Basic Computer Organisation

Introduction to Computer System

A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed
- to accept data (input),
- process it and
- generate result (output)

Can these devices be considered as Computer?

- Mobile Phone
- Watch
 Introduction to Computer System
A computer with additional software and hardware is known as Computer system
and it comprises of Central Processing Unit (CPU), Input/Output devices,
memory and storage devices.
e.g.)

Personal Computer Laptop Tablet mobile phone

 Hardware
Hardware refers to the physical components of a computer that can be touched.
These are the primary electronic devices used to build up the computer.
e.g.)
Processor, Memory Devices, Monitor,
Printer, Keyboard, Mouse etc.
 Software
Software can be defined as a collection of programs (or set of instructions) which
can perform different tasks on a computer system.
e.g.)
Ms Word, Excel, Power Point, Google Chrome
 Difference between hardware & Software
Hardware Software
physical parts of computer which builds the set of instructions which performs different
computer tasks
Hardware can not perform any task without software can not be executed without
software. hardware
we can see and touch hardware we can see the software but actually can’t
touch it
Hardware is not affected by computer viruses. Software is affected by computer viruses.
It has four main categories: It is mainly divided into
- input device, - System software,
- output devices, - Programming software and
- storage, and - Application software
- internal components
 Input devices
The devices through which data and control signals are sent to a computer are
termed as input devices.
e.g.)

These devices convert the

input data into a digital form
that is acceptable by the
computer system.
 Output devices
The devices receives data from a computer system for display, physical
production, etc., is called output device
e.g.)

These devices convert the

digital information into human
understandable form
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
It is the electronic circuitry of a computer that carries out the actual processing
and usually referred as the brain (or processor) of the computer
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Physically, a CPU can be placed on one or more microchips called integrated
circuits (IC). The ICs comprise semiconductor materials
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU fetches the program and data from the memory and performs
arithmetic and logic operations as per the given instructions and stores the
result back to memory

Programs Memory
 Components of CPU
ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic
operations that need to be done as per the
instruction in a program

CU controls sequential instruction execution,

interprets instructions and guides data flow
through the computer’s memory, ALU and
input or output devices.
 Components of CPU
While processing, the CPU stores the data as
well as instructions in its local memory
called registers.

Registers are part of the CPU chip and they

are limited in size and number.

Different registers are used for storing data,

instructions or intermediate results
 Memory in Computer
As a human being, we rely lot on our memory
we read, hear, watch things, and store it in
our brain

Similarly, a computer system needs memory

to store the data and instructions for processing
 Memory in Computer
Similarly, computers have 2 types of memory:
a.) Primary memory
b.) Secondary memory Computer
Memory

Primary Secondary
Memory Memory

RAM ROM
 Types of Memory: Primary Memory
Primary memory is an essential component of a computer system in which program and data
are loaded before processing.

The CPU interacts directly with the primary memory to perform read or write operation.

It is of two types:
(i) Random Access Memory (RAM) and
(ii) Read Only Memory (ROM)
 Random Access Memory (RAM)
RAM is volatile in nature, it is used to store data temporarily while the computer is working

RAM is usually referred to as main memory and it is faster than the secondary memory or
storage devices

Note:
Whenever the computer is started or a software application is launched, the required
program and data are loaded into RAM for processing
 Read Only Memory (ROM)
On the other hand, ROM is non-volatile in nature, which means, content in ROM will not lost
even if power is turned off

It is used as a small but faster permanent storage for the contents which are rarely changed

Note:
The startup program (boot loader) that loads the operating system into primary
memory, is stored in ROM.
 Booting
Booting is basically the process of starting the computer, and it is generally of 6 steps:
i.) The startup: switch ON the computer,
ii.) BIOS: Power On self test
iii.) Loading of OS in main memory
iv.) System configuration: loading drivers into main memory
v.) Loading system utilities like volume control, antivirus
vi.) User authentication
 Types of Memory: Secondary Memory
Human beings too do not rely on our memory
completely, and we make notes and store
them permanently

Primary memory has limited storage capacity

and is either volatile (RAM) or read-only (ROM).
That’s why, computer requires another storage
option, which provides permanent storage for
future use
 Types of Memory: Secondary Memory
The secondary memory is non-volatile and has larger storage capacity than primary memory,
and it is cheaper and slower than main memory.
e.g.)
Types of Memory: Secondary Memory

Note:
CPU can’t access the secondary memory directly, in order to access the contents present
in secondary memory, contents of secondary storage need to be first brought into the
main memory for the CPU to access

Suppose there is no secondary memory, can a system run without secondary memory?
Can we install a software on this computer?
 Difference between Primary memory and
secondary memory

Primary memory Secondary memory

It’s volatile in nature It’s non-volatile in nature
directly accessed by CPU CPU can’t access it directly
It’s known as main memory It’s known as backup memory
It is faster and costlier than secondary It is slower and cheaper than primary
memory memory
 Cache Memory
RAM is faster than secondary storage,
but not as fast as a computer processor.
So, because of RAM, a CPU may have
to slow down.

To speed up the operations of the CPU,

a very high speed memory is placed
between the CPU and the primary memory
known as cache.
 Cache Memory
It stores the copies of the data from frequently
accessed primary memory locations, thus,
reducing the average time required to access
data from primary memory.

When the CPU needs some data, it first examines

the cache. In case the requirement is met, it is
read from the cache, otherwise the primary
memory is accessed
 Units of Memory
A computer system uses binary numbers to store and process data. The binary digits 0 and 1,
which are the basic units of memory, are called bits.

Further, these bits are grouped together to form words.

- A 4-bit word is called a Nibble
e.g.) 1001, 0101, 1101, etc.
- A two nibble word, i.e., 8-bit word is called a byte
e.g.) 10001001, 11111001, 01010101, etc.
 Units of Memory
Like any other standard unit, bytes are grouped together to make bigger chunks or units of
memory.
 Summary
Introduction to computer system,
hardware, software, and their difference
input device, output device,
CPU, and its components: ALU, CU, Registers
Memory (primary, cache and secondary),
Booting
units of memory (Bit, Byte, KB, MB,GB, TB, PB)
 Assignment
Data transfer between CPU and memory (section 1.4)