next moment
it may be playing a card game.

Reliability

A computer is a reliable machine.

Modern electronic components have failure-free long lives.
Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.

Automation

Computer is an automatic machine.

Automation means ability to perform the task automatically.

Once a program is given to computer, i.e., stored in computer memory, the program and
instructions can control the program execution without human interaction.

Reduction in Paper Work

The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to reduction in paper
work and speeds up the process.

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 As data in electronic files can be retrieved as and when required, the problem of
maintenance of large number of files gets reduced.

Reduction in Cost

Though the initial investment for installing a computer is high but it substantially reduces
the cost of each of its transaction.

Disadvantages

Following list demonstrates the disadvantages of Computers in today's arena.

No IQ

A computer is a machine and has no intelligence of its own to perform any task.
Each and every instruction has to be given to the computer.
A computer cannot take any decision on its own.

Dependency

It can perform function as instructed by user, so it is fully dependent on human being.

Environment

The operating environment of computer should be dust-free and suitable to it.

No Feeling

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Computer has no feeling or emotions.

It cannot make judgment based on feeling, taste, experience and knowledge unlike a human
being.

Activity

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 19 of 102

 In your own words, how would you define a computer?

1.2.2. History of Computers

i. First generation computers (1946-1956)

They made use of vacuum tubes to store and process information. The tubes consumed
a lot of power and generated a lot of heat (overheating). They were huge in size and
occupy a room. They used magnetic tape. Storage capacity was very low i.e. 2kb and
speed of processing was also very low. First machine in this category was ENIAC
(electronic discrete variable automatic computer) and later came UNIVAC (universal
automatic computers).

ii. Second generation computers (1957-1967)

These computers used transistors after invention of transistors. The transistor is smaller
cheaper and produced less heat than vacuum tubes and consumed less power. The cost
of computers decreased and the speed increased. The second generation saw the
introduction of more complex ALU and CPU, the use of high level languages and
provision of system software with the computer. Data access time was measured in
micro-seconds. Removable disk storage units were developed for use on these
machines.

iii. Third generation computers (1965-1980)

This introduced the use of very small electronic circuit called integrated circuits (IC)
by combining several transistors together between 3 transistors to make 1 IC. With IC
you can house thousands of transistors in one IC. This change further decreased the
size, heat output and the maintenance complexity of the computers while increasing its
speed. The small circuitry that resulted improved the processing speed i.e. 10 times the
past.

iv. Fourth generation computers (1980s)

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 Use large scale integration circuits which housed hundreds of transistors and very large
IC which are between 200,000 to 400, 000 in one IC. Memory used includes magnetic
disc and optical disc. Memory size expanded up to several MB and speed was 10 times
faster. This generation marked the origin of mini computers in use today.

v. Fifth generation computers (1990-current)

The design of these computers was based on VLSI (very large scale integration)
technology, the microchip technology that gave rise to the smaller computers known
as the micro computers in use today. These computers are used in networking.
Examples of microcomputers are IBM PCs BBC micro etc. the micro computers are
usually described as PCs or stand alone or desktop computers because they were
designed primarily to serve single person at a time. The fifth generation is still a state
of the art technology that relies on predictions and further technological refinements.

Research shows that the trend in computer technology revolution is that there is;

Continual decrease in computer size

Improved speed and power processing
Decrease in computers and the related facilities cost

Number of components in computer per circuit (IC) greatly increased over

500,000 physical elements e.g. transistors, capacities, diodes etc per chip(IC).

1.2.3 Classification of Computers

i. By Size

a) Micro-Computers

Micro –Computers are the Smallest class of Computers

Micro- Computers have one micro-processor in its Central Processing Unit
Micro-Processor refers to Central Data Processing Unit of a Micro-Computers

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 21 of 102

 Micro- Computers can serve one user at ago.
Micro- Computers are commonly used in modern Offices.

b) Mini- Computers

Mini- Computers are Medium Sized Computers

Mini- Computers can serve Two or more users at ago
Mini- Computers have Two Micro-Processors in its Central Processing Unit

Mini- Computers can support Telecommunication hence facilitate Sharing of Information

through computers which are Networked together.
Mini- Computers are commonly in Banks and Super- Markets.

c) Main-frame Computers

Main-frame Computers used in Large organization

Main-frame Computers can serve several users at ago
Main-frame Computers Several Micro-Processors in its Central Processing Unit

Main – frame Computers can support Telecommunication hence facilitate Sharing of

Information through computers which are Networked together.
Main – frame Computers are commonly used in Large Organization such as International
Monetary Fund and World Bank, Insurance Companies etc.

d) Super-Computers

Super-Computers Computers used in Large organization

Super-Computers can serve several users at ago
Super-Computers Uncountable Micro-Processors in its Central Processing Unit

Super-Computers can support Telecommunication hence facilitate Sharing of Information

through computers which are Networked together.
Super-Computers are commonly used in Large Organization such as International Monetary
Fund and World Bank, Insurance Companies etc.

ii. By purpose

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 22 of 102

a) Specific Purpose Computers

Specific Purpose Computers is a Computer Classification that performs a Specific Task at

ago or Time for example Computers designed to calculate wages and Salaries, Control
Stocks of goods etc

b) General Purpose Computers

General Purpose Computers is a Computer Classification that performs a General task at

ago or at a time example Computer that can perform arithmetic and Logical Operations at
the same Time

iii. By Technology
a) Analog Computers

Analog Computer use continuous data. The common available Analog Computers are:

1. Car Speedometer - Measures Speed of the Approaching Bodies e.g. Cars

2. Hygrometer - Measures Humidity
3. Wind Anemometer - Measures Speed of the Wind.
4. Thermometer - Measures the Temperatures of a place.
5. Barometer - Measures Atmospheric pressure of a place
6. Voltmeter - Measures Voltage of the Electronic device

b) Digital Computers

Digital Computers a Computer Classification works on discrete/non-continuous data. The

Digital Computers have the capability of adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and
rearranges the data in predefined order they are commonly applied in Scientific and
Engineering World.

c) Hybrid Computer

Hybrid Computer is a Computer Classification by type that performs Arithmetic and

Logical operations and at the same time measures data in waveform.

Activity

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 23 of 102

 In your surroundings, identify the types of computers in use. Are they mainframe
computers, mini-computers, workstations or personal computers?

1.2.4 Application of Computers

i. Schools

Keep Record of School Fees

Keep Record of Number of Students in the School
Keep Record of Number of Parents
Keep Record of Number of Staff in the School
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Schools.

ii. Government Institution

Keep Record of Government Stocks of pre-numbered documents e.g. Cheques,

Receipt books

Keep Records of Government Budgets, which act as a base of planning

Calculation of Civil Servants Salaries
iii. Telecommunication.

Computers can be Networked to facilitate between Government departments

Keep Record of Civil Servant, Terms of Service and Terminal Benefits
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Government Institutions.

iv. Police Station

Keep Record of Criminal Finger Prints in the Society
Keep Record of Police Force Staff
Calculation of Staff Salaries
Telecommunication - Computers can be Networked to facilitate between Police Force
departments
Keep Record of Police Abstracts
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Police Staff.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 24 of 102

 v. Weather Station
Keep Record of Weather and Climatic conditions in the World
Calculation of Staff Salaries
Keep record of Meteorological Station Staff
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Weather Station Staff.

vi. Post Office

Keep Record of Post Office Staff
Calculation of Post Office Staff Salaries
Keep Record of Rental Boxes Customers Names and Dates expired.
Keep Record of Post bank Account holders, the amount and balances.
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Post Office Staff.

vii. Banks
Keep Record of Government Bills and Statements Keep
Record Registers for easy retrieval and future reference.
Keep Record of Bank Staff
Calculation of Bank Staff Salaries
Keep Record of Account holders.
Keep Record of Post bank Account holders, the amount and balances

Telecommunication - Computers can be networked to facilitate between

communication between the Bank’s Head Office and its Branches.
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Banking Industry

viii. Insurance Company

Keep Record of Insurance Staff
Calculation of Insurance Company Staff Salaries
Keep Record of Policy document and Premiums paid by Clients. To the Insurance Co
Keep Record of Bonuses paid to the Client by the Insurance Co
Telecommunication - Computers can be Networked to facilitate between
communication between the Insurance’s Head Office and its Branches country wide
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Insurance Firms

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 25 of 102

ix. University and Colleges
Keep Record of University Fees

Keep Record of Number of Parents/Guardians

Keep Record of Admission Numbers of University Students
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the University.

x. Industry and commerce

Maintain Orders and Bills
Control Stocks
Manage large Volumes of Financial Transactions, Information and Data
Ensure the Customers and Supplies demand are fulfilled.

xi. Hospital
Keep Record of Medical Staff
Keep Record of Number of Patients and their Diseases
Keep Record of Stocks of Drugs, the Amount of Cash in the Bank and the Pre –
Numbered documents.
Calculation of Wages and Salaries of Medial Staff
Keep Record of Rules and Regulations that govern the Hospital Staff.

Activity

Write a brief description of the types of computers in place and their main uses. If
your office or surrounding has more than one type of computer, find out why?
What different tasks are the different computers intended to do?

1.3 Summary

This lesson introduced basic information about how computers work, including
information about the history of computers and different classifications.

1.3 Self-check Questions

1. In your own words, explain what is a computer (2 Marks).

2. State different generations of computers (5 Marks).

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 26 of 102

 3. Describe different types of computers based on SIZE, TECHNOLOGY & PURPOSE
(7 Marks).

4. Describe at least four different applications of computers in a learning institution (6

Marks).

1.4 Scorecard

20-17 Excellent
16-12 Good

11-9 Satisfactory

<9 Read topic again

Learning Outcomes
You have now completed topic one.

The learning outcomes are listed below

Put a tick in the column which reflects your understanding

No. Learning Outcome Sure Not Sure

1. I can now Define the concept of computer system

2. I can explain the evolution of computing technology and

the technical advancement in computer architecture

3. I can explain the different types of computer categories

based on size, capabilities & prizes

4. I can describe the current trends in computer applications

If you have put a tick at the “not sure” column, please go back and study that section in the topic
before moving on.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 27 of 102

If you have ticked “sure” in all the columns you are ready for the next topic.

1.5 Further reading

White R., How Computers Work (Millennium edition).

Capron H.L., Computers: Tools for information age (5th Edition).

Congratulations! You may proceed to next topic

TOPIC 2: COMPUTER HARDWARE

In the previous lesson we discussed about the evolution of computer. In this lesson
we will provide you with an overview of the basic design of a computer. You will
know how different parts of a computer are organized and how various operations
are performed between different parts to do a specific task. As you know from the

previous lesson the internal architecture of computer may differ from system to system, but the
basic organization remains the same for all computer systems

2.1 Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. List different components of a computer
2. Explain how information flows in a computer
3. Explain the different hardware units of a computer system

2.2 This topic is divided into three sub-sections as follows:

Sections 1: Basic Computer Operations

Sections 2: Computer Components
Sections 3: Computer Organization

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module Page 28 of 102

2.2.1 Basic Computer Operations

A computer as shown in Fig. 2.1 performs basically five major operations or functions irrespective
of their size and make. These are 1) it accepts data or instructions by way of input, 2) it stores data,
3) it can process data as required by the user, 4) it gives results in the form of output, and 5) it
controls all operations inside a computer. We know that a computer is used to

(i) Collect (ii) Organise (iii) Sort and, (iv) transform raw facts into meaningful information form,
which logic conclusions can be drawn.

