How the Computer Works

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Lecture Topics

• Functions of a computer
• Data versus information
• Bits and bytes
• Storage
• Processing
• How computers evolved

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Hardware and Software

• Hardware: The physical devices that make up a computer

• Computer is a system composed of several components that all work
together
• Typical major components:
• Central processing unit
• Main memory
• Secondary storage devices
• Input and output devices
Secondary Storage Devices

• Secondary storage: can hold data for long periods of time

• Programs normally stored here and loaded to main memory when needed
• Types of secondary memory
• Disk drive: magnetically encodes data onto a spinning circular disk
• Solid state drive: faster than disk drive, no moving parts, stores data in solid
state memory
• Flash memory: portable, no physical disk
• Optical devices: data encoded optically
Input Devices

• Input: data the computer collects from people and other devices
• Input device: component that collects the data
• Examples: keyboard, mouse, scanner, camera
• Disk drives can be considered input devices because they load programs into
the main memory
Output Devices

• Output: data produced by the computer for other people or devices

• Can be text, image, audio, or bit stream
• Output device: formats and presents output
• Examples: video display, printer
• Disk drives and CD recorders can be considered output devices because data
is sent to them to be saved
Software

• Everything the computer does is controlled by software

• General categories:
• Application software
• System software
• Application software: programs that make computer useful for every
day tasks
• Examples: word processing, email, games, and Web browsers
Software (cont’d.)

• System software: programs that control and manage basic operations

of a computer
• Operating system: controls operations of hardware components
• Utility Program: performs specific task to enhance computer operation or
safeguard data
• Software development tools: used to create, modify, and test software
programs
Random access memory (RAM):

• Main memory: where computer stores a program

while program is running, and data used by the
program
• Known as Random Access Memory or RAM
• CPU is able to quickly access data in RAM
• Volatile memory used for temporary storage while
program is running
• Contents are erased when computer is off

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Main Memory Addresses

• Address: A “name” that uniquely identifies one cell

in the computer’s main memory
• The names are actually numbers.
• These numbers are assigned consecutively starting at zero.
• Numbering the cells in this manner associates an order with the memory
cells.

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Figure 1.8 Memory cells arranged by address

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Read-only memory (ROM):

• Stores start-up instructions

• Permanent storage

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 Electrical Switches
• The system unit contains the CPU
• The CPU uses a large number of switches
• Two states: 1 or 0 (on or off)
• Binary language consists of two numbers: 1 or
0
• These switches are used to process data

Lock

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The CPU

• Central processing unit (CPU): the part of the computer that actually
runs programs
• Most important component
• Without it, cannot run software
• Used to be a huge device
• Microprocessors: CPUs located on small chips
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• Referred to as the “brains” of the computer

• Controls all functions of the computer
• Processes all commands and instructions
• Can perform billions of tasks per second (over 6 billion
tasks per second)
• This is the part of the computer that actually runs
programs
• Most important component
• Without it, cannot run software
• Used to be a huge device
• Microprocessors: CPUs located on small chips
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How Computers Store Data
• All data in a computer is stored in sequences of 0s and 1s
• Bit
• Binary digit
• 0 or 1
• electrical component that can hold positive or negative charge, like
on/off switch

• Byte: just enough memory to store letter or small number

• Divided into eight bits
• The on/off pattern of bits in a byte represents data stored in the byte
• 8 bits
• Each letter, number, and character is a string of eight 0s and
1s
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 Storage
• Capacity is the number of bytes a storage medium can hold

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Discovering Computers 2012: Chapter 7
Figure 7-2
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Storing Characters

• Data stored in computer must be stored as

binary number
• Characters are converted to numeric code,
numeric code stored in memory
• Most important coding scheme is ASCII
• There are 128 in the Standard ASCII character set, and there are
256characters in the Extended ASCII character set. Which is what
most computers use
• Unicode coding scheme becoming standard
• Compatible with ASCII
• Can represent characters for other languages
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 getty.txt

•F o u r a n d s e v e n
• 70 111 117 114 32 97 110 100 32 115 101 118 101 110
• By looking in the ASCII table, you can see a one-to-one
correspondence between each character and the ASCII code used.
Note the use of 32 for a space -- 32 is the ASCII code for a space.
• We could expand these decimal numbers out to binary numbers (so
32 = 00100000) if we wanted to be technically correct -- that is how
the computer really deals with things. (more on this later)
• The first 32 values (0 through 31) are codes for things like carriage
return and line feed.
• The space character is the 33rd value, followed by punctuation,
digits, uppercase characters and lowercase characters. 

