Chapter 3: Information:

The Tools Required to

Handle It
CPU and Main Memory

Chip that executes

program commands
Central
Processing
Intel Pentium III
Unit
Sun Sparc Processor

Primary storage area

for programs and data
that are in active use
Main
Synonymous with Memory
RAM

2
Secondary Memory Devices

Secondary memory Central Information is moved

devices provide Processing between main memory
long-term storage Unit and secondary memory
as needed

Hard disks
Floppy disks Hard Disk
ZIP disks Main
Writable CDs Memory
Tapes
Floppy Disk

3
Input / Output Devices

Monitor I/O devices allow user

Central
Processing interaction
Unit
Keyboard

Monitor screen
Keyboard Hard Disk
Mouse Main
Bar code scanner Memory
Light pen
Touch screen Floppy Disk

4
Software Categories
 Operating System
• controls all machine activities
• provides the user interface to the computer
• manages resources such as the CPU and memory
• Windows 98, Windows NT, Unix, Linux, Mac OS

 Application program
• generic term for any other kind of software
• word processors, missile control systems, games

 Most operating systems and application programs have a

graphical user interface (GUI)

5
Analog vs. Digital
 There are two basic ways to store and manage data:

 Analog
• continuous, in direct proportion to the data represented
• music on a record album - a needle rides on ridges in the grooves
that are directly proportional to the voltage sent to the speaker

 Digital
• the information is broken down into pieces, and each piece is
represented separately
• music on a compact disc - the disc stores numbers representing
specific voltage levels sampled at various points

6
Digital Information
 Computers store all information digitally:
• numbers
• text
• graphics and images
• audio
• video
• program instructions

 In some way, all information is digitized - broken down into

pieces and represented as numbers

7
Representing Text Digitally
 For example, every character is stored as a number,
including spaces, digits, and punctuation

 Corresponding upper and lower case letters are separate

characters

Hi, Heather.

72 105 44 32 72 101 97 116 104 101 114 46

8
Binary Numbers
 Once information is digitized, it is represented and stored
in memory using the binary number system

 A single binary digit (0 or 1) is called a bit

 Devices that store and move information are cheaper and

more reliable if they only have to represent two states

 A single bit can represent two possible states, like a light

bulb that is either on (1) or off (0)

 Combinations of bits are used to store values

9
Bit Combinations

1 bit 2 bits 3 bits 4 bits

0 00 000 0000 1000
1 01 001 0001 1001
10 010 0010 1010
11 011 0011 1011
100 0100 1100
101 0101 1101
110 0110 1110
111 0111 1111

Each additional bit doubles the number of possible combinations

10
Number System

11
12
Binary Number
A Binary Number is made up of only 0s and 1s.

13
Conversion
Decimal to Binary

14
Octal Number System
OCTAL or BASE-8 numbers uses eight symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, and 7 (count them!) and position plays.

15
Conversion
Decimal to Octal

16
Hexadecimal Number
System
Hexadecimal is the name of the numbering system that is
base 16.

17
Conversion
Decimal to Hexadecimal

18
Activity

19
Bit Combinations
 Each combination can represent a particular item
 There are 2N combinations of N bits
 Therefore, N bits are needed to represent 2N unique items

1
1 bit ? 21 = 2 items
How many 2 bits ? 2
22 = 4 items
items can be
represented by
3 bits ? 23 = 8 items
4 bits ? 24 = 16 items
5 bits ? 25 = 32 items

20
A Computer Specification
 Consider the following specification for a personal
computer:

• 600 MHz Pentium III Processor

• 256 MB RAM
• 16 GB Hard Disk
• 24x speed CD ROM Drive
• 17” Multimedia Video Display with 1280 x 1024 resolution
• 56 KB Modem

 What does it all mean?

21
Memory

9278
Main memory is divided
9279 into many memory
9280 locations (or cells)
9281
9282
9283 Each memory cell has a
9284 numeric address, which
9285 uniquely identifies it
9286

22
Storing Information

9278 Each memory cell stores a

9279 10011010 set number of bits (usually
8 bits, or one byte)
9280
9281
Large values are
9282
stored in consecutive
9283 memory locations
9284
9285
9286

23
Storage Capacity
 Every memory device has a storage capacity, indicating the
number of bytes it can hold
 Capacities are expressed in various units:

Unit Symbol Number of Bytes

kilobyte KB 210 = 1024
megabyte MB 220 (over 1 million)
30
gigabyte GB 230 (over 1 billion)
terabyte TB 240 (over 1 trillion)

24
Memory
 Main memory is volatile - stored information is lost if the
electric power is removed
 Secondary memory devices are nonvolatile

 Main memory and disks are direct access devices -

information can be reached directly
 The terms direct access and random access are often used
interchangeably
 A magnetic tape is a sequential access device since its data
is arranged in a linear order - you must get by the
intervening data in order to access other information

25
RAM vs. ROM
 RAM - Random Access Memory (direct access)
 ROM - Read-Only Memory

 The terms RAM and main memory are basically

interchangeable

 ROM could be a set of memory chips, or a separate device,

such as a CD ROM

 Both RAM and ROM are random (direct) access devices!