We discuss below each of these operations.

1. Input: This is the process of entering data and programs in to the computer system. You should
know that computer is an electronic machine like any other machine which takes as inputs raw
data and performs some processing giving out processed data. Therefore, the input unit takes data
from us to the computer in an organized manner for processing.

Figure 2.1:
Basic

computer Operations

2. Storage: The process of saving data and instructions permanently is known as storage. Data
has to be fed into the system before the actual processing starts. It is because the processing speed
of Central Processing Unit (CPU) is so fast that the data has to be provided to CPU with the same
speed. Therefore the data is first stored in the storage unit for faster access and processing. This

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 29 of 102

storage unit or the primary storage of the computer system is designed to do the above
functionality. It provides space for storing data and instructions.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

The storage unit performs the following major functions:

All data and instructions are stored here before and after processing.
Intermediate results of processing are also stored here.

3. Processing: The task of performing operations like arithmetic and logical operations is
called processing. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) takes data and instructions from the storage
unit and makes all sorts of calculations based on the instructions given and the type of data
provided. It is then sent back to the storage unit.

4. Output: This is the process of producing results from the data for getting useful
information. Similarly the output produced by the computer after processing must also be kept
somewhere inside the computer before being given to you in human readable form. Again the
output is also stored inside the computer for further processing.

5. Control: The manner how instructions are executed and the above operations are
performed. Controlling of all operations like input, processing and output are performed by control
unit. It takes care of step by step processing of all operations inside the computer.

2.2.2 Computer Components

All types of computers follow a same basic logical structure and perform the following five basic
operations for converting raw input data into information useful to their users

No. Operation Description

1 Take Input The process of entering data and instructions into the
computer system.

2 Store Data Saving data and instructions so that they are available for
processing as and when required.

3 Processing Data Performing arithmetic, logical operations on data in order to

convert them into useful information.

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 4 Output Information The process of producing useful information or results for
the user, such as a printed report or visual display.

5 Control the workflow Direct the manner and sequence in which all of the above
operations are performed.

Table 2.1: Five basic operations for converting raw input data into information

Figure 2.2 Components of Computer system

Activity

In the computer lab, look at the manuals that come with the computers. Review the
manuals to find out what type of microprocessor is in the computer. Look also
at the computer screen when the computer is turned on to see if information about the computer
is shown there.

2.2.3 Computer Organization

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2.2.3.1 Input Hardware

This unit contains devices with the help of which we enter data into computer. This unit makes
link between user and computer. The input devices translate the human being information into
the form understandable by computer. An input unit of a computer System performs the
following functions:

i. It accepts (or reads) instruction and data from outside world ii.
It converts thee instruction and data in computer acceptable form

iii. It supplies the converted instruction and data to the computer system for further
processing

Following are few of the important input devices, which are used in Computer Systems:

a) Keyboard
b) Mouse
c) Joystick
d) Light pen
e) Track Ball
f) Scanner
g) Graphic Tablet
h) Microphone
i) Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)
j) Optical Character Reader (OCR)
k) Bar Code Reader
l) Optical Mark Reader

Keyboard

Most common and very popular input device is keyboard. The keyboard helps in inputting the
data to the computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter, although
there are some additional keys provided for performing some additional functions.

Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now 104 keys or 108 keys keyboard is
also available for Windows and Internet.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 32 of 102

The keys are following

No. Keys Description

1 Typing Keys These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digits keys (0-9)
which generally give same layout as that of typewriters.

2 Numeric Keypad It is used to enter numeric data or cursor movement. Generally, it

consists of a set of 17 keys that are laid out in the same
configuration used by most adding machine and calculators.

3 Function Keys The twelve functions keys are present on the keyboard. These are
arranged in a row along the top of the keyboard. Each function
key has unique meaning and is used for some specific purpose.

4 Control keys These keys provide cursor and screen control. It includes four
directional arrow key. Control keys also include Home, End,
Insert, Delete, Page Up, Page Down, Control(Ctrl), Alternate(Alt),
Escape(Esc).

5 Special Purpose Keys Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such as Enter,
Shift, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, and Print Screen.

Table 2.2: Description of keys on a keyboard

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Figure 2.3: Computer Keyboard

Mouse

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Mouse is most popular Pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device. It is a small
palm size box with a round ball at its base which senses the movement of mouse and sends
corresponding signals to CPU on pressing the buttons.

Generally, it has two buttons called left and right button and scroll bar is present at the mid.
Mouse can be used to control the position of cursor on screen, but it cannot be used to enter text
into the computer.

Advantages

Easy to use
Not very expensive
Moves the cursor faster than the arrow keys of keyboard.

Table 2.4: Mouse

Joystick

Joystick is also a pointing device, which is used to move cursor position on a monitor screen. It
is a stick having a spherical ball at its both lower and upper ends. The lower spherical ball moves
in a socket. The joystick can be moved in all four directions. The function of joystick is similar
to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer Aided Designing (CAD) and playing computer
games.Commonly used for video games, flight simulators, training simulators, and for
controlling industrial robots

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 34 of 102

 Figure 2.5: Joystick

Light Pen

Light pen is a pointing device,

which is similar to a pen. It is used to
select a displayed menu item or draw
pictures on the monitor screen. It
consists of a photocell and an optical system placed in a small tube.

When light pen's tip is moved over the monitor screen and pen button is pressed, its photocell
sensing element, detects the screen location and sends the corresponding signal to the CPU.

Figure 2.6: Light Pen

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Track Ball

Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer, instead of a
mouse. This is a ball, which is half inserted and by moving fingers on ball, pointer can be moved.

Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A track ball
comes in various shapes like a ball, a button and a square.

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 Figure 2.7: Track ball

Scanner

Scanner is an input device, which works more like a

photocopy machine. It is used when some information
is available on a paper and it is to be transferred to the
hard disc of the computer for further manipulation.

Scanner captures images from the source which are then converted into the digital form that can
be stored on the disc. These images can be edited before they are printed.

Figure 2.8: Scanner

Digitizer

Digitizer is an input device, which converts analog information into a digital form. Digitizer can
convert a signal from the television camera into a series of numbers that could be stored in a
computer. They can be used by the computer to create a picture of whatever the camera had been
pointed at.

Digitizer is also known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet because it converts graphics and pictorial
data into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as digitizer is used for doing fine works of drawing and
images manipulation applications.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 36 of 102

 Figure 2.9: Digitizer

Microphone

Microphone is an input
device to input sound that is
then stored in digital form.
The microphone is used for various applications like adding sound to a multimedia presentation
or for mixing music.

Figure 2.10: Microphone

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

MICR input device is generally used in banks because of the large number of cheques to be
processed daily. The bank's code number and cheque number are printed on the cheques with a
special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material that are machine readable.

This reading process is called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main advantage
of MICR is that it is fast and less error prone.

Figure 2.11: Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

Figure 2.12: MICR

Character Set

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

OCR is an input device used to read a printed text. OCR scans text optically character by character,
converts them into a machine readable code and stores the text on the system memory.

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 Figure 2.13: Optical Character Reader (OCR)
Bar Code Readers

Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded

data (data in form of light and dark lines). Bar coded data is
generally used in labeling goods, numbering the books,
etc. It may be a hand-held scanner or may be embedded
in a stationary scanner.

Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value, which is then
fed to the computer to which bar code reader is connected.

Figure 2.14: Bar Code Reader

Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to

recognize the type of mark made by pen or pencil. It is
used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected
and marked. It is specially used for checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple
choice questions.

Figure 2.15: Optical Mark Reader

(OMR)

In summary: the various input devices can be

classified as: keying devices, pointing devices, stylus, voice-recognition devices, and scanning
devices

2.2.3.2 Processing Hardware

This unit controls the operations of all parts of computer. It does not carry out any actual data
processing operations.

Functions of this unit are:

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 38 of 102

 It is responsible for controlling the transfer of data and instructions among other units of
a computer.
It manages and coordinates all the units of the computer.

It obtains the instructions from the memory, interprets them and directs the operation of
the computer.
It communicates with input/output devices for transfer of data or results from storage.
It does not process or store data.

CPU is considered as the brain of the computer. CPU performs all types of data processing
operations. It stores data, intermediate results and instructions (program). It controls the
operations of all parts of computer

CPU itself has the following

three components

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

Memory Unit
Control Unit

CPU is considered as the brain of the computer.

CPU performs all types of data processing
operations. It stores data, intermediate result and
instructions (program). It controls the operations of
all parts of computer.

2.2.3.3 Interconnecting the Units of a Computer

CPU sends data, instructions and information to the components inside the computer as well as to the
peripherals and devices attached to it. Bus is a set of electronic signal pathways that allows information and
signals to travel between components inside or outside of a computer. The different components of
computer, i.e., CPU, I/O unit, and memory unit are connected with each other by a bus. The data,
instructions and the signals are carried between the different components via a bus. The features and
functionality of a bus are as follows—

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 A bus is a set of wires used for interconnection, where each wire can carry one bit of data.

A bus width is defined by the number of wires in the bus.

A computer bus can be divided into two types—Internal Bus and External Bus.

The Internal Bus connects components inside the motherboard like, CPU and system memory. It
is also called the System Bus. Figure 2.10 shows interaction between processor and memory.

Figure 2.16:
Interaction
between
processor and
memory.

The External Bus connects the different external devices, peripherals, expansion slots, I/O ports and drive
connections to the rest of computer. The external bus allows various devices to be attached to the computer.
It allows for the expansion of computer’s capabilities. It is generally slower than the system bus. It is also
referred to as the Expansion Bus.

A system bus or expansion bus comprise of three kinds of buses - data bus, address bus and control bus.

The interaction of CPU with memory and I/O devices involves all the three buses.

The command to access the memory or the I/O device is carried by the control bus.

The address of I/O device or memory is carried by the address

bus. The data to be transferred is carried by the data bus.

2.2.3.4 Output hardware

Output unit consists of devices with the help of which we get the information from computer. This
unit is a link between computer and users. Output devices translate the computer's output into the
form understandable by users. An output unit of a computer System performs the following
functions:

• It accepts the results produced by the computer, which are in coded form and hence,
cannot be easily understood by human beings
• It converts theses coded results to human acceptable (readable) form
• It supplies the converted results to outside world

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 40 of 102

There are two forms of output:

a) Hardcopy – tangible or touchable output usually in printed form

b) Softcopy output- intangible usually presented as visual or audio form

Following are few of the important output devices, which are used in Computer Systems:

Page 41 of 95

Monitors

Graphic Plotter
Printer

Monitors

Monitor commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the main output device of a computer. It forms
images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image
depends upon the number of the pixels.

