Module I: Computer Basics: 1. What Is A Computer?

Module I: Computer Basics
1. WHAT IS A COMPUTER?
Computer is an electronic device. As mentioned in the introduction it can do arithmetic calculations faster.
But as you will see later it does much more than that. It can be compared to a magic box, which serves
different purpose to different people. For a common man computer is simply a calculator, which works
automatic and quite fast. For a person who knows much about it, computer is a machine capable of
solving problems and manipulating data. It accepts data, processes the data by doing some mathematical
and logical operations and gives us the desired output.
Therefore, we may define computer as a device that transforms data. Data can be anything like marks
obtained by you in various subjects. It can also be name, age, sex, weight, height, etc. of all the students
in your class or income, savings, investments, etc., of a country. Computer can be defined in terms of its
functions. It can
i) accept data
ii) store data,
iii) process data as desired,
iv) retrieve the stored data as and when required
v) print the result in desired format. You will know more about these functions as you go through
the later lessons.
Fig. 1.1 below depicts a personal computer.
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTER
Let us identify the major characteristics of computer. These can be discussed under the headings of
speed, accuracy, diligence, versatility and memory.
Speed
As you know computer can work very fast. It takes only few seconds for calculations that we take hours
to complete. Suppose you are asked to calculate the average monthly income of one thousand
persons in your neighborhood. For this you have to add income from all sources for all persons on a day to
day basis and find out the average for each one of them. How long will it take for you to do this? One
day, two days or one week? Do you know your small computer can finish this work in few seconds? The
weather forecasting that you see every day on TV is the results of compilation and analysis of huge
amount of data on temperature, humidity, pressure, etc. of various places on computers. It takes few
minutes for the computer to process this huge amount of data and give the result.
You will be surprised to know that computer can perform millions (1,000,000) of instructions and
even more per second. Therefore, we determine the speed of computer in terms of microsecond (10-6
part of a second) or nano-second (10-9 part of a second). From this you can imagine how fast your
computer performs work.
Accuracy
Suppose some one calculates faster but commits a lot of errors in computing. Such result is useless.
There is another aspect. Suppose you want to divide 15 by 7. You may work out up to 2 decimal places
and say the dividend is 2.14. I may calculate up to 4 decimal places and say that the result is 2.1428.
Some one else may go up to 9 decimal places and say the result is 2.142857143. Hence, in
addition to speed, the computer should have accuracy or correctness in computing.
The degree of accuracy of computer is very high and every calculation is performed with the same
accuracy. The accuracy level is determined on the basis of design of computer. The errors in computer
are due to human and inaccurate data.
Diligence
A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc. It can work for hours without
creating any error. If millions of calculations are to be performed, a computer will perform every
calculation with the same accuracy. Due to this capability it overpowers human being in routine type of
work.
Versatility
It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work. You may use your computer to
prepare payroll slips. Next moment you may use it for inventory management or to prepare electric
bills.
Power of Remembering
Computer has the power of storing any amount of information or data. Any information can be stored and
recalled as long as you require it, for any numbers of years. It depends entirely upon you how much data
you want to store in a computer and when to lose or retrieve these data.
No IQ
Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction from the user. It
performs the instructions at tremendous speed and with accuracy. It is you to decide what you want to do
and in what sequence. So a computer cannot take its own decision as you can.
No Feeling
It does not have feelings or emotion, taste, knowledge and experience. Thus it does not get tired even after
long hours of work. It does not distinguish between users.
Storage
The Computer has an in-built memory where it can store a large amount of data. You can also store data
in secondary storage devices such as floppies, which can be kept outside your computer and can be
carried to other computers.
3. HISTORY OF COMPUTER
History of computer could be traced back to the effort of man to count large numbers. This process of
counting of large numbers generated various systems of numeration like Babylonian system of
numeration, Greek system of numeration, Roman system of numeration and Indian system of numeration.
Out of these the Indian system of numeration has been accepted universally. It is the basis of modern
decimal system of numeration (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Later you will know how the computer solves all
calculations based on decimal system. But you will be surprised to know that the computer does not
understand the decimal system and uses binary system of numeration for processing.
We will briefly discuss some of the path-breaking inventions in the field of computing devices.
Calculating Machines
It took over generations for early man to build mechanical devices for counting large numbers. The first
calculating device called ABACUS was developed by the Egyptian and Chinese people.
The word ABACUS means calculating board. It consisted of sticks in horizontal positions on which were
inserted sets of pebbles.It has a number of horizontal bars each having ten beads. Horizontal bars
represent units, tens, hundreds, etc.
Napier’s bones
English mathematician John Napier built a mechanical device for the purpose of multiplication
in 1617 A D. The device was known as Napier’s bones.
Slide Rule
English mathematician Edmund Gunter developed the slide rule. This machine could perform operations
th
like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It was widely used in Europe in 16 century.
Pascal's Adding and Subtractory Machine

You might have heard the name of Blaise Pascal. He developed a machine at the age of 19 that could add
and subtract. The machine consisted of wheels, gears and cylinders.
Leibniz’s Multiplication and Dividing Machine

The German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz built around 1673 a mechanical device that
could both multiply and divide.
Babbage’s Analytical Engine

It was in the year 1823 that a famous English man Charles Babbage built a mechanical machine to do
complex mathematical calculations. It was called difference engine. Later he developed a general-purpose
calculating machine called analytical engine. You should know that Charles Babbage is called the father
of computer.
Mechanical and Electrical Calculator

In the beginning of 19th century the mechanical calculator was developed to perform all sorts of
mathematical calculations. Up to the 1960s it was widely used. Later the rotating part of mechanical
calculator was replaced by electric motor. So it was called the electrical calculator.
Modern Electronic Calculator

The electronic calculator used in 1960 s was run with electron tubes, which was quite bulky. Later it
was replaced with transistors and as a result the size of calculators became too small.
The modern electronic calculator can compute all kinds of mathematical computations and mathematical
functions. It can also be used to store some data permanently. Some calculators have in-built programs to
perform some complicated calculations.
Fig.: Vacuum tube, transistor, IC
4. COMPUTER GENERATIONS
You know that the evolution of computer started from 16th century and resulted in the form that we see
today. The present day computer, however, has also undergone rapid change during the last fifty years.
This period, during which the evolution of computer took place, can be divided into five distinct phases
known as Generations of Computers. Each phase is distinguished from others on the basis of the type of
switching circuits used.
First Generation Computers

First generation computers used Thermion valves. These computers were large in size and writing
programs on them was difficult. Some of the computers of this generation were:
ENIAC: It was the first electronic computer built in 1946 at University of Pennsylvania, USA by John
Eckert and John Mauchy. It was named Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC). The
ENIAC was 30 50 feet long, weighed 30 tons, contained 18,000 vacuum tubes,
70,000 registers, 10,000 capacitors and required 150,000 watts of electricity. Today your favorite
computer is many times as powerful as ENIAC, still size is very small.
EDVAC: It stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer and was developed in
1950. The concept of storing data and instructions inside the computer was introduced here. This allowed
much faster operation since the computer had rapid access to both data and instructions. The other
advantages of storing instruction was that computer could do logical decision internally.
Other Important Computers of First Generation

EDSAC: It stands for Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer and was developed by
M.V. Wilkes at Cambridge University in 1949.
UNIVAC-1: Ecker and Mauchly produced it in 1951 by Universal Accounting Computer setup.
Fig. 1.4: Univac Computer

Limitations of First Generation Computer
Followings are the major drawbacks of First generation computers.
1. The operating speed was quite slow.

2. Power consumption was very high.
3. It required large space for installation.
4. The programming capability was quite low.
Second Generation Computers

Around 1955 a device called Transistor replaced the bulky electric tubes in the first generation computer.
Transistors are smaller than electric tubes and have higher operating speed. They have no filament and
require no heating. Manufacturing cost was also very low. Thus the size of the computer got reduced
considerably.
It is in the second generation that the concept of Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, programming
language and input and output units were developed. The programming languages such as COBOL,
FORTRAN were developed during this period. Some of the computers of the Second Generation were
1. IBM 1620: Its size was smaller as compared to First Generation computers and mostly used for
scientific purpose.
2. IBM 1401: Its size was small to medium and used for business applications.
3. CDC 3600: Its size was large and is used for scientific purposes.
Third Generation Computers
The third generation computers were introduced in 1964. They used Integrated Circuits (ICs). These
ICs are popularly known as Chips. A single IC has many transistors, registers and capacitors built on a
single thin slice of silicon. So it is quite obvious that the size of the computer got further reduced.
Some of the computers developed during this period were IBM-
360, ICL-1900, IBM-370, and VAX-750. Higher level language such as BASIC (Beginners All purpose
Symbolic Instruction Code) was developed during this period.
Computers of this generations were small in size, low cost, large memory and processing speed is very
high.
Fourth Generation Computers

The present day computers that you see today are the fourth generation computers that started around
1975. It uses large scale Integrated Circuits (LSIC) built on a single silicon chip called microprocessors.
Due to the development of microprocessor it is possible to place computer’s central processing unit
(CPU) on single chip. These computers are called microcomputers. Later very large scale Integrated
Circuits (VLSIC) replaced LSICs.
Thus the computer which was occupying a very large room in earlier days can now be placed on a table.
The personal computer (PC) that you see in your school is a Fourth Generation Computer.
Fifth Generation Computer

The computers of 1990s are said to be Fifth Generation computers. The speed is extremely high in fifth
generation computer. Apart from this it can perform parallel processing. The concept of Artificial
intelligence has been introduced to allow the computer to take its own decision. It is still in a
developmental stage.
5. TYPES OF COMPUTERS
Now let us discuss the varieties of computers that we see today. Although they belong to the fifth
generation they can be divided into different categories depending upon the size, efficiency, memory and
number of users. Broadly they can be divided it to the following categories.
1. Microcomputer: A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit.
Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of
space when compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with
a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense).
Microcomputer is at the lowest end of the computer range in terms of speed and storage capacity.
Its CPU is a microprocessor. The first microcomputers were built of 8-bit microprocessor chips. The
most common application of personal computers (PC) is in this category. The PC supports a number
of input and output devices. An improvement of 8-bit chip is 16-bit and 32-bit chips.
Examples of
microcomputer are IBM PC, PC-AT .
microcomputer
2. MiniComputer: T A minicomputer (colloquially, mini) is a class of multi-user computers that lies

in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (mainframe
computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). The class at
one time formed a distinct group with its own hardware and operating systems, but the contemporary
term for this class of system is midrange computer, such as the higher-end SPARC, POWER and
Itanium -based systems from Sun Microsystems, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
This is designed to support more than one user at a time. It possesses large storage capacity and operates
at a higher speed. The mini computer is used in multi-user system in which various users can work
at the same time. This type of computer is generally used for processing large
volume of data in an organisation. They are also used as servers in Local Area Networks (LAN).
Fig. minicomputer
3. Mainframes: A mainframe (also known as "big iron") is a high-performance computer used for
large-scale computing purposes that require greater availability and security than a smaller-scale
machine can offer.
And because of the sheer development costs, mainframes are typically manufactured by large
companies such as IBM, Amdahl, Hitachi.
Fig. mainframe
These types of computers are generally 32-bit microprocessors. They operate at very high speed, have
very large storage capacity and can handle the work load of many users. They are generally used in
centralised databases. They are also used as controlling nodes in Wide Area Networks (WAN). Example
of mainframes are DEC, ICL and IBM 3000 series.
A mainframe has 1 to 16 CPU's (modern machines more)
Memory ranges from 128 Mb over 8 Gigabyte on line RAM
Its processing power ranges from 80 over 550 Mips

