COMPUTER

CONCEPT
Facilitator: Dr. John Opuni Amankwa
What’s a Computer?

■ A computer is an electronic device, operating under the

control of instructions stored in its own memory, that
accepts data(input), process the data according to
specified rules, produce information (output), and store
the information for future use.
What’s a Computer?

■ Input: data, programs, user reply

● Data: the raw details that need to be processed
to generate some useful information.
● Programs: the set of instructions that can be
executed by the computer in sequential or
non-sequential manner.
● User reply: the input provided by the user in
response to a question asked by the computer.
What’s a Computer?

■ A computer includes various devices:

● Central Processing Unit (CPU)
● Monitor
● Keyboard and Mouse
What’s a Computer?

■ The unique capabilities and characteristics of a

computer:
● Speed
● Storage capacity
● Accuracy
● Reliability
● Versatility
● Diligence
What’s a Computer?

■ Limitations:
● Garbage-In, Garbage-Out
● Dumb machine
Evolution of Computers

■ Manual Computing Devices: Sand table,

Abacus, …
■ Automated Computing Devices:
difference engine, analytical engine,
Colossus, …
■ Charles Babbage: A professor of
mathematics a the Cambridge
University is considered to be the father
of modern computer.
Generations of Computers

■ First Generation Computers

• Employed during the period 1940-1956

• Used the vacuum tubes technology for
calculation as well as for storage and control
purpose.

• Advantages: (1) Fastest computing devices of

their time; (2) These computers were able to
execute complex mathematical problems in an
efficient manner.
 Generations of Computers

•Disadvantages:
(1) The functioning of these computers depended on the
machine language.
(2) There were generally designed as special-purpose
computers.
(3) The use of vacuum tube technology make these computers
very large and bulky.
(4) They were not easily transferable from one place to another
due to their huge size and also required to be placed in cool
places.
(5) They were single tasking because they could execute only
one program at a time.
(6) The generated huge amount of heat and hence were prone
to hardware faults.
Generations of Computers

■ Second Generation Computers

• Employed during the period 1956-1963
• Use transistors in place of vacuum tubes in building
the basic logic circuits.
• Advantages: (1) Fastest computing devices of their
time; (2) Easy to program because of the use
assembly language; (3) Could be transferred from
one place to other very easily because they were
small and light; (4) Require very less power in
carrying out their operations; (5) More reliable, did
not require maintenance at regular intervals of
time.
Generations of Computers

•Disadvantages:
(1)The input and output media were not
improved to a considerable extent
(2) Required to be placed in air-conditioned
places
(3) The cost of these computers was very high
and they were beyond the reach of home
users
(4) Special-purpose computers and could
execute only specific applications
Generations of Computers

■ Third Generation Computers

• Employed during the period 1964-1975

• Use of Integrated Circuits

• Advantages: (1) Fastest computing devices; (2) Very

productive; (3) Easily transportable from one place
to another because of their small size; (4) Use
high-level languages; (5) Could be installed very
easily and required less space; (6) Can execute any
type of application. (7) More reliable and require
less frequent maintenance schedules.
Generations of Computers

Disadvantages:
(1)The storage capacity of these computers was
still very small;
(2) The performance of these computers
degraded while executing large applications,
involving complex computations because of the
small storage capacity;
(3) The cost of these computers was very high;
(4) They were still required to be placed in
air-conditioned places.
Generations of Computers

■ Fourth Generation Computers

• Employed during 1975-1989

• Use of Large Scale Integration
technology and Very Large Scale
Integration technology

• The term Personal Computer (PC)

became known to the people during this
era.
Generations of Computers

Advantages:
(1) Very powerful in terms of their processing speed
and access time;
(2) Storage capacity was very large and faster;
(3) Highly reliable and required very less maintenance;
(4) User-friendly environment;
(5) Programs written on these computers were highly
portable;
(6) Versatile and suitable for every type of
applications;
(7) Require very less power to operate.
Generations of Computers

Disadvantages:
(1) The soldering of LSI and VLSI chips on
the wiring board was not an easy task and
required complicated technologies to bind
these chips on the wiring board;
(2) The working of these computers is still
dependent on the instructions given by
the programmer.
Generations of Computers

■ Fifth Generation Computers

• The different types of modern digital

computers come under this category.

