COMPUTER SYSTEM ORGANISATION
1.1 Introduction:
❖ A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to
accept data (input), process it and generate result (output).
❖ A computer along with additional hardware and software together is
called a computer system.
Components of computer system:
❖ A computer is designed using four basic units. They are:
1. Input Unit
2. Central Processing Unit(CPU) Control Unit Arithmetic and Logic
Unit (ALU)
3. Memory Unit
4. Output Unit
components of computer system
1. Input Unit
● Computers need to receive data and instructions in order to solve a
problem.
● The Input unit performs this operation. The Input Unit basically links
the external world or environment to the computer system. The input
unit may consist of one or more input devices. The Keyboard and
mouse of a computer are the most commonly used input devices.
2. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
● It is the main part of a computer system like the heart of a human
being. Most computers are identified by the type of CPU that is
present in them.
● The function of the CPU is to interpret the instructions in the program
and execute them one by one. It consists of two major units.
➔ Control Unit: It controls and directs the transfer of program
instructions and data between various units. The main activity is to
maintain order and direct the operations of the entire system.
➔ Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU): Arithmetic and Logic Unit
performs arithmetic and logical operations and controls the speed of
these operations. Arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division (+,-,*, /) and logical operations like AND,
OR, NOT and relational operations like (<,>, <=,>=) are being carried
out in this unit.
3. Memory Unit:
● The data and the instructions required for processing have to be
stored in the memory
● unit before the actual processing starts. In a similar manner, the
results generated from processing have to be preserved before it is
displayed.
● The memory units thus provide space to store input data,
intermediate results and the final output generated. Secondary
storage devices are additional memory (storage) devices such as
floppy disks, magnetic tapes, Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Compact Disk
(CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) etc., which are used to store huge
information for future use.
4. Output devices:
● The device that receives data from a computer system for display,
called output device. It converts digital information into human
understandable form. For example, monitor, projector, headphone,
speaker, printer, etc.
1.2 Evolution of Computer System:
● Abacus(500 BC): Computing is attributed to the invention of ABACUS
almost 3000 years ago. It was a mechanical device capable of doing
simple arithmetic calculations only.
● Pascaline(1642):Blaize Pascal invented a mechanical calculator
known as Pascal calculator or Pascaline to do addition and
subtraction of two numbers directly and multiplication and division
through repeated addition and subtraction.
● Analytical Engine(1834):Charles Babbage invented analytical engine,
a mechanical computing device for inputting, processing, storing and
displaying the output, which is considered to form the basis of
modern computers.
● Tabulating Machine(1890):Herman Hollerith designed a tabulating
machine for summarising the data stored on the punched card. It is
considered to be the first step towards programming.
● Vacuumtubes EDVAC/ENIAC(1945):John Von Neumann introduced
the concept of stored program computer which was capable of storing
data as well as program in the memory. The EDVAC and then the
ENIAC computers were developed based on this concept.
● Turing Machine(1937):The Turing machine concept was a general
purpose programmable machine that was capable of solving any
problem by executing the program stored on the punched cards.
● Translator(1947):Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors
developed at Bell Labs, using semiconductor materials.
● Integrated Circuits(1970:An Integrated Circuit (IC) is a silicon chip
which contains entire electronic circuit on a very small area. The size
of computer drastically reduced because of ICs.
Von Neumann architecture :
● It consists of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) for processing
arithmetic and logical instructions, a memory to store data and
programs, input and output devices and communication channels to
send or receive the output data.
● Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) is the first
binary programmable computer based on Von Neumann architecture.
● In 1970s, Large Scale Integration (LSI) of electronic circuits allowed
integration of complete CPU on a single chip, called microprocessor.
Moore’s Law predicted exponential growth in the number of
transistors that could be assembled in a single
Microchip.
● In 1980s, the processing power of computers increased
exponentially by integrating around 3 million components on a
small-sized chip termed as Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI).
● Further advancement in technology has made it feasible to fabricate
high density of transistors and other components (approx 106
components) on a single IC called Super Large Scale Integration
(SLSI).
● IBM introduced its first personal computer (PC) for the home user in
1981 and Apple introduced Macintosh machines in 1984. The
popularity of the PC surged by the introduction of Graphical User
Interface (GUI) based operating systems by Microsoft and others in
place of computers with only command line interface, like UNIX or
DOS.
● In 1990s, the growth of World Wide Web (WWW) further accelerated
mass usage of computers and thereafter computers have become an
indispensable part of everyday life.
● Further, with the introduction of laptops, personal computing was
made portable to a great extent. This was followed by smartphones,
tablets and other personal digital assistants. These devices have
leveraged the technological advancements in processor
miniaturisation, faster memory, high speed data and connectivity
mechanisms.
● The next wave of computing devices includes the wearable gadgets,
such as smart watch, lenses,headbands, headphones, etc. Further,
smart appliances are becoming a part of the Internet of Things (IoT),
by leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
1.3 Computer Memory:
● A computer system needs memory to store the data and instructions
for processing.
