UNIT 2 : BASIC COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER

UNIT STRUCTURE
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Learning Objectives Introduction Concepts of Bits and Bytes Block Diagram of a Computer Computer Memory 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.6 Primary Memory Secondary Memory

Input Devices 2.6.1 2.6.2 2.6.3 2.6.4 Keyboard Mouse Hand-held Devices Optical Input Devices

2.7

Output Devices 2.7.1 2.7.2 Display Devices Printers

2.8 2.9

Computer Bus Let Us Sum Up

2.10 Further Readings 2.11 Answers to Check Your Progress 2.12 Model Questions

2.1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you will be able to : explain the concept of bits and bytes understand the block diagram of a computer discuss the primary and secondary memory in computer analyse the different types of input and output devices know the different types of buses

2.2

INTRODUCTION

A computer system is composed of various components which perform their unique functions. In this unit, we will introduce you to the basic components of a computer system where you will first learn how the data are represented in the form of bits and bytes. Through this unit you will be acquinted with the types computer memory. Various types of input and output devices and the basic functioning of a bus are also included as a part of discussion in this unit.

2.3

CONCEPTS OF BITS AND BYTES

You may be surprised to know that the computer is made up of millions of tiny

electric circuits that are not visible to us. The memory elements are also built with these tiny circuits which are used for storing data. For every circuit in a computer chip, there are two possibilities: an electric current flows through the circuit, or an electric current does not flow through the circuit. When an electric current flows through a circuit, the circuit is on. When no electricity flows, the circuit is off. An on circuit is represented by the number one (1) and an off circuit is represented by the number zero (0). The number 1 or 0 is called bit. A number system that uses only two digits, 0 and 1, is called the binary number system. The binary number system is also called the base two system. The two symbols 0 and 1 are known as binary digit. The word bit comes from binary digit. Always remember that each time a computer reads an instruction, it translates that instruction into a series of bits, 1s and 0s. On most computers every character from the keyboard is translated into eight bits, a combination of eight 1s and 0s.
8 bit

1 1 byte

Each group of 8 bits is called 1 byte as shown in the follwing figure. Each group of four bits is called a nibble. Thus, 8 bits = 1 byte and 4 bits = 1 nibble and 1024 byte = 1 kilo byte We know that, all the quantities, physical or abstract, can be measured in some units. For example, time is measured in second; length is measured in metres ,and mass in grams.

Similarly, the computer memory can be measured in terms of bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes etc. The followings are the measuring units given in terms of bytes : 1 kilobyte (KB) = 1,024 byte 1 megabyte (MB) = 1,048,576 bytes 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1,073,741,824 bytes 1 terabyte = 1,099,511,627,776

2.4

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A COMPUTER

All general-purpose computers require the following hardware components: Input Unit : This is the unit through which data and instructions enter into a

computer. Usually a keyboard and mouse are the common input devices. Output Unit : This unit communicates the results to the user. A display screen and a printer are the common devices that let you see what the computer has accomplished. Central Processing Unit (CPU) : Execution of programs is the main function of the computer. The program to be executed is a set of instructions that is stored in the computer's memory. A task becomes completed when the instructions of the program are executed by the central processing unit. All the major calculations and comparisions are carried out inside the CPU. The CPU is responsible for activating and controlling the operations of various units (input & output) of the computer system.

The CPU is made up of three major components : the registers, the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) and the control unit. The registers are responsible for storing the intermediate data during the execution of program. The control unit supervises the transfer of information between the registers and instructs the ALU to perform the required operation.