• Use Ultra Large Scale Integration

technology that allows almost ten
million electronic components to be
fabricated on one small chip.
Generations of Computers

Advantages:
(1) Fastest and powerful computers till date;
(2) Being able to execute a large number of
applications at the same time and that too at a very
high speed;
(3) Decreasing the size of these computers to a large
extent;
(4)The users of these computers find it very
comfortable to use them because of the several
additional multimedia features;
(5) They are versatile for communications and
resource sharing.
Classification of
Computers
■ We can classify the computers according to the
following three criteria:
(1) Based on operating principles
(2) Based on applications
(3) Based on size and capability
Classification of
Computers
(1) Based on operating principles:
Analog computers: represent data in the
form of continuous electrical signals having a
specific magnitude
Digital computers: store and process data in
the digital form.
Hybrid computers: a combination of analog
computer and digital computer because it
encompasses the best features of both.
Classification of
Computers
(2) Based on applications:
General purpose computers: can work in all environments.

Special purpose computers: can perform only a specified

task.
Classification of
Computers
(3) Based on size and capability
Microcomputers: Designed to be used by
individuals.
Mini Computers: Can handle more data and
more input and output than micro computers.
Mainframe Computers: A very large
computer
Super Computers: The fastest type of
computer that can perform complex
operations at a very high speed.
Computing concepts

■ Accepting the raw data

■ Processing the data
■ Storing the data
■ Delivering the output
The Computer System

■ Hardware
■ Software
■ Data
■ People
Computer Organisation
and Architecture
■ Computer architecture: the definition of
basic attributes of hardware components
and their interconnections, in order to
achieve certain specified goals in terms of
functions and performance.

■ Computer organisation: the design and

physical arrangement of various hardware
units to work in tandem, in a orderly
manner, in order to achieve the goals
specified in the architecture.
 Central Processing Unit

■The main operations of the CPU include

four phases:
(1) Fetching instructions from the memory
(2) Decoding the instructions to decide
what operations to be performed
(3) Executing the instructions
(4) Storing the results back in the memory
Central Processing Unit

■ Registers
■ Arithmetic Unit
■ Logic Unit
■ Control Unit
Arithmetic Unit

■ Arithmetic Unit is a part of the CPU that performs

arithmetic operations on the data. The arithmetic
operations can be addition, subtraction, multiplication or
division.
Logic Unit

■ Logic Unit is a part of the CPU that performs logical

operations on the data.
Control Unit

■ Control Unit is an important component of CPU that

controls the flow of data and information. It maintains
the sequence of operations being performed by the
CPU.
Main Memory Unit

■ The main memory is referred to as the internal memory

of primary memory of the computer. It is also known as
Random Access Memory (RAM).
Cache Memory

■ Cache memory is a small, fast and expensive memory

that stores the copies of data that needs to be accessed
frequently from the main memory.
Registers

■ CPU contains a few special purpose, temporary storage

units known as registers. They are high-speed memory
locations used for holding instructions, data and
intermediate results that are currently being processed.
Internal Communications

■ The internal communication of a processor in the

computer system can be divided into two major
categories:
(1) Processor to memory communication
(2) Processor to I/O devices communication
Processor to Memory
Communication
■ The direct communication between the
processor and memory of the computer
system is implemented with the help of two
registers:
(1) Memory Address Register
(2) Memory Buffer Register
The reading and writing operations
performed by the processor are called
memory read and memory write
operations.
Processor to I/O Devices
Communication
■ The communication between I/O devices and processor
of the computer system is implemented using an
interface unit. The interface unit acts as an intermediary
between the processor and the device controllers of
various peripheral devices in the computer system.
Machine Cycle

