CHAPTER 1: COMPUTER SYSTEM

Computer: A computer is an electronic device that can accept data (input), process it
and generate result (output).

Computer System: A computer along with additional hardware and software together is
called as computer system.

Functional Block Diagram of Computer:

1) Input Devices: The devices through which data or instructions are sent to a computer are
termed as input devices. Some examples of input devices include keyboard, mouse, scanner,
touch screen, etc.
2) Central Processing Unit (CPU): It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries out
the actual processing and usually referred as the brain of the computer.
CPU has 3 main components
a) Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic operations.
b)Control Unit (CU): CU controls sequential instruction execution, interprets
instructions and guides data flow through the computer’s memory, ALU and input or
output devices.
c) Registers: Registers are used for storing data, instructions or intermediate results.
3) Output Devices: The device that receives data from a computer system for display or
physical production is called output device.
Example: monitor, projector, headphone, speaker, printer, etc.

Evolution of Computer
1) Abacus: Abacus is the first calculating device invented by Chinese almost 3000 years ago.
It was a mechanical device capable of doing simple arithmetic calculations like addition and
subtraction.
2) Pascaline: 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.
3) Analytic Engine: Charles Babbage invented analytical engine, a mechanical computing
device for inputting, processing, storing and displaying the output, which outlines the principle
of modern computers.
4) Tabulating Machine: Herman Hollerith designed a tabulating machine for summarising
the data stored on the punched card.
5) Turing Machine: The Turing machine was capable of solving any problem by executing
the program stored on the punched cards.
6) Transistor: Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors, which were developed using
semiconductor materials.
7) Integrated Circuit: An Integrated Circuit (IC) contains multiple transistors and other
circuits embedded in single silicon chip. 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.

NOTE: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) is the first binary
programmable computer based on Von Neumann architecture.

LSI, VLSI and SLSI

Large Scale Integration (LSI): Integration of several electronic circuits on a single silicon
chip to form Microprocessor.
Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI): Integration of around 3 million components on a
small-sized silicon chip.
Super Large-Scale Integration: Integration of high density of transistors and other
components (approx. 106 components) on a single silicon chip.

Units of Memory
* A computer system uses binary numbers 0’s and 1’s to store and process data.
* 0’s and 1’ are called as Bits.
* Bits are the basic unit of memory.
* 4-bit word is called as Nibble. Eg. 1001
* 8-bit word is called as Byte. Eg. 01000110
Types of Memory
1) Primary Memory:
a) Program and data are loaded into the primary memory before processing.
b) It is of two types.
(i) Random Access Memory (RAM)
*RAM is volatile, i.e., as long as the power is supplied to the computer, it
retains the data in it. But as soon as the power supply is turned off, all the contents
of RAM are wiped out.
* RAM is usually referred as main memory.
* It is used to store data or instructions temporarily, which is currently ready to be
executed.
* It is faster than the secondary memory.
(ii) Read Only Memory (ROM)
* ROM is non-volatile, which means its contents are not lost even when the power
is turned off.
* It stores instruction permanently, which are rarely changed.
Eg. Startup program (boot loader) that loads the operating system into
primary memory is stored in ROM.
2) Cache Memory
a) High speed memory that is placed between the CPU and the primary memory.
b) It stores the copies of the data from frequently accessed primary memory locations.
c) Cache is faster than RAM.
3) Secondary Memory/Auxiliary Memory
a) It is used to permanently store the data or instructions for future use.
b) It is non-volatile.
c) It has larger storage capacity than primary memory.
Eg. Hard Disk Drive (HDD), CD/DVD, Memory Card, etc.

Bus
Data are transferred between different components of a computer system using physical wires
called bus.
It is of three types
i) Data bus: To transfer data between different components.
ii) Address bus: To transfer addresses between CPU and main memory.
iii) Control bus: To communicate control signals between different components of a computer.

Microprocessors
A processor (CPU) which is implemented on a single microchip is called microprocessor.
Specifications
A) Word Size: Word size is the maximum number of bits that a microprocessor can process at
a time.
B) Memory Size: Indicates the whole size of RAM. The size of the RAM increases when the
word size increases.
C) Clock Speed: It generates pulses(signals) at regular intervals of time. The clock speed
indicates the speed at which the computer can execute instructions.
D) Cores: Core is a basic computation unit of the CPU. CPU with two, four, and eight cores is
called dual-core, quad-core and octa-core processor, respectively.
Microcontrollers
1) The microcontroller is a small computing device which has a CPU, a fixed amount of RAM,
ROM and other peripherals all embedded on a single chip.
2) Since it is small in size, it is embedded in another device or system to perform a specific
functionality.
Eg. Microcontroller is used in fully automatic washing machine to control the washing cycle
without any human intervention.

Data and Information

Data: The raw items which are yet to be processed are called as Data. Eg. Any unprocessed
audio, document, video or instructions.
Information: Processed data is called as Information. Eg. Database

Types of Data
A) Structured Data: Data which follows a strict record structure.
Eg. sales transactions, online railway ticket bookings, ATM transactions, etc.
B) Unstructured Data: Data which are not organised in a pre-defined record
format is called unstructured data.
Eg. audio and video files, graphics, text documents, social media posts.
C) 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.
Eg. email document, HTML page, comma separated values (csv file), etc.