It has often different cabinets for
o Storage
o I/O
o RAM
Separate processes (program) for
o task management
o program management
o job management
o serialization
o catalogs
o inter address space
o communication
Historically, a mainframe is associated with centralized computing opposite from distributed

computing. Meaning all computing takes (physically) place on the mainframe
itself: the processor section.
(3)
Mainframe Year
ENIAC 1942
MarkI 1944
BINAC 1949
Whirlwind 1960
UNIVAC 1952
IBM 701 1953http://www.thocp.net/hardware/ibm_360_family.htm
IBM 360 1963
4. Supercomputer: Supercomputing means "mass computing at ultra high speed."
They are the fastest and most expensive machines. They have high processing speed compared to other
computers. They have also multiprocessing technique. One of the ways in which supercomputers are built
is by interconnecting hundreds of microprocessors. Supercomputers are mainly being used for whether
forecasting, biomedical research, remote sensing, aircraft design and other areas of science and
technology. They are also used to help governments eavesdrop on anything passing through telephone,
data lines, e-mail, or radio waves; and anything that is written, etc. Examples of supercomputers are
CRAY YMP, CRAY2, NEC SX-3, CRAY XMP and PARAM from India.
Laptops are portable computers. Originally, laptops were large, heavy, short battery life beasts.
Nowadays, laptops (also referred to as notebooks) are light, powerful, have good battery life, and
serve as a desktop replacement for many individuals (including myself).
Fig. laptop
A server is a machine developed to allow for file or print serving, application hosting, or some other task
usually involving many simultaneous connections. Common features of servers include
redundancy, multiple drives, large amounts of memory, multiple processors.
Fig. server
PDAs
A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a commonplace item in many businesses and

homes. Spurred by the success of Palm Pilots, the PDA industry has had tremendous
growth in the past few years.
A PDA is a device which allows an individual to keep their notes, email, schedule, small
documents, and other information with them at all times. It is a useful device for record keeping and
usually syncs with your computer to allow your contact list and emails to be "in sync" with each other
in your handheld and normal computers.
Palm Pilots are the most prevalent PDAs on the market, with a market share of about 30%.
Most PDAs are based on either the Palm operating system or the Microsoft PocketPC operating system.
Palm Pilots present an interesting challenge to IT staff who are trying to support it. At one
firm I worked at, we went through several different policies in regards to supporting PDAs.
Originally, we would not support any PDA, though if a member of
management were to purchase one, we would support them individually. Eventually, we decided on a
standard and if anyone were to buy the standard PDA we would support it. This allowed us to designate
an expert (which coincidentally happened to be me) on PDAs and be able to develop support procedures
for the specific PDA we would support.
Module II: Input output units
1. BASIC COMPUTER OPERATIONS
A computer as shown in Fig. 2.1 performs basically five major operations or functions irrespective of their
size and make. These are
1) . Input Function : This is the process of entering data and programs in to the computer system.
2) Storing data : The process of saving data and instructions permanently is known as storage.
3) Processing :The task of performing operations like arithmetic and logical operations is called
processing it can process data as required by the user,
4) Outputting :This is the process of producing results from the data for getting useful information.
5) Controlling: it controls all operations inside a computer.
2. FUNCTIONAL UNITS
In order to carry out the operations mentioned above the computer allocates the task between its various
functional units. The computer system is divided into three separate units for its operation.
1. Input Unit :It includes the input interface and input devices. You should know that computer is an
electronic machine like any other machine which takes as inputs raw data and performs some
processing giving out processed data. Therefore, the input unit takes data from us to the computer in an
organized manner for processing. all input devices must provide a computer with data that are
transformed into the binary codes that the primary memory of a computer is designed a accept.
Units called input interfaces accomplish this transformation.Input interfaces are designed to match the
unique physical or electrical characteristics of input device to the requirements of the computer system. In
short, the following functions are performed by an input unit:
1. It accept (or reads) the list of instructions and data from the
outside world.
2. It converts these instructions and data in computer
acceptable form.
3. It supplies the converted instructions and data to the
computer system for further processing.
2. Output Unit
The job of an output unit is just the reverse of that of an input unit. It supplies information and results of
computation to the outside world. Thus it links the compute with the external environment. As computers
work with binary code, the results produced are also in the binary form. Hence, before supplying the
result to the outside world, it must be converted to human acceptable (readable0 form. This task is
accomplished by units called output interfaces are designed to match the unique physical or electrical
characteristics of output devices (terminals, printers, etc.) to the requirements of the external environment.
In short, the following functions are performed by an output unit :
1. It accepts the results produced by the computer, which are in code from and hence cannot be easily
understood by us.
2. It converts these coded results to human acceptable (readable) form.
3. It supplies the converted results to the outside world.
3. Storage Unit : Data has to be fed into the system before the actual processing starts. It is because
the processing speed of Central Processing Unit (CPU) is so fast that the data has to be provided to CPU
with the same speed. Therefore the data is first stored in the storage unit for faster access and processing.
This storage unit or the primary storage of the computer system is designed to do the above functionality.
It provides space for storing data and instructions.
The storage unit performs the following major functions:
All data and instructions are stored here before and after processing.
Intermediate results of processing are also stored here.
3. Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The ALU and the CU of a computer system are jointly known as the central processing unit. You may call
CPU as the brain of any computer system. It is just like brain that takes all major decisions, makes all
sorts of calculations and directs different parts of the computer functions by activating and controlling the
operations.The Central Processing Unit (CPU) takes data and instructions from the storage unit and makes
all sorts of calculations based on the instructions given and the type of data provided. It is then sent back
to the storage unit. It consists of Arithmetic Logical Unit (ALU) and Control Unit (CU)
Arithmetic Logical Unit (ALU)
After you enter data through the input device it is stored in the primary storage unit. The actual
processing of the data and instruction are performed by Arithmetic Logical Unit. The major operations
performed by the ALU are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, logic and comparison. Data is
transferred to ALU from storage unit when required. After processing the output is returned back to
storage unit for further processing or getting stored.
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
 does all of the mathematics in a computer

 does all of the logic comparisons of values
 some common logic comparison symbols
 = equal to
 < less than
 > greater than
 <= less than or equal to
 >= greater than or equal to
 <> not equal
Control Unit (CU)

The next component of computer is the Control Unit, which acts like the supervisor seeing that things are
done in proper fashion. The control unit determines the sequence in which computer programs and
instructions are executed. Things like processing of programs stored in the main memory, interpretation
of the instructions and issuing of signals for other units of the computer to execute them. It also acts as a
switch board operator when several users access the computer simultaneously. Thereby it coordinates the
activities of computer’s peripheral equipment as they
perform the input and output. Therefore it is the manager of all operations mentioned in the
previous section..
The Control Unit
 directs the flow of information into the CPU and/or memory or storage
 controls which instructions the CPU will do next
Personal Computer Configuration

Now let us identify the physical components that make the computer work. These are
1. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
2. Computer Memory (RAM and ROM)
3. Data bus
4. Ports
5. Motherboard
6. Hard disk
7. Output Devices
8. Input Devices
All these components are inter-connected for the personal computer to work.
4. INPUT DEVICES
Input devices are the electronic or electromechanical equipment that provides a means of communicating
with the computer system for the input of data. As previously stated, the processing unit requires this data
in the appropriately formatted electronic signals. The input device that most users are familiar with is the
keyboard. This converts a key press in a particular position on the board into an electronic signal sequence
that can be interpreted by the processing unit as representing a particular character.
What are Input Output Components?
Input output components
• Parallel port
• Parallel because it can move a whole byte at a time
• Mainly used for connection to a printer
• Nowadays it can handle bi-directional traffic
• Serial port
• One bit at a time — Uses thin cable
• Slow — inexpensive
• Universal serial bus (USB) replaces those
• It is a new, rectangular port device
• 4 wires
• 2 for power
• 2 for communication
• USB has a hub/slave technology
• One USB line can connect to a hub
• The hub has several outgoing lines that connect to other devices
• This is achieved by a complex set of software
Keyboard
This is what you use to type information into your computer. It is the most Common input device.
Keyboards usually have a Qwerty layout.
Keys on the keyboard

• Typewriter keys
• Function keys
• Arrow keys
• Editing keys
• Numeric keypad
• Alt and Control keys
• Escape, windows key
• Obsolete keys
Different keys on the keyboard have different names. They are used to do different things. Function keys
perform a specific task. The program you are using sets this task. For example, pressing F1 usually
displays the help screen. Special purpose keys perform special preset tasks. For example, in Word 97
pressing the Print Scrn (Print Screen) key transfers a picture of your screen to the clipboard. The
typewriter keys are used for typing text. They can also be used to perform tasks that appear on the
program’s menus. For example, in Word 97, Ctrl+V (hold down the control and the V key at the same
time) does the same action as Edit / Paste(select Paste from the Edit menu).Pressing TAB moves you to
the next tab in a word processing program and the next cell in a spreadsheet program. Caps Lock sets to
capitals all the text you write. The Enter key causes data to be accepted by the computer. If you are
typing, pressing the enter key begins a new paragraph. The cursor control keys move your cursor (the
flashing bar where text appears) around the screen. Numeric keys allow you to enter numbers quickly.
Dvorak keyboard- An efficient keyboard for the English language, patented by August
Dvorak, cousin of the composer.
• Result of efforts to study typewriting behavior.
• Studies in the US Navy suggest that the payback period would be 10 days from learning
Dvorak.
Mouse
This is another common input device. A mouse is used to point to information on the screen and either
Click on it or Click and drag the information.
• There are two-button and three button mice.
• Since MS uses two buttons, three button mice are a dying species.
• The third (middle) button can be emulated on two-button mice by pressing the left and the
right button at the same time.
• Use of the mouse is best avoided!
The two buttons
• Primary button — usually left
• Secondary button – usually right
Actions in Microsoft windows
• Left click
• Right click
• Left double click (time adjustable)
• Left drag and drop
• Right drag and drop
A Mouse can have one, two or three buttons. On
a two button mouse:
• To Click means to quickly press down and release the left mouse button.
• To Double Click means to give two clicks very quickly, one after the other.
• To Right Click means to click with the right mouse button. This will perform a different action
to normal clicking (done with the left
mouse button).
• To Click and Drag means to point the mouse at an object, hold down the left mouse button,
move the mouse, and release the left
mouse button. This moves the object you pointed to from where it was to where it is when you release
the mouse button.
• A device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on a display screen. A mouse
is a small object you can roll along a hard, flat surface. Its name is derived from its shape, which looks a
bit like a mouse, its connecting wire that one can imagine to be the mouse’s tail, and the fact that one
must make it scurry along a surface. As you move the mouse, the pointer on the display screen moves in
the same direction. Mice contain at least one button and sometimes as many as three, which have
different functions depending on what program is running. Some newer mice also include a scroll wheel
for scrolling through long documents. Invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Center in
1963, and pioneered by Xerox in the 1970s, the mouse is one of the great breakthroughs in computer
ergonomics because it frees the user to a large extent from using the keyboard. In particular, the mouse is
important for graphical user interfaces because you can simply point to options and objects and click a
mouse button. Such applications are often called point-and-click programs. The mouse is also useful for
graphics programs that allow you to draw pictures by using the mouse like a pen, pencil, or paintbrush.
There are three basic types of mice:
1. mechanical: Has a rubber or metal ball on its underside that can roll in all directions. Mechanical
sensors within the mouse detect the direction the ball is rolling and move the screen pointer accordingly.
fig. mouse
2. optomechanical: Same as a mechanical mouse, but uses optical sensors to detect motion of the
ball.
3. optical: Uses a laser to detect the mouse’s movement. You must move the mouse along a special
mat with a grid so that the optical mechanism has a frame of reference. optical mice have no mechanical
moving parts. They respond more quickly and precisely than mechanical and opt mechanical mice, but
they are also more expensive.
Fig. optical mouse

4. Cordless mice aren’t physically connected at all. Instead they rely on infrared or radio waves to
communicate with the computer. Cordless mice are more expensive than both serial and bus mice, but
they do eliminate the cord, which can sometimes get in the way.
Fig. cordless mouse
Touch Screen
A type of display screen that has a touch-sensitive transparent panel covering the screen. Instead of using
a pointing device such as a mouse or light pen, you can use your finger to point directly to objects on the
screen.
Although touch screens provide a natural interface for computer novices, they are unsatisfactory for most
applications because the finger is such a relatively large object. It is impossible to point accurately to
small areas of the screen. In addition, most users find touch screens tiring to the arms after long use.
Voice Recognition
The field of computer science that deals with designing computer systems that can recognize spoken
words. Note that voice recognition implies only that the computer can take dictation, not that it
understands what is being said. Comprehending human languages falls under a different field of computer
science called natural language processing.
A number of voice recognition systems are available on the market. The most powerful can recognize
thousands of words. However, they generally require an extended training session during which the
computer system becomes accustomed to a particular voice and accent. Such systems are said to be
speaker dependent.
Many systems also require that the speaker speak slowly and distinctly and separate each word with a
short pause. These systems are called discrete speech systems. Recently, great strides have been
made in continuous speech systems — voice recognition systems that allow you to speak naturally.
There are now several continuous-speech systems available for personal computers.
Because of their limitations and high cost, voice recognition systems have traditionally been used only in a
few specialized situations. For example, such systems are useful in instances when the user is unable to
use a keyboard to enter data because his or her hands are occupied or disabled. Instead of typing
commands, the user can simply speak into a headset. Increasingly, however, as the cost decreases and
performance improves; speech recognition systems are entering the mainstream and are being used as an
alternative to keyboards.
Other pointing devices