● Whenever we talk about the ‘memory’ of a computer system, we
usually talk about the main or primary memory. The secondary
memory (also called storage device) is used to store data,
instructions and results permanently for future use.
● A computer system uses binary numbers to store and process data.
The binary digits 0 and 1, which are the basic units of memory, are
called bits
● A 4-bit word is called a Nibble.
Examples of nibble are 1001, 1010, 0010, etc.
A two nibble word, i.e., 8-bit word is called a byte,
for example, 01000110, 01111100, 10000001, etc.
● Computers have two types of memory — primary and secondary.
Primary memory
● It is an essential component of a computer system.
● Program and data are loaded into the primary memory before
processing.
● The CPU interacts directly with the primary memory to perform
read or write operation. It is of two types
(i) Random Access Memory (RAM) and
(ii) Read Only Memory (ROM).
i)Random Access Memory (RAM):
● RAM is also called as the main memory of a computer.
● Ram temporarily stores the computer operating system,
application program and current data so that the processor can
reach them quickly.
● RAM is faster memory.
● RAM is a volatile in nature i.e. when the power is switched off;
the data in this memory is lost.
ii)Read Only Memory (ROM):
● ROM stands for “Read Only memory”.
● ROM is non-volatile memory i.e. the information stored in it is
not lost even when the power supply goes off.
● It is used for permanent storage of information.
Secondary Memory:
● Primary memory has limited storage capacity and is either volatile
(RAM) or read-only (ROM).
● .This is also referred to as the auxiliary unit of memory.
● It differs from primary memory because it is non-volatile and not
directly accessible by the CPU.
● Secondary storage devices, often known as external storage devices,
have substantially more storage space and are less expensive than
primary memory.
Examples of secondary memory devices include Hard Disk Drive
(HDD), CD/ DVD, Memory Card, etc.,
● There are secondary storage devices like SSD which support very
fast data transfer
speed as compared to earlier HDDs.
Cache Memory:
● To speed up the operations of the CPU, a very high speed memory is
placed between
the CPU and the primary memory known as cache.
● It is very expensive, so it is smaller in size.
● Working of cache memory :
❖ It stores the copies of the data from frequently accessed
primary memory locations, thus, reducing the average time
required to access data from primary memory.
❖ When the CPU needs some data, it first examines the cache. In
case the requirement is met, it is read from the cache,
otherwise the primary memory is accessed.
❖ It is categorized as “levels”.
Level 1 (L1) cache: It is extremely fast but relatively small
and is usually present inside the CPU. The size of L1 cache
varies from 32 KB to 512 KB.
Level 2 (L2) cache: It may be located outside the CPU on a
separate chip a high speed system bus interconnecting the
cache to the CPU. The size of L2 cache varies from 1MB to
2MB.
Level 3 (L3) cache: It is typically specialized memory that
works to improve the performance of L1 and L2. It is slower
than the L1 or L2 but it is usually double the speed of RAM.
1.4 Data Transfer between Memory and CPU
● Data need to be transferred between the CPU and primary memory
as well as between the primary and secondary memory.
● Data are transferred between different components of a computer
system using physical wires called bus.
● A Bus consists of three types of buses collectively make the system
bus.
❖ Data Bus:
It provides a path to transfer data between different
components.
❖ Address Bus:
transfers addresses between CPU and main memory.
The address of the memory location that the CPU wants
to read or write from is specified in the address bus,
❖ Control Bus:
It is used to to communicate control signals between
different
components of a computer.
Working of system bus:
● The system bus connects the CPU with the other components,like
memory storage and other I/O devices to facilitate communications
between those components.
● The data is then transferred betweenCPU and main memory using
bus.
● As the CPU read data from main memory or write data to main
memory, a data bus is bidirectional. But the control bus and address
bus are unidirectional.
● To write data into memory, the CPU places the data on the data bus,
which is then written to the specific address provided through the
address bus. In case of read operation, the CPU specifies the
address, and the data is placed on the data bus by a dedicated
hardware, called memory controller.
● The memory controller manages the flow of data into andout of the
computer's main memory.
1.5 Microprocessors
● A processor (CPU) which is implemented on a single microchip
is called microprocessor.
● A microprocessor is basically the brain of the computer. A
microprocessor is basically a computer processor that is mounted
on a single IC (Integrated Circuit).
● The basic task of a microprocessor is to input the instructions
from the memory, decode, and process them and produce the
output.
● Currently available microprocessors are capable of processing
millions of instructions per millisecond.
● Below tabular column shows generations of microprocessor:
● Microprocessor Specifications:
Microprocessors are classified on the basis of different
features which include chip type, word size, memory
size, clock speed, etc.The following are specifications:
➔(A) Word Size:
● Word size is the maximum number of bits that a
microprocessor can process at a time.
● Earlier a word was of 8 bits which was maximum but now
at present the minimum word size is 16 bits and maximum
word size is 64 bits.
➔(B) Memory Size:
● Depending upon the word size, the size of RAM varies.
● At first RAM was very small (4MB) due to 4/8 bits word
size.