 RAM should probably be called Read-Write Memory

26
The Central Processing Unit
 A CPU is also called a microprocessor
 It continuously follows the fetch-decode-execute cycle:

Retrieve an instruction from main memory

fetch

execute decode

Carry out the Determine what the

instruction instruction is

27
The Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 The CPU contains:

Performs calculations
Arithmetic / Logic Unit and decisions

Coordinates
Control Unit processing steps

Small storage
Registers areas

28
The Central Processing Unit
 The speed of a CPU is controlled by the system clock

 The system clock generates an electronic pulse at regular

intervals

 The pulses coordinate the activities of the CPU

 The speed is measured in megahertz (MHz)

29
Monitor
 The size of a monitor (17") is measured diagonally, like a
television screen

 Most monitors these days have multimedia capabilities:

text, graphics, video, etc.

 A monitor has a certain maximum resolution , indicating

the number of picture elements, called pixels, that it can
display (such as 1280 by 1024)

 High resolution (more pixels) produces sharper pictures

30
Modem
 Data transfer devices allow information to be sent and
received between computers

 Many computers include a modem, which allows

information to be moved across a telephone line

 A data transfer device has a maximum data transfer rate

 A modem, for instance, may have a data transfer rate of

56,000 bits per second (bps)

31
Networks
 A network is two or more computers that are connected so
that data and resources can be shared

 Most computers are connected to some kind of network

 Each computer has its own network address, which uniquely

identifies it among the others

 A file server is a network computer dedicated to storing

programs and data that are shared among network users

32
Network Connections
 Each computer in a network could be directly connected to
each other computer in the network
 These are called point-to-point connections

Adding a computer requires

a new communication line
for each computer already
in the network

This technique is not feasible for

more than a few close machines

33
Network Connections
 Most modern networks share a single communication line
 Adding a new computer to the network is relatively easy

Network traffic must take Often information is broken

turns using the line, which down in parts, called packets,
introduces delays which are sent to the receiving
machine then reassembled

34
Local-Area Networks

A Local-Area Network
(LAN) covers a small
distance and a small
number of computers
LAN

A LAN often connects the machines

in a single room or building

35
Wide-Area Networks

A Wide-Area Network (WAN)

connects two or more LANs,
often over long distances

LAN

A LAN is usually owned

by one organization, but
a WAN often connects
different groups in
LAN
different countries

36
The Internet
 The Internet is a WAN which spans the entire planet

 The word Internet comes from the term internetworking,

which implies communication among networks

 It started as a United States government project, sponsored

by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), and was
originally called the ARPANET

 The Internet grew quickly throughout the 1980s and 90s

 Less than 600 computers were connected to the Internet in

1983; now there are over 10 million
37
TCP/IP
 A protocol is a set of rules that determine how things
communicate with each other

 The software which manages Internet communication

follows a suite of protocols called TCP/IP

 The Internet Protocol (IP) determines the format of the

information as it is transferred

 The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) dictates how

messages are reassembled and handles lost information

38
IP and Internet Addresses
 Each computer on the Internet has a unique IP address, such
as:
204.192.116.2

 Most computers also have a unique Internet name, which is

also referred to as an Internet address:

renoir.villanova.edu
kant.breakaway.com

 The first part indicates a particular computer (renoir)

 The rest is the domain name, indicating the organization
(villanova.edu)
39
Domain Names
 The last section (the suffix) of each domain name usually
indicates the type of organization:
edu - educational institution
com - commercial business
org - non-profit organization
net - network-based organization

Sometimes the suffix

indicates the country:
New suffix categories
uk - United Kingdom
are being considered
au - Australia
ca - Canada
se - Sweden

40
Domain Names
 A domain name can have several parts

 Unique domain names mean that multiple sites can have

individual computers with the same local name

 When used, an Internet address is translated to an IP

address by software called the Domain Name System (DNS)

 There is no one-to-one correspondence between the sections

of an IP address and the sections of an Internet address

41
The World-Wide Web
 The World-Wide Web allows many different types of
information to be accessed using a common interface

 A browser is a program which accesses and presents

information
• text, graphics, sound, audio, video, executable programs

 A Web document usually contains links to other Web

documents, creating a hypermedia environment

 The term Web comes from the fact that information is not
organized in a linear fashion

42
The World-Wide Web
 Web documents are often defined using the HyperText
Markup Language (HTML)

 Information on the Web is found using a Uniform Resource

Locator (URL):

http://www.lycos.com
http://www.villanova.edu/webinfo/domains.html
ftp://java.sun.com/applets/animation.zip

 A URL indicates a protocol (http), a domain, and possibly

specific documents

43