MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTER

SYSTEMS

ABDULHAMID, USMAN NURUDDEEN

College of Computing and Information Science
Department of Computer Science and IT
Contents
 Module 1: Introduction to Computer Systems
 Unit 1: Fundamentals of Computer Systems
 Unit 2: Computer Software
 Module 2: Computer Hardware Architecture
 Unit 1: Von-Neumann Computer Architecture
 Unit 2: Central Processing Unit
 Unit 3: Computer Data Storage and Memory Devices
 Module 3: Computer Peripheral Devices
 Unit 1: Input Devices
 Unit 2: Output Devices
 Module 4: Computer Hardware Components
 Unit 1: System Board-Motherboard
 Unit 2: Microchips Technology
 Module 5: Hardware Interconnectivity and Embedded Systems
 Unit 1: Computer Networking
 Unit 2: Multi-core Technology
 Unit 3: Introduction to Embedded Systems
 Module 6: Digital Systems
 Unit 1: Introduction to Digital Systems
 Unit 2: Cloud Computing
Unit 1: Fundamentals of Computer
Systems
 Introduction
Today, almost everyone uses computers directly or indirectly to solve
diverse problems ranging from word processing to internet-based
applications. This course is about the study computer hardware,
which is the physical part of the computer system. This module
addresses the introductory theories about computer systems. It also
deals with interconnectivity and relationship with the major modules
of a standard computer system. In this Unit, we shall discuss some
fundamental concepts relating to a computer system. The Unit also
explains the computer device and system configuration.
Definition of a Computer

A computer can be described as an electronic

device that can receive data, process the data,
and produce the result as the outcome.
Conventionally, the received data is known as
input while the result of the processing is
known as output or information. A computer
also has the capability of storing data and/or
information in its memory for future use. This
relationship is illustrated in Figure 1.
INPUT PROCESSING OUTPUT
(DATA) (INFORMATION)
(Computer)

Figure 1 Computer Device Data Flow Process

Definition of a Computer Cont…
Basically, a computer is divided into two major parts,
namely, hardware and software. This configuration is
like the division of human being into body and
spirit/soul. That is, the body is the hardware while the
software is the spirit or soul. While the hardware, the
physical or most visible part is tangible, the software is
intangible. Normally, the software resides and operates
within the hardware. Essentially, hardware the physical
part of the computer while the software is the code that
runs on the computer.
 Computers are capable of processing numerical data in
form of 0’s and 1’s or simply in binary digital format.
This digital format is the basis of the machine language
which differs from human-readable languages. They can
solve repetitive computational jobs with high level of
accuracy and timeliness depending on the software
capability.
Description of a Computer System

A computer system involves a Users

complete suite of hardware and

software resources as well as the Application
Software
users that operate the computer
system. System ssoftware

Ideally, a full-fledged computer

system is made up of users, Operating system

application software, systems

software, operating system and Hardware

hardware as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Architecture of a
Computer System
Classifications and Types of Computers

Essentially, computers while maintaining their

basic functionalities, can be categorized
according to their processing power, internal
design, applicability, and physical size. These
categories are as follows:
 Personal Computers
 Workstations
 Mini-Computers
 Mainframe Computer
 Supercomputer
Personal Computers
Personal computers, popularly shortened as PC, are
common, cheaper, versatile, small and portable in
sizes. They are single-user computer based on
different kinds of microprocessors. Laptops are kinds
of PCs that consume less power due to their
miniaturized integrated internal components.
Today, many students, office workers and business
people use personal computer to carry out many
tasks. Such tasks include word processing, graphical
designs, desktop publishing, accounting operations,
spreadsheets, video editing, teleconferencing among
others.
Workstations
These computers are relatively more powerful than PCs
in terms of computational capability. They are also
single-user based. Although, a workstation is like a
personal computer, however it has a higher
specifications and better quality. These high-end
computers are often used to execute complex and
large computational jobs in lesser time, so they are
usually more costly than PCs. These types of
computers are found in research laboratories, research
institutions, universities, Space, automotive, and
manufacturing industries.
Minicomputers
Minicomputers are multi-users-based computers. They
support a large array of users concurrently and are usually
able to handle larger complex or/and large computational
jobs. PCs and workstations are usually connected to
minicomputers in a network for the joint execution of
tasks, processes, and programs. Minicomputers are not
portable, they belong to large organizations such as the
Nigerian National Space Research and Development
Agency (NASRDA), National Identity Management
Commission (NIMC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),
national astronautics and space administration (NASA),
European Space Agency (ESA), among others. During
your next industrial training, you may wish to visit such
organization to see such computers.
Mainframe

