Unit-1_1.

Evolution (a brief history) of computers

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Outline

• Computer Organization and Architecture

• Structure and Function
• Evolution (a brief history) of computers
• Von Neumann Architecture
• Interpretation of Instructions
• Interconnection Structures
• Instruction Cycle Instruction Pipeline
• RAM Model Evolution of Intel processor architecture- 4 bit to 64 bit

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Evolution (a brief history) of computers

Definition of Computer:
The computer is derived from the word “compute” , which means to calculate. So a computer is
normally considered to be a calculating device that can perform arithmetic and logical operations at a
very fast speed.
OR
A computer is an electronic device that can accept data, process it and give results after that processing.

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Mechanical computers

From The Abacus c. 4000 BCE

to Charles Babbage and his Difference Engine (1812 CE)

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Mechanical computers:
The Abacus (c. 4000 BCE)

Abacus
The earliest device that qualifies as a computer is
the abacus. The abacus was invented 5,000 years ago in Asia
Minor and is still in use today. This device allows user to
calculate, by sliding beads arrangement on rack.

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Napier’s Bones and Logarithms (1617)

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Oughtred’s (1621) and Schickard‘s (1623) slide rule

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Blaise Pascal’s Pascaline (1645)

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

In 1642 Blaise Pascal, the 18 year
old son of a French tax collector, invented a numerical wheel
calculator to help his father in calculation. This device was
known as “Pascaline” and was only able to add two numbers.

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Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz’s
Stepped Reckoner (1674)

•Invented by a German Baron, Gottfried von Leibnitz.

•Developed through Pascal’s ideas.
•It can add, subtract, divide and multiply.
•Square roots are performed by series of stepped additions

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Joseph-Marie Jacquard and his punched card
controlled looms (1804)

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Preparing the cards with the pattern for the cloth to be woven

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Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
The Father of Computers

Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

An
English mathematician, Professor Charles
Babbage made a “difference Engine” in
1833, which was powered by steam to
solve mathematical equations. After 10
years, in 1842, he made a general purpose
computer named “Analytical Engine”.
This analytical engine could add, subtract,
multiply and divide in automatic sequence
at a rate of 60 additions per second.

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Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine

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Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine

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Lady Augusta Ada
Countess of Lovelace

Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace (1816-1852)

Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace was an English
woman. Charles Babbage was her ideal. She
studied and translated his works, adding her
extensive footnotes. She was called as a first
programmer because of her suggestion that
punched cards could be prepared to instruct
Babbage’s engine to repeat certain operations.
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Electro-mechanical computers

From Herman Hollerith’s 1890 Census Counting Machine

to Howard Aiken and the Harvard Mark I (1944)

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Herman Hollerith and his
Census Tabulating Machine (1884) the cards with the pattern for the
cloth to be woven

Herman Hollerith (1860-1929)

In 1890, an
American Herman Hollerith applied the idea
of punchboards in the form of punch cards
in computers for input and output. He
invented a punched card tabulating machine.

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A closer look at the Census Tabulating Machine

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The Harvard Mark I (1944) aka IBM’s Automatic Sequence
Controlled Calculator (ASCC)

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Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Murray
Hopper

The first computer bug

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Electronic digital computers

From John Vincent Atanasoff’s 1939 Atanasoff-Berry

Computer (ABC) to the present day

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Alan Turing
1912-1954

The Turing Machine

Aka
The Universal Machine
1936

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EDVAC

⚪ Proposed by Mauchly and Eckert in August

1944.
⚪ Stands for Electronic Discrete Variable
Automatic Computer.
⚪ Its conceptual design was completed by 1946
but it became fully operational by 1952.

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– Contained approximately
4000 vacuum tubes and
10,000 crystal diodes.

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Generations of Computers

• A term which refers to the different advancements of computer technology characterized by the way
computers operate resulting to miniaturization, speed, power, and proportionally increased memory.
1st Generation (1940 – 1956)

• Computers are huge, slow, expensive, and often undependable.