There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors:

Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)

Flat-Panel Display

a) Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor

In the CRT, display is made up of small picture elements called pixels for short. The smaller the pixels, the
better the image clarity or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form whole character, such
as the letter 'e' in the word help.

A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at once. The screen can be divided into a series
of character boxes - fixed location on the screen where a standard character can be placed.

Most screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically. There are
some disadvantages of CRT:

Large in Size
High power consumption

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 Figure 2.17: Cathode- Ray Tube (CRT)
Monitor

Flat-Panel Display Monitor

The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight and power
requirement compared to the CRT. You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses
for flat-panel displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, graphics display.

The flat-panel display is divided into two categories:

Emissive Displays - The emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy into light.
Examples are plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).
Non-Emissive Displays - The Non-emissive displays use optical effects to convert sunlight or light
from some other source into graphics patterns. Example is LCD (Liquid-Crystal Device)

Figure 2.18: Flat-Panel Display Monitor

Printer

Printer is the most important output device, which is used

to print information on paper.

There are two types of printers:

Impact Printers
Non-Impact Printers

a) Impact Printers

The printers that print the characters by striking against the ribbon and onto the paper, are called
impact printers.

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Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following:
Very low consumable costs
Impact printers are very noisy
Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image

Page 43 of 95
These printers are of two types:
Character printers
Line printers

i. Character Printers

Character Printers are printers, which print one character at a time.

These are of further two types:

Dot Matrix Printer (DMP)

Daisy Wheel

Dot Matrix Printer

In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer because of their ease of printing
features and economical price. Each character printed is in form of pattern of Dot's and head consists of a
Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which comes out to form a character that is why it is called
Dot Matrix Printer.

Advantages
Inexpensive

Widely Used
Other language characters can be printed

Disadvantages
Slow Speed
Poor Quality

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 Figure 2.19: Dot- Matrix Printer
Daisy Wheel

Head is lying on a wheel and Pins corresponding to

characters are like petals of Daisy (flower name) that
is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These
printers are generally used for word-processing in offices which require a few letters to be sent here and
there with very nice quality representation.

Advantages
More reliable than DMP's
Better quality
The fonts of character can be easily changed.

Disadvantages
Slower than DMP's

Noisy
More expensive than DMP's

Figure 2.20:
Daisy Wheel

ii. Line Printers

Line printers are printers, which print

one line at a time.

Figure 2.21: Line

Printer

These are of further two types:

Drum Printer
Chain Printer

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 44 of 102

 Drum Printer

This printer is like a drum in shape so it called drum printer. The surface of drum is divided into number
of tracks. Total tracks are equal to size of paper, i.e., for a paper width of 132 characters, Drum will have
132 tracks. A character set is embossed on track. The different character sets available in market are 48
character set, 64 and 96 characters set. One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum Printers are fast in
speed and prints between 300 to 2000 lines per minute.

Advantages
Very high speed

Disadvantages
Very expensive
Characters fonts cannot be changed

Chain Printer

In this printer, chains of character sets are used so it called Chain Printers. A standard character
set may have 48, 64, 96 characters.

Advantages
Character fonts can easily be changed.
Different languages can be used with the same printer.

Disadvantages
Noisy
Do not have the ability to print any shape of characters.

b) Non-impact Printers

The printers that print the characters without striking against the ribbon and onto the paper are
called Non-impact Printers. These printers print a complete page at a time, also called as Page
Printers.

These printers are of two types:

Laser Printers
Inkjet Printers

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Characteristics of Non-impact Printers:
Faster than impact printers.
They are not noisy.
High quality.
Support many fonts and different character size.
i. Laser Printers

These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to form the
characters to be printed on a page.

Advantages
Very high speed.
Very high quality output.
Gives good graphics quality.
Supports many fonts and different character sizes.

Disadvantage
Expensive.
Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.

Figure 2.22: Laser Jet Printer

ii. Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a

relatively new technology. They print characters by
spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality output with presentable
features.

They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of printing
modes available. Color printing is also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce
multiple copies of printing also.

Advantages

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 46 of 102

 High quality printing
More reliable

Disadvantages
Expensive as cost per page is high
Slow as compared to laser printer

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Figure 2.23: Ink Jet Printer

Activity

In the computer lab/your surroundings, identify the various Input and Output devices
in use.

2.2.3.5 Storage hardware

Computer memory is used to store data and instructions. Computer memory is the storage space
in computer where data is to be processed and instructions required for processing are stored.
The memory is divided into large number of small parts. Each part is called cell. Each location
or cell has a unique address, which varies from zero to memory size minus one. For example, if
computer has 64k words, and then this memory unit has 64 * 1024=65536 memory location. The
address of these locations varies from 0 to 65535.

The storage Unit of a computer system holds (or stores) the following:
i. Data and instruction required for processing (received from input
devices) ii. Intermediate result of processing iii. Final result of processing,
before they are released to an output device

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Types of Memory

Cache Memory
Primary Memory/Main Memory Secondary
Memory

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 48 of 102

 a) Cache Memory

Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory, which can speed up CPU. It acts as
a buffer between the CPU and main memory.

It is used to hold those parts of data and program which are most frequently used by CPU. The
parts of data and programs are transferred from disk to cache memory by operating system, from
where CPU can access them.

Advantage
Cache memory is faster than main memory.
It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
It stores data for temporary use.

Disadvantage
Cache memory has limited capacity.
It is very expensive.

b) Primary Memory (Main Memory)

Primary memory holds only those data and

instructions on which computer is currently
working. It has limited capacity and data gets
lost when power is switched off.

It is generally made up of semiconductor device.

These memories are not as fast as registers. The
data and instructions required to be processed
earlier reside in main memory. It is divided into
two subcategories RAM and ROM.

Characteristic of Main Memory

These are semiconductor memories.
It is known as main memory.
Usually volatile memory.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course

 Data is lost in case power is switched off.
It is working memory of the computer.
Faster than secondary
memories. Relatively expensive

Page 49 of 95

A computer cannot run without primary memory (Used to hold running program
instructions, used to hold data, intermediate results, and results of ongoing processing
job(s))

Computer RAM

A RAM constitutes the internal memory of the CPU for storing data, program and program
result. It is read/write memory. It is called random access memory (RAM).

Since access time in RAM is independent of the address

to the word that is, each storage location inside the
memory is as easy to reach as other location & takes the
same amount of time. We can reach into the memory
at
random & extremely fast but can also be quite expensive.

RAM is volatile, i.e., data stored in it is lost when we switch off the computer or if there is a
power failure.

Hence, a backup uninterruptible power system (UPS) is often used with computers. RAM is small,
both in terms of its physical size and in the amount of data it can hold.

RAM is of two types:

Static RAM (SRAM)
Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

i. Static RAM (SRAM)

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 50 of 102

The word static indicates that the memory retains its contents as long as power remains applied.
However, data is lost when the power gets down due to volatile nature. SRAM chips use a matrix
of 6-transistors and no capacitors. Transistors do not require power to prevent leakage, so SRAM
need not have to be refreshed on a regular basis.

Because of the extra space in the matrix, SRAM uses more chips than DRAM for the same
amount of storage space, thus making the manufacturing costs higher.

Static RAM is used as cache memory needs to be very fast and small.

Characteristics of the Static RAM:

It has long data
lifetime
There is no need to refresh
Faster
Used as cache memory
Large size
Expensive
High power consumption

ii. Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

DRAM, unlike SRAM, must be continually refreshed in order for it to maintain the data. This is
done by placing the memory on a refresh circuit that rewrites the data several hundred times per
second. DRAM is used for most system memory because it is cheap and small. All DRAMs are
made up of memory cells. These cells are composed of one capacitor and one transistor.

Characteristics of the Dynamic RAM:

It has short data lifetime
Need to refresh continuously
Slower as compared to SRAM
Used as RAM
Lesser in size
Less expensive
Less power consumption

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 51 of 102

Computer - ROM

ROM stands for Read Only Memory. The memory from which we can only read but cannot write on
it. This type of memory is non-volatile. The information is stored permanently in such

memories during manufacture. A ROM stores such

instructions as are required to start computer when
electricity is first turned on, this operation is referred to as
bootstrap. ROM chip are not only used in the computer
but also in other electronic items like washing machine
and microwave oven.

Types of ROM

i. MROM (Masked ROM)

The very first ROMs were hard-wired devices that contained a pre-programmed set of data or
instructions. These kinds of ROMs are known as masked ROMs. It is inexpensive ROM.

ii. PROM (Programmable Read only Memory)

PROM is read-only memory that can be modified only once by a user. The user buys a blank
PROM and enters the desired contents using a PROM programmer. Inside the PROM chip, there
are small fuses, which are burnt open during programming. It can be programmed only once and
is not erasable.

iii. EPROM (Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

The EPROM can be erased by exposing it to ultra-violet light for a duration of up to 40 minutes.
Usually, an EPROM eraser achieves this function. During programming, an electrical charge is
trapped in an insulated gate region. The charge is retained for more than ten years because the
charge has no leakage path. For erasing this charge, ultra-violet light is passed through a quartz
crystal window (lid). This exposure to ultra-violet light dissipates the charge. During normal use
the quartz lid is sealed with a sticker.

iv. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

The EEPROM is programmed and erased electrically. It can be erased and reprogrammed about
ten thousand times. Both erasing and programming take about 4 to 10 ms (millisecond). In

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 52 of 102

EEPROM, any location can be selectively erased and programmed. EEPROMs can be erased one
byte at a time, rather than erasing the entire chip. Hence, the process of re-programming is
flexible but slow.

Advantages of ROM
Non-volatile in nature
These cannot be accidentally changed
Cheaper than RAMs
Easy to test
More Reliable than RAMs
These are static and do not require refreshing

c) Secondary Memory

This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. It is slower than main
memory. These are used for storing Data/Information permanently. There are several limitations
with primary storage:

- Limited capacity because the cost per bit of storage is high

- Volatile- data stored is lost is lost when electric power is turned off or interrupted

CPU directly does not access these memories; instead they are accessed via input-output routines.
Contents of secondary memories are first transferred to main memory and then CPU can access it.
For example, disk, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.

Characteristics of Secondary Memory

These are magnetic and optical memories.

It is known as backup memory.
It is non-volatile memory.
Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off.
It is used for storage of the data in the computer.
Cheaper than primary storage

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 53 of 102

 Computer may run without secondary memory.
Slower than primary memories.

Activity

Identify the processing speed, size of RAM and the capacity of a hard disk of any of
the computers you have used.

2.3 Summary

I/O Unit, CPU and Memory Unit are the main components of the computer. Cache
memory, primary memory and secondary memory constitute the memory unit.

Primary memory consists of RAM and ROM. The different components of computer are connected
with each other by a bus. A computer bus is of two types—system bus and expansion bus. A
system bus or expansion bus comprise of three kinds of buses—data bus, address bus and control
bus. Inside a computer cabinet, there is a motherboard, ports and interfaces, expansion slots, ribbon
cables, RAM memory chips, high storage disk drives, and, processor

2.4 Self-check Questions

1. Identify any two input and output devices (2 Marks).

2. Identify the components of a computer system (5 Marks)
3. Describe the functions of the Central Processing Unit (3 Marks)
4. Describe the different types of memory giving advantages and disadvantages of
each (10 Marks).