• Replacements for a mouse are
• Trackballs
•touch pads
• Joysticks
• Pen-based devices
• Vary with respect to text recognition
The Joystick
These are used mainly in computer games. Moving the joystick will move the car / person /
object on the screen.
Fig. joystick
The Trackball
A trackball has been described as an upside down mouse. It is a small ball with buttons around it that is
either part of the keyboard or attached to the keyboard. Moving the ball moves the pointer on the
computer screen. The buttons are used to do the same things as the buttons on a mouse. A trackball is used
instead of a mouse in notebook and laptop computers.
Fig. trackball
Scanner
A device that can read text or illustrations printed on paper and translate the information into a form the
computer can use. A scanner works by digitizing an image — dividing it into a grid of boxes and
representing each box with either a zero or a one, depending on
whether the box is filled in. (For color and gray scaling, the same principle applies, but each box is then
represented by up to 24 bits.) The resulting matrix of bits, called a bit map, can then be stored in a file,
displayed on a screen, and manipulated by programs.
Optical scanners do not distinguish text from illustrations; they represent all images as bit maps.
Therefore, you cannot directly edit text that has been scanned. To edit text read by an optical scanner,
you need an optical character recognition (OCR ) system to translate the image into ASCII characters.
Most optical scanners sold today come with OCR packages.
Scanners differ from one another in the following respects:
• scanning technology: Most scanners use charge-coupled device (CCD) arrays, which consist of
tightly packed rows of light receptors that can detect variations in light intensity and frequency.
The quality of the CCD array is probably the single most important factor affecting the quality of the
scanner. Industry-strength drum scanners use a different technology that relies on a photo multiplier tube
(PMT), but this type of scanner is much more expensive than the more common CCD -based scanners.
• resolution: The denser the bit map, the higher the resolution. Typically, scanners support resolutions of
from 72 to 600 dpi.
•bit depth: The number of bits used to represent each pixel. The greater the bit depth, the more colors or
grayscales can be represented. For example, a 24-bit color scanner can represent 2 to the 24th power
(16.7 million) colors. Note, however, that a large color range is useless if the CCD arrays are capable
of detecting only a small number of distinct colors.
•size and shape: Some scanners are small hand-held devices that you move across the paper. These
hand-held scanners are often called half-page scanners because they can only scan 2 to 5 inches at a time.
Hand-held scanners are adequate for small pictures and
photos, but they are difficult to use if you need to scan an entire page of text or graphics.
Larger scanners include machines into which you can feed sheets of paper. These are called sheet-
fed scanners. Sheet-fed scanners are excellent for loose sheets of paper, but they are unable to handle
bound documents.
A second type of large scanner, called a flatbed scanner, is like a photocopy machine. It consists of a
board on which you lay books, magazines, and other documents that you want to scan.
fig. flatbed scanner

Overhead scanners (also called copy board scanners) look somewhat like overhead projectors. You
place documents face-up on a scanning bed, and a small overhead tower moves across the page. This is
used to put both text (writing) and graphics (pictures) into the computer. It digitizes the text and images
i.e. it converts theminto a form that can be used in the computer. This process is known as optical
character recognition (O.C.R). Before the text can be used on the computer, it has to be converted into
characters by optical recognition software.
a. Text and Code Scanners
•Bar-code readers
A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed barcodes. Like a
flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into
electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain decoder circuitry analyzing
the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and sending the
barcode's content to the scanner's output port.
Fig. barcode reader
•Magnetic ink character recognition such as on bank checks.
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology adopted mainly
by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques..
The major MICR fonts used around the world are E-13B and CMC-7. The E-13B font was chosen by
George Jacobi, who was working for General Electric at the time. Almost all Indian, US, Canadian and
UK checks now include MICR characters at the bottom of the paper in the E-
13B font. Some countries, including France, use the CMC-7 font developed by Bull.
The 14 characters of the E-13B font. The control characters bracketing each numeral block are
(from left to right) transit, on-us, amount, and dash.
An example of the CMC-7 MICR font. Shown are the 15 characters of the CMC-7 font. The control
characters after the numerals are (from left to right) internal, terminator, amount, routing, and an
unused character.
In addition to their unique fonts, MICR characters are printed with a magnetic ink or toner, usually
containing iron oxide. Magnetic printing is used so that the characters can be reliably read into a
system, even when they have been overprinted with other marks such as cancellation
stamps.
Fig. MICR reader
•Optical mark recognition

Optical Mark Recognition (also called Optical Mark Reading and OMR) is the process of
capturing human-marked data from document forms such as surveys and tests.
Many traditional OMR devices work with a dedicated scanner device that shines a beam of light
onto the form paper. The contrasting reflectivity at predetermined positions on a page is then
utilized to detect the marked areas because they reflect less light than the blank areas of the paper.
Some OMR devices use forms which are preprinted onto 'transoptic' paper and measure the amount of
light which passes through the paper, thus a mark on either side of the paper will reduce the amount of
light passing through the paper.
•Optical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic

translation of images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text (usually captured by a scanner) into
machine-editable text.
OCR is a field of research in pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and machine vision. Though
academic research in the field continues, the focus on OCR has shifted to implementation of
proven techniques. Optical character recognition (using optical techniques such as mirrors and
lenses) and digital character recognition (using scanners and computer algorithms) were originally
considered separate fields. Because very few applications survive that use true optical techniques, the
OCR term has now been broadened to include digital image processing as well.
b. Image scanners
• Most widely used digitization device
• You can try to run OCR once you have the image
• Resolution measured in dots per inch. dpi
•More dpi: crisper image
•Fewer dpi: smaller file
Audio Input
• Microphone with speech recognition software
• This used to be mainly for those who cannot type
• But the quality has improved, and maybe we will use itfor more general input.• Other
analog to digital sound converters
• Sound cards
• MIDI board
5. Output Devices
An output device is any peripheral device that converts machine-readable information into people-
readable form such as a monitor, printer, plotter and voice output device.
Monitors
Printers
Plotters
Voice Output Devices
Modems
Computer Display (Monitors)

A computer display is also called a display screen or video display terminal (VDT). A monitor is a screen
used to display the output. Images are represented on monitors by individual dots called pixels. A pixel is
the smallest unit on the screen that can be turned on and off or made different shades. The density of the
dots determines the clarity of the images, the resolution.
 Screen resolution: This is the degree of sharpness of a displayed character or image. The screen
resolution is usually expressed as the number of columns by the number rows. A
1024x768 resolution means that it has 1024 dots in a line and 768 lines. A smaller screen looks
sharper on the same resolution. Another measure of display resolution is a dot pitch.
 Interlaced/Non-interlaced: An interlaced technique refreshes the lines of the screen by
exposing all odd lines first then all even lines next. A non-interlaced technology that is developed
later refreshes all the lines on the screen form top to bottom. The non- interlaced method gives
more stable video display than interlaced method. It also requires twice as much signal
information as interlaced technology.
There are two forms of display: cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) and flat-panel display.
Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT)
A CRT is a vacuum tube used as a display screen for a computer output device. Although the CRT
means only a tube, it usually refers to all monitors. IBM and IBM compatible microcomputers operate
two modes unlike Macintosh based entirely on graphics mode. They are a text mode and a graphics mode.
Application programs switch computers into appropriate display mode.
Monochrome Monitors
A monochrome monitor has two colors, one for foreground and the other for background. The colors can
be white, amber or green on a dark (black) background. The monochrome monitors display both text and
graphics modes.
Color Monitors
A color monitor is a display peripheral that displays more than two colors. Color monitors have been
developed through the following paths.
o CGA: This stands for Color Graphics Adapter. It is a circuit board introduced by IBM and the
first graphics standard for the IBM PC. With a CGA monitor, it is harder to read than with a
monochrome monitor, because the CGA (320 X 200) has much fewer pixels than the
monochrome monitor (640 X 350). It supports 4 colors.
o EGA: It stands for Enhanced Graphics Adapter. EGA is a video display standard that has a
resolution of 640 by 350 pixels and supports 16 colors. EGA supports previous display modes
and requires a new monitor.
o VGA: VGA stands for Video Graphics Array. This is a video display standard that
provides medium to high resolution. In a text mode, the resolution of this board is 720 by
400 pixels. It supports 16 colors with a higher resolution of 640 by 480 pixels and 256 colors with
320 X 200 pixels.
o Super VGA: This is a very high resolution standard that displays up to 65,536 colors.
Super VGA can support a 16.8 million colors at 800 by 600 pixels and 256 colors at 1024 by 768
pixels. A high-priced super VGA allows 1280 by 1024 pixels. Larger monitors (17" or 21" and
larger) with a high resolution of 1600 by 1280 pixels are available. VESA (Video Electronics
Standards Association) has set a standard for super VGA.
Flat Panel Displays

Portable computers such as a lap top use flat panel displays, because they are more compact and consume
less power than CRTs. Portable computers use several kinds of flat panel screens:
Liquid-Crystal Displays (LCDs)
A display technology that creates characters by means of reflected light and is commonly used in digital
watches and laptop computers. LCDs replaced LEDs (light emitting diodes) because LCDs use less
power. LCDs are difficult to read in a strong light, because they do not emit their own light. Portable
computers wanted to have brighter and easier to read displays. Backlit LCDs are used for the purpose now.
o Backlit LCDs: This is a type of LCD display having its own light source provided from the
back of the screen. The backlit makes the background brighter and clear, as a result the texts
and images appear sharper. However, this still is much less clear than CRTs. Thus, better
technology is needed.
o Active Matrix LCDs: This is an LCD display technique in which every dot on the screen has a
transistor to control it more accurately. This uses a transistor for each monochrome or each red,
green and blue dot. It provides better contrast, speeds up screen refresh and reduces motion
smearing.
Electroluminescent (EL) Displays

