How Computers Work

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How Computers Work

• Binary Numbers, Operating Systems, and Computer
  Hardware

2
Outline

• Computer switches
• Binary number system
• Inside the CPU
• Cache memory
• Types of RAM
• Computer buses
• Creating faster CPUs

3
Binary Language

• Computers work in binary language
• Consists of two numbers 0 and 1
• Everything a computer does is broken down into a
  series of 0s and 1s
• Switches Devices inside the computer that can be
  flipped between these two states 1 or 0, on or
  off

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Switches

• Nonmechanical devices in computers that open and
  close circuits
• Types of electrical switches
• Vacuum tubes
• Transistors
• Semiconductors
• Integrated circuits

Vacuum Tube
Transistors
Integrated Circuits
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Switches Representing Data

• The on/off state of a switch represents one bit
  of data
• Bit (binary digit)
• On 1
• Off 0

OR
1 bit
0
1
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Numbers

• Number Systems
• Binary Base 2 0,1 (language of computers)
• Decimal Base 10 0,1, 9
• Hexidecimal Base 16 0,1, 9,A,B, F
• Conversion Between Number Systems
• Binary Representation of Symbols and Letters
  (Unicode)

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The Binary Number System

• Describes a number as powers of 2
• Also referred to as base 2 numbering system
• Used to represent every piece of data stored in a
  computer all of the numbers, letters, and
  instructions

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The Binary Number System

• Number systems are organized ways to represent
  numbers
• Each number in one system has a corresponding
  number in another.

01011001 89
Binary Base 10
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Number Conversion Example

• Binary to Decimal use place holders
• 100012
• 124 023 022 021 120
• 16 1 17

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Number Conversion Example

• Decimal to Binary subtract largest power of 2
• 5710 57 32 (25) 25
• 25 16 (24) 9
• 9 8 (23) 1
• 1 (20)
• 5710 (25) (24) (23) (20)
• 1110012

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Number Conversions

• Binary to Hexidecimal
• Every 4 binary digits 1 hex digit
• Add zeros to the left until number of binary
  digits is divisible by 4
• Convert each set of 4 digits to decimal then
  replace with Hexidecimal symbol
• 10011012 010011012 (0100)2 (1101)2
• 410 1310 4D16

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Representing Letters and Symbols

• American Standard Code for Information
  Interchange (ASCII)
• 8 bits 1 byte alphanumeric character or
  symbol
• 256 different combinations
• Unicode
• 16 bits equal 1 byte
• 65,000 different combinations, used for all
  languages

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ASCII Chart
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Computer Terminology

• Size
• Bit ( 0 or 1) b
• Byte (8 bits) B
• Kilobyte / bit (210 1024 bytes / bits) KB/Kb
• Megabyte /bit (220 1048576 bytes / bits) MB/Mb
• Gigabyte / bit (230 bytes/ bits) GB/Gb

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Computer Terminology

• Speed
• Bits per second - bps
• Byte per second Bps
• Kilobits per second Kbs (210 23) bits per
  second
• Kilobytes per second KBs (210 ) bits per
  second

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Computer Hardware - Processing

• CPU Chip
• Major Brands (Intel, AMD)
• Speed
• Dual Processing
• Chip technology transistors, capacitors, cache,
  ALU
• Graphics Card
• Sound Card

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The CPU Processing Digital Information

• The CPU is the brains of the computer
• Different types of CPUs
• Intel and AMD chips Used in most Windows-based
  PCs
• Apple systems use different CPU design
• Differentiating CPUs
• Processing power
• Clock speed and cache

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Processors on the Market
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The CPU Machine Cycle

• Fetch
• The programs binary code is fetched from its
  temporary location in RAM and moved to the CPU
• Decode
• The programs binary code is decoded into
  commands that the CPU understands
• Execute
• The ALU performs the calculations
• Store
• The results are stored in the registers

Inside the Chip by Intel Video Clip
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The System Clock

• Located on the motherboard
• Controls the CPUs processing cycles
• Clock cycle
• Pulse or tick
• Clock speed
• Number of pulses per second
• Measured in hertz (Hz)

