Lecture 02

Computer
Hardware

McGraw-Hill/Irwin ©2008,The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved

 Learning Objectives

1. Outline the major technologies and uses of computer

peripherals for input, output, and storage.
2. Identify and give example of the components and
functions of a computer system.
3. Identify the computer systems and peripherals you
would acquire or recommend for a business of your
choice, and explain the reasons for your selections

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 HARDWARE BASICS

• Computer - an electronic device operating under the

control of instructions stored in its own memory that
can accept, manipulate, and store data
• Hardware components include:
1. Central processing unit (CPU)
2. Primary storage
3. Secondary storage
4. Input device
5. Output device
6. Communication device

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HARDWARE BASICS

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 Computer hardware functions

• Input
– Keyboards, mouse, optical scanners
– Convert data into electronic form
• Processing
– Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Arithmetic-logic unit performs the arithmetic functions
• Control unit
• Output
– Video display units, printers, etc.
– Convert electronic information into human-intelligible form

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 Computer hardware functions

• Storage
– Primary Storage Unit or memory
– Secondary Storage
• Magnetic disks and Optical disks
• Control
– Control unit of the CPU
– Controls the other components of the computer

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Computer System Components

System
unit

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 Central Processing Unit

• Central processing unit (CPU) (or microprocessor) - the

actual hardware that interprets and executes the program
(software) instructions and coordinates how all the other
hardware devices work together

– Control unit - interprets software instructions and literally

tells the other hardware devices what to do, based on the
software instructions

– Arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) - performs all arithmetic

operations (for example, addition and subtraction) and all
logic operations (such as sorting and comparing numbers)
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 Computer Processing Speeds

• MIPS – million instructions per second

• Teraflops – trillions of floating point operations per
second (Supercomputer)
• Clock speed of the computer:
– Megahertz (MHz) – millions of cycles per second
– Gigahertz (GHz) – billions of cycles per second

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 Primary Storage

• Primary storage - the computer’s main memory, which

consists of the random access memory (RAM), cache
memory, and the read-only memory (ROM) that is
directly accessible to the CPU

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 Semiconductor memory

• Microelectronic semiconductor memory chips

• Used for primary storage
• Advantage:
– Small size
– Fast
– Shock and temperature resistance
• Disadvantage:
– Volatility: must have uninterrupted electric power or lose
memory

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 Random Access Memory (RAM)
• Random access memory
(RAM) - the computer’s
primary working memory,
in which program
instructions and data are
stored so that they can be
accessed directly by the CPU
via the processor’s high-
speed external data bus
– Volatility : do not retain its
contents when the power is
switched off
– Save work frequently

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 Read Only Memory (ROM)

• ROM: read only memory

– The portion of a computer’s
primary storage that does not
lose its contents when one
switches off the power 
Permanent storage
– Can be read but cannot be
overwritten
– Store start-up program :
frequently used programs
burnt into chips during
manufacturing (Called
firmware)

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 Flash drive

• New type of permanent storage

• A special type of rewritable
ROM that is compact and
portable
• Uses semiconductor memory
– Also called jump drives, USB
flash drives, thumb drives,
USB disk etc.
– Memory card, memory stick

Source: Courtesy of Lexar Media.

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 Peripherals

• Peripheral is generic name for all input, output, and

secondary storage devices that are part of the
computer system but are not part of the system unit
(i.e. CPU & primary storage)

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 Input Devices
• Input device - equipment
used to capture information
and commands
– Manual input devices
• Joystick
• Keyboard
• Microphone
– Automated input devices
• Bar code scanner
• Digital camera
• Magnetic ink character reader

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 Popular input devices

• Keyboard:
– most widely-used
– provides a set of alphabetic, numeric, punctuation, symbol
and control keys.
• Mouse
– One or more control buttons housed in a palmsize case and
designed so that one can move it on the table.
– Point & click

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 Pointing Devices
• Touchpad – Small rectangular
touch-sensitive surface
– Moves the cursor in the direction of
finger moves on the pad
• Touch Screen – use computer by
touching screen
– Video display screen that emits a
grid of infrared beams, sound
waves, or a slight electric current
– Grid is broken when the screen is
touched.

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 Pen-based Computing

• Used in Tablet PCs and

PDAs
• Sensitive layer like touch
screen under liquid crystal
display screen
• Have software that digitizes
handwriting, hand printing,
and hand drawing

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 Automated Input Devices
• Optical data readers : read text or graphic and store as an
digital image.
• Optical character recognition : read and convert to
text
• Point-of-sale (POS) devices: terminal used in retail
operations to enter sales information into computer
system.
• Bar code scanner : point of sales, inventory
• Magnetic strip : Can hold about kilobytes of information.
• Smartcard : that embed a microprocessor chip and
several kilobytes of memory (like credit card, debit
card)
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 Automated Input Devices

• Digital cameras: captures still images or video as a series of 0s

and 1s
• Automatic teller machine (ATM) devices: special I/O devices, a
terminal of most bank customers
• Radio-frequency identification (RFID): library, uses active or
passive tags in the form of chips or smart label that can store
unique identifier and relay this information to electronic
readers.

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 Secondary Storage Devices

• Main memory provides only small amount of storage

area for data, instruction, information.
• Computer needs store larger amount of data,
instruction and information, more permanently than
primary memory  Secondary storage devices

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 Computer Storage Fundamentals

• Binary representation
– Data are processed and stored in computer system through
the presence or absence of signals
– Either ON or OFF
• ON = number 1
• OFF = number 0

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 Bit and Byte

• Bit (short for binary digit)

– Smallest element of data
– Either zero or one
• Byte
– Group of eight bits which operate as a single unit
– Represents one character or number

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Representing characters in bytes
(using coding scheme)

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 Magnetic Disks
• Used for secondary storage
• Fast access and high storage capacity

Source: Quantum. Source:3-Corbis.

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 Magnetic Tape

• Secondary storage
• Tape reels and cartridges
• Used in robotic automated drive assemblies
• Archival storage and backup storage

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Optical Disks

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 Optical Disks

 Blue-ray Disc: enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition

video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more
than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to
25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. This extra
capacity combined with the use of advanced video and audio codecs will offer
consumers an unprecedented HD experience. 3- 29
Storage tradeoffs

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 Communication Devices

• Communication device - equipment used to send

information and receive it from one location to
another
– Dial-up access
– Cable
– Digital subscriber line
– Wireless
– Satellite

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Communication

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