Computer
Mainframe computers are larger, expensive and
more powerful multi-user systems. They
simultaneously support thousands of users than
minicomputers. They have higher specifications
in terms of processing speed and storage. They are
quite huge and expensive. Mainframe computers
are mostly found in large corporations, enterprises
and government organizations where many IT
professionals and workers use them
simultaneously to solve grand challenge
computational problems
 They are designed to perform large numbers of
calculations for governments and large enterprises
 It should be noted that the specifications of
mainframe computers have also evolved over the
years. International Business Machine (IBM) is
one of the earliest manufacturers of computer
systems. Figure 3 shows the System z9 computer Figure3 IBM System z9
which was a line of mainframe manufactured by
IBM in 2005.
Super-Computer
 Although, these computers are similar to mainframe, they are
extremely the fastest and can be used to perform hundreds of millions
of instructions per second. They are designed to solve grand challenge
problems that are often data- and computationally intensive, such as
DNA sequencing/human genome, Space exploration, Mars mission,
national population census, national electoral system, national
database systems, banking applications and database, health
informatics, etc. A typical supercomputer can solve up to ten trillion
individual calculations per second.
 It is important to note that the specifications of supercomputers have
also evolved over the years. Usually, supercomputers are the most
powerful computers that exist at a time in human history. Today,
China and USA are the leading manufacturers and users of
supercomputers in the world. This fact is available at the
https://www.top500.org/website.
 Till early 2021, Fugaku, the Chinese exascale systems was known to
be the world's fastest supercomputer on Top500. As at this press time,
the Intel and Cray of the Argonne National Laboratory is working
hard on the design and development of Aurora as the fastest
supercomputer to be commissioned in late 2022. The project is under
the sponsorship of the United States Department of Energy. Figure 4 Figure 4 Computer system
show a typical structure of a computer system.
Historical Generations
Advancements of Computers
Computer history specifically dated back to 1833 when Charles
Babbage, a mathematician, invented the first runner of digital
programmable and general-purpose computers. Barely, a century
later, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was
invented by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, this computer
was the first general-purpose electronic computer.
Obviously, the entire history of mainly computer hardware
advancements were distinctly partitioned into time-frame, periods,
or generations according to a specific range of advancements. The
generations are as follows:
 First Generation: 1940-1956
 Second Generation: 1957-1963
 Third Generation 1964-1971
 Fourth Generation Computers 1972-1990
 Fifth Generation Computers 1990 to date
 First Generation: 1940-1956
This generation showcased the use
of vacuum tubes for logic
circuitry through the flow of
electrical current. Magnetic
drums were used for data transfer
and storage. During this period,
machine language was developed
for systematic programming.
ENIAC was among the systems
developed during this period. The
drawbacks of the systems include
slower speed, excessive heat, and
high cost. Figure 5 First Generation
Computers
Second Generation: 1957-1963
In this generation, transistors were used as the major
switching devices thus making computers smaller,
faster and energy-efficient. The programming format
was assembly languages. Figure 6 shows a typical
second generation computer.

Figure 6 Second Generation Computer

Third Generation 1964-1971
 Integrated circuits (IC) were developed and used as the
switching devices for the flow of data. A single IC
contains several numbers of transistors, capacitors, and
resistors in the entire circuitry. Thus, computers became
smaller in size, faster in processing and generally efficient.
High level programming languages were also introduced
during this period. Figure 7 shows a typical third
generation computer.
 Prominent computers in the third generation were PDP
(Personal Data Processor), IBM-168/360/370 series,
Honeywell-6000 series

Figure 7 Third Generation computer

Fourth Generation Computers 1972-1990
The fourth-generation computers were based on the successful
invention and development of microprocessors as the central
processing units (CPU). Personal and portable computers were
manufactured due to the production of miniatured computing
components. As a result, the Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI)
circuits technology was implemented in the design of the
microprocessors and other kinds of switching devices. Intel was the
first company to design and develop microprocessors. The details
of microprocessor or CPU will be discussed later in this course.
Efficient high-level programming languages were also developed
such as Java, C++, C#, VB.NET among others. Figure 8 shows a
typical example of the fourth Generation Computer.

Figure 8 Fourth Generation Computers

Fifth Generation Computers 1990 to date
 The computers of this generation are designed based on
superconductors, VLSI, miniaturized components, multi-
core technologies, and artificial intelligence. Future
computers will advance more on machine learning, expert
systems, natural language processing, neural networks,
advanced parallel computation, robotics, and fuzzy logic
designs. Virtual reality, fault-tolerance, and artificial
intelligence will dominate the hardware and software
designs of fifth-generation computers.
 The robots are being manufactured as computing devices
that can replace human beings to work in difficult,
dangerous, and boring environments with less human
intervention. Examples of these robots are satellites, Sophia,
robocop, mars rover, among others. Find out what these
robots do and identify other kinds of robots. Figures 9 and
10 show examples of the fifth generation computers.