Fig. 2.3 : Components of CPU Control Unit(CU) : The control unit controls and guides the interpretation, flow and manipulation of all the data and information. It does not perform the actual processing of data, but manages and coordinates the entire computer system, including the input and output (I/O) devices. Control unit retrieves and interprets the instructions from the main memory and send signals to the other units to execute them one after the other. Some special purpose registers found inside the CPU like instruction register, program counter etc. help the CU to perform its function smoothly. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) : The ALU performs all the arithmetical functions +, -, *, / and some logical functions like <, >, =, <=, >=, <> etc. When two numbers are required to be added, these numbers are sent from memory to ALU where addition takes place and the result is sent back to memory. In the same way, ALU has the special circuitry to carry out the logical operations. Storage Unit : The storage unit allows a computer to permanently retain large amount of data. The storage unit can be categorised into two types namely primary storage and secondary storage which we will discuss in the next section. Common mass storage devices include disk drives and tape drives etc.

2.5

COMPUTER MEMORY
The term memory usually refers to a form of semiconductor storage and sometimes

other forms of fast but temporary storage. In a computer the data and instructions are stored and subsequently retrieved from the memory. We have come to know that the CPU has some storage elements known as registers for storing data and instructions during the

program execution. Every computer requires storage space for storing programs and data temporarily during the time of program execution or storing the data parmenently for future use. Generally, a computer has three set of memories : a) Primary storage or main memory : Primary memory, also known as memory, is the only one directly accessible to the CPU. The CPU continuously reads instructions stored there and executes them. Any data actively operated on is also stored there in uniform manner. It is a form of semiconductor storage known as random access memory (RAM) and sometimes other forms of fast but temporary storage. It is small-sized, light, but quite expensive. This type of memory is divided into the following two types : Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory). b) Secondary storage or auxiliary memory : Secondary memory or storage RAM (Random Accress

provides the facility of storing information and programs permanently . It differs from primary storage in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU. The computer usually uses its input/output channels to access secondary storage and transfers the desired data using intermediate area in primary storage. Secondary storage does not lose the data when the device is powered down; it is nonvolatile. It is typically also an order of magnitude less expensive than primary storage. c) Internal processor memory : It consists of a small set of high-speed registers that are used as a temoprary locations inside the processors during the execution of instructions. Another type of memory, the cache memory, is gaining wide acceptance in modern computers. Its logical position is between the mainmemory and the internal

memory(registers). Its primary function is to store and cache part of the main memory's contents that the processor is currently using. The computer system has a memory hierarchy consisting of the storage devices in it. A typical memory hierarchy is illustrated in the figure 2.4 below : There are three key characteristics of the memory. They are cost, capacity and access time. On moving down the memory hierarchy, it is found that the cost of the storage devices decreases but their storage capacity as well as the memory access time increases. In other words, the smaller memories are more expensive and much faster. These are supplemented by the larger, cheaper and slower storage devices.

Fig. 2.4 : Memory hierarchy Thus, from the above figure it can be seen that the registers are at the top of the hierarchy and so provides the fastest, the smallest and the most expensive type of memory device for the CPU to access data. Memory Capacity : Capacity in a computer system is defined in terms of the number of bytes that it can store in its main memory. This is usually stated in terms of kilobytes (KB) which is 1024 bytes or megabyte which is 1,048,576 bytes. The rapidly changing memory capacity of computer system has resulted in defining the capacity in terms of gigabytes (GB) which is 1,073,741,824 bytes. Thus, a computer system having a memory of 1GB is capable of storing (1024 X 1024 X 1024) bytes.

2.5.1 Primary Memory

We have found that primary memories can be categorised into two types - RAM and ROM. We will now briefly describe them in this sub section. Random Access Memory (RAM) : A computers main memory is often referred to as RAM - an area in the computer system unit that temporarily holds user data, operating system instructions and program instructions. Every time we turn on our

computer, a set of operating system instructions is copied from hard disk into RAM. These instructions, which help control basic computer functions, remain in RAM until we turn the computer off. RAM features : a) RAM is the place which holds the data that has to be processed by the