■ The cycle during which a machine language instruction

is executed by the processor of the computer system is
known as machine cycle.
Instruction Cycle
■ Fetching: The CPU retrieves the instruction from the main
memory of the computer system.
■ Decoding: Breaking down the instruction into different parts,
so that it can be easily understood before being processed by
the CPU.
Execution Cycle
■ Executing: The decoded instruction is executed by the
ALU of the CPU.
■ Storing: The result computed in the execution phase is
either sent to the memory or to an output device.
The Bus

■ A bus is a set of wires that is used to connect

the different internal components of the
computer system for the purpose of
transferring data as well addresses amongst
them.
■ Data bus: used to transfer data amongst the
different internal components. Modern
computer systems use 32-bit data buses for
data transfer.
■ Address bus: transfers the memory addresses
for read and write memory operations.
Memory and Storage
Systems
■ Primary Memory: Storing the data that are being
currently handled by the CPU; generally known as
“memory”;
■ Secondary Memory: Storing the results and the data for
future use; generally known as “storage”;
■ Internal Process Memory: Placed either inside the CPU
or near the CPU.
Memory Representation

■ In the memory, values are represented by

sequences of binary digits, know as bits.
Most computers use a group of eight bits,
known as a byte, to represent a character.
■ Memory is a “bunch” of bytes or cells into
which we can place data. Each cell, known
as a data item, is assigned a unique number
known as “address”. The CPU can identify
each cell by its address.
Memory Representation

■ The byte is defined as the “smallest addressable

unit” of memory. Most computers use groups of
bytes, usually 2 or 4, known as “words” to represent
information.
■ Computer memories are often rated in terms of
their capacity to store information. Typically,
capacities are described using the unit of byte as
follows:
(1) 1 KB (Kilobyte)=1,024 bytes
(2) 1 MB (Megabyte)=1,048,576 bytes
(3) 1 GB (Gigabyte)=1,073,741,824 bytes
(4) 1 TB (Terabyte)=1,099,511,627,776 bytes
Random Access Memory

■ Random Access Memory (RAM) is a

volatile memory and loses all its data
when the power is switched off.
■ It is the main memory of the computer
system that stores the data temporarily
and allows the data to be accessed in
any order.
■ RAM can be categorised into two main
types, namely, Static RAM and Dynamic
RAM.
Random Access Memory

■ Static RAM: is a type of RAM in which data is

stored till the power of the computer system is
switched on. SRAM uses a number of
transistors to store a single bit of digital
information.
■ Dynamic RAM: is the RAM in which data is
stored in a storage cell, consisting of a
transistor and a capacitor. The DRAM needs to
be continuously refreshed with power supply
because the capacitor has the tendency to get
discharged. DRAM retains the data for a very
short span of time, even after the power supply
is switched off.
Read Only Memory

■ ROM is the memory that stores the data

permanently.
■ The data can be easily read from this
type of memory but cannot be changed.
■ ROM is most commonly used in devices
such as calculators, laser printers, etc.
■ ROM does not allow the random access
of data, and allows sequential access of
data.
Read Only Memory

ROM is divided into four types:

(1) Programmable ROM: a memory chip on which the write
operation of data can be performed only once. PROM is reliable
and stores the data permanently without making any change in it.
It is mostly used in video games and electronic dictionaries.
(2) Erasable PROM: a type of ROM in which data can be erased or
destroyed using Ultraviolet Light.
(3) Electrically Erasable PROM: a type of ROM in which data can
be erased or destroyed by exposing it to an electric charge.
(4) Flash ROM: a type of EEPROM that stores the information
using floating-gate transistors, which can store electric charge for
a longer period of time as compared to the normal transistors. This
memory is mainly used in the memory cards of mobile phones,
digital cameras and ipods for storing data. Flash ROM has faster
speed of reading data, as compared to any other type of ROM.
Storage Systems

■ Storage systems are the devices used for

data storage. The main objective of the
storage system is to permanently store
data. The storage systems can be classified
as follows:
(1) Magnetic
(2) Optical
(3) Solid state
(4) Magneto Optical
Magnetic Storage Systems