Figure 10 Fifth
generation computer -
Robot

Figure 9 Fifth generation computer - Laptop

 Comparison between Hardware
and Software
Hardware Software
Hardware is a tangible physical parts Software is a set of instruction or codes that control the
computer system functions of a computer
Hardware devices are manufactured Software are developed
Hardware cannot function without
software. software needs hardware to operate
As Hardware are physical electronic
devices, we can see and touch We can see and also use the software but can’t actually
hardware. touch them.
Von Neumman architecture for
computer framework This adopts software models
computer viruses do not affect
computer Computer viruses can corrupt codes
Yes, hardware can do not bare metals It can be downloaded, copy and transfer
If hardware is damaged, it can be When software is damaged, corrupt it can recovery from
replaced with a new one backup or the nendows
Examples include Keyboard, Mouse,
Monitor, Printer, CPU, Hard disk, Examples include Ms Word, Excel, Power Point,
RAM, ROM etc. Photoshop, MySQL etc.
Exercises

 What is a computer?
 Mention some tasks which computers can be
used for
 Describe a computer system
 Advancements in computer hardware are the
major causes of different generations in
computer history. Discuss.
 Unit 2: Computer Software
 Introduction
Do you realize that computer hardware cannot work
without software? You have learned from the Unit 1
that software is the soul or intangible component of
the computer system. When you drive your motor
car, you are able to control the operations and
direction of movement of the car. That is what a
software does exactly to the computer hardware.
Descriptions of Computer Software
 Software can simply be described as a set of codes or
programs involving a combination of well-defined
instructions, scripts, procedures, documentations, and
data that can manipulate and execute predefined tasks on
a computer system. These tasks also include the control of
functionalities of the computers or computing devices in
handling jobs according to the programming. The
computing devices include PCs, tablets, PDA, Automated
teller machines, mobile phones, smart TVs, and other
microcontroller-based embedded systems or smart
devices.
 Basically, computer hardware devices cannot operate or
function without software. This inter-relationship between
hardware and software is as shown in figure 2.0. You
need to also understand that a software suite comprises
programs, also known as a set of codes, design
specifications, documentation, and users’ manuals.
Types of Computer Software
 Since the inception of the computer age, there are have been several
kinds of software serving different purposes ranging from hardware
control, users’ operations, management of hardware to the entire system
control. Most times, the users, developers, manufacturers and
programmers determine the availability of different kinds of software
that are used in the computer systems.
 Generally, software can be classified into application software, system
software utility software, operating system and firmware. All these
forms of software are available in computer systems and software
engineering environment so as to support ICT facilities, computer users,
programmers, developers among others. Figure 11 shows the
classifications of software. Let us go through all these now.
Software

Application Utility software Firm ware

Software

Figure 11 Classifications of
Systemssoftware Operating system
Computer Software
Operating system
An operating system software is a software that
interfaces between system hardware, application
software and the users. Thus, without the roles of
operating systems the computer hardware cannot be
operated, controlled and manipulated by the users.
Essentially, the operating systems enable the
management of all the computer resources. These
resources include memory, files, processes,
peripheral devices, security features, processors,
storage devices, networking functionalities, job
scheduling among others.
Operating system Cont…..
 Operating systems (OS) can be broadly categorized as single-
users and multi-users. While a single-users OS allows one user
at time, a multi-users OS allows more than one user to operate a
computer at a time. We also have single-tasking and
multitasking operating systems. Tasks are processes or jobs
running by the computer central processing unit.
 Now, you should be able differentiate between single-tasking,
and multi-tasking. A single-user OS may be either single-tasking
e.g. (MS Windows 95) or multi-tasking (e.g. MS Windows 7, 8,
9,10,11). MS here means Microsoft, one of the prominent
software developer companies in the world today.
 Examples of single-users operating systems are MS-DOS,
Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, etc.
 Examples of multi-users operating systems are Mainframes,
IBM AS400, Linux & Unix Distributed OS, etc.
Application software

 An application (app) software is a computer

program suite specifically designed and
developed to solve a certain problem, perform a
job or execute an activity in various human
endeavors. Mostly, applications manipulate or
work on data, text, numbers, audio, graphics,
and video with respect to the objectives of the
operations.
 Examples of application software are MS Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, Google Chrome,
Photoshop, MySQL etc.
Firmware
Firmware is a kind of software that enables the
low-level control for a specific
microcontroller-based hardware device.
Firmware software are mostly used for
embedded systems operations and control.
Today, many electrical/electronic appliances
such as washing machines, air conditioning
units among others have firmware running
in their computing systems.
Exercises

 Give some analogies of computer software.

 What are the roles of computer software?
 State some examples of computer software
 Distinguish between firmware and operating
systems