2.5 Scorecard

20-17 Excellent
16-12 Good

11-9 Satisfactory

<9 Read topic again

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 54 of 102

 Parsons, June Jamrich and Dan Oja. Computer Concepts. Cambridge, MA:
Course Technology, 1999.
Omieno, K. & Matoke, N. 2014. Fundamentals of Computing: A Simplified
Approach. Scholar’s Press, UK.

Congatulations! You may proceed to next topic

Learning Outcomes
You have now completed topic one.

The learning outcomes are listed below

Put a tick in the column which reflects your understanding

No. Learning Outcome Sure Not Sure

1. I can now list different components of a computer

2. I can explain how information flows in a computer

3. I can explain the different hardware units of a computer

system

If you have put a tick at the “not sure” column, please go back and study that section in the topic
before moving on.

If you have ticked “sure” in all the columns you are ready for the next topic.
Further reading

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 55 of 102

 TOPIC 3: DATA REPRESENTATION AND NUMBER SYSTEMS

When we type some letters or words, the computer translates them in numbers as
computers can understand only numbers. A computer can understand positional
number system where there are only a few symbols called digits and these symbols
represent different values depending on the position they occupy in the number.

A value of each digit in a number can be determined using:

a) The digit
b) The position of the digit in the number

c) The base of the number system (where base is defined as the total number of digits
available in the number system).

Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Explain the number systems
2. Describe various data representation schemes
3. Perform data conversion using different number systems

3.1 Objectives

3.2 This topic consists of three sections namely:-

Sections 1: Coding Systems

Sections 2: Number Systems
Sections 3: Number Systems Conversations & Operations

Page 55 of 95
3.3 Coding Schemes

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course

3.2.1 Basic Concepts

To understand how a bit pattern can convey information, consider someone who wants to give a signal (or
send a code) to another person, but has only a single light bulb at his disposal. How many different messages
(codes) can he send? Two, one for light ON and the other for light OFF. What if he had two bulbs? At first
thought one might say he can now send three signals corresponding to:

1. both OFF;
2. both ON;
3. One ON.

This would be fine if he only wanted to send three signals. But what if he wanted to send four signals?
Would he need another bulb? The answer is no, he can send four signals with two light bulbs, but the sender
and receiver (of the signals) would have to come to an agreement concerning case (3), above; that is, when
one light is ON, it must be distinguished from the case where the other light is ON. For instance, if the bulbs
are A and B, then ‘A ON’ and ‘B OFF’ is a different code to ‘A OFF’ and ‘B ON’.

3.2.2 Bits, Bytes and Nibbles

4 bits = 1 nibble

8 bits = 1 byte

2 bytes = 1 word

2 words = 1 long word

10 2
1 kilobyte = bytes = 1024 bytes
20 2
1 megabyte = bytes = 1024 kb
30 2
1 gigabyte = bytes = 1024 MB
40 2
1 terabyte = bytes = 1024 GB

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

3.2.3 Binary Coding Schemes

The two main coding schemes use by computers to represent data are ASCII and EBCDIC:

Page 57 of 102
a) ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
Uses 7 bits to represent a character
Created by the USA government for use in micro and mini computers

The ASCII code provides a mechanism for encoding alphabetic characters, numeric digits, and punctuation
marks for use in representing text and numbers written using the Roman alphabet. As originally designed,
it was a seven bit code. The seven bits allow the representation of 128 unique characters. All of the alphabet,
numeric digits and Standard English punctuation marks are encoded. The ASCII standard was later
extended to an eight bit code (which allows 256 unique code patterns) and various additional symbols were
added, including characters with diacritical marks (such as accents) used in European languages, which
don’t appear in English. There are also numerous non-standard extensions to ASCII giving different
encoding for the upper 128 character codes than the standard. For example, the character set encoded into
the display card for the original IBM PC had a non-standard encoding for the upper character set. This is a
non-standard extension that is in very wide spread use, and could be considered a standard in itself.

Some important things to note about ASCII code:

i. The numeric digits, 0-9, are encoded in sequence starting at

30h ii. The upper case alphabetic characters are sequential beginning at 41h
iii. The lower case alphabetic characters are sequential beginning at 61h

iv. The first 32 characters (codes 0-1Fh) and 7Fh are control characters. They do not have a standard
symbol (glyph) associated with them. They are used for carriage control, and protocol purposes.
They include 0Dh (CR or carriage return), 0Ah (LF or line feed), 0Ch (FF or form feed), 08h (BS
or backspace).

v. Most keyboards generate the control characters by holding down a control key (CTRL) and
simultaneously pressing an alphabetic character key. The control code will have the same value as
the lower five bits of the alphabetic key pressed. So, for example, the control character 0Dh is
carriage return. It can be generated by pressing CTRL-M. To get the full 32 control characters a
few at the upper end of the range are generated by pressing CTRL and a punctuation key in
combination. For example, the ESC(escape) character is generated by pressing CTRL-[ (left square
bracket)

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Page 58 of 102
 Figure 3.1: ASCII
Character Set

b) EBCDIC: Extended
Binary Coded Decimal
Interchange Code

Uses 8 bits to represent

a character
Created by
International Business Machines (IBM) for use in super and mainframe computers.

Bits in coding scheme Possible combination of 1s and 0s Size of character set

2 1,01,10,00 22 characters can be represented

3 111,110,100,001,011,101,010,000 23 characters can be represented
. … …

. … …

ASCII (7) … 27 characters can be represented

EBCDIC (8) … 28 characters can be represented

The coding schemes use by the computer determines the character set of the computer and the ability of
the computer to display graphics and other information. The table above illustrates the character set
depending on the amount of bits in the coding scheme. The ASCII coding scheme can represent 27 or 128
different characters. This includes all the letters of the alphabet, lower and upper case, the digit, special
symbols and other graphics and control characters.

Other Schemes that can be discussed include: UNICODE

UNICODE:- provides a systematic way of coding multilingual plain text; Defines codes for special
characters, mathematical symbols, technical symbols, and diacritics; uses 16-bits to represent characters
in the system; has capacity to encode/ represent as many millions of characters as possible

3.2.4 Number Systems

There are two types of number system: Non-Positional number system and Positional number
system
BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 59 of 102
a) Non-Positional Number system
Uses symbols such as I for 1, II for 2, III for 3 etc.
Each symbol represents the same value regardless of its position in the number
The symbols are simply added to find out the value of particular number
Problem
It is difficult to perform arithmetic with such a number system.
b) Positional Number system
a) Uses only few symbols called digits

b) These symbols represent different values depending on he position they occupy in the
number

c) The value of each digit is determined by:

The digit itself
The position of the digit in the number
The base of the number system
(Base -> total number of digits in the number system.)

d) The maximum value of a single digit is always equal to one less than the value of the
base

A number system defines a set of values used to represent quantity. Computer uses the binary
system. There many number systems used but of concern to computer professionals are
Decimal number system
Binary number system
Octal number system
Hexadecimal number system

All the above number systems use the same kind of positional notation except that
Decimal system uses powers of 10
Octal system uses powers of 8
Binary system uses powers of 2
Hexadecimal uses powers of 16

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 60 of 102

 BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module
3.2.5 Binary Numbers and Algebra

Digital computers use Binary Place Notion to store and represent values. The binary digit 0 and
1 only, are used in binary strings. A binary string is a sequence of two or more bits. Similar to
the decimal system makes use of the position of each bit to determine the value represented by
the binary number.

Addition of binary number

0 +0 = 0
1 +0 = 1
0 +1 = 1
1 +1 = 0 carry 1
1 +1 + 1 = 1 carry 1

Characteristics of Binary System

i. Uses two digits, 0 and 1.

ii. Also called base 2 number system.
0
iii. Each position in a binary number represents a 0 power of the base (2). Example, 2x .
iv. Last position in a binary number represents a x power of the base (2). Example, 2 where
x represents the last position - 1.

Example

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 61 of 102

 Binary Number: 101012

Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step Binary Number Decimal Number

4 3 2 1 0
Step 101012 ((1 x 2 ) + (0 x 2 ) + (1 x 2 ) + (0 x 2 ) + (1 x 2 ))10
1

Step 101012 (16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1)10

2
Step 101012 2110
3

Note: 101012 is normally written as 10101.

Converting a –ve decimal number to binary using sign & magnitude method

1. Convert the decimal number to its binary value, ignoring the negative sign.

2. Extend the bits to the appropriate length (i.e. one less than the size of the bit-string), by
attaching 0s to the leftmost part of the bit string.

3. Attach a 1 to the leftmost part of the bit string. The 1 is the sign bit it indicates that the
number is negative. Alternatively, a 0 indicates that the number is positive.

Convert a sign & magnitude number to its decimal equivalent

1. Convert the binary number to its decimal value ignoring the leftmost it in your
calculations.
2. If the leftmost bit is a 1 then the number is negative otherwise it is positive.

Ones Complement

To convert a binary number to its ones complement representation you change all the ones (1) to zeroes
(0) and the zeroes (0) to one (1)

Twos Complement

The twos complement of a binary number is formed by finding its ones complement and adding a one.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 62 of 102

 Converting a Negative decimal number to binary using the Twos Complement

1. Convert the number to its binary value ignoring the sign

2. Extend the bit string to the appropriate length (i.e. one less than the size of the
bit-string), by attaching 0s to the leftmost part of the bit string
3. Find the ones complement
4. Find the twos complement

5. Attach a 1 to the leftmost part of the bit string. The 1 is the sign it indicates that
the number is negative

Converting a Positive decimal number to binary using the Twos Complement

To convert a positive binary number to its twos complement representation, we execute the following
steps:

1. Extend the bit string to the appropriate length (i.e. one less than the size of the
bit-string), by attaching 0s to the leftmost part of the bit string.

2. Attach a 0 to the leftmost part of the bit string, the 0 indicates that the binary
number is positive

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

Converting a binary Twos Complement number to its decimal equivalent

Convert the binary number to its decimal equivalent, making the leftmost bit (the sign bit) binary
place value negative.

3.2.5.1 Binary Coded Decimal (BCD)

An alternative representation of integers is simply to represent the individual numerals which comprise
them. This approach is consistent with the way in which we represent numbers ourselves. When we write
the number 879, we are choosing to represent this number as three numerals: 8 (representing 800), 7
(representing 70), and 9 (representing 9). So, we could convert this number to a binary form by converting
each of the integers, one at a time, into binary a binary code. Such a scheme is referred to as binary coded
decimal form, or BCD. The BCD codes commonly used to represent numerals are:

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 63 of 102

 Numeral BCD Representation
0 0000
1 0001
2 0010
3 0011
4 0100
5 0101
6 0110
7 0111
8 1000
9 1001

Using this scheme, we can represent any number by a string of binary digits.

3.2.5.2 Decimal Number System

The number system that we use in our day-to-day life is the decimal number system. Decimal
number system has base 10 as it uses 10 digits from 0 to 9. In decimal number system, the
successive positions to the left of the decimal point represent units, tens, hundreds, thousands
and so on.

