UNIT I – Components of

Computer
 Input-Process-Output Model (IPO)

• Input: keyboard, mouse, scanner, punch cards

• Processing: CPU executes the computer program
• Output: monitor, printer, fax machine
• Storage: hard drive, optical media, diskettes, magnetic tape

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-2

 Components of a Computer
The BIG Picture • Same components for
all kinds of computer
– Desktop, server,
embedded
• Input/output includes
– User-interface devices
• Display, keyboard, mouse
– Storage devices
• Hard disk, CD/DVD, flash
– Network adapters
• For communicating with other
computers
Chapter 1 — Computer Abstractions
and Technology — 3
 Architecture Components
I. Hardware
a. Processes data by executing instructions
b. Provides input and output
II. Software
a. Instructions executed by the system
III. Communications
a. Sharing data and processing among different systems
IV. Data
a. Fundamental representation of facts and observations

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-4

 I. Hardware Component
1. CPU
i. ALU: arithmetic/logic unit
ii. CU: control unit
iii. Interface unit
2. Memory
i. Short-term storage for CPU calculations
3. Input/Output devices
4. Storage Devices

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-5

Typical Personal Computer System

1-6
 1. Hardware : Input Unit

A computer accepts a digitally coded information
thro' input until using input devices

This unit contains basic components for accepting
data and instruction in some form and converting
them into usable form by the system
Example : keyboard , mouse
 1. Hardware : memory Unit

It is used to store programs & data

Total memory unit = Primary storage memory +
secondary storage memory

Primary memory(main memory) is fast semiconductor
RAM
– Size : smaller as it is expensive

Secondary storage memories : large amount of data
- magnetic tapes, magnetic disk
 1. Hardware : ALU Unit

ALU is responsible for performing arithmetic & logical
operations

To perform these operations operands from main
memory are brought into internal registers of
processor

After performing operation, the result is either stored
in the register or memory location
 1. Hardware : Control Unit

A control unit co-ordinates and controls all the
activities amongst the functional units

Basic Function :

Fetch the instruction stored in main memory

Identify the operations & devices involved in it

Generate control signals to execute the desired
operations

It uses control & timing signals to determine when a
given action is to take palce.
 1. Hardware : Memory
• Also known as primary storage, working storage, and
RAM (random access memory)
• Consists of bits, each of which hold a value of either
0 or 1 (8 bits = 1 byte)
• Holds both instructions and data of a computer
program (stored program concept)

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-11

 1. Hardware : Storage Devices
Primary storage: is the storage provided
by memory in a computer system
e.g. ROM/RAM.

Secondary storage: is storage provided

by peripheral devices other than memory
e.g. Floppy disks, hard disks, optical disks( writable CD,
DVD, CD-ROM
 Why Is Storage Necessary?

• Storage devices:
–Retain data when the computer is turned off
–Are cheaper than memory
–Play an important role during startup
–Are needed for output

© 200 Prentice-Hall, Inc Slide 13

 1. Hardware : Output Unit

Output unit : System for reporting a result

It sends the processed results to the user using output
devices such as
video monitor, printer, plotter
 2. Software
Software

Application Software
System Software
Examples :
Examples : 
Word Processors

Operating system 
Spreadsheets

Device drivers 
Image editors

Language translators 
Database management systems

System utilities 
Presentation application

Desktop publishing software
 II. Software Component
• Applications
• Operating System
– API: application program
interface
– File management
– I/O
– Kernel
• Memory management
• Resource scheduling
• Program
communication
• Security
– Network Module

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-16

 2. Software : System Software

System software – collection of programs which is
needed in the creation, preparation and execution of
other program


Typical system software includes editors, assemblers,
linker, loader, compilers, interpreters, debuggers and
operating system and their roles are explained in the
following table :
Editor  Creates & modifies source programs / text
 It has command to change or delete or insert
lines / characters
Assembler  Translates an assembly language source file
created using editor into machine language such
as binary or object code
Linker  It is used to join together several object files into
one large object file
Locator  It is used to assign the specific addresses of
where object code is loaded into memory
Interpreter  It processes higher level language programs line
by line
 It executes only one statement of higher level
language at a time
Compiler  It takes entire source program written in higher
level language & translates whole program into a
machine language
Debugger  It allows the user to load his object code program
into system memory, execute it and debug it

Operating  Performs resource management & provides

system interface between the user and machine
 Its a collection of system programs that tells the
machine what to do under variety of conditions
 2. Software : Application Software

Application software :Allows to perform specific task
on a computer using the capabilities of a computer

Computer system cannot be used for performing
different tasks just by loading the system software

It needs application software to accomplish a task.