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Storing Numbers

• Bit represents two values, 0 and 1

• Computers use binary numbering system
• Position of digit j is assigned the value 2j-1
• To determine value of binary number sum position values of the 1s
• Byte size limits are 0 and 255
• 0 = all bits off; 255 = all bits on
• To store larger number, use several bytes
Representing Numeric Values

• Binary notation: Uses bits to represent a number in base two

• Limitations of computer representations of numeric values
• Overflow: occurs when a value is too big to be represented
• Truncation: occurs when a value cannot be represented accurately

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Advanced Number Storage

• To store negative numbers and real numbers, computers use binary

numbering and encoding schemes
• Negative numbers encoded using two’s complement
• Real numbers encoded using floating-point notation
Other Types of Data

• Digital: describes any device that stores data as binary numbers

• Digital images are composed of pixels
• To store images, each pixel is converted to a binary number representing the
pixel’s color
• Digital music is composed of sections called samples
• To store music, each sample is converted to a binary number
Representing Images

• Bit map techniques

• Pixel: short for “picture element”
• RGB
• Luminance and chrominance
• Vector techniques
• Scalable
• TrueType and PostScript

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Representing Sound

• Sampling techniques
• Used for high quality recordings
• Records actual audio
• MIDI
• Used in music synthesizers
• Records “musical score”

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Figure 1.12 The sound wave represented by the
sequence 0, 1.5, 2.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 3.0, 0

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Secondary Storage Devices
• Secondary storage: can hold data for long periods of time
• Programs normally stored here and loaded to main memory when needed
• Types of secondary memory
• Disk drive: magnetically encodes data onto a spinning circular disk
• Solid state drive: faster than disk drive, no moving parts, stores data in solid
state memory
• Flash memory: portable, no physical disk
• Optical devices: data encoded optically

Reading is the process of

transferring items from a
storage medium into
memory

Writing is the process of

transferring items from
memory to a storage
medium
 Hard Disks
• A hard disk contains one or more inflexible, circular platters
that use magnetic particles to store data, instructions, and
information
• The hard disk/drive is your computer’s primary
device for permanent storage of software and
documents.
• The hard drive is a nonvolatile storage device,
meaning that it holds the data and instructions your
computer needs permanently, even after the
computer is turned off

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Discovering Computers 2012: Chapter 7
Figure 7-5
Figure 1.9 A magnetic disk storage system

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 Flash Memory Storage
• Flash memory chips are a type of solid state media and contain no moving
parts
• Solid state drives (SSDs) have several advantages over magnetic hard disks:

Generate less heat and

Faster access time Faster transfer rates Last longer
consume less power

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Discovering Computers 2012: Chapter 7
 Cloud Storage
• Cloud storage is an Internet service that provides storage to computer users
• DropBox and Box are examples

Access files from any computer

Store large files instantaneously

Allow others to access their files

View time-critical data and images immediately

Store offsite backups

Provide data center functions

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Discovering Computers 2012: Chapter 7
Figure 7-23
 Optical Discs
• An optical disc consists of a flat, round, portable disc made of metal, plastic,
and lacquer that is written and read by a laser
• Typically store software, data, digital photos, movies, and music
• Read only vs. rewritable
• DVD
• DVD-RW (rewritable DVD)
• Blu-Ray (5 X the storage of DVD)

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Discovering Computers 2012: Chapter 7
Figure 7-25
 More About the Processing
Unit

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How a Program Works

• CPU designed to perform simple operations on pieces of data

• Examples: reading data, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing
numbers
• Understands instructions written in machine language and included in its
instruction set
• Each brand of CPU has its own instruction set
• To carry out meaningful calculation, CPU must perform many
operations
How a Program Works (cont’d.)