A flat panel display technology that actively emits light at each pixel when it is electronic charged. This
provides a sharp, clear image and wide viewing angle. The EL display type of flat panel is better than
LCD.
Gas Plasma Displays
This is also called a gas panel or a plasma panel and is another flat screen technology. A plasma panel
contains a grid of electrodes in a flat, gas filled panel. The image can persist for a long time without
refreshing in this panel. The disadvantages of the gas plasma displays are that they must use AC power
and cannot show sharp contrast.
Printers
A printer is an output device that produces a hard copy of data. The resolution of printer output is
expressed as DPI. Printers can be classified into different types in several ways. First, the printers can be
divided into three categories by the way they print.
 Serial Printers: Also called a character printer. Print a single character at a time. They are
usually inexpensive and slow.
 Line Printers: Print a line at a time. They are expensive and very fast. Line printers use a band, a
chain, etc.
 Page Printers: Also called a laser printer. Print a page at a time. They usually use a laser to
produce page images. Quality is best. This is a little bit expensive, but the price of the personal
laser printer is decreasing. The price range of the personal laser printer is around
$400, today.
Second, printers can be classified into two forms according to the use of a hammer.
 Impact Printers: Impact printers transfer the image onto paper through a printing mechanism that
strikes the paper, ribbon and character together. Most impact printers use continuous-form paper, which
means the paper is connected together to produce a continuous flow through the printer. Examples of
impact printers are Dot Matrix printers, and Band and Chain Printers.
 Nonimpact Printers: Nonimpact printing means that printing occurs without having a
mechanism strike the paper. Ink can be be sprayed against the paper or heat and pressure are used to fuse a
fine black powder into the shape of a character. Examples of nonimpact printers are Ink- Jet printers, Laser
printers, Page printers, and Thermal printers.
Another classification can be made by the way they form characters.
 Bit-Mapped Printers: Images are formed from groups of dots and can be placed
anywhere on the page. They have many printing options and good printing quality. They use
PostScript as a standard language for instructing a microcomputer.
 Character-based Printers: Printer print characters into the lines and columns of a page.
These printers use predefined set of characters and are restricted in position of characters.
Microcomputers use five kinds of printers. They are daisy wheel printers, chain printers, dot- matrix
printers, ink-jet printers, and laser printers.
Daisy-Wheel Printer
Daisy-Wheel is a printer mechanism that uses any kind of hub (wheel) having a set of spokes at the
margin of the hub. The wheel can be removed to use a different character set. The end of each spoke
is a raised image of a type character. When the wheel is turned and the required character is aligned to
the print hammer, the character is then struck into a ribbon and onto a
paper with the hammer. Daisy-Wheel Printer prints typewriter-like very high quality characters.
However, they are slower and less reliable than dot-matrix printers. Microcomputer users seldom use this
printer, because the better dot-matrix printers and inexpensive laser printers are available today.
Fig. Daisy wheel printer
Dot-Matrix Printer
Dot-matrix printers are printers that write characters and form graphic images using one or two columns
of tiny dots on a print head. The dot hammer moving serially across the paper strikes an inked-ribbon and
creates images on paper. A dot matrix printer creates a character with a series of tiny pins or wires that
strike the ribbon or page and leave an image in dots. The resolution of the matrix is defined in terms of
rows and columns of dots. A 7 by 9 matrix uses seven dots horizontally and nine dots vertically to
create a character. Some dot matrix printers have a 36 by
24 matrix. The size of the matrix determines the quality of the printed character. Dot matrix printers are
near letter quality, faster than daisy wheel printers, and have speeds ranging from 60 to 350 cps. Figure
below shows the letter ‘L’ created by a dot matrix printer,
Dot matrix printers are popular printers used with microcomputers, because the printers are highly
reliable and inexpensive. They are used for tasks where a high-quality image is not essential. Many users,
however, move from dot printers to laser printers, because the price of laser printers is falling down.
Several kinds of dot matrix printers are available with print heads that have 7, 9, 18, or 24 pins.
Ink-Jet Printer
Ink-jet is a printer mechanism that sprays one or more color of ink at high speed onto the paper and
produces high-quality printing. Characters are formed as a result of electrically charged or heated ink
being sprayed in fine jets onto the paper. Individual nozzles in the printing head produce high resolution
(up to 400 dots per inch or 400 dpi) dot matrix characters.
This printer also produces color printing as well as high-quality image. That is, ink-jet printers can be
used for variety of color printing at a relatively low cost. Ink-jet printing has two methods:
Continuous stream method and drop-on- demand method.
Fig. inkjet printer

Laser Printer
A laser printer is a printer that uses the electrophotograpic method used in a copy machine. The printer
uses a laser beam light source to create images on a photographic drum.
Fig: laser printer

A photoconductive drum is initially charged and then a high intensity laser beam is used to discharge
selected areas on the drum. These discharged areas correspond to the white areas of the printed document.
Toner is attracted to parts of the drum with a high charge. The drum rotates and transfers the toner to
the paper which has an even greater electrical charge. Finally a heater fixes the toner
onto the paper.
How a laser printer works

In 1984, Hewlett-Packard introduced the first desktop laser printer, called the LaserJet. The laser printer
revolutionized personal computer printing and has spawned desktop publishing. The laser printer
produces high-resolution letters and graphics quality images, so it is adopted in applications requiring
high-quality output. Although a high-priced color laser printer is also available in the market, a less
expensive, desktop gray scale laser printer is widely used. Recently, the laser printer is gaining its
market share dramatically, mainly because the lowered price and the quality.
Drum Printers In a drum printer, the character set is inscribed as raised fonts on a hollow metal drum.
These raised characters are formed into lines or bands on the drum. Figure 12-5 shows a typical print
drum. All the A’s are on one line, all the B’s are on the next line, and so forth, until all the characters in
the set form a line each. The character set is repeated for each column that
the printer
Figure 12-5.—A print drum showing character lines. 12-7
is capable of printing. If the printer is an 80-column printer, the drum has 80 characters on each line. The
character drum is rotated at a high speed. As the desired character faces the paper, a print hammer for
that column is activated or fired, forcing the paper and inked ribbon against the drum. The character on
the drum is imprinted on the paper shown in figure 12-6. Normally, the
hammer bank contains one hammer for each character column of a line. If the printer has a capacity to
print 132 columns, then the hammer bank will consist of 132 hammers. As a line is printed, each hammer
is fired as the character to be printed in its column faces the paper. A drum printer prints one line of data
for each rotation of the drum. Drum printers can print from 300 to
1,200 lines per minute, depending of the rotational speed of the drum and how fast the printer can
setup to print the next line.
Chain and Band Printers
Chain Printer
Chain printers use a print chain as a source of raised characters. The links of the chain are engraved
character-printing slugs. The chain is made up of several sections; each section contains one
complete character set. The print chain is rotated at a high rate of speed past the print positions
(columns). As the desired character faces the paper, the print hammer for that column is fired, printing the
character on the paper. Band printers work on the same principle as chain printers except that a
scalloped, steel print band is used instead of a print chain. Figure
12-7 illustrates part of the band printer’s print mechanism. To change the font (typeface) on a chain or
band printer, you change the print chain or band. Character sets of the chain and band printers vary, but
are typically 48 to 64 characters. Since hammers are of a fixed size changing the size of the fonts is
not possible because each column printed must have its own print hammer. Band and chain printer
characters are generally printed at 10 characters per inch (cpi), although a few printers have been
manufactured to print 12 cpi. Chain and band printers are medium- and high-speed printers.
They print over 300 lines per minute.
, Figure Drum, ribbon, and paper relationship during printer operations.
Plotters
A plotter is a special-purpose output device that draws images with ink pens. That is, the plotter is a
graphics printer for making sophisticated graphs, charts, maps, and three-dimensional graphics as well as
high-quality colored documents. It can also produce larger size of documents. Plotters require data in a
vector graphics format that can produce images with a series of lines. There are two main types of
plotters:
 Drum Plotter: This is a plotter that has a drum. A paper wraps the drum that rotates to
produce plots. Pens in a drum plotter move across the paper while the drum is turning. A drum
plotter is usually used to produce smaller drawings.
A drum plotter
The size of the graph is therefore limited only by the width of the drum and can be of any length.
Flatbed Plotter: This is a plotter that has a bed. This is also called a table plotter. The plotter draws
graphics on the paper placed on the bed. There are several size of beds. This plotter is usually used
for producing large drawings. This is a plotter where the paper is fixed on a flat surface and pens are
moved to draw the image. This plotter can use several different colour pens to draw with.
The size of the plot is limited only by the size of the plotter's bed.
Top view of a flat bed plotter
Voice-Output Devices
This device produces a human speech like sound, but actually is prerecorded vocalized sounds. Voice
output is used in the telephone information system, where the requested number is reported
using a voice output system. Voice synthesis has a robotic sound due to the difficulties of replicating
the complexities of human speech and pronunciation.
Voice answer back (VAB) is used to respond to telephone enquiries, such as the speaking clock.
Fig. A speak and spell toy
For example, when a student enrolls courses using a telephone registration system, he or she hears
voice output upon your request. Voice output is becoming common in voice messaging systems.
Modem
Another form of the output device is a modem. A modem is short for "MOdulator- DEModulator."
Modulation is the process of converting from digital to analog. Demodulation is the process
of converting from analog to digital. The modem enables digital
microcomputers to send output through analog telephone lines. Both voice and data can be carried over
through the modem. The modem is not only an output device but also an input device that receives data
and voice through a communication channel.
Chapter 7
Memory Organization
7.1 Memory Hierarchy
The memory unit is an essential components in any digital computer since it is needed for strong
progress and data. Most general purpose computer would run more efficiently if they were equipped
with additional storage
device beyond the capacity of main memory.The main memory unit that communicates directly with
CPU is called the MAIN MEMORY . Devices that provide backup storage are called AUXILARY
MEMORY. Most common auxiliary devices are magnetic disks and tapes they are used for strong
system programs, large data files and other backup information. Only programs and data currently
needed by the processor resides in main memory. All other informations are stored in auxiliary
memory and transferred to the main memory when needed.
The main memory hierarchy system consists of all storage devices employed in a computer system
from the slow but high –capacity auxiliary memory to a relatively faster main memory, to an even
smaller and faster cache memory accessible to the high-speed processing logic. Memory Hierarchy is
to obtain the highest possible access speed while minimizing the total cost of the memory system.
Memory Hierarchy in computer system
A very high speed memory is called cache memory used to increase the speed of processing
by making current programs and data available to the CPU at rapid rate.The cache memory is
employed in the system to compensates the speed differential between main memory access time and
processor logic.
7.2 Main Memory
The main memory is the central storage unit in a computer system. It is a relatively large and fast
memory used to store programs and data during the computer operations. The principal technology
used for maim memory is based on semiconductor integrated circuits. Integrated circuits RAM chips
are available in two possible operating modes static and dynamic. The static RAM is easier to use and
has shorter read and write cycles.
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The dynamic RAM offers reduced power consumption and larger storage capacity in a single memory
chip compared to static RAM.
7.2.1 RAM and ROM Chips
Most of main memory in a general- purpose computer is made up of RAM integrated circuit chips, but
apportion of the memory may be constructed with ROM chips. Originally RAM was used to refer the
random access memory, but now it used to designate the read/write memory to distinguish it from only
read only memory, although ROM is also a random access. RAM is used for storing bulk of programs
and data that are subject to change. ROM are used to for storing programs that are permanently
resident in the computer and for tables of constants that do not change in value once the production of
computer s completed. Among other things , the ROM portion is used to store the initial programs
called a bootstrap loader .This is program whose function is used to turn on the computer software
operating system. Since RAM is volatile its content are destroyed when power is turn off on other side
the content in ROM remain unchanged either the power is turn off and on again.
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7.2.2 Memory Address maps
The designer of computer system must calculate the amount of memory required for particular
application and assign it to either RAM and ROM. The interconnection between memory and
processor is an established from knowledge of the size of memory needed and the type of RAM and
ROM chips available. The addressing of memory can be established by means of a table that specifies
the memory address to each chip. The table, called a memory address map , is a pictorial representation
of assigned address space for each chip in the system.
Example: 512 bytes RAM and 512 bytes ROM
Memory Connection to CPU
1. RAM and ROM chips are connected to a CPU through the data and address buses.
2. The low-order lines in the address bus select the byte within the chips and other lines in the
address bus select a particular chip through its chip select inputs.
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7.3. Auxiliary Memory
The most common auxiliary memory devices used in computer systems are magnetic disks and tapes.
Other components used, but not as frequently, are magnetic drums, magnetic bubble memory, and
optical disks. To understand fully the physical mechanism of auxiliary memory devices one must have
knowledge of magnetic, electronics and electronics and electromechanical systems.
7.3.1 Magnetic Tapes
A magnetic tape transport consists of electrical, mechanical and electronic components to provide the
parts and control mechanism for magnetic – tape unit. The tape itself is a strip of coated with magnetic
recording medium. Bits are recorded as magnetic spots on the tape along tracks. Usually, seven or nine
bits are recorded simultaneously to from a character together with a parity bit. Read/write heads are
mounted one in each track so that data can be recorded and read as a sequence of characters.
7.3.2 Magnetic Disks
A magnetic disk is a circular plate constructed of metals or plastic coated with magnetized. Often both
sides of disk are used and several disks may be stacked on one spindle with read/write heads available on
each surface. All disks rotate together at high speed and are not stopped or started for access purposes.
Bits are stored in magnetized surface in spots along concentric circles called track. The tracks are
commonly divided into section called sectors. In most systems, the minimum quality of information,
which can be transferred, is a sector.
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38 Digital Electronics and Computer Organization
Unit 3: Instruction Set Architecture