computers preocessor. Moreover, it holds the operating system and other application programs also. b) RAM is made up of different ICs (Integreted Circuits). They are also called semiconductor memory. c) Each element of RAM is a memory location in which data can be stored. Each location has a unique address. Using this address data can be directly retrieved or stored. d) Since RAM must hold both the data to be processed and the instructions for processing, its size or capacity is one of the measures of power of the computer. e) RAM is a volatile memory. It loses its data when the computer is turned off. There are generally two broad categories of random access memory : i) DRAM memories (Dynamic Random Access Memory) ii) SRAM memories (Static Random Access Memory) DRAM : Dynamic RAM is a type of RAM in which data is stored in a storage cell, consisting of transistors and capacitors. A common property of a capacitor is its tendency to get discharge, it means the current goes down in the circuit and finally data cannot holds for long time. To come over this effect, the DRAM needs to be continuously refreshed with power supply and thus it has one refreshing circuit which rewrites the data in certain time intervals. This refreshing circuit refreshes or rewrites the data several hundred times in a second. SRAM : Static RAM is a type of RAM that holds its data as long as power is supplied to the circuit. The SRAM does not need any refreshing circuit. SRAMs are used for specific applications within the PC. The SRAM has the following properties : Simplicity : SRAMs dont require external refresh circuitry in order for them to keep their data intact. Speed : SRAM is faster than DRAM. In contrast, SRAMs have the following weaknesses, compared to DRAMs: Cost : SRAM is more expensive than DRAM. Size : SRAMs take up much more space than DRAMs

Read Only Memory (ROM) : One major type of memory that is used in PCs is called read-only memory, ( ROM ). ROM is the memory that stores the data permanently i.e. the instructions in ROM are permanent whether the power is on or off. We have no way to change them, unless we remove the ROM chips from the main board and replace them with another set. Read-only memory is most commonly used to store system-level programs that we want to be made available to the PC at all times. For example, the ROM-BIOS (ROM basic input and output services) programs are stored in ROM chips which are used to boot up (start up) the computer. The following are the different types of ROMs with a description of their relative modifiability : Programmable ROM (PROM) : This is a type of ROM that can be programmed using special equipment; it can be written to, but only once. Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM) : EPROM is a ROM that can be erased and reprogrammed. Ultraviolet light of a specific frequency is used for erasing the EPROM and for allowing it to be reprogrammed again. Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM) : The next level of

erasability is the EEPROM, which can be erased under software control. This is the most flexible type of ROM, and is now commonly used for holding BIOS programs.

2.5.2 Secondary Memory

Secondary memory or storage provides the facility of storing information and

programs permanently . It differs from primary storage in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU. The computer usually uses its input/output channels to access secondary storage and transfers the desired data using intermediate area in primary storage. Secondary storage does not lose the data when the device is powered down; it is non-volatile. It is also typically an order of magnitude less expensive than primary storage. Consequently, modern computer systems typically have an order of magnitude more secondary storage than primary storage and the data is kept for a longer time there. The following figure shows the commonly used secondary storage devices and their classification.

Fig. 2.5 : Secondary storage devices and their classification In modern computers, hard disks are usually used as secondary storage. The time taken to access a given byte of information stored on a hard disk is typically a few thousandths of a second, or milliseconds. By contrast, the time taken to access a given byte of information stored in random access memory is measured in thousandmillionths of a second, or nanoseconds. Some other examples of secondary storage technologies are: Flash Memory ( e.g. USB sticks or keys), Floppy Disks, Magnetic tape, Paper tape, Punch Cards, standalone RAM disks, and Zip drives.

CHECK YOUR PRPOGRESS

Q.1. State True or False: i) The secondary memory is slower than the main memory but has a large capacity. ii) In random access memory any memory location can be accessed independently. iii) Cache memory increases load on main memory. iv) Flash memory is one kind of ROM. v) High speed memories are needed to bridge the gap of speed between I/O device and memory. vi) Registers are the fastest memory element in computer system. vii) Main memory of a computer system cannot store very large data.

Q.2. Which memory is known as the main memory of the computer system ? ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................ Q.3. What are the differences in : a) Volatile versus Non-volatile memory ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... b) Static RAM versus dynamic RAM ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... Q.4. What is the similarity between ROM and PROM? ............................................................................................ ............................................................................................