• Program must be copied from secondary memory to RAM each time

CPU executes it
• CPU executes program in cycle:
• Fetch: read the next instruction from memory into CPU
• Decode: CPU decodes fetched instruction to determine which operation to
perform
• Execute: perform the operation
How a Program Works (cont’d.)

Figure 1-16 The fetch-decode-execute cycle

How a Program Works (cont’d.)
Control Unit
• Manages switches inside the CPU
• Remembers
• Sequence of processing stages
• How switches are set for each stage
• Uses beat of system clock to move switch to correct on or off setting
for each stage

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How a Program Works (cont’d.)
ALU
• Arithmetic Logic Unit
• Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) performs
• Mathematical operations
• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Test comparisons (<, >, =)
• Logical OR, AND, and NOT operations

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 A register is a
The Fetch-Execute Cycle
small storage
in Detail
area in the
CPU.
 

The von Neumann architecture is characterized by the fact that

instructions and data are logically the same and can both be
stored in memory.
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Word Size
• A computer processor handles bits in chunks called
word size—
• for example, a 32-bit word size transfers data within
each microprocessor chip in 32-bit, or 4-byte,
chunks.
• A computer that uses 64-bit word size is faster than
a 32-bit computer.

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System Clock
• The clock rate typically refers to the frequency at which a CPU is
running. It is measured in the unit Hertz.
• Moves CPU from one stage of the machine cycle to the next
• Acts as a metronome, keeping a steady beat or tick
• Ticks, known as the clock cycle, set the pace
• Pace, known as clock speed, is measured in hertz (Hz)
• Today’s system clocks are measured in gigahertz (GHz) or one billion clock
ticks per second.

• What does it mean to say that the speed of a processor is 866

MHz?
• Ans: The processor cycles 866,000,000 times per second, which is related to
the number of instructions it can process per unit time.
 

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 How Computers Evolved

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 Moore’s Law
• Gordon Moore, the cofounder of processor manufacturer Intel,
predicted more than 40 years ago that the number of transistors
on a processor would double every 18 months.
• Known as Moore’s Law, this prediction has been remarkably
accurate—but only with tremendous engineering ingenuity.
• The first 8086 chip had only 29,000 transistors and ran at 5 MHz.
• Notebook computers today have 820 million transistors and run
at 2.6 GHz—more than 200 times faster than its original
counterpart.
• GlobalFoundries plans to accelerate the introduction of 14 nm
(nanometer) chips in 2014,

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Advancing Rates of Technology
(Moore’s Law)

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 Von Neumann Architecture

• “stored program”
• serial uniprocessor
design
• binary internal
encoding
• CPU–Memory–I/O
orgranization
• “fetch-decode-
execute” instruction cycle
 Electrical Switches
• The system unit contains the CPU
• The CPU uses a large number of switches
• Two states: 1 or 0 (on or off)
• Binary language consists of two numbers: 1 or 0
• These switches are used to process data

Lock

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Early Computer Switches

• Vacuum tubes as switches

• Allow or block the flow of electrical current
• Take up a large amount of space
• Generate heat and burn out frequently
• Impractical due to size and reliability issues

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ENIAC
• noted for massive
scale and
redundant design
• decimal internal
coding
• operational in
1946
Transistors

• Transistors
• Electrical switches built of layers of silicon
• Early transistors were built in separate units as small metal rods
• Each rod was a small on/off switch
• Smaller and faster than vacuum tubes
• Produced less heat

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Integrated Circuits
• Integrated circuits use solid-state technology, whereby
electrons travel through solid material called silicon
• Made of semiconductor material, silicon
• Contain huge number of transistors, resistors, capacitors, and diodes
• Small size, only ¼ inch
in diameter