Notes
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Computer Languages
3.2.1 Low Level Language
3.2.2 High Level Language
3.3 Compiler and Assembler
3.3.1 A Simple Machine
3.3.2 Compiling and Assembling for the Simple Processor
3.3.3 Assembler Directives and Commands
3.4 Assembly and Execution of Programs
3.4.1 Assemblers
3.4.2 Data Structures
3.4.3 Linker and Loader
3.5 Instruction Types
3.5.1 Data Movement Instructions
3.5.2 Arithmetic and Logical Instructions
3.5.3 Sequencing Instructions
3.5.4 Input/Output Instructions
3.5.5 Data Types
3.6 Addressing Modes
3.7 Summary
3.8 Check Your Progress
3.9 Questions and Exercises
3.10 Key Terms
3.11 Further Reading
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
 Understand the various Computer languages
 Explain the concept of Compiler and Assembler
 Discuss the Assembly and Execution of programs
 Explain Instruction types
 Discuss Addressing Modes
3.1 Introduction
This unit considers the issues related to assembly language programming. Although
high-level languages and compiler technology have witnessed great advances over the
years, assembly language remains necessary in some cases. Programming in
Amity Directorate of Distance & Online Education
Instruction Set Architecture 39
assembly can result in machine code that is much smaller and much faster than that
generated by a compiler of a highlevel language. Small and fast code could be critical in
some embedded and portable applications, where resources may be very limited. In Notes
such cases, small portions of the program that may be heavily used can be written in
assembly language. For the reader of this book, learning assembly languages and
writing assembly code can be extremely helpful in understanding computer organization
and architecture.
A computer program can be represented at different levels of abstraction. A
program could be written in a machine-independent, high-level language such as Java
or Cþþ. A computer can execute programs only when they are represented in machine
language specific to its architecture. A machine language program for a given
architecture is a collection of machine instructions represented in binary form. Programs
written at any level higher than the machine language must be translated to the binary
representation before a computer can execute them. An assembly language program is
a symbolic representation of the machine language program.
Machine language is pure binary code, whereas assembly language is a direct
mapping of the binary code onto a symbolic form that is easier for humans to
understand and manage. Converting the symbolic representation into machine
language is performed by a special program called the assembler. An assembler is a
program that accepts a symbolic language program (source) and produces its machine
language equivalent (target). In translating a program into binary code, the assembler
will replace symbolic addresses by numeric addresses, replace symbolic operation
codes by machine operation codes, reserve storage for instructions and data, and
translate constants into machine representation.
3.2 Computer Languages

Languages are a means of communication. Normally people interact with each other
through a language. On the same pattern, communication with computers is carried out
through a language. This language is understood both by user and the machine. Just as
every language like English, Hindi has its grammatical rules; every computer language
is bound by rules known as SYNTAX of that language. The user is bound by that syntax
while communicating with the computer system.
Computer languages are broadly classified as:
3.2.1 Low Level Language

The term low level means closeness to the way in which machine understand. The low
level languages are:
(a) Machine Language: This is the language (in the form of 0’s and 1’s, called binary
numbers) understood directly by the computer. It is machine dependent. It is difficult
to learn and even more difficult to write programs.
(b) Assembly Language: This is the language where the machine codes comprising
of 0’s and 1’s are substituted by symbolic codes (called mnemonics) to improve
their understanding. It is the first step to improve programming structure.
Assembly language programming is simpler and less time consuming than machine
level programming, it is easier to locate and correct errors in assembly language than in
machine language programs. It is also machine dependent. Programmers must have
knowledge of the machine on which the program will run.
3.2.2 High Level Language

You know that low level language requires extensive knowledge of the hardware since it
is machine dependent. To overcome the limitation, high level language has been
evolved which uses normal English like, easy to understand statements to solve any

problem. Higher level languages are computer independent and programming becomes
quite easy and simple.
Notes
Various high level languages are given below:
 l BASIC (Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code):
 It is widely used, easy to learn general purpose language.
 Mainly used in microcomputers in earlier days.
 l COBOL (Common Business Oriented language): A standardized language
used for commercial applications.
 l FORTRAN (Formula Translation):
 Developed for solving mathematical and scientific problems.
 One of the most popular languages among scientific community.
 l C: Structured Programming Language used for all purpose such as scientific
application, commercial application, developing games etc.
 l C++: Popular object oriented programming language, used for general purpose.
3.3 Compiler and Assembler

As you know that High Level language is machine independent and assembly language
though it is machine dependent yet mnemonics that are being used to represent
instructions are not directly understandable by machine. Hence to make the machine
understand the instructions provided by both the languages, Compiler and Assembler
are required to convert these instructions into machine language.
The software (set of programs) that reads a program written in high level language
and translates it into an equivalent program in machine language is called as Compiler.
The program written by the programmer in high level language is called source
program and the program generated by the compiler after translation is called as object
program.
Figure 1.18: Compiler
The software (set of programs) that reads a program written in assembly language
and translates it into an equivalent program in machine language is called as
Assembler.
Figure 3.1: Assembler
3.3.1 A Simple Machine

Machine language is the native language of a given processor. Since assembly
language is the symbolic form of machine language, each different type of processor
has its own unique assembly language. Before we study the assembly language of a
given processor, we need first to understand the details of that processor. We need to
know the memory size and organization, the processor registers, the instruction format,
and the entire instruction set. In this section, we present a very simple hypothetical
processor, which will be used in explaining the different topics in assembly language
throughout the chapter.
Our simple machine is an accumulator-based processor, which has five 16-bit
registers: Program Counter (PC), Instruction Register (IR), Address Register (AR),

Accumulator (AC), and Data Register (DR). The PC contains the address of the next
instruction to be executed. The IR contains the operation code portion of the instruction
being executed. The AR contains the address portion (if any) of the instruction being Notes
executed. The AC serves as the implicit source and destination of data. The DR is used
to hold data. The memory unit is made up of 4096 words of storage. The word size is 16
bits. The processor is shown in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2: A Simple Machine

Table 3.1: Instruction Set of the Simple Processor
Operation Code Operand Meaning of Instruction

0000 Stop execution
0001 adr Load operand from memory (location adr) into AC
0010 adr Store contents of AC in memory (location adr)
0011 Copy the contents AC to DR
0100 Copy the contents of DR to AC
0101 Add DR to AC
0110 Subtract DR from AC
0111 And bitwise DR to AC
1000 Complement contents of AC
1001 adr Jump to instruction with address adr
1010 adr Jump to instruction adr if AC = 0
We assume that our simple processor supports three types of instructions: data
transfer, data processing, and program control. The data transfer operations are load,
store, and move data between the registers AC and DR. The data processing
instructions are add, subtract, and, and not. The program control instructions are jump
and conditional jump. The instruction set of our processor is summarized in Table 3.1.
The instruction size is 16 bits, 4 bits for the operation code and 12 bits for the address
(when appropriate).
3.3.2 Compiling and Assembling for the Simple Processor

Instruction Mnemonics And Syntax: Assembly language is the symbolic form of
machine language. Assembly programs are written with short abbreviations called
mnemonics. A mnemonic is an abbreviation that represents the actual machine
instruction. Assembly language programming is the writing of machine instructions in
mnemonic form, where each machine instruction (binary or hex value) is replaced by a
mnemonic. Clearly the use of mnemonics is more meaningful than that of hex or binary
values, which would make programming at this low level easier and more manageable.

An assembly program consists of a sequence of assembly statements, where

statements are written one per line. Each line of an assembly program is split into the
Notes following four fields: label, operation code (opcode), operand, and comments.
Figure 3.3 shows the four-column format of an assembly instruction.
Labels are used to provide symbolic names for memory addresses. A label is an
identifier that can be used on a program line in order to branch to the labeled line. It can
also be used to access data using symbolic names. The maximum length of a label
differs from one assembly language to another. Some allow up to 32 characters in
length, others may be restricted to six characters.
Figure 3.3: Assembly instruction format
Assembly languages for some processors require a colon after each label while
others do not. For example, SPARC assembly requires a colon after every label, but
Motorola assembly does not. The Intel assembly requires colons after code labels but
not after data labels.
The operation code (opcode) field contains the symbolic abbreviation of a given
operation. The operand field consists of additional information or data that the opcode
requires. The operand field may be used to specify constant, label, immediate data,
register, or an address. The comments field provides a space for documentation to
explain what has been done for the purpose of debugging and maintenance.
For the simple processor described in the previous section, we assume that the
label field, which may be empty, can be of up to six characters. There is no colon
requirement after each label. Comments will be preceded by “/”. The simple mnemonics
of the ten binary instructions of Table 3.1 are summarized in Table 3.2. Let us consider
the following assembly instruction:
START LD X \ copy the contents of location X into AC
The label of the instruction LD X is START, which means that it is the memory
address of this instruction. That label can be used in a program as a reference as
shown in the following instruction:
BRA START \ go to the statement with label START
Table 3.2: Assembly Language for the Simple Processor
Mnemonic Operand Meaning of Instruction

STOP Stop execution
LD x Load operand from memory (location x) into AC
ST x Store contents of AC in memory (location x)
MOVAC Copy the contents AC to DR
MOV Copy the contents of DR to AC
ADD Add DR to AC
SUB Subtract DR from AC
AND And bitwise DR to AC
NOT Complement contents of AC
BRA adr Jump to instruction with address adr
BZ adr Jump to instruction adr if AC = 0
The jump instruction will make the processor jump to the memory address
associated with the label START, thus executing the instruction LD X immediately after
the BRA instruction.
In addition to program instructions, an assembly program may also include pseudo
instructions or assembler directives. Assembler directives are commands that are
understood by the assembler and do not correspond to actual machine instructions. For Notes
example, the assembler can be asked to allocate memory storage.
In our assembly language for the simple processor, we assume that we can use the
pseudo instruction W to reserve a word (16 bits) in memory. For example, the following
pseudo instruction reserves a word for the label X and initializing it to the decimal value
350:
X W 350 \ reserve a word initialized to 350
Again, the label of the pseudo instructionW350 is X, which means it is the memory
address of this value.
3.3.3 Assembler Directives and Commands

In the previous section, we introduced the reader to assembly and machine languages.
We provided several assembly code segments written using our simple machine
model. In writing assembly language programs for a specific architecture, a number of
practical issues need to be considered. Among these issues are the following:
 Assembler directives
 Use of symbols
 Use of synthetic operations
 Assembler syntax
 Interaction with the operating system
The use of assembler directives, also called pseudo-operations, is an important
issue in writing assembly language programs. Assembler directives are commands that
are understood by the assembler and do not correspond to actual machine instructions.
Assembler directives affect the way the assembler performs the conversion of
assembly code to machine code. For example, special assembler directives can be
used to instruct the assembler to place data items such that they have proper
alignment.
Alignment of data in memory is required for efficient implementation of
architectures.
For proper alignment of data, data of n-bytes width must be stored at an address
that is divisible by n, for example, a word that has a two-byte width has to be stored at
locations having addresses divisible by two.
In assembly language programs symbols are used to represent numbers, for
example, immediate data. This is done to make the code easier to read, understand,
and debug. Symbols are translated to their corresponding numerical values by the
assembler.
The use of synthetic operations helps assembly programmers to use instructions
that are not directly supported by the architecture. These are then translated by the
assembler to a set of instructions defined by the architecture. For example, assemblers

can allow the use of (a synthetic) increment instruction on architectures for which an
Notes increment instruction is not defined through the use of some other instructions such as
the add instruction.
Assemblers usually impose some conventions in referring to hardware components
such as registers and memory locations. One such convention is the prefixing of
immediate values with the special characters (#) or a register name with the character
(%).
The underlying hardware in some machines cannot be accessed directly by a
program.
The operating system (OS) plays the role of mediating access to resources such as
memory and I/O facilities. Interactions with operating systems (OS) can take place in
the form of a code that causes the execution of a function that is part of the OS. These
functions are called system calls.
3.4 Assembly and Execution of Programs

As you know by now, a program written in assembly language needs to be translated
into binary machine language before it can be executed. In this section, we will learn
how to get from the point of writing an assembly program to the execution phase. Figure
3.4 shows three steps in the assembly and execution process.
The assembler reads the source program in assembly language and generates the
object program in binary form. The object program is passed to the linker. The linker will
check the object file for calls to procedures in the link library. The linker will combine the
required procedures from the link library with the object program and produce the
executable program. The loader loads the executable program into memory and
branches the CPU to the starting address. The program begins execution.
Figure 3.4: Assembly and Execution Process
3.4.1 Assemblers
Assemblers are programs that generate machine code instructions from a source code
program written in assembly language. The assembler will replace symbolic addresses
by numeric addresses, replace symbolic operation codes by machine operation codes,
reserve storage for instructions and data, and translate constants into machine
representation.
The functions of the assembler can be performed by scanning the assembly
program and mapping its instructions to their machine code equivalent. Since symbols
can be used in instructions before they are defined in later ones, a single scanning of
the program might not be enough to perform the mapping. A simple assembler scans
the entire assembly program twice, where each scan is called a pass. During the first
pass, it generates a table that includes all symbols and their binary values. This table is
called the symbol table. During the second pass, the assembler will use the symbol
table and other tables to generate the object program, and output some information that
will be needed by the linker.

