2 - System Unit
2 - System Unit
2 - System Unit
What is a chip?
A computer chip is a small piece of semi-conducting material, usually silicon, on which
integrated circuits are etched.
An integrated circuit contains many microscopic pathways capable of carrying electrical
current.
Manufacturer’s package chips so the chips can be attached to a circuit board, such as
motherboard or an adapter card.
What is pipelining?
The processor begins fetching a second instruction before it completes the machine cycle for the first
instruction.
Processors that use pipelining are faster because they do not have to wait for one instruction to
complete the machine cycle before fetching the next.
What is a register?
Are part of the processor which is small, high-speed storage locations that temporarily hold data and
instructions
Processors have many different types of register, each with a specific storage function.
o Register function include
storing the location from where the an instruction was fetched
storing an instruction while the control unit decodes it
storing data while the ALU computes it
storing the results of a calculation
Does the system clock also keep track of the current date and time?
No, a separate battery-backed chip, called the real-time clock, keeps track of the date and time in a
computer. The battery continues to run the real-time clock even when the computer is off.
o Intel used a model number to identify the various chips. After learning that the processor
model numbers could not be trademarked and protected from use by competitors, Intel began
identifying its processors with names – thus emerges the series of processors known as the
Pentium.
1. ASCII scheme—(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) – is the most widely
used coding system to represent data. Most personal computers and midrange servers use the
ASCII coding scheme.
2. EBCDIC scheme — (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) – is used primarily
on mainframe computers and high-end servers.
The ASCII and EBCDIC coding schemes are sufficient for English and Western European
language but are not large enough for Asian and other languages that use different alphabets.
3. Unicode—is a 16-bit coding scheme that has the capacity of representing more than 65,000
characters and symbols. The Unicode coding scheme is capable of representing almost all the
worlds’ current written languages, as well as classic and historical languages. To allow for
expansion, Unicode reserves 30,000 codes for future use and 6,000 codes for private use.
Unicode is implemented in several operating systems, including Windows XP, Mac OS X,
and Linux. Unicode-enabled programming languages and software products includes Java,
XML, Microsoft Office and Oracle.
What is Memory?
Memory – consists of electronic components that store instructions waiting to be executed by the processor,
data needed by those instructions, and the results of processed data (information)
o Memory stores three basic categories of items
The operating system and other system software that control or maintain the computer and
its devices.
Application programs that carry out a specific task such as word processing and resulting
information
The data being processed by the application program and resulting information.
Bytes and Addressable Memory
o Byte (a character) – is the basic storage unit in memory. When the application program instructions
and data are transferred to memory from storage device, the instructions and data exists as bytes.
Each byte resides temporarily in a location in memory that has an address.
o Address – is a unique number that identifies the location of a byte in memory.
How is Memory measured?
Memory Sizes
o Kilobyte (KB or K) – is equal to exactly 1024 bytes.
o Megabyte (MB) – is equal to approximately 1 million bytes
o Gigabyte (GB) – equals to approximately 1 billion bytes
o Terabyte (TB) – equals to approximately 1 trillion bytes.
Term Abbreviation Approximate Number of Bytes Exact Amount of Bytes Approximate number of Pages or Text
Kilobyte KB or K 1 thousand 1,024 ½
Megabyte MB 1 million 1,048,576 500
Gigabyte GB 1 billion 1,073,741,824 500,000
Terabyte TB 1 trillion 1,099,511,627,776 500,000,000
Types of Memory
o Volatile Memory – when the computers power off, it loses its content. (temporary)
Example: RAM (Random Access Memory)
o Nonvolatile Memory – does not lose its content when power is removed from the computer
(permanent).
Examples: ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor).
What is cache?
Most of today’s computers improve processing times with cache (pronounced as cash)
Two types of cache are memory cache and disk cache.
o Memory cache – helps speed the processes of the computer because it stores frequently used instructions
and data.
Most personal computers today have two types of memory cache:
L1 cache – is built directly in the processor chip. L1 cache usually has a very small
capacity, ranging from 8KB to 128KB. The more common sizes for personal computers
are 8KB to 16KB.
L2 cache – is slightly slower than L1 cache but has a much larger capacity, ranging from
64KB to 16MB. When discussing cache, most users are referring to L2 Cache. Current
processor includes advanced transfer cache (ATC), a type of L2 cache built directly on
the processor chip. Processors that use ATC perform much faster rates than those that do
not use it
L3 cache – is a cache in the motherboard that is separate from the processor chip. L3
cache exists only on computers that use L2 advanced transfer cache.
Cache speeds up the processing time because it stores frequently used instructions and data. When the processor
needs an instruction or data, it searches in the memory in this order: L1 cache, then L2 cache, then L3 cache (if it
exist), then RAM – with greater delay in processing for each level of memory it must search. If the instruction or
data is not found in memory, then it searches a slower speed storage medium such as hard disk, CD DVD.
Flash Memory – is a type of nonvolatile memory that can be erased electronically and rewritten, similar to
EEPROM. Most computers use flash memory to hold their startup instructions because it allows the computer easily
to updates it contents. For example, when the computer changes from standard time to daylight savings time, the
contents of the flash memory (and the real time clock chip) change to reflect the new time.
o Flash memory chip also store data and programs on many mobile computers and devices such as PDAs,
smart phones, printers, digital cameras, digital voice recorders, and pagers.
CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) technology – uses battery power to retain information even
when the power to computer is off.
o Used in some RAM chips, flash memory chips, and other types of memory chips
o Stores date, time, and computer’s startup information
Flash Memory Card - is a removable flash memory device that allows users to transfer data and information
conveniently from mobile device to their desktop computers.