2.6

INPUT DEVICES
We have already mentioned about the input unit of a computer system whose main

function is to provide information into the computer system for execution. Programs and data must be entered into the computer memory for processing through the input devices, and the results obtained from the execution by the CPU must be displayed or recorded for the user's. The most commonly used input devices can be classified into the following categories : Keyboard devices Point and draw devices (mouse, track ball, joystick, light pen, touch screen) Scanning devices (optical mark recognition, magnetic ink ch aracter recognition, optical bar code reader, digitizer, electronic card reader) Voice recognition devices Vision-input devices (Webcam, video camera etc)

2.6.1 Keyboard
It is the main input device used in most of the computer systems. It has letter and number (alphanumeric) keys, and some function keys, computer specific task keys, that allow the user to use an English-like language to issue instructions to an

electronic environment. It uses a cursor to keep your place on the screen and to let you know where to begin typing. You are able to input commands, type data into documents, compose documents, draw pictures with use of certain keys, pull down menus, and respond to prompts issued by the computer. The keyboard contains special function keys labelled F1, F2, ......., F12 to manipulate the user interface. When a key is touched, an electrical impulse is sent through the device which is picked up by the operating system software, and sent through the computer to be processed. The keyboard operates as a typical typewriter and uses a standard QWERTY keyboard. QWERTY is the way the keyboard is set up for typing. If you look at the keyboard under the top number row, you will see that the alphabet top row begins with QWERTY. Some special purpose keyboards are also found which are used for specific applications. A very typical example of such kind of keyboards can be seen at the Automatic Teller Machines or the ATMs where the keyboard is required for limited functionality by the customers.

2.6.2 Mouse
The mouse is a hand held pointing device that lets you point to and select items on your screen. In a PC mouse there are mostly 2-3 buttons and on a Mac there is one. A ball under the mouse senses movement. The mouse is included in almost every computer that is sold today. Besides becoming an important input tool, it has provided access to the computer for many individuals with disabilities that might not otherwise have the opportunity to use the computer. Variants of a Mouse : Touchpad : A touchpad is a touch sensitive input device which takes user input to control the onscreen pointer and perform other functions similar to that of a mouse. Instead of having an external peripheral device such as a mouse, the touchpad enables the user to interact with the device through the use of one or multiple fingers being dragged across the relative positions on a sensitive pad. These touch pads are mostly found in Notebook and Laptops.Touchpads are pressure and touch sensitive.

Fig. 2.6 : Touchpad of a Laptop

2.6.3 Hand-held Devices

Trackball : The trackball is an upside-down mouse that remains stationary on your desk. It is the same principle as the mouse except that the rollers are reversed and the ball is on top. This ball does not need as much attention as the normal mouse because the only thing that touches it is your hand as the normal mouse touches a surface. Joystick : The Joystick is a vertical stick that moves the graphic cursor in the direction the stick is moved. It consists of a spherical ball, which moves within a socket, and has a stick mounted on it.The user can move the ball with the help of the stick in any direction. Video games, training simulators and control panel of robots are some common uses of a joystick.

Fig. 2.7 : Trackball

Fig. 2.8 : Joystick

Light pen : The light pen is a pen shaped tool that allows the user to touch the computer screen with a lighted pen to activate commands and make selections. Light pens are typically used in CAD (Computer Aided Design) applications to directly draw on screen. Touch Screen : A touch screen is probably one of the simplest and most intuitive of all input devices. It uses optical sensors in, or near, the computer screen that can detect the touch of a finger on the screen.