3.4.2 Data Structures
The assembler uses at least three tables to perform its functions: symbol table, opcode Notes
table, and pseudo instruction table. The symbol table, which is generated in pass one,
has an entry for every symbol in the program. Associated with each symbol are its
binary value and other information. Table 3.3 shows the symbol table for the
multiplication program segment of Example 2. We assume that the instruction LD X is
starting at location 0 in the memory. Since each instruction takes two bytes, the value of
the symbol LOOP is 4 (004 in hexadecimal).
Symbol N, for example, will be stored at decimal location 40 (028 in hexadecimal).
The values of the other symbols can be obtained in a similar way.
The opcode table provides information about the operation codes. Associated with
each symbolic opcode in the table are its numerical value and other information about
its type, its instruction length, and its operands. Table 3.4 shows the opcode.
Table 3.3: Symbol Table for the Multiplication Segment
Symbol Value Other

(hexadecimal) Information
Loop 004
EXIT 01E
X 020
Y 022
Z 024
ONE 026
N 028
Table 3.4: The Opcode Table for the Assembly of our Simple Processor
Opcode Operand Opcode Value Instruction Length Instruction Type

(binary) (bytes)
STOP 0000 2 Control
LD Mem-adr 0001 2 Memory-reference
ST Mem-adr 0010 2 Memory-reference
MOVAC 0011 2 Register-reference
MOV 0100 2 Register-reference
ADD 0101 2 Register-reference
SUB 0110 2 Register-reference
AND 0111 2 Register-reference
NOT 1000 2 Register-reference
BRA Mem-adr 1001 2 Control
BZ Mem-adr 1010 2 Control
Table for the simple processor described in Section 3.1. As an example, we explain
the information associated with the opcode LD. It has one operand, which is a memory
address and its binary value is 0001. The instruction length of LD is 2 bytes and its type
is memory-reference.
The entries of the pseudo instruction table are the pseudo instructions symbols.
Each entry refers the assembler to a procedure that processes the pseudo
instruction when encountered in the program. For example, if END is encountered, the
translation process is terminated.
In order to keep track of the instruction locations, the assembler maintains a
variable called instruction location counter (ILC). The ILC contains the value of memory

location assigned to the instruction or operand being processed. The ILC is initialized to
0 and is incremented after processing each instruction. The ILC is incremented by the
Notes length of the instruction being processed, or the number of bytes allocated as a result of
a data allocation pseudo instruction.
Figures 3.4 and 3.5 show simplified flowcharts of pass one and pass two in a
twopass assembler. Remember that the main function of pass one is to build the
symbol table while pass two’s main function is to generate the object code.
3.4.3 Linker and Loader

The linker is the entity that can combine object modules that may have resulted
from assembling multiple assembly modules separately. The loader is the operating
system utility that reads the executable into memory and start execution.
In summary, after assembly modules are translated into object modules, the
functions of the linker and loader prepare the program for execution. These functions
include combining object modules together, resolving addresses unknown at assembly
time, allocating storage, and finally executing the program.
Figure 3.5: Simplified Pass One in a Two-pass Assembler
Figure 3.6: Simplified Pass Two in a Two-pass Assembler

Instruction Sets
The reference manuals provided with a computer system contain a description of its Notes
physical and logical structure. These manuals explain the internal construction of the
CPU, including the processor registers available and their logical capabilities. All
hardware-implemented instructions, their binary code format, and a precise definition of
each instruction is very well described by these manuals. Given the fact that a computer
has a variety of instruction code formats, it is the control unit within the CPU that
interprets each instruction code and provides the necessary control functions needed to
process the instruction.
The format of an instruction is usually depicted in a rectangular box symbolizing the
bits of the instruction as they appear in memory words or in a control register. The bits
of the instruction are divided into groups called fields. The most common fields found in
instruction formats are:
1. An operation code field that specifies the operation to be performed.
2. An address field that designates a memory address or a processor register.
3. A mode field that specifies the way the operand or the effective address is
determined.
At times other special fields are also employed sometimes employed as for
example a field that gives the number of shifts in a shift-type instruction.
The operation code field of an instruction is referred to a group of bits that define
various processor operations, such as add, subtract, complement, and shift. A variety of
alternatives for choosing the operands from the given address is specified by the bits
that define the mode field of the instruction code. Further ahead is the description about
the address field on the instruction format and affect at including of multiple address
field in instruction in the digital circuits In this section we are concerned with the address
field of an instruction format and consider the effect of including multiple address fields
in an instruction.
Execution of operations done by some data stored in memory or processor
registers through specification received by computer instructions. A memory address
specifies operands residing in memory whereas those residing in processor registers
are specified by a register address. A register address is a binary number of k bits that
defines one of 2k registers in the CPU. Thus a CPU with 16 processor registers R0
through R15 will have a register address field of four bits. The binary number 0101, for
example, will designate register R5.
Instructions in computers can be of different lengths containing varying number of
addresses. The internal organization of the registers of a computer determines the
number of address fields in the instruction formats.
Most computers fall into one of three types of CPU organizations:
1. Single accumulator organization.
2. General register organization.
3. Stack organization.
An example of an accumulator-type organization is the basic computer. All
operations are performed with an implied accumulator register. The instruction format in
this type of computer uses one address field. For example, the instruction that specifies
an arithmetic addition is defined by an assembly language instruction as:
ADD X where X is the address of the operand. The ADD instruction in this case
results in the operation AC AC + M[X]. AC is the accumulator register and M[X]
symbolizes the memory word located at address X.
An example of a general register type of organization was presented in Figure 2.2.
The instruction format in this type of computer needs three register address fields.

Thus, the instruction for an arithmetic addition may be written in an assembly language
as:
Notes
ADD Rl, R2, R3 to denote the operation Rl R2 + R3. The number of address
fields in the instruction can be reduced from three to two if the destination register is the
same and one of the source registers. Thus, the instruction:
ADD Rl, R2 would denote the operational R1  R1 + R2. Only register addresses
for R1 and R2 need to be specified in this instruction.
Computers with multiple processor registers use the move instruction with a
mnemonic MOV to symbolize a transfer instruction. Thus the instruction:
MOV R1, R2 denotes the transfer R1 R2 (or R2R1, depending on the particular
computer). Thus, transfer-type instructions need two address fields to specify the
source and the destination.
Usually only two or three address fields are employed general register-type
computers in their instruction format. Each address field may specify a processor
register or a memory word. An instruction symbolized by:
ADD R1, X would specify the operation R1 R1+M[X]. It has two address fields,
one for register R1 and the other for the memory address X.
Computers with stack organization would have PUSH and POP instructions which
require an address field. Thus the instruction:
PUSH X will push the word at address X to the top of the stack. The stack pointer is
updated automatically. Operation-type instructions do not need an address field in
stack-organized computers. This is because the operation is performed on the two
items that are on top of the stack. The instruction:
ADD in a stack computer consists of an operation code only with no address field.
This operation has the effect of popping the two top numbers from the stack, adding the
numbers, and pushing the sum into the stack. Since all operands are implied to be in
the stack, the need for specifying operands with the address field does not arise .
Most of the computers comprise one of the three types of organizations that have
just been described. Some computers combine features from more than one
organizational structure. For instance, the Intel 8080 microprocessor has seven CPU
registers, one of which is an accumulator register. Consequently, the processor exhibits
some of the characteristics of a general register type and some of the characteristics of
an accumulator type. All arithmetic and logic instructions, as well as the load and store
instructions, use the accumulator register, so these instructions have only one address
field. On the other hand, instructions that transfer data among the seven processor
registers have a format that contains two register address fields. Moreover, the Intel
8080 processor has a stack pointer and instructions to push and pop from a memory
stack. The processor, however, does not have the zero-address-type instructions which
are characteristic of a stack-organized CPU.
To illustrate the influence of the number of addresses on computer programs, we
will evaluate the arithmetic statement
X = (A + B)*(C + D)
using zero, one, two, or three address instructions. We will use the symbols ADD, SUB,
MUL and DIV for the four arithmetic operations; MOV for the transfer-type operation;
and LOAD and STORE for transfers to and from memory and AC register.
We will assume that the operands are in memory addresses A, B, C, and D, and the
result must be stored in memory at address X.

1. Three-Address Instructions
Computers with three-address instruction formats can use each address field to specify Notes
either a processor register or a memory operand. The program in assembly language
that evaluates X = (A + B) * (C + D) is shown below, together with comments that
explain the register transfer operation of each instruction.
ADD R1,A,B R1M[A]+M[B]
ADD R2,C,D R2M[C]+M[D]
MUL X,R1,R2 M[X] R1*R2
It is assumed that the computer has two processor registers, Rl and R2. The
symbol M[A] denotes the operand at memory address symbolized by A.
The advantage of the three-address format is that it results in short programs when
evaluating arithmetic expressions. The disadvantage is that the binary-coded
instructions require too many bits to specify three addresses. An example of a
commercial computer that uses three-address instructions is the Cyber 170. The
instruction formats in the Cyber computer are restricted to either three register address
fields or two register address fields and one memory address field.
2. Two-Address Instructions
Two-address instructions are the most common in commercial computers. Here again
each address field can specify either a processor register or memory word. The
program to evaluate X = (A + B)* (C + D) is as follows:
MOV R1, A R1M[A]
ADD R1, B R1RI+M[B]
MOV R2, C R2M[C]
ADD R2,D R2R2+M[D]
MUL R1,R2 R1R1*RP
MOV X, R1 M[X]  R1
The MOV instruction moves or transfers the operands to and from memory and
processor registers. The first symbol listed in an instruction is assumed to be both a
source and the destination where the result of the operation transferred.
3. One-Address Instructions
One-address instructions use an implied accumulator (AC) register for all data
manipulation. For multiplication and division there is a need for a second register.
However, here we will neglect the second register and assume that the AC contains the
result of all operations. The program to evaluate X=(A+B)*(C+D) is:
LOAD A ACM[A]
ADD B ACAC+M[B]
STORE T M[T]  AC
LOAD C AC  M[C]
ADD D,A ACAC+M[D]
MUL T ACAC * M[T]
STORE X M[X] AC
All operations are done between the AC register and a memory operand. T is the
address of a temporary memory location required for storing the intermediate result.

4. Zero-Address Instructions
Notes A stack-organized computer does not use an address field for the instructions ADD and
MUL. The PUSH and POP instructions, however, need an address field to specify the
operand that communicates with the stack. The following program shows how
X = (A + B) * (C + D) will be written for a stack organized computer. (TOS stands for top
of stack)
PUSH A TOSA
PUSH B TOSB
ADD T TOS (A+B)
PUSH C TOSC
PUSH D TOSD
ADD T TOS (C+D)
MDL T TOS (C+D)*(A+B)
POP X M[X] TOS
To evaluate arithmetic expressions in a stack computer, it is necessary to convert
the expression into reverse Polish notation. The name “zero-address” is given to this
type of computer because of the absence of an address field in the computational
instructions.
5. RISC Instructions
The instruction set of a typical RISC processor is restricted/to the use of load and store
instructions when communicating between memory and CPU. All other instructions are
executed within the registers of the CPU without referring to memory. A program for a
RISC-type CPU consists of LOAD and STORE instructions that have one memory and
one. Register address, and computational-type instructions that have three addresses
with all three specifying processor registers. The following is a program to evaluate X =
(A + B)*(C + D).
LOAD R1, A R1 M[A]
LOAD R2, B R2  M[B]
LOAD R3, C R3  M[C]
LOAD R4, C R4  M[D]
ADD R1, R1, R2 R1  R1 + R2
ADD R3, R3, R2 R3  R3 + R4
MUL R1, R1, R3 R1  R1*R3
STORE X, R1 M[X]  R1
The load instructions transfer the operands from memory to CPU registers. The add
and multiply operations are executed with data in the registers without accessing
memory. The result of the computations is then stored in memory with a store
instruction.
3.5 Instruction Types

The type of instructions forming the instruction set of a machine is an indication of the
power of the underlying architecture of the machine. Instructions can in general be
classified as in the following Subsections 2.3.1 to 2.3.4.
3.5.1 Data Movement Instructions

Data movement instructions are used to move data among the different units of the
machine. Most notably among these are instructions that are used to move data among

the different registers in the CPU. A simple register to register movement of data can be
made through the instruction
Notes
MOVE Ri,Rj
This instruction moves the content of register Ri to register Rj. The effect of the
instruction is to override the contents of the (destination) register Rj without changing
the contents of the (source) register Ri. Data movement instructions include those used
to move data to (from) registers from (to) memory. These instructions are usually
referred to as the load and store instructions, respectively.
3.5.2 Arithmetic and Logical Instructions