■ Magnetic storage systems can be

defined as the storage systems that
store the data on a magnetised medium,
with the help of magnetised particles.
Magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, hard
disks, floppy disks are examples of
magnetic storage systems.
■ Can store any type of data, such as text,
audio, video, image
Magnetic Storage Systems

■ Magnetic tapes: The plastic tapes with magnetic

coating that are used for storing the data. They are
similar to the normal recording tapes. The data
stored on the magnetic tapes can be accessed
using the sequential access method.
■ Magnetic Disks: A flat disk that is covered with
magnetic coating for holding information. It is used
to store digital information in the form of small and
magnetised needles. These needles help in
encoding a single bit of information by getting
polarized in one direction represented by 1, and
opposite direction represented by 0. It allows the
random access of data and provides the facility of
erasing and re-recording the data as many times as
required.
Optical Storage Systems

■ The optical storage systems use the laser light as the

optical medium to retrieve as well as record data.
■ The optical storage devices are either read-only or
writable.
Solid-State Storage
Devices
■ Solid-state Storage Devices were
developed in 1978 by Storage Tek
Company.
■ Do not use magnetic and optical medium to
store data. Instead, use the semiconductor
devices.
■ Contains all the properties of hard disk
drives to store the data and use solid-state
memory, which has no moving parts.
■ The examples of SSD are flash memory
cards and Universal Serial Bus (USB)
devices.
Storage Evaluation Criteria

■ Access Mode: random access mode, sequential

access mode, direct access mode
■ Access Time: the time taken by the processor in
completing the requests made by the user for
performing the read and write operations.
■ Storage Capacity: the size of the memory available
for storing the data, and measured in terms of
bytes.
■ Storage Type: Temporary and permanent memory.
■ Cost: the cost of the storage device used in the
computer system for holding the data.
 Components of a
■ Computer
A computer contains many electric, electronic,
and mechanical components known as
hardware
 Input
■ Input is any data and instructions entered into the memory of
a computer
Input
■ Instructions can be entered into the
computer in the form of programs,
commands, and user responses
Input Devices
■ Input devices are electromechanical
devices that are used to provide data to a
computer for storing and further
processing, if necessary.
■ We can provide the input to a computer in
two ways:
– 1. Manually through devices such as
keyboard and mouse;
– 2. Directly from documents using devices
such as scanners.
Input Devices

Depending upon the type or method of input,

the input device may belong to one of the
following categories:
(1) Keyboard
(2) Pointing devices
(3) Scanning devices
(4) Optical recognition devices
(5) Digital camera
(6) Voice recognition devices
(7) Media input devices
Keyboard

Keyboard is the most commonly used input device. We can use a

keyboard to type data and text and execute commands. A standard
keyboard consists of the following groups of keys:
(1) Alphanumeric keys: The alphanumeric keys include the number
keys and alphabet keys. These keys are arranged in the same style as
in the normal typewriters, popularly known as QWERTY layout;
(2) Function keys: Arranged in a row on the top of the keyboard. Help
perform specific tasks, such as searching a file or refreshing a web
page;
(3) Central keys: Used for controlling the movement of cursor and
screen display. Include arrow keys, modifier keys such as SHIFT, ALT,
CTRL;
(4) Numeric keypad: Located on the right side of the keyboard. This
looks like a calculator’s keypad;
(5) Special purpose keys: Escape, Insert, Delete, Print Screen, Pause,
Tab, Spacebar;
Pointing Devices

Pointing devices are the input devices that are

generally used for moving the cursor to a particular
location to point an object on the screen. With the
help of pointing devices, we can easily select the
icons, menus, windows, etc on the Graphical User
Interface. Some of the commonly used pointing
devices are:
(1) Mouse
(2) Trackball
(3) Light pen
(4) Joystick
(5) Touchscreen
Mouse