Each position represents a specific power of the base (10). For example, the decimal number
1234 consists of the digit 4 in the units position, 3 in the tens position, 2 in the hundreds position,
and 1 in the thousands position, and its value can be written as

(1x1000)+ (2x100) + (3x10)+ (4xl)

3 2 1 0
(1x10 )+ (2x10 ) + (3x10 )+ (4xl0 )
1000 + 200 + 30 + 4

1234

As a computer programmer or an IT professional, you should understand the following number

systems, which are frequently used in computers.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 64 of 102

 S.N. Number System & Description
1 Binary Number System
Base 2. Digits used: 0, 1
2 Octal Number System
Base 8. Digits used: 0 to 7
4 Hexa Decimal Number System
Base 16. Digits used: 0 to 9, Letters used: A- F
3.2.6 Octal Number
System

Characteristics
Uses eight digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Also called base 8 number system
0
Each position in a octal number represents a 0 power of the base (8).
Example, 8 . x
Last position in a octal number represents a x power of the base (8). Example, 8 where x
represents the last position - 1.

Example
Octal Number: 125708

Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step Octal Number Decimal Number

4 3 2 1 0
Step 125708 ((1 x 8 ) + (2 x 8 ) + (5 x 8 ) + (7 x 8 ) + (0 x 8 ))10
1
Step 125708 (4096 + 1024 + 320 + 56 + 0)10
2

Step 125708 549610

3

Note: 125708 is normally written as 12570

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 65 of 102

3.2.7 Hexadecimal Number System
Characteristics
Uses 10 digits and 6 letters: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F.

Letters represent numbers starting from 10. A = 10. B = 11, C = 12, D = 13, E = 14, F =
15.
Also called base 16 number system

Each position in a hexadecimal number represents a 0 power of the base (16). Example,
0
16 .
Last position in a hexadecimal number represents a x power of the base (16). Example, x
16 where x represents the last position - 1.
Example

Hexadecimal Number: 19FDE16

Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step Binary Number Decimal Number

4 3 2 1 0
Step 19FDE16 ((1 x 16 ) + (9 x 16 ) + (F x 16 ) + (D x 16 ) + (E x 16 ))10
1
4 3 2 1 0
Step 19FDE16 ((1 x 16 ) + (9 x 16 ) + (15 x 16 ) + (13 x 16 ) + (14 x 16 ))10
2
Step 19FDE16 (65536+ 36864 + 3840 + 208 + 14)10
3

Step 19FDE16 10646210

4

Note: 19FDE16 is normally written as 19FDE.

3.3 Computer - Number Conversion

There are many methods or techniques, which can be used to convert numbers from one base to
another. We'll demonstrate here the following:

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 66 of 102

 Decimal to Other Base System
Other Base System to Decimal
Other Base System to Non-Decimal
Shortcut method - Binary to Octal

Shortcut method - Octal to Binary

Shortcut method - Binary to Hexadecimal
Shortcut method - Hexadecimal to Binary

3.3.1 Decimal to Other Base System

Steps
i. Step 1 - Divide the decimal number to be converted by the value of the new base.

ii. Step
2 - Get the remainder from Step 1 as the rightmost digit (least significant digit) of
new base number. iii. Step 3 - Divide the quotient of the previous divide by the new
base.

iv. Step 4 - Record the remainder from Step 3 as the next digit (to the left) of the new base
number.

Repeat Steps 3 and 4, getting remainders from right to left, until the quotient becomes zero in Step
3.

The last remainder thus obtained will be the most significant digit (MSD) of the new base number.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 67 of 102

 Example

Decimal Number: 2910

Calculating Binary Equivalent:

Step Operation Result Remainder

Step 1 29 / 2 14 1
Step 2 14 / 2 7 0
Step 3 7 / 2 3 1
Step 4 3 / 2 1 1
Step 5 1 / 2 0 1

As mentioned in Steps 2 and 4, the remainders have to be arranged in the reverse order so that
the first remainder becomes the least significant digit (LSD) and the last remainder becomes the
most significant digit (MSD).

Decimal Number: 2910 = Binary Number: 111012.

3.3.2 Other base system to Decimal System

Steps

i. Step 1 - Determine the column (positional) value of each digit (this depends on the position
of the digit and the base of the number system).

ii. Step 2 - Multiply the obtained column values (in Step 1) by the digits in the corresponding
columns.

iii. Step 3 - Sum the products calculated in Step 2. The total is the equivalent value in
decimal.

Example

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 68 of 102

Binary Number: 111012

Calculating Decimal Equivalent:

Step Binary Number Decimal Number

4 3 2 1
((1 x 2 ) + (1 x 2 ) + (1 x 2 ) + (0 x 2 ) + (1 x

Step 1 111012 2 0 ))10

Step 2 111012 (16 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 1)10
Step 3 111012 2910

Binary Number: 111012 = Decimal Number: 2910

3.3.3 Other Base System to Non-Decimal System

Steps

i. Step 1 - Convert the original number to a decimal number (base 10).

ii. Step 2 - Convert the decimal number so obtained to the new base number.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 69 of 102

Example
Octal Number: 258

Calculating Binary Equivalent:

Step 1: Convert to Decimal

Step Octal Number Decimal Number

1 0
Step 1 258 ((2 x 8 ) + (5 x 8 ))10
Step 2 258 (16 + 5 )10
Step 3 258 2110

Octal Number: 258 = Decimal Number: 2110

Step 2: Convert Decimal to Binary

Step Operation Result Remainder

Step 1 21 / 2 10 1 Step 2 10
/2 5 0 Step 3 5 / 2 2
1
Step 4 2 / 2 1 0
Step 5 1 / 2 0 1

Decimal Number: 2110 = Binary Number: 101012

Octal Number: 258 = Binary Number: 101012

3.3.4 Shortcut method - Binary to Octal

Steps
i. Step 1 - Divide the binary digits into groups of three (starting from the right).
ii. Step 2 - Convert each group of three binary digits to one octal digit.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 70 of 102

 Example

Binary Number: 101012

Calculating Octal Equivalent:

Step Binary Number Octal Number

Step 1 101012 010 101
Step 2 101012 28 58 Step 3 101012
258

Binary Number: 101012 = Octal Number: 258

3.3.5 Shortcut method - Octal to Binary

Steps

i. Step 1 - Convert each octal digit to a 3-digit binary number (the octal digits may be
treated as decimal for this conversion).

ii. Step 2 - Combine all the resulting binary groups (of 3 digits each) into a single binary
number.

Example

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 71 of 102

Octal Number: 258

Calculating Binary Equivalent:

Step Octal Number Binary Number

Step 1 258 210 510
Step 2 258 0102 1012 Step 3 258
0101012

Octal Number: 258 = Binary Number: 101012

3.1.3.6 Shortcut method - Binary to

Hexadecimal Steps
i. Step 1 - Divide the binary digits into groups of four (starting from the
right). ii. Step 2 - Convert each group of four binary digits to one hexadecimal
symbol.

Example

Binary Number: 101012

Calculating hexadecimal Equivalent:

Step Binary Number Hexadecimal Number

Step 1 101012 0001 0101
Step 2 101012 110 510
Step 3 101012 1516

Binary Number: 101012 = Hexadecimal Number: 1516

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 72 of 102

3.3.7 Shortcut method - Hexadecimal to Binary
Steps

i. Step 1 - Convert each hexadecimal digit to a 4-digit binary number (the hexadecimal digits
may be treated as decimal for this conversion).

ii. Step 2 - Combine all the resulting binary groups (of 4 digits each) into a single
binary number.

Example

Hexadecimal Number: 1516

Calculating Binary Equivalent:

Step Hexadecimal Number Binary Number

Step 1 1516 110 510
Step 2 1516 00012 01012
Step 3 1516 000101012

Hexadecimal Number: 1516 = Binary Number: 101012

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 73 of 102

 3.4 Summary

In this topic, you have learnt the following:

1. Data representation and computer language

2. Number systems including binary, octal, decimal and hexadecimal
3. Data conversion and related concepts

3.5 Self-check Questions

1. What is the significance of the base of the number? (2mks)

2. Explain the significance of the face value and position value of a number. Give
an example. (2mks)
3. What is the position value of a digit? (2mks)
4. The decimal number system is in base _____. (1 mk)
5. The binary number system is in base _____. (1 mk)
6. The octal number system is in base _____. (1mk)
7. The hexadecimal number system is in base _____ (1 mk)

3.6 Scorecard

10 - 9 Excellent
8-7 Good

6-5 Satisfactory

<5 Read topic again

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course

 Learning Outcomes

You have now completed topic one.

The learning outcomes are listed below

Put a tick in the column which reflects your understanding

No. Learning Outcome Sure Not Sure

1. I can explain the number systems

2. I can describe various data representation schemes

3. I can perform data conversion using different number

systems

If you have put a tick at the “not sure” column, please go back and study that section in the topic
before moving on.

If you have ticked “sure” in all the columns you are ready for the next topic.

Further reading

1. Essinger, James (2004). Jacquard's Web, How a hand loom led to the birth of the
information age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280577-0.

2. Hyman, Anthony (1985). Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer. Princeton University
Press. ISBN 978-0-6910237-7-9.

3. Cohen, Bernard (2000). Howard Aiken, Portrait of a computer pioneer. Cambridge,

Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-2625317-9-5.

4. Bowden, B. V. (1953). Faster than thought. New York, Toronto, London: Pitman
publishing corporation.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 75 of 102

 Congatulations! You may proceed to next topic

TOPIC 4: COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Computer Instructions or data, anything that can be stored electronically is Software.

Hardware is one that is tangible. The storage devices (Hard disk, CD’s etc.,), mouse,
keyboard CPU and display devices (Monitor) are Hardware. For example: There is a
problem in the Software implies – Problem with program or data.

Computer software is a series of instructions or a special program that performs a

particular task and is recorded in some form on a computer disk. Simply, the software is an
abstract collection of instructions for computers to perform specific tasks. It is called differently
a program or software program. Computer software has two major categories. It is typically
classified into system software and application software.

4.1 Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Explain computer software and the classification of computer software
2. Explain system software and various categories
3. Explain application software and various categories

4.2 This topic consists of four sections namely:-

Section 1: Fundamentals of software
Section 2: Introduction and classification of computer software
Section 3: System Software
Section 4: Application Software

4.2.1 Fundamentals of Software

Software consists of computer programs, which are sequences of instructions for the computer.
The process of writing (or coding) programs is called programming, and individuals who
perform this task are called programmers. Unlike the hardwired computers of the 1950s, modern

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 76 of 102

 software uses the stored program concept, in which stored software programs are accessed and
their instructions are executed (followed) in the computer’s CPU. Once the program has finished
executing, a new program is loaded into main memory and the computer hardware addresses
another task.

Computer programs include documentation, which is a written description of the functions of the
program. Documentation helps the user operate the computer system and helps other programmers
understand what the program does and how it accomplishes its purpose. Documentation is vital to
the business organization. Without it, if a key programmer or user leaves, the knowledge of how
to use the program or how it is designed may be lost. The computer is able to do nothing until it is
instructed by software. Although computer hardware is, by design, general purpose, software
enables the user to instruct a computer system to perform specific functions that provide business
value.

