Components of Computer

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A computer is an electronic device that accepts data, performs

operations, displays results, and stores the data or results as
needed. It is a combination of hardware and software resources
that integrate and provide various functionalities to the user.
Hardware is the physical components of a computer, such as a
processor, memory devices, monitor, keyboard, etc., while software
is a set of programs or instructions that are required by the
hardware resources to function properly.

Components of a Computer
There are basically three important components of a computer:
1. Input Unit
2. Central Processing Unit(CPU)
3. Output Unit
1. Input Unit:
The input unit consists of input devices that are attached to the
computer. These devices take input and convert it into binary
language that the computer understands. Some of the common
input devices are keyboard, mouse, joystick, scanner etc.
 The Input Unit is formed by attaching one or more input devices
to a computer.
 A user input data and instructions through input devices such as
a keyboard, mouse, etc.
 The input unit is used to provide data to the processor for further
processing.
2. Central Processing Unit:
Once the information is entered into the computer by the input
device, the processor processes it. The CPU is called the brain of the
computer because it is the control centre of the computer. It first
fetches instructions from memory and then interprets them so as to
know what is to be done. If required, data is fetched from memory
or input device. Thereafter CPU executes or performs the required
computation, and then either stores the output or displays it on the
output device. The CPU has three main components, which are
responsible for different functions: Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU),
Control Unit (CU) and Memory registers
A. Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU): The ALU, as its name
suggests performs mathematical calculations and takes logical
decisions. Arithmetic calculations include addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. Logical decisions involve the comparison
of two data items to see which one is larger or smaller or equal.
 Arithmetic Logical Unit is the main component of the CPU
 It is the fundamental building block of the CPU.
 Arithmetic and Logical Unit is a digital circuit that is used to
perform arithmetic and logical operations.
B. Control Unit: The Control unit coordinates and controls the data
flow in and out of the CPU, and also controls all the operations of
ALU, memory registers and also input/output units. It is also
responsible for carrying out all the instructions stored in the
program. It decodes the fetched instruction, interprets it and sends
control signals to input/output devices until the required operation is
done properly by ALU and memory.
 The Control Unit is a component of the central processing unit of
a computer that directs the operation of the processor.
 It instructs the computer’s memory, arithmetic and logic unit, and
input and output devices on how to respond to the processor’s
instructions.
 In order to execute the instructions, the components of a
computer receive signals from the control unit.
 It is also called the central nervous system or brain of the
computer.
C. Memory Registers: A register is a temporary unit of memory in
the CPU. These are used to store the data, which is directly used by
the processor. Registers can be of different sizes(16 bit, 32 bit, 64
bit and so on) and each register inside the CPU has a specific
function, like storing data, storing an instruction, storing address of
a location in memory etc. The user registers can be used by an
assembly language programmer for storing operands, intermediate
results etc. Accumulator (ACC) is the main register in the ALU and
contains one of the operands of an operation to be performed in the
ALU.
Memory attached to the CPU is used for the storage of data and
instructions, and is called internal memory The internal memory is
divided into many storage locations, each of which can store data or
instructions. Each memory location is of the same size and has an
address. With the help of the address, the computer can read any
memory location easily without having to search the entire memory.
When a program is executed, its data is copied to the internal
memory and stored in the memory till the end of the execution. The
internal memory is also called the Primary memory or Main memory.
This memory is also called RAM, i.e., Random Access Memory. The
time of access of data is independent of its location in memory,
therefore, this memory is also called Random Access memory
(RAM).
 Memory Unit is the primary storage of the computer.
 It stores both data and instructions.
 Data and instructions are stored permanently in this unit so that
they are available whenever required.
3. Output Unit :
The output unit consists of output devices that are attached to the
computer. It converts the binary data coming from the CPU to
human understandable form. The common output devices are
monitor, printer, plotter, etc.
 The output unit displays or prints the processed data in a user-
friendly format.
 The output unit is formed by attaching the output devices of a
computer.
 The output unit accepts the information from the CPU and
displays it in a user-readable form.
Difference between RISC and CISC processor
CISC RISC

A large number of a instructions are Very few instructions are present. The number
present in the architecture. of instructions is generally less than 100.

No instruction with a long execution time due

Some instructions with long execution
to a very simple instruction set. Some early
times. These include instructions that
RISC machines did not even have an integer
copy an entire block from one part of
multiply instruction, requiring compilers to
memory to another and others that copy
implement multiplication as a sequence of
multiple registers to and from memory.
additions.

Variable-length encodings of the Fixed-length encodings of the instructions are

instructions. used.
Example: IA32 instruction size can range Example: In IA32, generally all instructions
from 1 to 15 bytes. are encoded as 4 bytes.

Multiple formats are supported for

specifying operands. A memory operand
Simple addressing formats are supported. Only
specifier can have many different
base and displacement addressing is allowed.
combinations of displacement, base, and
index register.

CISC supports array. RISC does not support an array.

Arithmetic and logical operations only use

Arithmetic and logical operations can be register operands. Memory referencing is only
applied to both memory and register allowed by loading and storing instructions,
operands. i.e. reading from memory into a register and
writing from a register to memory respectively.

Implementation programs are hidden Implementation programs exposed to machine-

 CISC RISC

from machine-level programs. The ISA

level programs. Few RISC machines do not
provides a clean abstraction between
allow specific instruction sequences.
programs and how they get executed.

Condition codes are used. No condition codes are used.

Registers are being used for procedure

The stack is being used for procedure
arguments and return addresses. Memory
arguments and returns addresses.
references can be avoided by some procedures.

Successful pipeline with one instruction

Unsuccessful pipeline
per cycle

Heavy use of RAM More efficient use of RAM

Single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) is a type of parallel processing in Flynn's taxonomy.
SIMD can be internal (part of the hardware design) and it can be directly accessible through
an instruction set architecture (ISA), but it should not be confused with an ISA. SIMD describes
computers with multiple processing elements that perform the same operation on multiple data
points simultaneously.

In computing, multiple instruction, single data (MISD) is a type of parallel

computing architecture where many functional units perform different operations on the same
data
In computing, multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD) is a technique employed to achieve
parallelism. Machines using MIMD have a number of processor cores that
function asynchronously and independently. At any time, different processors may be executing
different instructions on different pieces of data.

In computing, single instruction stream, single data stream (SISD) is a computer

architecture in which a single uni-core processor executes a single instruction stream, to operate
on data stored in a single memory. This corresponds to the von Neumann architecture.
Parallel Processing:

Parallel processing is a computing paradigm where multiple

processing units or cores work together to solve a problem,
execute a task, or process data simultaneously.

 The goal is to improve computational efficiency and overall

system performance by dividing a larger problem into smaller
subproblems that can be solved concurrently.
 Parallel processing can be implemented at different levels,
ranging from hardware-level parallelism to software-level
parallelism.

‣ Throughput:
Throughput in parallel processing refers to the rate at which a
system can complete tasks or process data when multiple tasks
are executed simultaneously or in parallel.
• In parallel processing, tasks are divided into smaller sub-tasks,
which are then executed concurrently across multiple processing
units, such as CPU cores, GPUs, or distributed computing nodes.

Pipelining:

Pipelining is a technique used in computer architecture to improve the throughput and

efficiency of instruction execution in a processor.

 It breaks down the execution of an instruction into several stages, and each stage is
performed concurrently for different instructions.
 This overlapping of instruction execution stages enables the processor to handle multiple
instructions simultaneously.