A small hand-held pointing device that basically controls

the two-dimensional movement of the cursor on the
displayed screen. The most commonly used types of mouse
are:
(1) Mechanical mouse
(2) Optical mouse
Scanning Devices

■ Scanning devices are the input devices that

can electronically capture text and images,
and convert them into computer readable
form.
■ The basic task of a scanning devices is to
convert an image or the textual data into
digital data, i.e., in the form of boxes, where
each box represents either zero or one. The
resultant matrix is known as bit map and is
displayed on the screen.
Scanning Devices

■ The scanning devices can be differentiated from

each other on the basis of the following
characteristics:

• Resolution: the closeness of the pixels in the bit

map, and vary from 72 to 600 dots per inch (dpi);

• Size: the small sized scanning device can scan

approximately two to five inches of the document,
whereas the large sized one can scan
approximately up to forty inches of the document.
Scanning Devices

• Scanning technology: Some ones use Charged

Coupled Device (CCD) arrays, whereas others use
Photo Multiplier Tubes (PMT) technology. The CCD
consists of a series of light receptors, which are
sensitive to the variation in the light frequency. As
the frequency of light changes, these scanning
devices detect the change and the output obtained
after scanning also gets accordingly changed. The
PMT consists of a photocathode, which is a
photosensitive surface used for generating the
electrons. PMT is used for identifying the light
emitted by the weak signals.
Scanning Devices

■ On the basis of these characteristics, the scanning

devices can be categorized as follows:

• Hand-held scanners: are suitable for scanning

small images rather than the whole page of text or
pictures, and are generally used for identifying the
bar-code label of the products.
• Flat-bed scanners: consist of a flat surface
composing of glass pane on which the documents
are kept for scanning. Under this glass pane, there
is xenon light and a CCD, which consists of an array
of red, green and blue filters.
Scanning Devices

■ Drum scanners: consist of a large drum, which is

used for scanning the documents. These scanners
make use of the PMT technology, instead of the
CCD technology. The resolution image of these
scanners is very high, ranges form 8000 dpi to
11000 dpi.
■ Slide scanners: are used for scanning slides as well
as film negatives. These scanners are also known
as film scanners as they can easily scan the original
image of the film. The dark areas appear light and
the light areas appear dark.
Optical Recognition
Devices
■ Optical recognition devices are used for
recognising the characters optically. The optical
recognition devices basically make use of optical
scanner for inputting data. Unlike keyboards, the
optical recognition devices do not enter the data
by pressing the keys. They help the users in saving
a lot of time. Commonly used optical recognition
devices are:

● Optical Character Recognition (OCR) devices:

scan a particular document by recognizing its
individual characters and converting it into the
editable form.
Optical Recognition
Devices
• Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) devices: help
in obtaining the data from the marked fields.
These devices prove to be of great use in
recognizing characters in question sheets,
enrolment forms, registration forms, employee
payroll, etc. Most popularly, the OMR devices
are used for scanning the documents having
multiple choices as in the question papers
used in schools, colleges, etc.
Optical Recognition
Devices
• Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)
devices: special devices used for recognizing
the characters written with magnetic ink
consisting of iron oxide particles. These
devices were specially developed for the
banking operations. The details on the bank
cheques, such as cheque number, bank and
branch code are written with the magnetic.
Digital Camera

■ A digital camera is a handheld electronic device that is

used to capture the image of an object electronically.
The digital camera consists of a built-in computer, which
helps in recording the images electronically. The
following are the main features of the digital camera:

• Capturing and storing thousands of images on a single

memory chip
• Editing as well as deleting the images

• Recording the video clip with sound

• Showing the just recorded video clip on the camera

screen
Digital Camera

■ The image captured by a digital camera is in

the digital format and can be easily
downloaded on a computer system.
■ The quality of the pictures captured by a digital
camera depends on the resolution factor. The
more the resolution of a digital camera, the
better is the image quality.
Voice Recognition System