There are two major types/ categories of software: a)

Systems software
b) Application software.

The relationship among hardware, systems software, and application software is illustrated in
Figure 4.1.

Systems software is a set of instructions that serves primarily as an intermediary between computer
hardware and application programs, and may also be directly manipulated by knowledgeable users.
Systems software provides important self-regulatory functions for computer systems, such as
loading itself when the computer is first turned on, managing hardware resources such as
secondary storage for all applications, and providing commonly used sets of instructions for all
applications to use. Systems programming is either the creation or maintenance of systems
software.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 77 of 102

 Figure 4.1: Layering of Systems and Applications software

Application software is a set of computer instructions that provide more specific functionality to a
user. That functionality may be broad, such as general word processing, or narrow, such as an
organization’s payroll program. An application program applies a computer to a certain need.
Application programming is either the creation or the modification and improvement of

Page 73 of 95
application software. There are many different software applications in organizations today, as this
chapter will discuss. For a marketing application, for example, see the Market Intelligence box at
the Web site.

In summary, application programs primarily manipulate data or text to produce or provide

information. Systems programs primarily manipulate computer hardware resources. The systems
software available on a computer system provides the capabilities and limitations within which the
application software can operate. The next two sections of this chapter look in more detail at these
two types of software.

4.2.1.1: Systems Software

System software is a program that manages and supports the computer resources and operations
of a computer system while it executes various tasks such as processing data and information,
controlling hardware components, and allowing users to use application software. That is, systems
software functions as a bridge between computer system hardware and the application software.

Systems software is the class of programs that control and support the computer system and its
information-processing activities. Systems software also facilitates the programming, testing, and
debugging of computer programs. It is more general than application software and is usually
independent of any specific type of application. Systems software programs support application
software by directing the basic functions of the computer. For example, when the computer is
turned on, the initialization program (a systems program) prepares and readies all devices for
processing.

Systems software consists of three kinds of programs. They include system management programs,
system support programs, and system development programs. These are explained briefly.

BIT 113: Fundamentals of Computing Course Page 78 of 102

System control / management programs

System control programs control the use of the hardware, software, and data resources of a
computer system. The main system control program is the operating system. The operating system
supervises the overall operation of the computer, including monitoring the computer’s status and
scheduling operations, which include the input and output processes. In addition, the operating
system allocates CPU time and main memory to programs running on the computer, and it also
provides an interface between the user and the hardware.

Specifically, the operating system provides services that include process management, virtual
memory, file management, security, fault tolerance, and the user interface. Process management
means managing the program or programs (also called jobs) running on the processor at a given
time. In the simplest case (a desktop operating system), the operating system loads a program into
main memory and executes it. The program utilizes the computer’s resources until it relinquishes
control. Some operating systems offer more sophisticated forms of process management, such as
multitasking, multithreading, and multiprocessing.

i. Operating Systems

An operating system is a collection of integrated computer programs that provide recurring

services to other programs or to the user of a computer. These services consist of disk and file
management, memory management, and device management. In other words, it manages CPU
operations, input/output activities, storage resources, diverse support services, and controls various
devices.

Operating system is the most important program for computer system. Without an operating
system, every computer program would have to contain instructions telling the hardware each step
the hardware should take to do its job, such as storing a file on a disk. Because the operating system
contains these instructions, any program can call on the operating system when a service is needed.

Operating System Functions

An operating system executes many functions to operate computer system efficiently. Among
them, four essential functions are the followings.

Resource Management: An operating system manages a collection of computer hardware

resources by using a variety of programs. It manages computer system resources, including
its CPU, primary memory, virtual memory, secondary storage devices, input/output
peripherals, and other devices.

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 Viewing the operation system as a resource manager, each manager must do the following:
- Keep track of the resources.
- Enforce policy that determine who, gets what, when and how much.
- Allocate the resources. - Reclaim the resources.

Task Management: The function of the operating system that controls the running of many
tasks. It manages one program or many programs within a computer system simultaneously.
That is, this function of operating system manages the completion of users' tasks. A task
management program in an operating system provides each task and interrupts the CPU
operations to manage tasks efficiently. Task management may involve a multitasking
capability.

File management: This is a function that manages data files. An operating system contains
file management programs that provide the ability to create, delete, enter, change, ask, and
access of files of data. They also produce reports on a file.

User Interface: It is a function of an operating system that allows users to interact with a
computer. A user interface program may include a combination of menus, screen design,
keyboard commands. A well-designed user interface is essential for an operating system to
be popular. Because of the function, users can load programs, access files, and accomplish
other tasks.

Data security and management: These involve these main activities: Preventing illegal
access or amendments to user or system files; ‘Dumping’ the contents of files from time in
case of future loss, e.g. disk files may be transferred to tape and then stored off-line; Keeping
track of file descriptions and locations.

Real time systems must therefore be fast and reliable. They have complex and expensive
operating system, usually involves multi-processor to share the work load.

Popular Operating Systems

Types of Operating System –

 Batch Operating System- Sequence of jobs in a program on a computer without manual

interventions.
 Time sharing operating System- allows many users to share the computer resources.(Max
utilization of the resources).
 Distributed operating System- Manages a group of different computers and make appear
to be a single computer.

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  Network operating system- computers running in different operating system can
participate in common network (It is used for security purpose).
 Real time operating system – meant applications to fix the deadlines.

Examples of Operating System are –

 Windows (GUI based, PC)

 GNU/Linux (Personal, Workstations, ISP, File and print server, Three-tier client/Server)
 macOS (Macintosh), used for Apple’s personal computers and work stations (MacBook,
iMac).
 Android (Google’s Operating System for smartphones/tablets/smartwatches)
 iOS (Apple’s OS for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch)

The most popular microcomputer operating systems are DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, OS/2,
Windows NT, and Macintosh System. UNIX is a popular operating system that is available for
microcomputers, minicomputers, and mainframe computer systems. The following will show the
details:

DOS

Windows 3.x
Windows 95
OS/2

Windows NT
Macintosh Operating System
UNIX

System Development Programs

These are programs that help users develop information system programs and prepare user
programs for computer processing. These programs may analyze and design systems and program
itself. The main system development programs are programming language translators,
programming environment programs, computer-aided software engineering packages.

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Before programs can be executed they must be translated into machine language. A program
written in any language other than machine language is called source program which is converted
into machine language (object program) by the system called translators.

Low level
Languages
e.g. assembly

High level
Compiler/
languages e.g.
Interpreter
Pascal, C, Basic
etc

Assembler
There are three
main types of translators
Assembler- which converts low
Machine language
level assembly program to machine
code Compiler and interpreter- they
convert high level programs to
machine code.

Difference between compiler and interpreter

Compiler:
They translate the whole source program at once before it can be run

It ensures that the program need only be translated once

The compiled program (object code) can be saved on a backing store as a
separate program and run as required. Interpreter:
They translate the source program one instruction at a time
They translate the program each time its run which is therefore slower than
compiling
They are helpful for line by line fault finding when developing a program

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Translators also provide supporting functions as:
Identifying syntax error
Provide diagnostic and useful error messages
They work out where to store the object program and its data
Provide links to other programs and routines
They print a list of the source and object programs

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

4.2.1.2: Application Software

As defined earlier, application software consists of instructions that direct a computersystem to

perform specific information processing activities and that provide functionality for users. Because
there are so many different uses for computers, there are a correspondingly large number of
different application software programs available.

Types of Application Software

Application software includes proprietary application software and off-the-shelf application

software. Proprietary application software addresses a specific or unique business need for a
company. This type of software may be developed in-house by the organization’s information
systems personnel or it may be commissioned from a software vendor. Such specific software
programs developed for a particular company by a vendor are called contract software.

Alternatively, off-the-shelf application software can be purchased, leased, or rented from a vendor
that develops programs and sells them to many organizations. Off-the-shelf software may be a
standard package or it may be customizable. Special purpose programs or “packages” can be
tailored for a specific purpose, such as inventory control or payroll. The word package is a
commonly used term for a computer program (or group of programs) that has been developed by
a vendor and is available for purchase in a prepackaged form. We will further discuss the
methodology involved in acquiring application software, whether proprietary or off the shelf

Types of Personal Application Software

General-purpose, off-the-shelf application programs that support general types of processing,

rather than being linked to any specific business function, are referred to as personal application
software. This type of software consists of nine widely used packages: spreadsheet, data
management, word processing, desktop publishing graphics, multimedia, communications,
speech-recognition software, and groupware.

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Software suites combine some of these packages and integrate their functions. Personal application
software is designed to help individual users increase their productivity. Below is a description of
the nine main types.

a) Spreadsheets

Computer spreadsheet software transforms a computer screen into a ledger sheet, or grid, of coded
rows and columns. Users can enter numeric or textual data into each grid location, called a cell. In
addition, a formula can be entered into a cell to obtain a calculated answer displayed in that cell’s
location. With spreadsheets, users can also develop and use macros, which are sequences of
commands that can be executed with just one simple instruction.

Computer spreadsheet packages can be used for financial information, such as income statements
or cash flow analysis. They are also used for forecasting sales, analyzing insurance programs,
summarizing income tax data, and analyzing investments. They are relevant for many other types
of data that can be organized into rows and columns. Although spreadsheet packages such as
Microsoft’s Excel and Lotus 1–2-3are thought of primarily as spreadsheets, they also offer data
management and graphical capabilities.

b) Data management.

Data management software supports the storage, retrieval, and manipulation of related data. There
are two basic types of data management software: simple filing programs patterned after
traditional, manual data-filing techniques and database management programs that take advantage
of a computer’s extremely fast and accurate ability to store and retrieve data in primary and
secondary storage. File based management software is typically very simple to use and is often
very fast, but it offers limited flexibility in how the data can be searched. Database management
software has the opposite strengths and weaknesses. Microsoft’s Access is an example of popular
database management software.

c) Word processing.

Word processing software allows the user to manipulate text rather than just numbers. Modern
word processors contain many productive writing and editing features. A typical word processing
software package consists of an integrated set of programs including an editor program, a
formatting program, a print program, a dictionary, a thesaurus, a grammar checker, a mailing list
program, and integrated graphics, charting, and drawing programs. WYSIWYG (an acronym for
What You See Is What You Get, pronounced “wiz-e-wig”) word processors have the added
advantage of displaying the text material on the screen exactly—or almost exactly—as it will look
on the final printed page (based on the type of printer connected to the computer). Word processing
software enables users to be much more productive because the software makes it possible to create
and modify the document electronically in memory.

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d) Desktop publishing.

Desktop publishing software represents a level of sophistication beyond regular word processing.
In the past, newsletters, announcements, advertising copy, and other specialized documents had to
be laid out by hand and then typeset. Desktop software allows microcomputers to perform these
tasks directly. Photographs, diagrams, and other images can be combined with text, including
several different fonts, to produce a finished, camera-ready document.

e) Graphics.