2.6.4 Optical Input Devices

Scanner : Scanning devices are input devices used for direct data entry from the source document into the computer system. Scanners capture and store information in a graphical format, and then display it on the graphical screen. A scanner consists of two parts, one that illuminates the page for capturing the optical image, and the other that converts and stores the graphical image in a digital format. Once this is done, the computer can then see and directly process this scanned graphical image. A scanners sophistication is the ability to translate an unlimited number of analog voltage levels to digital values. The scanner takes the information it sees on a page and converts into code that the computer can use. A picture once scanned can be edited, printed, or used in an application. Capturing information by using scanners reduces the possibility of human error typically seen during large data entry. Optical Mark Recognizer (OMR) : Optical mark recognization devices sense the marks on computer readable paper. They are usually used by academic institutions for grading aptitude tests where the correct option is marked from multiple options given on special kinds of answer sheets. The OMR device directly reads this paper, and the computer can then use it for further processing.

Fig. 2.9 Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) : MICR is similar to optical mark recognition and is used exclusively by the banking industry. The banking industry makes use of MICR devices for directly reading the account numbers written on cheques and for processing them further as required. MICR characters are printed in special typefaces with a magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron oxide. Optical Barcode Reader (OBR) : Data coded in the form of small vertical lines forms the basis of barcoding. Alphanumerikc data is represented using adjacent vertical lines called barcodes. These are of varying width and the spacing between them is used to uniquely identify books, merchandise in stores, postal packages etc. A barcode reader uses laser beam technology. The laser beam is moved across the patterns of bars in a barcode. These bars reflect the beams in different ways. The reflected beam is then sensed by a light-sensitive detector, which then converts the light patterns into electrical pulses, thereby transmitting them to logic circuits for further conversion to alphanumeric value.

Fig. 2.10

Digitizer : The digitizer is another kind of input device used for converting (digitizing) picture,maps and drawings into digital form for storage in computers. These devices are commonly used in the area of Computer Aided Design (CAD) by architects and engineers to design car, buildings, medical devices, robots and mechanical devices. Electronic Card Reader : Card readers are devices that allow direct data input into a computer system. The electronic-card reader is connected to a computer system and reads the data encoded on an electronic card and transfers it to the computer system for further processing. Typical example of electronic cards are the plastic coated cards provided by the banks to its customers for use in Automatic Teller Machines or ATMs.

2.7

OUTPUT DEVICES
The outputs produced by a computer system can be in two forms : hard copy and

soft copy. Hard copy : The output produced in a physical form is called hard copy output. This type of output is permanent and a relatively stable form of output. Paper is one of the most commonly used hard copy output media. The most widely used hard copy output device is the printer. Soft copy : The output that remains in electronic form, stored in computer memory or on disk are called soft copy outputs. This kind output is not permanent and is usually displayed on monitor or screen. It includes both audio and visual forms of output. A wide range of output devices are available today which are : Display device ( monitors, multimedia projectors, terminals) Plotters (flatbed, drum) Voice response system (voice response system, speech synthe-sizer) Printers

2.7.1 Display Devices

The display device shows the processed output from a computer system. The increasing demand for displaying the graphics and pictures for presenting information in a visual form has led to the popularity of graphics display device. Display screen technology may belong to one of the following categories : a) Cathod Ray Tube(CRT) : The CRT is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun (a source of electrons) and a fluorescent screen, with internal or external means

to accelerate and deflect the electron beam.It is used for creating images in the form of light emitted from the fluorescent screen. A CRT display can be either of the following two types : Raster scan display and Vector display. b) Liquid Crystal Display(LCD) : The LCD technology is a thin, flat electronic visual display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals. They are common in consumer devices such as video players, gaming devices, clocks, watches, calculators, and telephones. LCDs have displaced cathode ray tube (CRT) displays in most applications. They are usually more compact, less energy consuming, lightweight, portable, less expensive, more reliable, and easier on the eyes. Monitor : The monitor is the common output device mostly used. It can be thought of as a high resolution TV set. The monitor displays text and images (pictures) converted to output from the video adapter. The video adapter is an expansion card that plugs into the motherboard. The adapter changes the instructions from the central processing unit (CPU) into a way that the monitor can understand it. Most computer monitors are based on Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology. The basic operation of these tubes is similar to that in television sets. With the widespread use of smaller computers like PDAs and laptops now-a-days, a new type of display screen Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) has been used.