Data Capturing, Storage and Retrieval

A) Data Capturing: It involves the process of gathering data from different
sources in the digital form like keyboard, barcode readers used at shopping outlets.
B) Data Storage: It is the process of storing the captured data for processing later.
C) Data Retrieval: It involves fetching data from the storage devices, for its processing as per
the user requirement.

Data Deletion and Recovery

Data Deletion: It is the process of erasing all the data or content from the storage device.
Data Recovery: Data recovery is a process of retrieving deleted, corrupted and lost data from
secondary storage devices.

Software
The software comprises a set of instructions which on execution deliver the desired outcome.
Types of Software:
1) System Software: The software that provides the basic functionality. Its types are listed
below
a) Operating System: Interface between user and the computer. Eg. Windows and Android
b) System Utilities: Used for maintenance and configuration of the computer system.
Eg. (Shipped with OS- disk defragmentation tool, formatting utility.)
(Not shipped with OS- anti-virus software, disk cleaner tool.)
c) Device Drivers: The device driver acts as an interface between the device and the
operating system.
2) Programming Tools: The following are the different programming tools.
A) Programming Languages: Three types of programming language exist.
 i) Low-level language/Machine-level language: It is the language consisting of only
0’s and 1’s which can be understood only by the computer.
Advantage: Directly understood and executed by the computer.
Disadvantage: One has to remember all operation codes and finding errors in the
code written in machine language is difficult.
ii) Assembly level language: It allows usage of partial English-based words and
symbols.
Advantage: Easy to remember English-based words.
Disadvantage: The code written for one type of CPU cannot be used for another
type of CPU.
iii) High level language: This language is written purely based on English-based
words which follows set of rules.
Examples of high-level language include C++, Java, Python, etc.
Advantage: It is easy to write, understand and debug.
Disadvantage: These languages are not directly understood by the computer, so
translators are needed to translate high-level language codes into machine language.
B) Language Translators: Three types of language translators are listed below.
i) Assembler: Converts the code written in assembly language to machine language.
ii) Compiler: Converts high level language to machine level language.
iii) Interpreter: Interpreter takes one line, converts it into executable code.
Translates one line at a time instead of the whole program at one go.
Note:
Source Code: The program code typed/written in assembly or high-level language
by the user is called source code.
Object Code: The binary code obtained after translating the source code is called
Object code. It is also called as executable code.
C) Program Development Tools/ Integrated Development Environment (IDE): This
provides the virtual environment for the user to type instructions and store the file as
the source code. The source code can be compiled and debugged in this environment as
it contains text editor, building tools and debugger.
3) Application Software
It is used to cater to different requirements of the end-users.
They are of two types:
a) General Purpose Software: Application software developed for generic
applications. Eg. Spreadsheet, Adobe photoshop
b) Customised Software: These are custom or tailor-made application software,
that are developed to meet the requirements of a specific organisation or an individual.

Other Categories of Software

1. Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS): The source code of this software is made
available to the public for the modification and upgrade. This software is freely available to the
user. Eg. Ubuntu
2. Freeware: This software is freely available for use but source code may not be available.
Eg. Skype, Adobe Reader
3. Proprietary Software: This software is purchased from the vendor who has the copyright
of the software. It is not free of cost nor its source code is available to the public. Eg. Microsoft
Windows, Tally, Quickheal, etc.
Types of User Interface in Operating System
1) Command-based Interface: Command-based interface requires a user to enter the
commands to perform different tasks like creating, opening, editing or deleting a file, etc.
Keyboard is used in this interface.
Eg. MS-DOS and Unix
2) Graphical User Interface: Graphical User Interface (GUI) lets users run programs
or give instructions to the computer in the form of icons, menus and other visual options. Mouse
and the keyboard can be used in this interface.
Eg. Windows
3) Touch-based Interface: Smartphones, tablets and PCs allow users to interact with the
system simply using the touch input. Eg. Android
4) Voice-based Interface: Uses voice-based commands to make a computer work in the
desired way. Eg. iOS (Siri), Android (Google Now or “OK Google”)
5) Gesture-based Interface: It allows users to interact with the devices using gestures like
waving, tilting, eye motion and shaking. Eg. Android and iOS

Functions of Operating System

1) Process Management:
Note: A task in execution is known as process.
a) Allocation among processes.
b) Management of multiple processes.
c) Allocation of required resources.
d) Exchange of information among processes.
2) Memory Management:
a) Keeping track of memory status
b) Allocation
c) De allocation
d) Re-allocate memory to a program when a used block is freed.
3) File Management:
a) Create and delete both files and directories
b) Provide access to files
c) Allocate space for files
d) Keep back-up of files
e) Secure files
4) Device Management:
a) Open, close and write device drivers
b) Communicate, control and monitor the device driver