Hardware Basics

By Mvula
0977276268
Objectives
Upon completion, students should be able to:
 Identify hardware components of a computer and how they
interact with one another
 Describe the function of the Central Processing Unit
 Describe main types of primary and secondary computer
memory and storage
 Discussion of computer history and how it can relate to the
future of computing
 Obtain an overview of computer architecture and
organization.
 Demonstrate an understanding of the role and function of
computers and use the computer to solve problems.
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Computer Hardware
As we embark on this interesting
journey of computer hardware, it
is important to define key terms
such as a computer, hardware and
software among others.

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WHAT IS A COMPUTER
 A computer is an automatic, programmable,
electronic data processing device
 Computers take information (called data),
process it into information that is useful to
people, and show the results of the processing
 Any computer-regardless of its type is
controlled by programmed instructions which
give the machine a purpose.

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Computer Hardware and software
While! a computer is a machine or device
that performs processes based on
instructions provided by a hardware or
software program
Computer Hardware
 Physicalstructure that houses a
computer's processor, memory, storage,
communication ports and peripheral
devices
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Computer Software

Computers perform processes based on

instructions provided by a software
programs
System Software consists of the programs
and related data needed to manage the
computer hardware
There are two types of software:
1. Operating System and
2. Application software
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 Operating System
Operating system tells the computer how to use its own
components.
 Examples of Operating systems include Windows,
Macintosh OS and Linux.
 An operating system is essential for any computer/device
because it acts as an interpreter between the hardware,
application programs and the user.
 There are also Utility- programs that works with Operating
systems, they make the computer system easier to use and
manage disks, troubleshooting hardware problems and
other tasks that the operating system itself may not be able
to do.
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 Application software
Application software consists of the programs that allow us to
use the computer to do something useful.
 We use application software to apply them to a particular
application task.
 Many applications are available for many purposes and for
people of all ages.
 Some major categories of these applications are; - Word
processing software for creating text-based documents such as
news letters or brochures - Spreadsheets for creating numeric-
based documents such as budgets or balance sheets. -
Database management software for building and manipulating
large sets of data.

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Basic Operations of the Computers
Four basic operations:
 Receive input: Accept information
from outside world
 Process information: Perform
arithmetic or logical operations on
information
 Produce output: Communicate
information to outside world
 Store information: Store and
retrieve information from memory
and storage devices
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BASIC COMPUTER SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

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 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
 Primary Memory
 Primary memory is the main memory of the computer system. Accessing
data from primary memory is faster because it is an internal memory of the
computer and it holds data/information that is currently being used by the
processing unit
 The primary memory is most volatile which means data in primary memory
does not exist if it is not saved when a power failure occurs.
 Two types of Primary Memory are:
 RAM
 ROM

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Secondary Memory
 Secondary storage is the computer’s storage that is used to store
data or information on the long term basis, more like
permanently. Unlike primary storage, they are non-volatile
memory or commonly referred to as external memory that are
not directly accessed by the central processing unit.
 Common example of secondary storage includes:
 Hard Drive
 Universal Serial Bus (USB)
 Memory Cards (SDS, SD…….)
 CD and DVDs
 Flash Memory

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Difference between Primary and Secondary
 Data storage is the basic functionality of a computer which is divided
into primary and secondary storage.
 Primary storage refers to the main storage of the computer or main
memory which is the random access memory or RAM.
 Secondary storage, on the other hand, refers to the external storage
devices used to store data on a long-term basis.
 Primary storage holds data or applications which can be directly
accessed by the processing unit with minimum or no delay.
 On the contrary, secondary storage is used to store and retrieve data
permanently with a delay.
 Secondary storage stores a substantial amount of data and
information. Capacity is generally from Gigabytes to terabytes.

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 History of computers
Computers were preceded by many devices
which mankind developed for their computing
requirements. The history of computers is often
discussed with reference to the different
generations of computing devices. In computing,
the word generation is described as a stage of
technological development or innovation.
According to the technology used, there are five
(5) generations of computers

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First GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS (1940 – 56)

First Generation computing were introduced 1940

 They used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums
for memory.
 Input was based on punched cards and paper tape and
output was displayed in the form of printouts.
 They relied on binary coded language (Language of 0’s and
1’s) to perform operations and were able to solve only one
problem at a time.
 Each machine was fed with a different binary codes and
hence were difficult to program. This resulted in lack of
versatility and speed. Examples: ENIAC, EDVAC and UNIVAC
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 CHARACTERISTICS

Characteristics
 They used vacuum tubes for circuitry and
magnetic drums for memory.
 Based on vacuum tube technology
 Fastest computing devices of their times
(Computation time was in milliseconds
 Were very large and required a lot of space for
installation
 Since a lot of vacuum tubes were used, they
generated a large amount of heat.
 Non-portable and very slow equipment’s
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 CHARACTERISTICS

Characteristics
 Lacked versatility and speed
 Were unreliable and prone to frequent hardware
failures. Hence constant maintenance was
required.
 Were very expensive and used a large amount of
electricity.
 Since machine language was used, these
computers were difficult to program and use