Arithmetic and logical instructions are those used to perform arithmetic and logical
manipulation of registers and memory contents. Examples of arithmetic instructions
include the ADD and SUBTRACT instructions. These are
ADD R1,R2,R0
SUBTRACT R1,R2,R0
The first instruction adds the contents of source registers R1 and R2 and stores the
result in destination register R0. The second instruction subtracts the contents of the
source registers R1 and R2 and stores the result in the destination register R0.
The contents of the source registers are unchanged by the ADD and the
SUBTRACT instructions. In addition to the ADD and SUBTRACT instructions, some
machines have MULTIPLY and DIVIDE instructions. These two instructions are
expensive to implement and could be substituted by the use of repeated addition or
repeated subtraction. Therefore, most modern architectures do not have MULTIPLY or
DIVIDE instructions on their instruction set.
3.5.3 Sequencing Instructions

Control (sequencing) instructions are used to change the sequence in which
instructions are executed. They take the form of CONDITIONAL BRANCHING
(CONDITIONAL JUMP), UNCONDITIONAL BRANCHING (JUMP), or CALL
instructions. A common characteristic among these instructions is that their execution
changes the program counter (PC) value. The change made in the PC value can be
unconditional, for example, in the unconditional branching or the jump instructions. In
this case, the earlier value of the PC is lost and execution of the program starts at a
new value specified by the instruction.
3.5.4 Input/Output Instructions

Input and output instructions (I/O instructions) are used to transfer data between the
computer and peripheral devices. The two basic I/O instructions used are the INPUT
and OUTPUT instructions. The INPUT instruction is used to transfer data from an input
device to the processor. Examples of input devices include a keyboard or a mouse.
Input devices are interfaced with a computer through dedicated input ports. Computers
can use dedicated addresses to address these ports. Suppose that the input port
through which a keyboard is connected to a computer carries the unique address 1000.
Therefore, execution of the instruction INPUT 1000 will cause the data stored in a
specific register in the interface between the keyboard and the computer, call it the input
data register, to be moved into a specific register (called the accumulator) in the
computer. Similarly, the execution of the instruction OUTPUT 2000 causes the data
stored in the accumulator to be moved to the data output register in the output device
whose address is 2000. Alternatively, the computer can address these ports in the
usual way of addressing memory locations. In this case, the computer can input data
from an input device by executing an instruction such as MOVE Rin, R0. This instruction
moves the content of the register Rin into the register R0. Similarly, the instruction MOVE
R0, Rin moves the contents of register R0 into the register Rin, that is, performs an output

operation. This latter scheme is called memory-mapped Input/Output. Among the

advantages of memory-mapped I/O is the ability to execute a number of memory-
Notes dedicated instructions on the registers in the I/O devices in addition to the elimination of
the need for dedicated I/O instructions. Its main disadvantage is the need to dedicate
part of the memory address space for I/O devices.
3.5.5 Data Types

Before we look at how data is addressed, we will briefly mention the various types of
data an instruction can access. There must be hardware support for a particular data
type if the instruction is to reference that type. In Chapter 2 we discussed data types,
including numbers and characters. Numeric data consists of integers and floating point
values. Integers can be signed or unsigned and can be declared in various lengths. For
example, in C++ integers can be short (16 bits), int (the word size of the given
architecture), or long (32 bits). Floating point numbers have lengths of 32, 64, or 128
bits. It is not uncommon for ISAs to have special instructions to deal with numeric data
of varying lengths, as we have seen earlier. For example, there might be a MOVE for
16-bit integers and a different MOVE for 32-bit integers.
Nonnumeric data types consist of strings, Booleans, and pointers. String
instructions typically include operations such as copy, move, search, or modify.
Boolean operations include AND, OR, XOR, and NOT. Pointers are actually
addresses in memory. Even though they are, in reality, numeric in nature, pointers are
treated differently than integers and floating point numbers. MARIE allows for this data
type by using the indirect addressing mode. The operands in the instructions using this
mode are actually pointers. In an instruction using a pointer, the operand is essentially
an address and must be treated as such.
3.6 Addressing Modes

As described the earlier, the operation to be performed is specified by the operation
field of the instruction. The execution of the operation is performed on some data stored
in computer registers or memory words. The way the operands are chosen during
program. Selection of operands during program execution depends on the addressing
mode of the instruction. The addressing mode specifies a rule for interpreting or
modifying the address field of the instruction before the operand is actually referred.
The purpose of using address mode techniques by the computer is to accommodate
one or both of the following provisions:
1. To give programming versatility to the user by providing such facilities as pointers to
memory, counters for loop control, indexing of data, and program relocation.
2. To reduce the number of bits in the addressing field of the instruction.
Usage of addressing modes lends programming versatility to the user and helps to
write program data mode affection in terms of instruction and implementation. The basic
operation cycle of the computer must be understood to have a thorough knowledge of
addressing modes. The instruction cycle is executive in the control unit of the computer
and is divided into three principal phases:
1. Fetch the instruction from memory.
2. Decode the instruction.
3. Execute the instruction.
The program counter or PC register in the computer hold the instruction in the
program stored memory. Each time when instruction is fetched from memory the PC is
incremented, for it holds the address of the instruction to be executed next. Decoding
involves determination of the operation to be performed, the addressing mode of the
instruction, and the returns of the operands. The computer then executes the instruction
and returns to step 1 to fetch the next instruction in sequence.

Module VII: Introduction to
Operating Systems
Introduction
An operating system, or OS, is a software program that enables the computer hardware to communicate
and operate with the computer software. Without a computer operating system, a computer would be
useless.
An operating system (sometimes abbreviated as "OS") is the program that, after being initially loaded
into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other programs in a computer. The other programs
are called applications or application programs. The application programs make use of the operating
system by making requests for services through a defined application program interface (API). In
addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as a
command language or a graphical user interface (GUI).
1. Need of Operating System
At the simplest level, an operating system does two things:
1. It manages the hardware and software resources of the system. In a desktop computer, these resources
include such things as the processor, memory, disk space, etc. (On a cell phone, they include the keypad,
the screen, the address book, the phone dialer, the battery and the network connection.)
2. It provides a stable, consistent way for applications to deal with the hardware without having to know
all the details of the hardware.
The first task, managing the hardware and software resources, is very important, as various
programs and input methods compete for the attention of the central processing unit (CPU) and
demand memory, storage and input/output (I/O) bandwidth for their own purposes. In this capacity,
the operating system plays the role of the good parent, making sure that each application gets the
necessary resources while playing nicely with all the other applications, as well as husbanding the
limited capacity of the system to the greatest good of all the users and applications.
The second task, providing a consistent application interface, is especially important if there is to be
93
more than one of a particular type of computer using the operating system, or if the hardware making
up the computer is ever open to change. A consistent application program interface (API) allows a
software developer to write an application on one computer and have a high level of confidence that it
will run on another computer of the same type, even if the amount of memory or the quantity of
storage is different on the two machines.
Even if a particular computer is unique, an operating system can ensure that applications continue to
run when hardware upgrades and updates occur. This is because the operating system and not the
application is charged with managing the hardware and the distribution of its resources. One of the
challenges facing developers is keeping their operating systems flexible enough to run hardware
from the thousands of vendors manufacturing computer equipment. Today's systems can
accommodate thousands of different printers, disk drives and special peripherals in any possible
combination.
The operating system is the interface between the hardware and the user. If there were no O/S, the
computer would be an expensive door stop.
An operating system performs these services for applications:
In a multitasking operating system where multiple programs can be running at the same time, the
operating system determines which applications should run in what order and how much time
should be allowed for each application before giving another application a turn.
It manages the sharing of internal memory among multiple applications.
It handles input and output to and from attached hardware devices, such as hard disks, printers,
and dial-up ports.
It sends messages to each application or interactive user (or to a system operator) about the status
of operation and any errors that may have occurred.
It can offload the management of what are called batch jobs (for example, printing) so that the
initiating application is freed from this work.
On computers that can provide parallel processing, an operating system can manage how to
divide the program so that it runs on more than one processor at a time.
94
2. Types of Operating Systems
BATCH OPERATING Systems

A batch system is one in which jobs are bundled together with the instructions necessary to allow
them to be processed without intervention. Often jobs of a similar nature can be bundled together to
further increase economy
The monitor is system software that is responsible for interpreting and carrying out the instructions
in the batch jobs. When the monitor started a job, it handed over control of the entire computer to
the job, which then controlled the computer until it finished.
Often magnetic tapes and drums were used to store intermediate data and compiled programs.
1. Advantages of batch systems

o move much of the work of the operator to the computer
o increased performance since it was possible for job to start as soon as the previous
job finished
2. Disadvantages
o turn-around time can be large from user standpoint
o more difficult to debug program
o due to lack of protection scheme, one batch job can affect pending jobs (read too
many cards, etc)
o a job could corrupt the monitor, thus affecting pending jobs
o a job could enter an infinite loop
As mentioned above, one of the major shortcomings of early batch systems was that there was no
protection scheme to prevent one job from adversely affecting other jobs.
The solution to this was a simple protection scheme, where certain memory (e.g. where the
monitor resides) were made off-limits to user programs. This prevented user programs from
corrupting the monitor.
To keep user programs from reading too many (or not enough) cards, the hardware was changed to
allow the computer to operate in one of two modes: one for the monitor and one for the user
programs. IO could only be performed in monitor mode, so that IO requests from the user programs
were passed to the monitor. In this way, the monitor could keep a job from reading past it's on
$EOJ card.
95
To prevent an infinite loop, a timer was added to the system and the $JOB card was modified so
that a maximum execution time for the job was passed to the monitor. The computer would
interrupt the job and return control to the monitor when this time was exceeded.
Spooling Batch Systems (mid 1960s - late 1970s)

One difficulty with simple batch systems is that the computer still needs to read the the deck of
cards before it can begin to execute the job. This means that the CPU is idle (or nearly so) during
these relatively slow operations.
Since it is faster to read from a magnetic tape than from a deck of cards, it became common for
computer centers to have one or more less powerful computers in addition to there main
computer. The smaller computers were used to read a decks of cards onto a tape, so that the tape
would contain many batch jobs. This tape was then loaded on the main computer and the jobs on the
tape were executed. The output from the jobs would be written to another tape which would then be
removed and loaded on a less powerful computer to produce any hardcopy or other desired output.
It was a logical extension of the timer idea described above to have a timer that would only let
jobs execute for a short time before interrupting them so that the monitor could start an IO operation.
Since the IO operation could proceed while the CPU was crunching on a user program, little
degradation in performance was noticed.
Since the computer can now perform IO in parallel with computation, it became possible to have the
computer read a deck of cards to a tape, drum or disk and to write out to a tape printer while it
was computing. This process is called SPOOLing: Simultaneous Peripheral Operation OnLine.
Spooling batch systems were the first and are the simplest of the multiprogramming systems.
96
One advantage of spooling batch systems was that the output from jobs was available as soon as the
job completed, rather than only after all jobs in the current cycle were finished.
Multiprogramming Systems (1960s - present)
As machines with more and more memory became available, it was possible to extend the idea of
multiprogramming (or multiprocessing) as used in spooling batch systems to create systems that
would load several jobs into memory at once and cycle through them in some order, working on each
one for a specified period of time.
At this point the monitor is growing to the point where it begins to resemble a modern operating
system. It is responsible for:
starting user jobs