Different application software are needed to perform
different tasks.
 2. Software : Application Software

Application Programs: are usually written in a high-
level programming language, such as C, C++, Java or
Fortran, in which the programmer specifies
mathematical or text-processing operations as per
the task it has to perform

These operations are written in such a format that
any computer can be used for its execution

Programmer uses Text Editor for entering and editing
application programs.
– It allows statements of a source program entered
at a keyboard to be accumulated in a file
 2. Software : Application Software

File : is simply a sequence of alpha-numeric
characters or binary data that is stored in memory or
in secondary storage.
– A file can be referred to by a name specified by
the user

A system software program called a compiler
translates the high-level language program into a
suitable machine language program containing
instructions such as the Add and Load instructions
 2. Software : Operating System

OS : is a collection of routines that tells the computer
what to do under a variety of conditions

It is used to control the sharing of and interaction
among various computer units as they execute
application programs

OS routines assigns computer resources to individual
application programs.
– It assigns memory & magnetic disk space to
program & data files, moves data from memory &
disk units & handles I/O operations
 2. Software : Interaction between OS
and Application Programs

Assume that the application program has been
compiled from a high level language form into a
machine language form and stored on the disk

Let us see the steps involved in running an application
program
 Fig : User Program & OS routine sharing of the
processor
Printer

Disk

OS
routi
nes

Program

Time

t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5
1 2 3 4 5
Steps
 2. Software : Interaction between OS
and Application Programs
Step 1: Transfer the compiled file into the memory
• Time Period : to to t1
• Action: OS routine loads application program
from disk to memory
Step 2: Pass execution control to application programs
and start execution of it
• Time Period : t1 to t2
• Action: Execute application program until any
resources such as data files needed for
execution
 2. Software : Interaction between OS
and Application Programs
Step 3: Get the required resources
• Time Period : t2 to t3
• Action: OS routine loads requested resources
into the memory from disk & transfers
execution control back to the appliction
program
Step 4: Execute the application program
• Time Period : t3 to t4
• Action: Complete the execution of application
program
 2. Software : Interaction between OS
and Application Programs
Step 5: Get the required resources
• Time Period : t4 to t5
• Action: Application program again sends
request to OS. The OS routine is executed to
cause the printer to print the results
 III. Communications Component
• Hardware
– Communication channels
• Physical connections between computer systems
• Examples: wire cable, phone lines, fiber optic cable, infrared light,
radio waves
– Interface hardware
• Handles communication between the computer and the
communication channel
• Modem or network interface card (NIC)
• Software
– Network protocols: HTTP, TCP/IP, ATAPI

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-29

 Networks
• Communication, resource sharing, nonlocal
access
• Local area network (LAN): Ethernet
• Wide area network (WAN): the Internet
• Wireless network: WiFi, Bluetooth

Chapter 1 — Computer
Abstractions and Technology
 Computer Systems : Summary
All computer systems, no matter how complex, consists
of the following:
• At least one CPU
• Memory to hold programs and data
• I/O devices
• Long-term storage

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-31

 Protocols
• Common ground rules of communication
between computers, I/O devices, and many
software programs
• Examples
– HTTP: between Web servers and Web browsers
– TCP/IP: between computers on the Internet and
local area networks
– ATAPI: between a CPU and CD-ROMs

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-32

 Standards
• Created to ensure universal compatibility of data
formats and protocols
• May be created by committee or may become a de
facto standard through popular use
• Examples:
– Computer languages: Java, SQL, C, JavaScript
– Display standards: Postscript, MPEG-2, JPEG, GIF
– Character set standards: ASCII, Unicode, EBCDIC
– Video standards: VGA, XGA, RGB

Chapter 1 Computer Systems 1-33