■ They used vacuum tubes for circuitry.
■ They used magnetic drums for memory.
Vacuum Tubes
 2nd Generation (1956 – 1963)

• Transistors (1947) were already used and replaced vacuum tubes.

■ Transistors allow computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient, and more
reliable.

■ One transistor is equivalent to 40 vacuum tubes.

■ Heat generation problem that could inflict damage to computer is still existing.
Transistor
 3rd Generation (1964 – 1971)

• The emergence of integrated circuits was the hallmark of the 3 rd generation of computers.

■ Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors.

■ Computer’s speed drastically increased as well as its efficiency.

■ Computers became accessible to the mass since it is smaller and cheaper.

Integrated Circuits
 4th Generation (1971 – Present)

• The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits
were built onto a single silicon chip.

■ Computers are now very small.

■ Microprocessors was intended for calculators but applied to computers later.

■ Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), mouse and handheld devices are introduced.
Microprocessors
5th Generation (Present and Beyond)

• Artificial Intelligence is still under development although voice recognition are being used today.

■ Quantum computation, and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of
computers in years to come.

■ The goal is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and capable of learning and
self-organization.
TYPES OF COMPUTERS

On the basis of principles of construction, computers are divided into three types:-

1. Analog Computers.
2. Digital Computers.
3. Hybrid Computers.

1. Analog Computers
Analog quantities show the continuity of a specified value. Analog computers are
devices, which are used to measure continuous values.
1. ANALOG COMPUTER
2.Digital Computers

Classification of Digital Computers.

Digital means discrete. With digital signal, everything is
described in two states either on or off. A digital computer is based on the rule of counting. In fact,
digital computers use digital signals, which can distinguish between just two values 0 and 1.

Example
• Digital watches are the good example of a digital computer, because the time, which is displayed,
does not vary continuously but changes from one discrete value to another.
2. Digital Computers

Computers are classified according to speed, size and memory capacity. Computers are of different
types:-

• Supercomputer
• Mainframe
• Mini
• Micro/PC/Desktop
• Laptop
 2.1 SuperComputer

• They are the largest, faster and the most expensive computer systems in the world. They are
used to process complex scientific jobs. They are considered to be the resources of any
nation.
• Unlike other computers, supercomputers are based on the concept of parallel processing i.e.
to perform one million-billion (10^15) math operations per second.
SUPERCOMPUTER
2.2 Mainframe Computers

The mainframe computers are large computers available in different models,

capacities and prices. Their main characteristics are:

They are based on the principle of strong physical computing power. Hence
many people can make use of this machine at the same time.
2.2 Mainframe Computers

• They are sensitive to variations in temperature, humidity, dust, etc. and are hence kept in controlled
environment, i.e., air conditioned rooms.
• Qualified operators and programmers are required for their operations.
• They have a large storage capacity.
• They can make use of a wide variety of software.
Mainframe Computers
2.3 Mini Computers

Micro computers were introduced in the 1960s. They have less capacity to manipulate and store
data, compared to mainframe computers. Some of the characteristics of minicomputers in relation to
mainframe computers are:

Limited software can be used.

There is facility for direct operation of the machine by the end user.
Mini Computer
2.4 Micro / Personal Computer

These computers are used now days commonly and these computers revolutionized the computers
industry because of their size and cost. Some of the features are:
– They are cheap and easy to use.
– They have limited input and output capacities.
– They have low storage capacity.
– They are designed to be used by one person at a time.
2.5 Desktop Computers

Desktops or PCs, are used by one person at a time. They are usually single user machines
but can be interconnected among themselves to form a local area network (LAN). Their
speed depends upon the processor installed in the computer. They are also low in price.
Laptop Computers

These are light and compact and are called portable because they work on batteries and can
operate without an external power source. Laptops, which weigh from four to eight pounds, are often
called notebook PCs because they are about the size of a one-inch thick notebook

Hybrid Computers

A computer that combines the characters of both analog and digital computer is known as
Hybrid computer.
THANK YOU
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Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune