Chapter Computer Fundamentals Basic Computer Organisation Computer Definition Acomputer is a programmable electronic machine designed to take input, perform prescribed arithmetic and logical actions at fast speed and provide output of these operations. The term ‘COMPUTER’ is an acronym for ‘Common, Operating Machine’ Purposely Used for Technological and Educational Research’. The first Mechanical computer was designed in 1837 by Charles Babbage called as ‘Analytical Engine’. Even though the size, shape, performance, reliability and cast of computers have been changing over the years, the basic logical structure, as proposed by Von Neumann, hasnot changed. Basic Functions of Computer Allcomputer systems perform the following five basic operations, for converting raw input data into useful information. 1. Input The process of entering data and instructions into the computer system using I/P devices. 2 Store Saving data and instructions to make them readily available for initial or additional processing, as and when required. 3, Process Performing arithmetic operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide, etc) or logical operations (comparsions like equal to, less then, greater than, etc) on data, to convert them into useful information. 4. Output The process of producing useful information or results for the user, such as a printed report or visual display using O/P devices, ‘Storage Unit Secondary Storage Pray |_|, fou storage TY Unt Information (Pesuts) Progam __f‘input and Data] Unit — Indicates tow of instuctons and data Indicates the control exercised bythe Control Unit Figure : Basic functions of a computer 5. Controlling Directing the manner and sequence in ‘which all of the above operations are performed. © The internal architecture of computers differs from one system model to another. However, the basic organisation remains the same for all computer systems. « It displays the five major building blocks (functional units) of a digital computer system. ‘These five units corresponding to the five basic operations, performed by all computer systems. Input Unit The following functions are performed by an input unit 1, It accepts (or reads) the instructions‘and data from the user. 2. It converts these instructions and data in computer acceptable form. 3. It supplies the converted instructions and data to the computer system for further processing.oe Output Unit The following functions are performed by an output unit 1, Tt accepts the results produced by the computer, which are in coded form, and hence, cannot be easily understood by user. 2. It converts these coded results to human acceptable (readable) form. 3. It supplies the converted results to the user. Central Processing Unit (CPU) ‘The CU and the ALU of a computer system are jointly known as the CPU. It is also called as the brain of a computer system. All major calculations and comparisons are made inside the CPU, and the CPU is responsible for activating and controlling the operations of other units of the computer system. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) ‘The ALU of a computer system is the place, where the actual execution of the program instructions takes place, during the processing operation. To be more precise, all the arithmetic calculations, comparisons (decisions) are made in the ALU. ‘The data and instructions, stored in the primary storage before processing are transferred as and when needed to the ALU, where processing takes place. No processing done in the primary storage unit. Intermediate results generated in the ALU are temporarily transferred back to the primary storage, until needed at later. Control Unit (CU) It does not perform any actual processing on the data, the control unit acts as a central nervous system, for the other components of the computer system. It manages and coordinates the entire computer system. It obtains instructions from the program stored in main ‘memory, interprets the instructions and issues signals which cause other units of the system to execute them. Storage Unit ‘The specific functions of the storage unit are to hold 1. The data and instruction required for processing received from input devices. 2. Intermediate results of processing, 3, Final results of processing, before these results are released to an output device, Prep Guide MAH-MCA CET ‘The storage unit of all computers comprises following two types of storage : Primary Storage The primary storage, also known as internal memory or main memory of the computer is used to hold pieces of programme, instructions and data, intermediate results of processing and recently produced results of processing, of the jobs which the computer system is currently working on and stores data temporarily. It is called volatile as when power is switched off it loses all data, It is of 2 types - RAM and ROM. Secondary Storage Itis also known as external memory of auxiliary storage of the computer and is used to take care of the limitation of the primary storage. Itis used to store data and information permanently. This is because secondary storage is much cheaper than primary storage, and it is non-volatile as it can retain information even when the computer system is switched off or reset, eg., Floppy disk, Pen drive, CD, DVDs etc. Bus ‘The term bus refers to a collection of wires through ‘which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. It is a communication channel. A computer's bus can be divided into two different types as follows: Internal Bus When it is used in reference to personal computers, the term bus usually refers to internal bus. This is a bus that connects all the internal computer components to the CPU and main memory. Itis also referred to as system bus. External Bus It connects the different external devices, peripherals, expansion slots, I/O ports and drive connections to the rest of the computer. External bus is also called an expansion bus. Some commonly used buses in microprocessor are given below : . (i) Data Bus The data bus is used to transfer actual data, (ii) Address Bus The address bus transfers information about where the data should go. (iii) Control Bus The control bus is used by the CPU to direct and monitor the actions of other functional areas of the computer. It is used to transmit acomputer Concepts Computer Fundamentals variety of individual signals (read, write, interrupt, acknowledge and so forth) necessary to control and. coordinate the operation of the computer. Instruction Cycle ‘theinstruction cycle represents the sequence of events dhattakes place as an instruction is read from memory and executed, ‘he program is executed in the computer by going through a cycle for each instruction. Each instruction is subdivided into a sequence of steps. { Fetch Sir Den . Execute ee . Fetch Fetch begins with retrieving the address of the instruction stored in the Program Counter (PC). ‘The PC is incremented by one after the fetch operation. . Decode Decode is used for interpreting the instruction that was fetched i.., determining operation to be performed and operands involved. step as the name suggests, simply executes the instruction that was fetched and decoded i.e., performs the operation specified on the ‘operands. Store Finally, the result of the execution is stored in the appropriate memory location or register.EXERCISES =? Chapter Challenges is a programmable electronic machine that takes input, process it AeA sce designed by . and gives the result. (a) CUP, Vor Neumann (©) Computer, Von Neumann (©) ALU, Von Neumann (a) Computer, Charles Babbage 2. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) in a computer, consists of (a) input, output and processing (©) control unit, primary storage and secondary storage (©) control unit, arithmetic logic unit, registers (d) None of the above 3. Internal memory in a CPU is nothing but (a) a set of registers (b) a set of ALU (©) microprocessor (@) bus 4. In computer, which of the following unit is responsible for processing and also known as brain of computer? (a) CPU (b) Keyboard (©) Hard disk (d) RAM 5. Pick the one that is used for logical operations or comparisons such as less than, equal to or greater than. (@) ALU cu (©) Input unit (@) MU 6. The .. is responsible for performing calculations and contains decision-making (@) CPU (&) MU (ALU @ cu 7. Which of the following is an example of primary storage unit? (@) Floppy disk (cD (0 RAM (4) Pen drive 8. How many major types of arithmetic operations does the ALU of computer perform? (a4 (b) 2 ()5 (a) 8 9, Which among the following is a small set of data holding place that is a part of the computer processor and may hold an instruction, a storage address or any kind of data? (a) Register (b) WAN (c) Bus (d) Address 10. The control unit controls other units by generating (@) control signal (b) timing signal (©) transfer signal (@) both (a) and (b) 11. Which of the following is a part of central processing unit? (a) Printer (©) Keyboard (©) Mouse (@) Arithmetic and Logic Unit 12, Control unit of a digital computer is often called the (@) clock (b) nerve centre (©) Both (a) and (b) (ayic 13. Which of the following units is used to superwise each instruction in the CPU? (@) Control logic unit (b) Accumulator (© ALU (A) Control register 14, Which of the following units is responsible for coordinating various operations using timing signals? (a) ALU (b) Control unit (©) Memory unit (@) 1/0 unit 15, The word ‘computer’ usually refers to the central processing unit plus {a) external memory (©) input devices (b) internal memory (d) output devices 16. The I/O processor has a direct access to and contains a number of independent data channels. (a) main memory (b) Secondary memory (c) cache (d) flash memoryComputer Concepts Computer Fundamentals 47. A physical connection between the microprocessor ‘memory and other parts of the micro-computer is known as (@) path (b) address bus (©) route (@) All of these 48. The communication line between CPU memory and peripherals is called a (@) bus () line (©) media (@) All of the above 49. The read/write line belongs to (a) the data bus (b) the control bus (©) the address bus (@) CPU bus 20. Which the following is used to connect the different external devices? (a) Address bus () Data bus (©) Control bus (@) External bus 21, Which of the following is true about auxiliary storage units? (@) They are non-volatile. (©) They are cheaper. (©) They are larger in size. (@) All of the above @ 22, Which of the following may not occur in an instruction cycle? (a) Fetch (c) Execute (b) Decode (d) Indirect 23, The device which is used to connect a peripheral to bus is called (a) control register (©) communication protocol (0) interface (@) None of the above 24, Which of the following cycle is used for interpreting the instruction that was fetched in the fetch cycle? (@) Fetch cycle (b) Decode cycle (©) Execute cycle (d) Interrupt cycle 25. The CPU of a computer takes instruction from the memory and executes them. This process is called (@) load cycle () time sequencing (© fetch-decode-execute cycle (@) clock cycle 26. A computer executes program in the sequence of A. Execute, fetch, decode, store B, Store, fetch, execute, decode C. Fetch, decode, execute, store D, Decode, fetch, execute, store @)D (b) A oc @B *\*% Count Your Score 1@]2@ | a@ | e@ | s@ n@ | 2 | B@ | «ow | 1% @ aL dy 22. (d) 23. (c) 24, (b) 25. (c) 6 © 7 © | 8. (®) | %@ | 0 @ w@ | 12% 1 @ | 12m | oo @ 26.