2.7.2 Printers
It is a widely used hard copy output device. A printer prints information and data from the computer onto a paper. Some printers can produce only textual information but some others can produce graphics also. Printers can be classified into categories based on : printing technology, printing speed, printing quality. Printing technology : Printers can be divided into two types - (i)impact printers and (ii)non impact printers. (I)Impact printers : The printers that work by physically striking a head or needle against an ink ribbon to make mark. Impact printers are divided into Dot matrix printers , Daisy-Wheel printers and Drum printers.

Dot Matrix Printer : This printer is the cheapest but loudest of all the printers. This printer prints one character at a time. The printer uses a fine stripe of carbon and

depending on what pin it is, will determine the quality of the printing. The pin sizes range from 9-24. The print head hits the ink ribbon with one of its many pins causing it to form a letter number or character.

Fig. 2.11 : A Dot-Matrix Printer With the pins hitting the ribbon this printer becomes quite loud. The ppm (page per minute )ranges from 1 to 3 but with new changes in the technology it is being more and more used in offices today and it can also print 3 - 6 ppm ;besides it is much quitter. The drawback in most dot matrix printers is the on-roll paper which has a track which feeds it through the printer. Also, in most new dot matrix printers there is a paper feed which allows most forms of paper. Daisy Wheel Printer : Daisy-wheel printers operate in much the same fashion as a typewriter. A hammer strikes a wheel with petals (the daisy wheel), each petal containing a letter form at its tip. The letter form strikes a ribbon of ink, depositing the ink on the page and thus printing a character. By rotating the daisy wheel, different characters are selected for printing.You can change the daisy wheel to print different fonts. This printer is also called the letter quality printer. Drum printer : Drum printer is one of the most commonly used line printers.

Fig. 2.12 : Printing Mechanism of a Drum Printer In a typical drum printer design, a fixed font character set is engraved onto the periphery of a number of print wheels, the number matching the number of columns (letters in a line) the printer could print. The wheels, joined to form a large drum (cylinder), spin at high speed and the paper and an inked ribbon are stepped (moved) past the print position. As the desired character for each column passes the print position, a hammer strikes the paper from the rear and presses the paper against the ribbon and the drum, causing the desired character to be recorded on the continuous paper. Because the drum carrying the letterforms (characters) remains in constant motion, the strike-and-retreat action of the hammers has to be very fast. Typically, they are driven by voice coils mounted on the moving part of the hammer. (ii)Non impact printers : The printers that work by not physically striking a head or needle against an ink ribbon to make a mark. Inkjet, Laser and thermal printers fall under this category of printers. The non impact printers commonly used are : Inkjet Printer : This printer is set at the standard for home use. It is a non impact printer and it does not touch the paper while printing. Instead, the print head sprays ink onto paper forming an image or text

For business letters a ink jest printer is the most common one used for its high quality printing. The common speed on an ink jet printer is about 3 ppm and 300 dpi (dots per inch). Laser Printer : Among the different types of printers, laser printers remain the fastest, and the most efficient way to reproduce text and images, offering high resolution and quick speeds at a relatively low cost. A laser printer uses an electrostatic process similar to a photocopier. The laser charges the areas of a photosensitive image drum. Toner particles are then attracted to these areas of the drum. By rolling this drum against a piece of paper, the printer creates an image on a page.In the final stage, heat is used to fuse the toner to the paper.

Fig. 2.13 : Inkjet printer and Laser Printer Plotter : A plotter is a hard copy output device which is used to draw high-resolution charts, graphs, maps, and other line based diagrams. It is a pen based output device , attached to a computer for making vector graphics ,that is, images created by a series of many straight lines. A plotter is a very slow and expensive output device. It is mainly used for Computer Aided Design(CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing applications. Plotters are classified as Drum plotters and Flatbed plotters.

Fig. 2.14 : Plotter Audio Output : Voice response systems enable the computer to talk to its users. It consists of an audio-response device that produces the audio output. Voice response systems are of two types : voice reproduction system and speech synthesiser. Voice reproduction system produce an audio output by selecting the appropriate response from a predefined set of responses. These responses may be in the form of speech (words or phrases spoken by human beings), musical sounds, alarms, or other sounds. Text is converted into spoken words by speech access systems.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q.5. State true or false a) One of the most common input device is keyboard. b) Plotters are devices used for outputting pictures, drawings. c) Digitizers are used as output devices. d) In case where graphical user interfaces are common mouse should not be used. e) Speech recognition devices are input devices. Q.6. Answer the followings : a) What are electronic card readers? b) Compare and contrast the Laser and Dot Matrix Printers. c) What is an OMR device? d) On what basis are the printers classified?

2.8

COMPUTER BUS

Bus is an electrical pathway through which the processor communicates with the internal and external devices that are assembled with the computer. It is resposible to carry memory address as well as data to the control location in memory. Computer system contains a number of different buses that provide pathways between components at various levels of the computer system hierarchy. The name of the bus is determined by the type of the signals it carries and the operations it performs. A bus that connects major computer components (CPU, memory, I/O) is called a system bus. The interaction between the CPU and memory and CPU and I/O takes place very frequently. To enable this interaction, some type of connectivity is needed between the units of a computer system. This connectivity channel is known as bus. A key characteristic of a bus is that it is a shared transmission medium. Physically, a bus is set of wires, which carries a group of bits in parallel and has an associated control scheme. The bus width is defined as the number of parallel lines in the bus. Every computer has three types of buses for interconnecting the CPU and memory and CPU and I/O. The functions performed by bus are as follows : Bus transfers data between the computer subsystem. It sends instructions and commands to and from the processors. It connects all internal computer components to the main memory and the CPU. It logically connects various peripheral devices which can easily communicate with the CPU. It has the clock speed which is measured in MHz.

Fig. 2.15 Data Bus : The data bus is used to transfer data between the CPU and memory and CPU and I/O. The one that you hear most about is the data bus. The bus width of the data

bus is an important parameter that affects the overall speed of a computer system. This is because each wire of a bus can transfer one bit at a time. Hence, a 8-bit bus can move 8 bits data time, a 16 bit bus can transfer two bytes, and 32 bit bus can transfer four bytes at a time. This is similar to a multi-lane highway. The wider the highway, the more traffic can flow simultaneously. Similarly the wider the bus enables more bits of data to travel, simultaneously resulting in faster exchange of data. The data bus is also referred to as a memory bus which is often called system bus Address Bus : Every location in the memory has a unique address. The address of a location does not change, but the data stored in it can change. In order to retrieve some data from memory, it is necessary to specify the address of the location where the data is stored. The address bus is used to carry the address of a memory location whenever data is to be transferred to or from memory. Again, a computer system normally has multiple I/O devices like disk, tape, network etc simultaneously connected to it. Each I/O device has a unique identifier associated to it. The address bus is used to carry the address of the I/O device to be accessed by the CPU.

Control Bus : In addition to spending address and exchanging data with the memory, the CPU also needs to send control signals to the memory to specify whether the data is to be read from or written to the specified address location. The control bus carries such signals, which are in the form of READ/WRITE commands. A typical Bus structue is shown in the following figure :

Fig. 2.16 ACTIVITY

Find out the capacity and structure of the memory types used in a computer system. Prepare a list of all old and new input and output devices with illustrations.