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SECOND GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERS (1956 – 63)
 Second generation of computers used transistors, which were superior to
vacuum tubes.
 transistor had three leads and performed electrical functions such as
voltage, current or power amplification with low power requirements.
 Since transistors are small in physical size, computers became smaller,
faster, cheaper, energy-efficient and more reliable than their
predecessors.
 Magnetic cores were used as primary memory and magnetic disks as
secondary storage devices.
 However, they still relied on punch cards for input and printouts or
output.
 One of the major developments includes the programming language from
machine language to assembly language. Assembly language used
mnemonics (abbreviations) for instructions rather than numbers, for
example ADD for addition and MULT for multiplication
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CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics
 Based on Transistor technology.
 Smaller compared to first generation computers
 Computational time of these was reduced to microseconds
from milliseconds
 More reliable and less prone to hardware failure. Hence such
computers required less frequent maintenance.
 Were more portable and generated less amount of heat.
 Assembly language was used to program computers, hence
programming became more time-efficient and less
cumbersome.

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Third Generation (1964 – Early 1970s)
 Integrated circuit was the trait of third generation computers. Also called an
IC, an integrated circuit consists of a single chip (usually silicon)
 This made computers smaller in size, reliable and efficient.
 Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation
computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with operating
system.
 This allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a
central program that monitored the memory. Examples: NCR 395 and B6500.

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CHARACTERISTICS
 Based on Integrated Circuit (IC) technology
 Were able to reduce computational time from
microseconds to nanoseconds
 Consumed less power and generated less heat.
 Computers were smaller
 Hardware rarely failed, maintenance cost was quite
low.
 Extensive use of high-level languages became possible.
 Manual assembling of individual components was not
required, so it reduced the
 large requirement of labor cost. 21
Fourth Generation (Early 1970s
 Fourth generation was still based on integrated circuits and were
readily available because the development of the microprocessor.
 The intel 4004 chip, which was developed in 1971, took the
integrated circuit one step further by locating all the components
of a computer (CPU, Memory and Input and Output Controls) on a
miniscule chip
 This generation led to an era of Large Scale Integration (LSI) and
Very Large Scale Integration
 Fourth generation computers became more powerful, compact,
reliable and affordable leading to the rise of the personal computer
revolution.
 This generation also saw the development of the Graphical User
Interfaces (GUIs), mouse ad handheld devices.
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CHARACTERISTICS
Fourth generation computers are
microprocessor-based systems
 These computers are very small.
 They are the cheapest among all other generations
 Portable and quite reliable
 They generate negligible amount of heat
 Hardware failure is negligible, so minimum maintenance is
required
 The production cost is very low.
 GUI and pointing devices enable users to learn to use the
computer quickly.
 Interconnection of computers leads to better
communication and resource sharing
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FIFTH GENERATION (PRESENT AND BEYOND)
The starting point for fifth generation of computers was set in the early
1990’s. The expert system (fifth generation of computers ) was defined as
a computer information system that attempts to mimic the thought,
process and reasoning of experts in specific areas. Three characteristics
of the fifth generation computers, which are;
1. Mega Chips: Fifth generation computers use Super Large Scale
Integrated (SLSI. In order to store instructions and information a great
amount of storage capacity is require - Mega chips enabled the computer
to approximate the memory capacity.
2. Parallel Processing: Computers using parallel processing accesses
several instructions at once and works on them at the same time through
the use of multiple central processing units.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI): It refers to a series of related technologies
that tries to simulate and reproduce human behavior, including thinking,
speaking and reasoning. Expert systems (ES), natural language processing
(NLP), speech recognition, vision and robotics.

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How do computer Manipulate Data?
 ALL computers are electronic, digital devices
 Digital devices work with discrete data, such as digits 1 and 0, or like a
light switch – on or off
 These 1s and 0s are referred to as binary digits or shortened to bits
 Computers use sequences of bits to digitally represent numbers,
letters, punctuation marks, music, pictures, and videos

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The Central Processing Unit
 CPU often called “processor”
 Performs transformations of input into output
 Interprets and executes instructions in
programs
 Performs arithmetic and logical data
manipulations
 Communicates with other parts of the
computer system indirectly through memory

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Performance

 Some processors faster than others

 Performance is determined by:

 Speed of internal clock—measured

in gigahertz (GHz)
 Architecture of processor
 Number of bits processor can
process at one time
 Typically 32 or 64 bits—called word
size
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Bits as Numbers

 Denotes all numbers with combinations of 0s and 1s

 Decimal numbers automatically converted to binary
 Binary number processing hidden from user

Decimal Binary Decimal Binary

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

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Bits as Codes

 Codes represent each letter,

digit, and special character
 ASCII: Most widely used
 Each character is a unique 8--
bit code
 256 unique codes for 26
letters, 10 digits, special
characters

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Bit Basics

 Bit: From Binary digit

 Smallest unit of information computer can process
 Can have one of two values: 0 or 1
 Byte
 Collection of 8 bits
 Can represent 256
different messages
(256 = 28)

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The CPU – How it works

 Typical CPU is divided into several functional units:

 Control unit
 Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) includes
registers
 Decode unit
 Bus unit
 Prefetch unit
 These units work together to complete the execution of
program instructions.
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END