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CHAPTER 6
I/O ORGANIZATION AND SYSTEM
SOFTWARE AND PROGRAMMING
TECHNIQUES
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Introduction
What is I/O organization?
 I/O organization is the way computers communicate with external
devices.
 Is essential for the efficient and reliable operation of any computer
system.
 I/O interfaces provide a standard way for the CPU to communicate
with different types of devices.
 They translate the CPU's electrical signals into a format that the
device can understand, and vice versa.
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There are two main types of I/O organization:

1. Programmed I/O
 The CPU continuously polls the I/O device to check for its status
 This means that the CPU must constantly waste time checking the I/O
device, even if it is not ready.
 The simplest type of I/O organization, but it is also the slowest and most
inefficient.
2. Interrupt-driven I/O
 The CPU issues an I/O command to the device and then continues to
execute other instructions.
 When the I/O device is ready, it generates an interrupt signal to the CPU.
3. Direct memory access (DMA)
 Allow I/O devices to transfer data directly to and from memory without
involving the CPU.
 This can significantly improve the performance of I/O operations, as the
CPU does not have to waste time waiting for the transfer to complete.
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I/O ports and buses

I/O ports are physical connectors that allow the CPU to
communicate with I/O devices.
They are typically located on the motherboard or on a
separate expansion card.
Some common examples of I/O ports include
• USB ports
• Serial ports
• Parallel ports
• HDMI ports
• VGA ports
• Ethernet ports
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I/O ports and buses

I/O buses are electrical pathways that connect the CPU
to I/O devices.
I/O buses typically consist of a set of parallel wires that
carry data, address, and control signals.
Some common examples of I/O buses include:
PCI Express bus
USB bus
SATA bus
ATA bus
ISA bus
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System software
Type of computer software that is designed to run and
manage computer hardware and software.
It is in contrast to application software, which includes
programs that are used for specific tasks.
Some common types of system software.
• Operating systems
• Device drivers
• File systems
• Networking software
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System software
1. Operating system (OS)
Are the most important type of system software.
Managing the CPU and memory.
Are essential for the operation of any computer system.
Providing a platform for running application software
Providing services to application programs.
Some common operating systems include
Windows
Mac OS
Linux
Android
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System software
2. Device drivers
 Is a computer program that allows a hardware device to communicate
with an operating system (OS).
 It translates the OS's commands into the device's specific language.
 It also handles data transfers between the device and the OS.
 Some common examples of device drivers include
Printer drivers
Scanner drivers
Network interface card (NIC) drivers
Graphics card drivers
Sound card drivers
Mouse drivers
Keyboard drivers
 Device drivers work by interacting with the OS and the hardware device
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System software
3. File systems
A way of organizing and storing data on a disk or other storage
device.
It provides a logical structure for the data and manages how the
data is accessed and modified.
Efficiently organize and store our data.
File systems are an essential part of any computer system.
There are many different types of file systems, but some of
the most common include:
NTFS The default file system for Windows operating systems.
FAT32 such as USB drives and SD cards.
EXT4 The default file system for Linux operating systems.
APFS The default file system for mac OS operating systems.
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System Software
4. Networking software
 It allows computers to communicate with each other and to access
resources on the network.
 It includes protocols for routing data between computers, as well as
programs for managing network devices and services.
 Some common networking software programs include
TCP/IP is the suite of protocols that is used to connect devices to the
internet.
It provides a reliable way to transmit data between computers.
UDP is a lightweight protocol that is often used for streaming video and
audio.
It is not as reliable as TCP/IP, but it is faster and more efficient.
DHCP It is not as reliable as TCP/IP, but it is faster and more efficient.
DNS s a protocol that translates domain names, such as google.com, into
IP addresses.
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Programming Techniques
Methods and strategies that programmers use to write
code that efficiently and reliably interacts with input and
output (I/O) devices.
• System calls are low-level functions that provide an
interface between an application program and the
operating system.
• They allow the application program to request services
from the operating system, such as
Reading
writing files
creating and managing processes
accessing hardware devices.
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Programming Techniques
• Concurrency is the ability of a computer system to execute
multiple tasks simultaneously.
• This can be achieved by multitasking or by multiprocessing.
• Multitasking allows the system to switch between multiple
tasks that are running on the same processor
• while multiprocessing allows the system to run multiple tasks
on multiple processors.
• Asynchronous programming is a programming paradigm
that allows tasks to be executed concurrently without
blocking the calling thread.
• This is achieved by using callback functions, promises,
futures, or other mechanisms to notify the calling thread
when a task has completed.
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Programming Techniques
• Some common I/O programming techniques include
• Buffering:
• Is the process of storing data in a temporary location in memory before
transferring it to an I/O device.
• This can improve performance by reducing the number of times the CPU
has to access the I/O device.
• Caching:
• Is the process of storing frequently accessed data in memory so that it
can be retrieved quickly without having to access the I/O device.
• This can further improve performance.
• Asynchronous I/O:
• Asynchronous I/O allows the CPU to continue processing other tasks
while waiting for I/O operations to complete.
• This can improve responsiveness and prevent the program from blocking.
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Programming techniques
• Polling:
• Polling is the process of repeatedly checking the status of
an I/O device to see if it is ready for data transfer. This is a
simple but inefficient technique that can waste CPU time.
• Interrupts:
• Interrupts are signals sent to the CPU by I/O devices
when they are ready for data transfer. This allows the
CPU to respond to I/O requests immediately, without
having to poll the devices.