2.9

LET US SUM UP
Data inside a computer is stored in the form of 0s and 1s. These 0 and 1s are called bit. 4 bit constitute a nibble and 8 b it constitute a byte. The memory usually refers to a form of semiconductor storage i.e. primary memory and storage refers to mass storag i.e. secondary memory. Random access memories are the semiconductor memory. They are volatile in nature. RAMs are of two types - dynamic RAM and static RAM. ROMs are also the semiconductor memory. The instructions in ROMs are permanent whether the power is on or off. PROM, EPROM, EEPROM are the types of ROMs. Cache memory is a special type of RAM which is the faster memory used in a computer system in between the CPU and main memory. Secondary memory also called secondary storage stores information and programs permanently. In personal computer, secondary memory typically consists of hard disk or any removable media, if present, such as a CD or DVD etc. Magnetic tapes are the magnetic-coated plastic tapes, which are used for storing data and audio or video files. Input device is an electromechanical device that accepts data or information from the user in user readable form, and translates them into computer readable form. An output device is an electromechanical device, which produces the output of processing by the computer to the user. Computer produces the output in a machine readable form, and the output device converts it to a human readable form. Bus is an electrical pathway through which the processor communicates with the internal and external devices that are assembled with the computer. Basically ,the buses are of three types : data bus, address bus and control bus.

2.10 FURTHER READINGS

Computer Fundamentals Architecture and Organization, B. Ram, New Age International (P) Ltd. Introduction to Computer Science, ITL Education Solution Limied, Pearson Education Digital Logic and Computer Design, M. M. Mano, PHI

Computer Fundamentals, P K Sinha, BPB Publication DOEACC O & A Level Books.

2.11 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Ans. to Q. No. 1 : i) True, ii) True, iii) False, iv) True, v)True, vi)True, vii) True Ans. to Q. No. 2 : Random Access Memory is known as the main memory of the computer system. Ans. to Q. No. 3 : a) Volatile Memory Non-volatile memory

i) Power is required all the time i) Power is not required once data is stored ii) Temporary storage iii) Normally faster than non-volatile types b) Static memory i) Loses its signal ii) Periodic refreshing of memory is needed iii) Expensive iv) Used as Cache iv) ii) No refreshing iii) Cheap Used as main memory ii) Permanent storage iii) Slower than volatile memories. Dynamic memory i) Doesnot lose signal strength

Ans. to Q. No. 4 : The similarity in ROM and PROM is that both write operations which can be performed only once and whatever has been written cannot be changed. Ans. to Q. No. 5 : a) True, b) True, c) False, d) False, e) True Ans. to Q. No. 6 : a) Card readers are devices that allow direct data input into a computer system. The electronic-card reader is connected to a computer system and reads the data encoded on an electronic card and transfers it to the computer system for further processing. b) Laser Printer i) High cost ii) Forms character using laser beam iii) Non-impact printer Dot Matrix Printer i) Low cost ii) Use Dot Matrix to print character iii) Impact printer

iiv) High quality output v) Noiseless operation vi) Cannot produce multiple copies of a single print

iv) Output is of low quality v) Noisy vi) Can produce multiple copies in a single print with the help of carbon paper.

c) An input device (a scanner) is capable of recognizing a pre-specified type of mark made by pencil or pen. Any input data that is of a choice or selection nature can be recorded for OMR input. d) Printers can be classified into categories based on : printing technology, printing speed, printing quality. Printing technology : Printers can be divided into two types - impact printers and non impact printers.

2.12 MODEL QUESTIONS

Q.1. Differentiate between a bit and a byte. Q.2. What do you understand by computer memory ? List the two different categories of memory.

Q.3. What is a RAM? What are its two types? Differentiate between them. Q.4. What is a ROM? Why is it called so? List the differenet types of ROMs and their key features. Q.5. What is a cache memory? How is it different from a primary memory? Q.6. Differentiate between a) PROM and EPROM. b) Static RAM and Dynamic RAM Q.7. Why are input and output devices necessary for a computer system? Q.8. What are pointing devices? Discuss some of the commonly used pointing devices. Q.9. Explain the different types of printers. Make a clear difference among them in terms of speed, cost, and method of operation. Q.10. What is a bus? List out the main functions performed by system. buses in a computer

Q.11. Write short note : a) RAM c) MICR b) Light pen d) Scanner

e) Computer Bus