■ The voice recognition devices generally record the

voice of a person and transform it into electrical
signals. The electrical signals are then converted
into the machine readable code.
■ The voice recognition system only recognises the
voice of the speaking person rather than what he
speaks.
■ The voice recognition devices are used for various
purposes such as dictation, training air-traffic
controllers, etc. These systems allow users to
communicate with computers directly without
using a keyboard or mouse.
Data Acquisition Sensors

■ Sensors are the devices that are used for

detecting and measuring the physical
quantities, such as heat, temperature, and
converting them into electrical signals. The
sensors are most commonly used in data
acquisition systems.
■ The data acquisition system collects the
electrical signals from various devices and
converts them into the digital signals for
further assessment.
Media Input Devices

■ The input devices, which are generally used

in media for communicating with the mass
audiences, are known as media input
devices. The following are the most
popularly used media input devices:

• Microphone

• Webcam

• Graphics tablet
 Output Devices
■ Output devices receive the processed data (information)
from the CPU and present it to the user in a desired form.
They act as an interface between the computer and the
user. The main task of an output device is to convert the
machine readable information into human-readable from
which may be in the form of text, graphics, audio or video.
Depending upon the form of output required, the output
device may belong to one of the following categories:
• Display monitors
• Printers
• Plotters
• Voice output systems
Output Devices

■ While the printers and plotters provide the

physical form of output known as hard copy,
the display monitors, voice output systems and
projectors provide temporary output known as
soft copy. Unlike hard copy, soft copy is not a
permanent form of output.
Display Monitors

■ Earlier the display monitors were capable of

displaying the characters only in a single font
and in a single color. These characters were
arranged in a rectangular grid on the screen.
■ The display screens, which are available today,
support many fonts and colors.
■ Different types of display monitors use
different technology for displaying the data.
Display Monitors

■ Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor: contain an

empty glass tube with a phosphor coated
fluorescent screen and a source of electrons
known as electron gun. A CRT monitor has
many advantages, such as a high contrast ratio
and color depth. It also provides a change in
the resolution without affecting the clarity of
the picture. But it is very bulky and occupies a
lot of space on the desk. It also consumes a lot
of power and produces a large amount heat.
Display Monitors

■ Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitor: Use liquid

crystals technology to display the images. An LCD
monitor is small in size and light in weight so it
occupies less space on the desk. Also, the power
consumption by an LCD monitor is very less.
However, it has a weak color quality as compared to
a CRT monitor.
■ Thin Film Transistor (TFT) Monitor: A TFT monitor
is similar to an LCD monitor except for one
difference that it uses thin film transistor
technology along with liquid crystal technology to
improve the quality of the image.
 Printers
■ A printer is a computer hardware that generates the
hard copy of the information processed by a computer
system.

• Impact Printers: there exists a mechanical contact

between print head and paper. Print head is the part of
the printer that resembles a hammer and is
responsible for transferring the ink to the paper in the
form of required characters. Impact printer contains an
individual print head for each character.
• Non-Impact Printers: there exists no mechanical
contact between the print head and paper. These
printers spray ink on the paper with the help of a
nozzle. The most popular ones are ink-jet printers and
Plotters

■ Plotter is a device used to print high quality

graphics and images. It uses one or more pens
to produce a high quality drawing. These pens
change their positions and draw continuous
lines to produce an image. The plotters were
used as a substitute to the colored printers
when the printers were very expensive and
were also not capable of drawing bigger
images such as graphs.
Voice Output Systems

■ Voice output systems record the simple

messages in human speech form and then
combine all these simple messages to form a
single message. The voice response system is
of two types: (1) a reproduction of human voice
and other sounds; (2) speech synthesis.
■ The basic application of a voice output system
is in Interactive Voice Response systems,
which are used by the customer care or
customer support departments of an
organization, such as telecommunication
companies, etc.
Projectors

■ A projector is a device that is connected to a

computer or a video device for projecting an
image from the computer or video device onto
the big white screen.
■ A projector consists of an optic system, a light
source and displays, which contain the original
images.
■ Projects were initially used for showing films
but now they are used on a large scale for
displaying presentations in various situations.