Graphics software allows the user to create, store, and display or print charts, graphs, maps, and
drawings. Graphics software enables users to absorb more information more quickly and to spot
relationships and trends in data more easily. There are three basic categories of graphics software
packages: presentation graphics, analysis graphics, and computer-aided design software.

f) Presentation

Presentation graphics software allows users to create graphically rich presentations. Many
packages have extensive libraries of clip art—pictures that can be electronically “clipped out” and
“pasted” into the finished image.

g) Computer-aided design (CAD) software

Are used for designing items for manufacturing, allows designers to design and “build” production
prototypes in software, test them as a computer object under given parameters (sometimes called computer-
aided engineering, or CAE), compile parts and quantity lists, outline production and assembly procedures,
and then transmit the final design directly to machines. Manufacturers of all sorts are finding uses for CAD
software. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software uses digital design output, such as that from a
CAD system, to directly control production machinery. Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)
software is embedded within each automated production machine to produce a product. Overall, a design
from CAD software is used by CAM software to control individual CIM programs in individual machines.
Used effectively, CAD/CAM/CIM software can dramatically shorten development time and give firms the
advantage of economies of scope.

h) Multimedia

Multimedia software combines at least two media for input or output of data. These media include
audio (sound), voice, animation, video, text, graphics, and images. Multimedia can also be thought
of as the combination of spatial-based media (text and images) with time-based media (sound and
video).

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 i) Communications

Computers are often interconnected in order to share or relate information. To exchange

information, computers utilize communications software. This software allows computers,
whether they are located close together or far apart, to exchange data over dedicated or public
cables, telephone lines, satellite relay systems, or microwave circuits. When communications
software exists in both the sending and receiving computers, they are able to establish and
relinquish electronic links, code and decode data transmissions, verify transmission errors (and
correct them automatically), and check for and handle transmission interruptions or conflicting
transmission priorities. E-mail and desktop videoconferencing rely on communications software.

4.3 Activity

Examine two types of software used by your institution. What system software is
running in your computer? Identify application software installed in your
system/computer

4.4 Summary

In this topic, you have been introduced to various types of computer software, including
classification, and expanded description of the two key types of software: systems software and
applications software. Systems software and applications software has been discussed with keen
interest on their functionally. The next chapter explores data communication and networking
concepts.

4.5 Self-check Questions

1. Distinguish between systems software and applications software (4mks)

2. Briefly explain the various ways in which computer software can be classified

3. Operating systems are crucial to the performance of the entire computer system. State
and explain three ways in which operating systems can be classified

4. How are stand-alone operating systems different from embedded operating systems?

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 5. Discuss the functions of any five system utilities

6. Describe various ways in which users of computer systems can be able to interact with the hardware
using operating systems

4.6 Scorecard

20-17 Excellent
16 - 14 Good

13-10 Satisfactory

<10 Read topic again

Learning Outcomes

You have now completed topic one.

The learning outcomes are listed below

Put a tick in the column which reflects your understanding

No. Learning Outcome Sure Not Sure

1. I can explain computer software and the classification of

computer software

2. I can Explain system software and various categories

3. I can Explain application software and various categories

If you have put a tick at the “not sure” column, please go back and study that section in the topic
before moving on.

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 If you have ticked “sure” in all the columns you are ready for the next topic.

4.6 Further reading

1. Stokes, Jon (2007). Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to

Microprocessors and Computer Architecture. San Francisco: No Starch Press. ISBN 978-159327-
104-6.

2. Zuse, Konrad (1993). The Computer - My life. Berlin: Pringler-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-
56453-5. Felt, Dorr E. (1916). Mechanical arithmetic, or The history of the counting machine.
Chicago: Washington Institute.
3. Ifrah, Georges (2001). The Universal History of Computing: From the Abacus to the
Quantum Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-39671-0.

Congratulations! You may proceed to next topic

TOPIC FIVE: DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS

Information society dominated by computers and communications is in front of us.

In this society, the strategic resource is knowledge and information, and the value
of that resource will be increased by the movement through the information
pathway. A communication network is the pathway that allows information, data, and
knowledge to be spread. Thus, the mainstream of the information age is communication.

Computer users who work in this society need to know technology incorporated into the
communication networks. Although they use only applications involved in the communication
networks, they still need to know how the communication networks work to improve their
performance by using networks more efficiently and effectively. This Chapter thus is very
fundamental.

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 5.1 Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Explain computer based communication
2. Describe various types of network topologies
3. Explain types of computer networks
4. Apply networking skills in problem solving

5.2 This topic consists of Four sections namely:-

Section 1: Basic Data communication Concepts

Section 2: Communication Channels
Section 3: Network Topologies Section
4: Types of Networks

5.2.1 Basic Data communication concepts

Computer-based communication refers to the movement of data and information generated by

computers from one location to another via various types of communication lines. Computerbased
communication systems often are called communication networks. The networks allow users to
collect data and information from and transmit these to powerful central computers or terminals.

Figure 5.1: Basic Element of Communication

The objectives of communication networks are: To offer more timely interchange of
information and data among users.

To reduce the effort and cost required to collect and transmit business data and
information.

To support better performance of tasks and improved management control over an

organization especially with several remote locations.

Why Study Communications?

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Information society dominated by computers and communications is in front of us. In this society,
the strategic resource is knowledge and information, and the value of that resource will be increased
by the movement through the information pathway. A communication network is the pathway that
allows information, data, and knowledge to be spread. Thus, the mainstream of the information age
is communication.

Communications involve many technologies. In addition, many new communication technologies

are being incorporated into the fabric of the information society as fast as people can learn how to
maintain and use the technologies. This may be the most important reason for users to study
communications.

Computer users who work in this society need to know technology incorporated into the
communication networks. Although they use only applications involved in the communication
networks, they still need to know how the communication networks work to improve their
performance by using networks more efficiently and effectively.

5.2.1.1 Generic Forms of Networks

A network can be defined simply as an interconnection of multiple teleprocessing devices. Three

basic approaches to network processing exist in modern communications systems.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

i. Timesharing

The earliest approach is known as timesharing. Timesharing occurs in networks in which multiple
users gain access to a single host computer from their individual terminals. An example of
timesharing is the use of a central computer at a nationwide company's headquarters by a variety of
sales professionals dispersed around the nation.

ii. Distributed Processing

The next approach gaining popularity in computer networking systems was the distributed
processing method. This type of system involves the interconnection of minicomputers and
microcomputers throughout a business organization. Various types of resources are shared by the
interconnected terminals, while the individual computers retain control over their own processing.

iii. Client/Server Computing

The third approach to computer network processing, client/server computing, is currently attracting
the most interest among management information systems professionals. The popularity of this
approach is due to its ability to allow companies to selectively centralize and decentralize certain

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key operations. Thus, users can view client/server computing as a cross between the timesharing
method (which emphasizes centralized computing) and distributed processing (which emphasizes
decentralized computing). In client/server computing, the various applications available in the
network are shared by several clients and one or more host computers (or servers). Clients obtain
access to the network by means of desktop computers. The server, which can be a microcomputer,
minicomputer, or mainframe, provides control for the entire network.

5.2.1.2 Importance of Networking

Networking of computers provides a communication link between the users, and provides access to
information. Networking of computers has several uses, described as follows:

i. Resource Sharing — in an organization, resources such as printers, fax machines and

scanners are generally not required by each person at all times. Moreover, for small
organizations it may not be feasible to provide such resources to each individual. Such
resources can be made available to different users of the organization on the network. It
results in availability of the resource to different users regardless of the physical location of
the resource or the user, enhances optimal use of the resource, leads to easy maintenance,
and saves cost too (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1: A network of computers, printer and scanner

ii. Sharing of Information— In addition to the sharing of physical resources, networking

facilitates sharing of information. Information stored on networked computers located at
same or different physical locations, becomes accessible to the computers connected to the
network.

iii. As a Communication Medium— Networking helps in sending and receiving of electronic-

mail (e-mail) messages from anywhere in the world. Data in the form of text, audio, video
and pictures can be sent via e-mail. This allows the users to communicate online in a faster

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 and cost effective manner. Video conferencing is another form of communication made
possible via networking. People in distant locations can hold a meeting, and they can hear
and see each other simultaneously.

iv. For Back-up and Support— Networked computers can be used to take back-up of critical
data. In situations where there is a requirement of always-on computer, another computer on
the network can take over in case of failure of one computer.

5.2.1.3 Components of Communication Network

There are many components for a communication network. The basic three components are a host
computer, a client, and a circuit. Besides these components, others include front-end processors,
teleprocessing software, input terminals, and specialists.

i. Host Computer (Server)

The host computer or server (a mainframe, minicomputer, or microcomputer) is the main unit in the
communication network. It stores data and programs that can be accessed by the clients. The host
computer is responsible for performing the data processing tasks of the network. After processing
has occurred, the data or information is routed back to a front-end processor. In distributed
processing or client-server computing, several host computers may be tied together by the data
communication network.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

ii. Client

The client is a hardware device (a terminal or microcomputer) at the opposite end of a host computer
of a communication circuit. It usually provides end users with access to the data and software on the
server. The client is an input/output device.

The most widely used computer input/output devices for a communication network are the terminals.
There are several types of terminals in common use in business today. The most familiar type of
input/output terminal for most end users is the keyboard terminal.

iii. Circuit

The circuit is a communication channel that allows the data and information to move through the
pathway. It includes several types of lines, such as twisted wires, coaxial cables, and fiber optic
cables. It also contains wireless transmission circuits such as microwaves and satellites, and it is
becoming more popular.

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 iv. Front-End Processor

The front-end processor handles the incoming and outgoing communications exchanges between
the host computer and the peripheral terminals and other host computers both inside and outside the
network.

v. Teleprocessing Software

Besides the hardware mentioned previously in this chapter, the host and the front-end processor must
contain software in order for the network system to run effectively. Software may also be located in
the terminals and the cluster control units.

5.3 Communications Channels

Data communications can be carried from one location to another through a variety of
communications channels. These communications media include telephone lines (twisted pairs),
coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, microwave, and satellite. In general, there can be two ways of
connecting microcomputers with each other and with other equipment: guided and radiated media.

Guided Media: Refer to channels that allow the transmission of data and information
through a physical media such as a twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, or fiber optic cable.

Radiated media: Refer to those that transmit data and information through the air such as
microwave, or satellite.

The diameters and transmission capacities of the three kinds of cable are compared below:
i. Twisted Pair

The telephone lines used to carry most of the voice and data communications consist of a pair of
thin-diameter insulated copper wires (called
twisted pairs). The wires are twisted around
each other to minimize interference from
other twisted pairs in the cable. Twisted pairs have fewer bandwidths than coaxial cable or optical
fiber. They have been the standard communication channels for voice, data and information, but
are now diminishing because of more reliable media such as coaxial cable, optical fibers,
microwave, or satellite.
ii. Coaxial Cable

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Coaxial cable can be used for telephone lines for transmission at a high frequency. Coaxial cable
consists of a single core of solid copper. A coaxial
cable can handle 80 times as many telephone
transmissions as twisted pair media. Many
computers in local area networks are linked by
coaxial cables. Because of its sturdiness, coaxial
cable is often used for
telephone lines that must be carried under bodies
of water. Because coaxial cables have very little distortion and are less prone to interference, they
have low error rates

.
iii. Fiber-Optic Cable

A fiber-optic cable consists of tubes of

glass through which data are transmitted as
pulses of light. Although a fiber-optic cable
is diametrically smaller than a human hair,
it has 26,000 times the transmission
capacity of twisted pair media. A major
advantage of fiber-optic media is its high
level of security. These

communications channels are not susceptible to electronic interference. Therefore, they are a more
reliable form of data transmission. Fiber-optic cables are also significantly less expensive than
coaxial cable. A disadvantage of fiber-optic channels is that they cannot carry information over great
distances.

