IT1020 – INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SYSTEMS

LECTURE 1:
HISTORY/ EVOLUTION AND THE COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEMS
LECTURE CONTENT

 Generations of Computers
 Characteristics of each
Generation
 Components of Computers
 Different types of components

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GENERATIONS OF THE COMPUTERS

 1st Generation computers(1944-

1955)
 2nd Generation computers (1955-
1964)
 3rd Generation computers (1964-
1971)
 4th Generation Computers (1971-
Present ) 3
1ST GENERATION COMPUTERS (1944-55)

Main characteristics of this generation

 Used Thermion valves
 Large in size and very heavy in weight
 Power consumption was very high
 First Generation Computers relied on Machin Language
 Writing program on them was difficult or quite slow
 They were very expensive to operate, using a great
deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was
often the cause of malfunctions

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1ST GENERATION COMPUTERS

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator

(ENIAC)
1946 : First electronic general purpose calculator, ENIAC was built
in U.S, weighs 33 tons, consumes 150kw, and averages 5000
operations per second

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1ST GENERATION COMPUTERS

Hard wired programming

 Early computers were programmed, using large number
of switches in the console panel and
plugging/unplugging cables
 It is called hardwired programming

Two women working with

ENIAC computer
United States Army 6
Photo.
1ST TO 2ND GENERATION

Von Neumann Architecture

 It was required re-wire and re-design the machine to run
a different program. It was a manual and very tedious
task
 Von Neumann proposed that programs and data can be
stored in a memory device and instead of rewiring the
machine we can change the program easily.

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John Von Neumann
 1ST TO 2ND GENERATION
Von Neumann Architecture
 All computers share the
same basic architecture,
whether it be a multi-
million dollar mainframe or
a Palm Pilot.

 All have memory, an I/O

system, and
arithmetic/logic unit,
and a control unit.
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 1ST TO 2ND GENERATION

Von Neumann Architecture

 The use of the binary number system
 A single sequentially addressed memory
 A separate arithmetic/logic unit for performing arithmetic
and logical computations
 The stored program concept in which both the programs
and its data are stored in memory.
 A controller that fetches instructions from memory
and executes them. 9
1ST TO 2ND GENERATION

Invention of Transistor
 1947 : Transistor, essential storage device for computers
invented at Bell Labs by American engineers William
Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Bartain .

 Transistors were much smaller, more rugged,

cheaper to make and far more reliable than valves.

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2ND GENERATION COMPUTERS (1955-64)

 Used transistors instead of Thermion valves.

 Comparatively higher operating speed.
 Size and weight of the computers decreased
 Manufacturing cost reduced

 The concepts of Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory,

programming language and input and output unites were
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developed.
2ND GENERATION COMPUTERS (1955-64)

 High-level programming languages

introduced
 Development of software for computers
 Computer industry experienced rapid
growth.
IMB 1401

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IMB 1620
3RD GENERATION COMPUTERS(1964-71)

 Integrated Circuits (ICs) were used (A single IC has many

transistors, resisters and capacitors built on a single thin slice
of silicon.)
 The size of the computer got further reduced
 High Level Languages were developed in this
generation
 Large IC companies were started. (INTEL started in 1968,
AMD started in 1969)
 The computers were low cost, large memory and
 processing speed was very high.
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3RD GENERATION COMPUTERS(1964-71)
 Substantial operating systems were developed to manage and
share the computing resources and time sharing operating systems
were developed. These greatly improved the efficiency of
computers.

 Computers had by now pervaded most areas of business and

administration.

 Allowed the device to run many different applications at one

time.

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3RD GENERATION COMPUTERS(1964-71)

IBM System/360 IBM System/370

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4TH GENERATION COMPUTERS (1971-)
 Personal computers were developed and IBM launched the Power PC
and Pentium introduced the 8088 and 8086 microprocessors. (Most of
the computers at present are belong to this generation)

 It uses large scale Integrated Circuits (LSIC) built on a single silicon chip
called microprocessors.

 Memory chips are in megabit range

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 4TH GENERATION COMPUTERS (1971-)
 On the software side, more
powerful operating systems are
available such as Unix.
 Fourth generation languages
(4GLs) make the development
process much easier and faster.
 Applications software has
become cheaper and easier
to use.
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 Software development
techniques have vastly
5TH GENERATION COMPUTERS
Present and beyond
 Fifth generation computing devices, based on Artificial
Intelligence (AI).
 Are still in development, though there are some
applications, such as voice recognition.
 The use of parallel processing and superconductors is
helping to make artificial intelligence a reality.
 The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices
that respond to natural language input and are capable 18 of
learning and self-organization.
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER

 Input devices
 Output devices
 Processing devices
 Storage devices
 Other devices
– Motherboard, Expansion cards, Power supply
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER BASIC LAYOUT

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER - INPUT AND OUTPUT
DEVICES

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER -PROCESSING DEVICES

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
FEATURES

 Volatility
 Volatile storage
 Non-Volatile storage
 Accessibility
 Random access
 Sequential access
 Mutability
 Read/write storage or mutable
storage
 Read only storage
 Slow write, fast read storage
 Addressability 23
 Location addressable
 File addressable
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES – TYPES

There are four type of storage:

 Primary Storage
 Secondary Storage
 Tertiary Storage
 Off-line Storage

External
I/O
storages module Main
Magnetic memory
Disks
CPU Cache
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
HIERARCHY

Volatile
Random access

Non-volatile

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
PRIMARY STORAGE

Primary storage types

 Registers
 Main
Memory
 Cache

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
PRIMARY STORAGE

Registers
 very small amount of very fast memory that is built into the
CPU
 This is to speed up its operations by providing quick access to
commonly used values.
 Fastest memory in computer.
 Registers are normally measured by the number of bits they
can hold, for example, an 8-bit register or a 32-bit register.
 Registers can also be classified into
 general purpose
 special purpose. 27
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
PRIMARY STORAGE

Cache
 Small amount of fast memory (Faster than RAM, static
memory)
 Sits between normal main memory and CPU
 May be located on CPU chip or module.
 Cache works on the principal of locality of reference.

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
PRIMARY STORAGE

Cache – The operation of cache memory

1. Cache fetches 2.CPU checks to
data from next to see whether the
current addresses next instruction it
in main memory requires is in cache
Cache
Main
Memory CPU
Memory
(SRAM)
(DRAM) 4. If not, the CPU has 3. If it is, then the
to fetch next instruction is
instruction from main fetched from the
memory - a much cache – a very
slower process fast position 29
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
PRIMARY STORAGE

Memory – technologies
Static memory Dynamic memory
 No charges to leak  Bits stored as charge in
 No refreshing needed capacitors
when powered  Level of charge determines value
 More complex - charges leak
construction  Need refreshing even when
 Larger implementation per powered (need refresh circuits)
bit  Simpler construction, smaller
 More expensive per bit
 Faster that dynamic  Less expensive
memory  Slower than Static memory 30
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES –
PRIMARY STORAGE
Memory – types
Read Only Memory (ROM) Random Access Memory (RAM)
Also called read/write memory.

 Non-volatile in nature  Volatile

 These cannot be accidentally changed  This is a semi conductor memory (dynamic memory)
 Use static memory  E.g. Main memory
 Faster than dynamic  Main memory is usually called RAM. (misnamed
memory because all semiconductor memory is random
 E.g. BIOS chip access)
 Masked ROM  Main Memory can be made faster by using static
 Programmable ROM (PROM) memory. Then why don’t we do that?
 Erasable PROM (EPROM)  Main memory is directly or indirectly connected to
 EEPROM the central processing unit via a bus.
 The CPU continuously reads instructions stored in
the main memory and executes them as required.
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – PRIMARY STORAGE

Memory – Main memory

 Main memory consists of a number of storage locations,
each of which is identified by a unique address
 The ability of the CPU to identify each location is known as its
addressability
 Each location stores a word i.e. the number of bits that can
be processed by the CPU in a single operation. Word length
may be typically 16, 24, 32 or as many as 64 bits.
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – PRIMARY STORAGE

Memory – Main memory

 Program and data are stored in memory prior to execution.
(This is called Stored Program Concept proposed by Von
Neumann).
 Memory is a semiconductor device in modern computers
(Magnetic core memories were used earlier)
 Main memory, primary storage are synonyms to memory.
(RAM also denotes the same)
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – PRIMARY STORAGE

Memory – Main memory

 Memory is byte addressable
 Each byte has a unique address
 Addresses start from zero and increment sequentially.
 Memory Refresh – Memory refresh is the process of
periodically read data from an area of computer memory
and immediately writing the read information to the same
area with no modifications.
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STORAGE DEVICES – SECONDARY STORAGE

Hard disk

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – SECONDARY STORAGE
Hard disk

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – SECONDARY STORAGE

Hard disk – performance parameters

 Access time – seek time + rotational delay+
transfer time
 Seek time – track selection time (moving the head on
the desired sector on the track)
 Rotational delay – the time it takes for the head to reach
the beginning of the sector
 Transfer time – the time required to transfer data 37
COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – TERTIARY STORAGE

 Typically, it involves a robotic mechanism which will mount

(insert) and dismount removable mass storage media into
a storage device.
 It is a comprehensive computer storage system that is
usually very slow, so it is usually used to archive data that is
not accessed frequently.
 This is primarily useful for extraordinarily large data
stores, accessed without human operators.
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – TERTIARY STORAGE

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – OFFLINE STORAGE

 Also known as Disconnected storage

 Is a computer data storage on a medium or a device that is
not under the control of a processing unit
 It must be inserted or connected by a human operator
before a computer can access it again
 Examples
 Floppy Disk
 CD/DVD/Blue-ray
 USB Flash Drive
 Memory Cards
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – OFFLINE STORAGE

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER
STORAGE DEVICES – OFFLINE STORAGE

CD DVD
Stands for Compact Disc Digital Versatile Disc

DVDs are made with the purpose of

CDs are made with the purpose of
holding video files, movies,
Purpose holding audio files as well as program
substantial amount of programs, etc.
files.

Media type Optical disc Optical disc

Typically up to 700 MiB (up to 80 DVD can range from 4.7 GB to

Capacity
minutes audio) 17.08 GB.

DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM and

Types CD-R, CD-RW, CD-Text ETC.
Blu-Ray.
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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER - STORAGE DEVICES

Other Storage techniques

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES

Other Storage techniques

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COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES

Evolution of storages

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THANK YOU

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