● As word size increased to 64 bits, it has become feasible to
use RAM of size upto 16 Exabytes (EB).
➔(C) Clock Speed:
● Clock speed simply means the number of pulses generated
per second by the clock inside a computer.
● The clock speed indicates the speed at which the computer
can execute instructions.
● At first it was measured in Hertz (Hz) and Kilohertz
(kHz), but now it measured in Gigahertz (GHz), i.e.,
billions of pulses per second.
➔(D) Cores
● Core is a basic computation unit of the CPU.
● Earlier processors perform only one task at a time but now
it has become possible for the computer to execute multiple
tasks, and to increase the system’s performance.
● CPU with two, four, and eight cores is called dual-core,
quad-core and octa-core processor, respectively.
● MICROCONTROLLERS:
● A microcontroller (MCU) is a small computer on a single
integrated circuit that is designed to control specific tasks
within electronic systems.
● It combines the functions of a CPU,memory and
input/output interfaces on a single chip.
● Microcontrollers are widely used in embedded systems,
such as home appliances, automotive systems, medical
devices, and industrial control systems. And they are also
used in consumer electronic products like gaming
systems,digital cameras and audio players.
● Keyboard, mouse, washing machine, digital camera,
pendrive, remote controller, microwave are few examples
of microcontrollers.
● EXAMPLE: The microcontroller in a fully automatic
washing machine is used to control the washing cycle
without any human intervention. The cycle starts with
filling of water, after which the clothes are soaked and
washed; thereafter the water is drained and the clothes are
spin dry. The simple use of microcontroller has permitted
repetitive execution of tedious tasks automatically without
any human intervention, thereby saving precious time.
1.6 Data and Information
● Data can be raw and unorganised facts that are processed to get
meaningful information.
● The concept of data along with its different types is crucial to
understand the overall functioning of a computer.
● A computer system has many input devices, which provide raw
data in the form of facts, concepts, instructions, etc.,
● Data can input in other languages too or it can be read from the
files. The input data may be from different sources, hence it may
be in different formats.
● Internally data can be stores in the form of bits(0 or 1) but
externally can be represented in the text form using english
alphabets A–Z, a–z, numerals 0–9, and special symbols like @,
#, etc.
● There are three types of data.
I. Structured data:
➔ Data that has been put together in an organized way
described as structured data.
➔Structured data is generally tabular data that is
represented by columns and rows in a database.
➔Structured data may be sorted in ascending or
descending order.
➔Example:
Student -ID Student_Name 10th Marks
23456 Hari 550
12346 Ramu 450
➔Other examples of structured data include sale
transactions, online railway ticket bookings, ATM
transactions,
II. Unstructured Data:
➔Unstructured data is information that is not
organized in a pre-defined manner or does not have a
pre-defined data model.
➔Examples include audio and video files, graphics, text
documents, social media posts, satellite images, etc.
➔Unstructured information is a set of text-heavy but
may contain data such as numbers, dates, and facts as
well.
III. Semi-structured Data
➔ Data which have no well-defined structure but maintains
internal tags or markings to separate data elements are
called semi-structured data.
➔Examples include email document, HTML page, comma
separated values (csv file), etc.
➔For example, Consider a list of employees' performance
ratings stored in a text file., with no clear table format but
still organized well enough to distinguish each employee's
ratings.
● Data Capturing, Storage and Retrieval:
➔Data capturing is the process of extracting information
or data from any variety of structured or unstructured
documents (paper or electronic) and converting it into
a machine-readable digital format.
Example—using methods such as optical character
recognition (OCR), barcode scanning, remote sensors
on an earth orbiting satellite, and data extraction
algorithms.
➔Once the file or the database is saved , it is used for further
reference this process is called Data storage.There are
numerous digital storage devices available in the market,
Example: Devices rely on RAM for instant data storage and
retrieval, while ROM helps store long-term data.
In large organisations, computers with larger and faster
storage called data servers are deployed to store vast
amount of data. Such dedicated computers help in
processing data efficiently.
➔Whenever we want we can retrieve the stored data for
modifications or to work on it, this process is called Data
retrieval. It is the process of identifying and extracting data
from a database, based on a query provided by the user or
application.
● Data Deletion and Recovery:
➔ Users can accidentally erase data from storage devices, or
a hacker can delete the digital data intentionally.
➔when any data is simply deleted, its address entry is marked
as free, and that much space is shown as empty to the user,
without actually deleting the data.
➔Recovery of the data is possible only if the contents or
memory space marked as deleted and not been overwritten
by some other data.
➔Data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, corrupted
and lost data from secondary storage devices.
➔Data recovery involves backing up files or information that
was accidentally deleted, damaged, or lost from devices
like computers or phones.
➔There are usually two security concerns associated with
data
A. deletion by some unauthorized person or
software;
This can be avoided by limiting access to the
computer system and using passwords for user
accounts and files, and encrypting files to
protect them from unwanted modification.
B. Recovery by unauthorized entities:
This concern can be mitigated by using proper tools
to delete or shred data before disposing off any old or
faulty storage device.