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Microprocessors

• Chip that contains CPU

• Intel 4004
• First complete microprocessor on a single
integrated circuit
• Built in 1971
• Contained 2,300 transistors
• Current CPUs contain more than 500 million
transistors

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 The Death of Moore’s Law?
• Moore’s Law is possible because the distance between the
pathways inside silicon chips gets smaller with each successive
generation
• Since the pathways are closer together, electrons travel shorter distances
• If electrons travel half the distance to make a calculation, that means
the chip is twice as fast
• This shrinking can’t go on forever
• Three interrelated forces—size, heat, and power—threaten to slow down
Moore’s Law’s advance
• As chips get smaller and more powerful, they get hotter and present
power-management challenges
• At some point Moore’s Law will stop because we will no longer be able to
shrink the spaces between components on a chip.

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 The Death of Moore’s Law?
• Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Google have all built massive data centers
in the Pacific Northwest in order to benefit from cheap
hydroelectric power
• The chief eco officer at Sun Microsystems has claimed that computers
draw four to five percent of the world’s power
• Google’s chief technology officer has said that the firm spends more to
power its servers than the cost of the servers themselves
• Chips can’t get smaller forever because chip pathways can’t be
shorter than a single molecule and actual physical limit may be
higher

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Buying Time
• Multicore microprocessors: Microprocessors with two or more
(typically lower power) calculating processor cores on the same
piece of silicon
• For many applications, the multicore chips will outperform a single
speedy chip, while running cooler and drawing less power
• Multicore processors are now mainstream
• Today, most PCs and laptops sold have at least a two-core (dual-core)
processor
• Intel has demonstrated chips with upwards of fifty cores

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 Buying Time
• Another approach moves chips from being paper-flat devices to
built-up 3-D affairs
• By building up as well as out, firms are radically boosting speed
and efficiency of chips

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 Nanotechnology
• The prefix “nano” stands for one-billionth
• Ability to manufacture extremely small devices
• “Smart” nanodust may be combined with wireless technologies to
provide new environmental monitoring systems
• Current approach – start big and squeeze, press, slice, and dice to
make things small
• Nanotechnology approach – start with the smallest element possible
(i.e., atom) and build up
This nanomechanical structure fabricated by a
team of physicists at Boston University consists of
a central silicon beam, 10.7 microns long and 400
nm wide, that bears a paddle-array 500 nm long
and 200 nm wide along each side. This antenna-
like structure oscillated at 1.49 gigahertz or 1.49
billion times per second, making it the fastest
moving nanostructure yet created.

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 Nanotechnology Impact

• Pharmaceuticals
• Drug delivery encapsulated in “nano-spheres”

• Electronics
• Faster, smaller processors
• Immense storage capacities

• Material Science
• Stronger materials
• Super conductivity

Buckyball from Wikipedia

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Quantum Computing
• Many believe that quantum computing systems represent the next
major revolution in computing
• Quantum computers will be exponentially faster than today’s
fastest supercomputers

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Quantum Computing
Video - CNN Video
• Quantum computing uses qubits instead of transistors (bits)
• A single qubit (utilizing particle spin) stores and processes twice as much
information as a regular bit.
• Combining qubits delivers exponential improvement
• Two qubits are four times more powerful than two bits
• A 64-qubit computer would theoretically be 264 (=18 billion trillion) times
more powerful than the latest 64-bit computers!
• The first prototype quantum computer (with two qubits) was created in 1998
• In 2001, Almaden Research Center demonstrated a 7-qubit machine (using 10
billion billion atoms) that could factor the number 15
• In early February 2007, D-Wave Systems, Inc., a privately-held Canadian firm
headquartered near Vancouver, announced: “the world’s first commercially viable
quantum computer”

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 DNA Computers
• Use DNA molecules and special enzymes instead of silicon
chips
• Because it involves the four nucleic acids represented by A, T,
C, and G, it is NOT a system of binary computing.
• 330 trillion operations per second
• 100,000 times faster than current
silicon-based computers
• No practical applications
yet

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