BCS 110: Fundamentals of Computing Module

5.3.1 Wireless Networking

Wireless technology, as the name suggests, is used to establish a wire-free connection or

communication between two or more devices. In contrast to the wired technology where data is
encoded as electric current and signals travel through wires, in wireless technology data is encoded
on electromagnetic waves that travel through air.

The wireless technology is used for broadcasting in radio and television communication, for
communication using mobile phones and pagers, for connecting components of computers using
Bluetooth technology, for Internet connection using Wi-Fi, Wireless LAN, PDA, and in remote
controls for television, doors etc.

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Wireless network is a computer network connected wirelessly. The communication is done through
a wireless media like radio waves, infrared or Bluetooth.

The wireless networks have two main components—the wireless access points that include the
transmitter along with the area it can cover, and the wireless clients like mobile handsets, laptops
with Ethernet cards etc.

The access point receives data frames from the computers attached to it wirelessly, checks the
frames, and transmits them to their destination. The coverage area of a transmitter depends on the
output power of the transmitter, its location, and the frequency used to transmit the data. Higher
frequencies require a clear line of sight as compared to lower frequencies.

The speed of wireless connection is determined by the distance of the wireless client device from
the access point, the obstruction-free path (walls, trees etc.), interference, and the number of users
using the network at a given time.

5.3.1.1 Types of Wireless Networks

Wireless networks can be divided into three categories based on their use:

i. Bluetooth technology to connect the different components of the computer in a room, a small
office or home.

ii. Wireless LAN is used to connect computers and devices wirelessly in a LAN, for example,
different computers or devices in an office or campus.

iii. Wireless WAN is used to connect wide area systems, for example access to Internet via
mobile devices like cell phone, PDAs and laptops.

5.3.2 Data Transmission

Coding

In all digital communications channels, computers transmit data and information in forms of binary
codes. Both sender and receiver of the data and information should have a standard for both to
understand them.

A coding scheme for communications is a binary system, as in the computer systems. The system
consists of groups of bits (0 or 1) that represent characters. In computer systems, a byte is a group

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 of bits and represents a character. In data communications, a byte is the same, but some codes use
different number of bits such as 5, 7, 8 or 9.

There are two predominant coding schemes; ASCII and EBCDIC. ASCII refers America Standard
Code for Information Interchange. It is the most popular code for data communications and is the
standard code on most communications terminals. Among two types of ASCII, a 7-bit code can
make 128 character combinations, and an 8-bit can do 256 combinations. EBCDIC refers Extended
Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. It is IBM's standard information code, and has 8 bits for
a character.

5.4 Network Topology

Networks can be classified by their topology, which is the basic geometric arrangement of the
network. Different types of network configurations exist for network designers to choose from. It
may refer to the way in which the nodes of a network are linked together.

Communications channels can be connected in different arrangements using several different

topologies. This arrangement allows users to exchange information and share resources (software
and hardware).

Four basic types of network configurations are star, bus, ring, hierarchical and mesh. Ring, bus,
and star topologies are commonly used in LANs and BNs. Star and mesh topologies are commonly
used in MANs and WANS. The networks are usually built using a combination of several different
topologies.

a) Star
b) Bus
c) Ring
d) Hierar
chical
e) Mesh
f) Hybrid

i. Star Topology

A star topology is one in which a central unit provides a link through which a group of smaller
computers and devices is connected. In the star network, all interactions
between different computers in the network travel through the host
computer. The central unit will poll each to decide whether a unit has a
message to send. If so, the central computer will carry the message to the
receiving computer.

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 Star networks represent a very popular form of configuration for time-
sharing systems in which a central computer makes available resources and databases for several
"client" computers to share. As such, the star network is appropriate for systems that demand
centralized control. The disadvantage of the star network is that a processing problem in the central
computer can be paralyzing to the entire system. In a star network, the central unit may be a host
computer or a file server. The host computer is a large centralized computer, usually a
minicomputer or a mainframe. In contrast, the file server is a large-capacity hard-disk storage
device. It stores data and programs files shared by the users on the network.

ii. Bus Topology

In a bus configuration, each computer in the network is

responsible for carrying out its own communications without the
aid of a central unit. A common communications cable (the bus)
connects all of the computers in the network. As data travels
along the path of the cable, each unit performs a query to
determine if it is the intended recipient of the message. The bus
network is less expensive than the star configuration and is thus
widely in use for systems that connect only a few
microcomputers and systems that do not emphasize the sharing of common resources.

iii. Ring Network

A ring configuration features a network in which each computer is connected to the next two other
computers in a closed loop. Like the bus network, no single central
computer exists in the ring configuration. Messages are simply
transferred from one computer to the next until they arrive at their
intended destinations. Each computer on the ring topology has a
particular address. As the messages pass around the ring, the
computers validate the address. If the message is not addressed to it,
the node transmits the message to the next computer on the ring.

This type of network is commonly used in systems that connect widely dispersed mainframe
computers. A ring network allows organizations to engage in distributed data processing system
in which computers can share certain resources with other units while maintaining control over
their own processing functions. However, a failure in any of the linked computers can greatly
affect the entire network.

iv. Hierarchical Topology

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A hierarchical network (or a tree network) resembles a star network in that several computers are
connected to a central host computer (usually a mainframe). However, these "client" computers
also serve as host computers to next level units. Thus, the hierarchical network can theoretically
be compared to a standard organizational chart or a large corporation. Typically, the host computer
at the top of the hierarchy is a mainframe computer. Lower levels in the hierarchy could consist of
minicomputers and microcomputers. It should be noted that a system can sometimes have
characteristics of more than one of the above topologies.

This topology is effective in a centralized corporation. For example, different divisions within a
corporation may have individual microcomputers connected to divisional minicomputers. The
minicomputers in turn may be connected to the corporation's mainframe, which contains data and
programs.

v. Mesh Topology

This is a net-like communications network in which there are at least two pathways to each node.
In a mesh topology, computers are connected to each other by point-
topoint circuits. In the topology, one or more computers usually become
switching centers, interlinking computers with others.

Although a computer or cable is lost, if there are other possible routes through the network, the
damage of one or several cables or computers may not have vital impact except the involved
computers. However, if there are only few cables in the network, the loss of even one cable
or device may damage the network seriously.

5.3.1 Network Types

Communications networks differ in geographical size. Networks may be constructed within a

building or across several buildings. Networks may also be citywide and even international, using
both cable and air connections. There are three major network types: LAN (local area networks),
MAN (metropolitan area networks), and WAN (wide area networks).

i. Local Area Networks

ii. Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs)/
iii. Wide Area Networks (WANs).

i. Local Area Networks (LANs)

A computer communications network contained in a small area such as a commercial building is

known as a local area network (LAN). A local area network's linkages usually are accomplished

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with either telephone, coaxial, or fiber-optic cables. Often, LANs use a bus configuration. The
major benefit of a local area network is that it can help to reduce costs by allowing people and
microcomputers to share expensive resources. Also, local area networks enable end users to
participate in office automation technology. In addition, LANs may be connected to other networks
by means of a network gateway.

Local Area Network (LAN) as compared to WAN

Limited to a small geographical coverage
Has much higher data transmission rate
Experiences fewer data transmission errors
Has lower data communication cost
Typically owned by a single organization

Why Use an LAN?

There are two basic reasons for developing an LAN: information sharing and resource sharing.

Information sharing: This refers to having users who access the same data files, exchange
information via electronic mail, or search the Internet for information. The main benefit of
information sharing is improved decision making, which makes it generally more important than
resource sharing.
Resource sharing: It refers to one computer sharing a hardware device (e.g., a printer) or a
software package with other computers on the network. The main benefit of resource sharing
is cost savings.

ii. MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs))

The next larger network than LAN may be the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). MAN usually
spans a geographical area that usually encompasses a city or county area. It interconnects various
buildings or other facilities within this citywide area. For example, linkages can be established
between two commercial buildings. A more recent use of MAN technology has been the rapid
development of cellular phone systems.

iii. WANs (Wide Area Networks (WANs))

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 A wide area network (WAN) is one that operates over a vast distance (e.g., nationwide). Its nodes
may span cities, states, or national boundaries. This network interconnects computers, LANS, BNs,
MANS, and other data transmission facilities. Typically, WAN will employ communications
circuits such as long- distance telephone wires, microwaves and satellites. FOR example,
nationwide automated teller machines used in banking represent a common application of a wide
area network.

5.5 Summary

In this lesson we have learned the following

Networking of computers facilitates resource sharing, sharing of information,

and, can be used as a communication medium, and for backup and support. The transmission of
data can be via guided media like twisted pair, coaxial pair, optical fibers or as radio transmission,
microwave transmission, and satellite transmission. Throughput is the amount of data that is
actually transmitted between two computers. It is specified in bps. Modem is a device that has both
a modulator and a demodulator. Computer Network is interconnection of two or more computers
that can exchange data. Bus, Star, and Ring are the three common LAN topologies. LAN, MAN,
and WAN are the network types classified on the basis of the size of network, the transmission
technology, and the network topology.

5.6 Self-check Questions

1. Explain the importance of networking.

2. “Networking allows sharing of information and resources”. Explain.
3. What do you mean by guided and unguided transmission media?
4. Name two guided transmission media.
5. Name an unguided transmission media.
6. Optical wire is a guided media. True or False?
7. _____ and ______ are the two kinds of twisted pair.
8. Cat-5 cable is a _____ twisted pair.

5.7 Scorecard

20-17 Excellent
16 - 14 Good

13-10 Satisfactory

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 <10 Read topic again

Learning Outcomes

You have now completed topic one.

The learning outcomes are listed below

Put a tick in the column which reflects your understanding

No. Learning Outcome Sure Not Sure

1. I can explain computer based communication

2. I can describe various types of network topologies

3. I can explain types of computer networks

4. I can apply networking skills in problem solving

If you have put a tick at the “not sure” column, please go back and study that section in the topic
before moving on.

If you have ticked “sure” in all the columns you are ready for the next topic.

5.6 Further reading

1. Berkeley, Edmund (1949). Giant Brains, or Machines That Think. John Wiley &

Sons.

2. Cohen, Bernard (2000). Howard Aiken, Portrait of a computer pioneer. Cambridge,

Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-2625317-9-5.

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3. Ligonnière, Robert (1987). Préhistoire et Histoire des ordinateurs. Paris: Robert Laffont. ISBN
9-782221-052617.

Congratulations! You may proceed to next topic

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