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The Control Unit

• Manages the switches inside the CPU
• Is programmed by CPU designers to remember the
  sequence of processing stages for that CPU
• Moves each switch to its correct setting (on or
  off)
• Then performs the work of that stage

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The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

• Part of the CPU designed to perform mathematical
  operations (addition, subtraction,
  multiplication, division, etc.)
• Also performs logical OR, AND, and NOT operations
• Is fed data from the CPU registers
• Word size Number of bits a computer can work
  with at a time

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Cache Memory

• Small amount of memory located on the CPU chip or
  near it
• Stores recent or frequently used instructions and
  data
• Used for quick access by the CPU
• Different levels of cache

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Computer Hardware - Memory

• Short Term
• RAM (Random Access Memory)
• ROM (Read Only Memory)
• Cache
• Long Term
• Hard Drive
• External
• CD
• DVD
• USB Drive

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RAM The Next Level of Temporary Storage

• Volatile When you turn off your computer, the
  data is erased
• Several kinds of RAM exist
• Each type of RAM has a different design
• Some types work at much faster speeds
• Some transfer data more quickly

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Types of RAM DRAM

• Cheapest and most basic type of RAM
• Loses its electrical charge, needs to be
  refreshed
• Many types of DRAM
• SDRAM Synchronous DRAM
• DDR SDRAM Double data rate SDRAM

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Types of RAM SRAM

• Static RAM (SRAM)
• Does not lose its electrical charge
• Faster than DRAM
• More expensive than DRAM
• Used only in locations like cache memory

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Computer Hardware - Connections

• Motherboard
• Internal BUS (bidirectional universal switch)
• On CPU
• On Motherboard
• Between Components
• External BUS
• USB
• Firewire
• Network
• Ethernet
• Modem

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Buses The CPUs Data Highway

• Bus
• Electrical pathway used to move data between
  components
• Local bus or front side bus (FSB) Connects the
  CPU with the memory
• Expansion bus Connects the CPU with peripheral
  devices

01100010
01001000
01110011
00100111
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Bus Performance

• Bus clock speed
• Rate of speed data moves from one location to
  another
• Measured in MHz (millions of clock cycles per
  second)
• Bus width
• The number of bits of data moved on a bus at any
  one time
• Measured in bits
• 16 bits
• 32 bits

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Types of Expansion Buses

• ISA and EISA
• Found on older computers
• Connect mouse, modem, and sound card
• PCI
• Faster than ISA and EISA
• Found on modern computers
• Connects network, modem, and sound cards
• AGP
• Used for three-dimensional graphics
• Connects the graphics card and memory

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Making Computers Faster

• Pipelining The CPU processes more than one
  instruction at a time

Nonpipelined CPU
Instruction 1
Fetch
Decode
Execute
Store
Instruction 2
Fetch
Decode
Execute
Store
Pipelined CPU
Fetch
Decode
Execute
Store
Instruction 1
Fetch
Decode
Execute
Store
Instruction 2
Fetch
Decode
Execute
Store
Instruction 3
Fetch
Decode
Execute
Store
Instruction 4
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Making Computers Faster

• Specialized instructions for handling
• Multimedia
• Graphics

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Making Computers Faster

• Dual processing
• Two CPUs on the same system
• Each processor shares the workload
• Multi-core processing
• Hyperthreading
• Parallel processing
• Network of computers
• Each computer works on a portion of the problem
  simultaneously

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Computer Hardware - Peripheries

• Input
• Mouse
• Keyboard
• Touch Screen / Tablet PC
• Output
• Monitor
• Printer
• Audio

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Operating Systems

• Communication between hardware and Application
  Software
• Responsibilities
• Process Management
• Memory management
• Task scheduling
• Access to hardware devices
• Libraries for Application Software
• Networking
• Security

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Operating Systems

• UNIX (Linux)
• Macintosh -
• Microsoft Windows -

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Works Cited

• Technology in Action, Evans, Martin and Poatsey,
  Prentice Hall