USB Flash Drive – is a flash memory storage device that plugs in a USB port on a computer or portable device.
o Hot plugging – a feature that allows you to insert and remove removable flash memory and other devices
while the computer is running.
Parallel Port – is an interface that connects devices by transferring more than one bit at a time. Originally, parallel
ports were developed as an alternative to the slower speed serial ports.
o Many printers connect to the system unit using a parallel port.
USB Port – short for Universal Serial Bus port can connect up to 127 peripherals together with a single connector
type. Devices that connect to the USB port include the following: mouse, printer, digital camera, scanner, speakers,
MP3 music players, CD, DVD and removable drives.
o USB 2.0 – the latest version of USB is a more advanced and faster USB, with a speed 40 times higher than
that of its predecessor.
o Daisy chain – means that First USB device connects to USB port on computer, Second USB
device connects to first USB device and Third USB device connects to second USB device, and so on
o USB hub – is a device that plugs in a USB port system in which you can plug cables from USB devices
FireWire Ports – previously called an IEEE 1394 port, is similar to a USB port in that in can connect multiple types
of devices that require faster data transmission speeds, such as digital video cameras, digital VCRs, color printers,
scanners, digital cameras and DVD drives to a single connector.
o A FireWire port allows you to connect up to 63 devices together. The FireWire ports supports Plug and
Play.
o SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) Port – a special high speed parallel port that allows you to attached SCSI
peripherals such as disk drives and printers.
o IrDA (Infrared Data Association) Port – some devices can transmit data via infrared light waves.
o Bluetooth Port – an alternative to IrDA. Bluetooth technology uses radio waves to transmit data between two devices.
Unlike IrDA, the Bluetooth devices do not have to be aligned with each other.
What is a bus?
o Bus – electrical channels that allows the various devices both inside and attached to the system unit to
communicate with each other.
Two parts of Bus
o Data Bus – transfer actual data
o Address Bus – transfer information about where the data should reside in memory.
Bus Width - determines the number of bits that the computer can transmit at one time.
o For example, a 32-bit bus can transmit 32 bits (4 bytes) at a time, on a 64-bit bus; bits
transmit from one location to another location 64-bits (8 bytes) at a time. The larger the
number of bits handles by the bus, the faster the computer transfer data.
o Word size is the number of bits processor can interpret and execute at a given time
Two basic types of Bus
o System bus – is part of the motherboard and connects the processor to main memory
o Expansion Bus – allows the processor to communicate with peripherals.
What is a bay?
Bay – is an opening inside the system unit in which you can install additional equipment. A bay is
different from a slot, which is used for the installation of adapter cards.
Drive Bays – rectangular openings that typically holds disk drives
Two types of Drive Bays
o External Drive Bays – allows a user to access the dive from outside the system unit
Examples: Floppy Disk Drive, CD Drives, DVD Drives, Zip Drives, and tape
drives.
o Internal Drive bays – is concealed entirely within the system unit.
Example: Hard disk drives are installed in internal bays.
01000011 C 11000011 6 6 F V f v
0036 0046 0056 0066 0076
01000100 D 11000100
7 7 G W g w
01000101 E 11000101 0037 0047 0057 0067 0077
01000110 F 11000110 8 8 H X h x
01000111 G 11000111 0038 0048 0058 0068 0078
01001000 H 11001000 9 9 I Y I y
0039 0049 0059 0069 0079
01001001 I 11001001 A : J Z j z
01001010 J 11010001 003A 004A 005A 006A 007A
01001011 K 11010010 B ; K [ k {
003B 004B 005B 006B 007B
01001100 L 11010011
01001101 M 11010100 C < L \ l |
003C 004C 005C 006C 007C
01001110 N 11010101 D = M ] m }
01001111 O 11010110 003D 004D 005D 006D 007D
01010000 P 11010111 E > N ^ n ~
003E 004E 005E 006E 007E
01010001 Q 11011000
F ? O _ o del
01010010 R 11011001 003F 004F 005F 006F 007F
01010011 S 11100010
01010100 T 11100011 Decimal Binary Hexadecimal
01010101 U 11100100 0 0000 0
01010110 V 11100101 1 0001 1
01010111 W 11100110 2 0010 2
3 0011 3
01011000 X 11100111
4 0100 4
01011001 Y 11101000 5 0101 5
01011010 Z 11101001 6 0110 6
00100001 ! 01011010 7 0111 7
00100010 “ 01111111 8 1000 8
9 1001 9
00100011 # 01111011
10 1010 A
00100100 $ 01011011 11 1011 B
00100101 % 01101100 12 1100 C
00100110 & 01010000 13 1101 D
00101000 ( 01001101 14 1110 E
00101001 ) 01011101 15 1111 F
00101010 * 01011100
00101011 +
CONVERSIONS
Decimal number system – is a base 10 number system (deci means 10). The decimal number system uses 10
symbols (0 through 9).
Binary number system – is a base 2 number system (bi means 2). The symbols it uses are 0 and 1.
Octal number system – is a base 8 number system (octal means 8). ). The octal number system uses 8 symbols (0
through 7).
Hexadecimal number system – uses 16 symbols to represents values (hex means six). These includes the
symbols 0 through 9 and A through F.
1 4 3 =
(1x102) + (4x101) + (3x100)
1 4 3 =
(1x100) + (4x10) + (3x1)
100 + 40 + 3 = 143
1 0 0 1 =
(1x23) + (0x22) + (0x21) + (1x20)
8 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 9
2 0
(2x81) + (0 x 80) =
(2x8) + (0x1) =
16 + 0 = 16
A 5
(10x161) + (5 x 160) =
(10x16) + (5x1) =
160 + 5 = 165