spooling operations
IO for user jobs
switching between user jobs
ensuring proper protection while doing the above
Multiprogramming is a rudimentary form of parallel processing in which several programs are run at
the same time on a uniprocessor. Since there is only one processor , there can be no true
simultaneous execution of different programs. Instead, the operating system executes part of one
program, then part of another, and so on. To the user it appears that all programs are executing at the
same time.
If the machine has the capability of causing an interrupt after a specified time interval, then the
operating system will execute each program for a given length of time, regain control, and then
execute another program for a given length of time, and so on. In the absence of this mechanism, the
operating system has no choice but to begin to execute a program with the expectation, but not the
certainty, that the program will eventually return control to the operating system.
If the machine has the capability of protecting memory , then a bug in one program is less likely to
interfere with the execution of other programs. In a system without memory protection, one program
can change the contents of storage assigned to other programs or even the storage assigned to the
operating system. The resulting system crashes are not only disruptive, they may be very difficult to
debug since it may not be obvious which of several programs is at fault.
Timesharing Systems (1970s - present)
Back in the days of the "bare" computers without any operating system to speak of, the programmer
had complete access to the machine. As hardware and software was developed to create monitors,
simple and spooling batch systems and finally multiprogrammed systems, the separation between the
user and the computer became more and more pronounced.
Users, and programmers in particular, longed to be able to "get to the machine" without having to go
through the batch process. In the 1970s and especially in the 1980s this became possible two different
ways.
The first involved timesharing or time slicing. The idea of multiprogramming was extended to allow
for multiple terminals to be connected to the computer, with each in-use terminal being associated
with one or more jobs on the computer. The operating system is responsible for switching between
the jobs, now often called processes, in such a way that favored user interaction. If the context-
switches occurred quickly enough, the user had the impression that he or she had direct access to the
computer.
Interactive processes are given a higher priority so that when IO is requested (e.g. a key is pressed),
the associated process is quickly given control of the CPU so that it can process it. This is usually
done through the use of an interrupt that causes the computer to realize that an IO event has
occurred.
It should be mentioned that there are several different types of time sharing systems. One type is
represented by computers like our VAX/VMS computers and UNIX workstations. In these computers
entire processes are in memory (albeit virtual memory) and the computer switches between
executing code in each of them. In other types of systems, such as airline reservation systems, a
single application may actually do much of the timesharing between terminals. This way there does
not need to be a different running program associated with each terminal.
Personal Computers
The second way that programmers and users got back at the machine was the advent of
personal computers around 1980. Finally computers became small enough and inexpensive
enough that an individual could own one, and hence have complete access to it.
Real-Time, Multiprocessor, and Distributed/Networked Systems
A real-time computer is one that execute programs that are guaranteed to have an upper bound on
tasks that they carry out. Usually it is desired that the upper bound be very small. Examples included
guided missile systems and medical monitoring equipment. The operating system on real-time
computers is severely constrained by the timing requirements.
Dedicated computers are special purpose computers that are used to perform only one or more tasks.
Often these are real-time computers and include applications such as the guided missile mentioned
above and the computer in modern cars that controls the fuel injection system.
A multiprocessor computer is one with more than one CPU. The category of multiprocessor
computers can be divided into the following
sub-categories:
shared memory multiprocessors have multiple CPUs, all with access to the same memory.
Communication between the the processors is easy to implement, but care must be taken so that
memory accesses are synchronized.
distributed memory multiprocessors also have multiple CPUs, but
each CPU has it's own associated memory. Here, memory access synchronization is not
a problem, but communication between the
processors is often slow and complicated.
Related to multiprocessors are the following:
Networked systems consist of multiple computers that are networked together, usually
with a common operating system and shared resources. Users, however, are aware of the
different computers that make up the system.
Distributed systems also consist of multiple computers but differ
from networked systems in that the multiple computers are transparent to the user.
Often there are redundant resources and a sharing of the workload among the different
computers, but this is all transparent to the user.
Module VIII: Classification of
Computer Systems
1. Digital and Analog Transmission
Data is transmitted from one point to another point by means of electrical signals that may be in digital
and analog form. So one should know the fundamental difference between analog and digital signals.
In analog signal the transmission power varies over a continuous range with respect to sound, light and
radio waves. On the other hand a digital signal may assume only discrete set of values within a given
range. Examples are computer and computer related equipment. Analog signal is measured in Volts and its
frequency in Hertz (Hz). A digital signal is a sequence of voltage represented in binary form. When digital
data are to be sent over an analog form the digital signal must be converted to analog form. So the
technique by which a digital signal is converted to analog form is known as modulation. And the reverse
process, that is the conversion of analog signal to its digital form, is known as demodulation. The device,
which converts digital signal into analog, and the reverse, is known as modem.
Time
Analog Signal
Digital Signal
MODEMS : They translate data from digital to analog form at the sending end of the communications
path and from analog to digital at the receiving end .Put simply, the object of a modem is to change the
characteristics of a simple sine wave, referred to as a carrier signal. We know this carrier signal has
several properties that can be altered to represent data. It has amplitude (height); it has frequency (a unit
of time); and it has phase (a relative starting point). Modems are capable of altering one or more of these
characteristics to represent data. The job a modem performs can be divided into two discrete parts or
phases at each end of the communications link. At the sending end, it converts digital bit
streams (strings of 0’s and 1’s) into analog sine waves. This is the encoding process.
Another component within the modem then changes (modulates) the analog signal so the
data may be transmitted simultaneously with other data and voice traffic that has also been
modulated. This process is basically reversed at the receiving end. There, the analog signal is brought
back to its basic level (demodulated), and the analog sine waves are reconverted
(decoded) back into their corresponding bit streams
Digital data as it is encoded, modulated, transmitted, demodulated, and decoded. 2-3
Module- IV: Introduction to
Computer and Communication
INTRODUCTION
Today computer is available in many offices and homes and therefore there is a need to share data and
programs among various computers with the advancement of data communication facilities. The
communication between computers has increased and it thus it has extended the power of computer
beyond the computer room. Now a user sitting at one place can communicate computers of any remote
sites through communication channel. The aim of this chapter is to introduce you the various aspects of
computer network.
OBJECTIVES
After going through this lesson you will be in a position to:
explain the concept of data communication

understand the use of computer network
identify different components of computer network
identify different types of network
explain communication protocols
understand what is internet and email and its uses in modern communication
appreciate the use of satellite communication.
1. DATA COMMUNICATION
We all are acquainted with some sorts of communication in our day to day life. For communication of
information and messages we use telephone and postal communication systems. Similarly data and
information from one computer system can be transmitted to other systems across geographical areas.
Thus data transmission is the movement of information using some standard methods. These methods
include electrical signals carried along a conductor, optical signals along an optical fibers and
electromagnetic areas.
Suppose a manager has to write several letters to various clients. First he has to use his PC and Word
Processing package to prepare his letter. If the PC is connected to all the client's PCs through networking,
he can send the letters to all the clients within minutes. Thus irrespective of
geographical areas, if PCs are connected through communication channel, the data and information,
computer files and any other program can be transmitted to other computer systems within seconds. The
modern form of communication like e-mail and Internet is possible only because of computer networking.
Basic Elements of a Communication System

The following are the basic requirements for working of a communication system.
1. A sender (source) which creates the message to be transmitted.
2. A medium that carries the message.
3. A receiver (sink) which receives the message.
In data communication four basic terms are frequently used. They are
Data: A collection of facts in raw forms that become information after processing.
Signals: Electric or electromagnetic encoding of data.
Signaling: Propagation of signals across a communication medium.
Transmission: Communication of data achieved by the processing of signals.
2. Communication Protocols
You may be wondering how do the computers send and receive data across communication links.
The answer is data communication software. It is this software that enables us to communicate with other
systems. The data communication software instructs computer systems and devices as to how exactly data
is to be transferred from one place to another. The procedure of data transformation in the form of
software is commonly called protocol.
The data transmission software or protocols perform the following functions for the efficient and error
free transmission of data.
Data sequencing: A long message to be transmitted is broken into smaller packets of fixed size for error
free data transmission.
Data Routing: It is the process of finding the most efficient route between source and
destination before sending the data.
Flow control: All machines are not equally efficient in terms of speed. Hence the flow control
regulates the process of sending data between fast sender and slow receiver.
Error Control: Error detecting and recovering is the one of the main function of communication
software. It ensures that data are transmitted without any error.
3. Data Transmission Modes

There are three ways for transmitting data from one point to another
1. Simplex: In simplex mode the communication can take place in one direction. The receiver receives
the signal from the transmitting device. In this mode the flow of information is Uni.- directional.
Hence it is rarely used for data communication.
2. Half-duplex: In half-duplex mode the communication channel is used in both directions, but only in
one direction at a time. Thus a half-duplex line can alternately send and receive data.
3. Full-duplex: In full duplex the communication channel is used in both directions at the same time.
Use of full-duplex line improves the efficiency as the line turn-around time required in half-duplex
arrangement is eliminated. Example of this mode of transmission is the telephone line.
A B
Simplex A to B only
A B
Half-Duplex A to B or B to A
A B
Full-Duplex A to B and B to A
Fig. 4.1
Digital and Analog Transmission

Data is transmitted from one point to another point by means of electrical signals that may be in
digital and analog form. So one should know the fundamental difference between analog and digital
signals. In analog signal the transmission power varies over a continuous range with respect to sound,
light and radio waves. On the other hand a digital signal may assume only discrete set of values within a
given range. Examples are computer and computer related equipment. Analog signal is measured in Volts
and its frequency in Hertz (Hz). A digital signal is a sequence of voltage represented in binary form.
When digital data are to be sent over an analog form the digital signal must be converted to analog form.
So the technique by which a digital signal is converted to analog form is known as modulation. And the
reverse process, that is the conversion of analog signal to its digital form, is known as demodulation. The
device, which converts digital signal into analog, and the reverse, is known as modem.
Time
Analog Signal
MODEMS :They translate data from digital to analog form at the sending end of the communications path and from analog
to digital at the receiving end .Put simply, the object of a modem is to change the characteristics of a simple sine wave,
referred to as a carrier signal. We know this carrier signal has several properties that can be altered to represent data. It has
amplitude (height); it has frequency (a unit of time); and it has phase (a relative starting point). Modems are capable of
altering one or more of these characteristics to represent data. The job a modem performs can be divided into two discrete
parts or phases at each end of the communications link. At the sending end, it converts digital bit streams (strings of
0’s and 1’s) into analog sine waves. This is the encoding process. Another component within the modem then
changes (modulates) the analog signal so the data may be transmitted simultaneously with other data and voice traffic that
has also been modulated. This process is basically reversed at the receiving end. There, the analog signal is brought back to
its basic level (demodulated), and the analog sine waves are reconverted (decoded) back into their corresponding bit
streams
Digital data as it is encoded, modulated, transmitted, demodulated, and decoded. 2-3
Asynchronous and Synchronous Transmission

Data transmission through a medium can be either asynchronous or synchronous. In
asynchronous transmission data is transmitted character by character as you go on typing on a keyboard.
Hence there is irregular gaps between characters. However, it is cheaper to implement, as you do not have
to save the data before sending. On the other hand, in the synchronous mode, the saved data is transmitted
block by block. Each block can contain many characters. Synchronous transmission is well suited for
remote communication between a computer and related devices like card reader and printers.
Following are the major communication devices used to day.

Wire Pairs: Wire pairs are commonly used in local telephone communication and for short distance
digital data communication. They are usually made up of copper and the pair of wires is twisted
together. Data transmission speed is normally 9600 bits per second in a distance of 100 meter.
Some features are:
consist of two insulated copper wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern to minimize the
electromagnetic interference between adjacent pairs
low frequency transmission medium
low cost, small size, and ease of installation
limited distance, usually less than 100 meters
the most popular and is generally the best option for school networks
Categories of UTP Cable
Category 1 Voice Only (Telephone Wire)

Category 2 Data to 4 Mbps (LocalTalk)
Category 3 Data to 10 Mbps (Ethernet)
Category 4 Data to 20 Mbps (16 Mbps Token Ring)
Category 5 Data to 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)
The standard connector for UTP cable is an RJ-45 connector, which looks like a large
telephone modular connector
Wireless
use high frequency radio signals or infrared light beams to communicate between the
workstations and the server
need transciever/antenna to send and receive data
widely used for connecting laptop computers to the LAN
expensive
poor security
slower than LANs using cabling
susceptible to electrical interference from lights and radios
Coaxial Cables: Coaxial cable is groups of specially wrapped and insulted wires that are able to
transfer data at higher rate. They consist of a central copper wire surrounded by an insulation over which
copper mesh is placed. They are used for long distance telephone lines and local area network for their
noise immunity and faster data transfer.
Coaxial (Coax) Cable

Some features are:
like the wire used to connect a TV or VCR

has an inner conductor surrounded by a braided mesh
both conductors share a common center axial, hence the term "co-axial"
bandwidth of up to 400 Mhz
highly resistant to signal interference used
for long distance (300-600 meters)
quite bulky and sometimes difficult to install
the most common type of connector used with coaxial cables is the BNC (Bayone-Neill-
Concelman) connector
has two types of coaxial cable:

Thin coaxial cable
o refers to as thinnet
o 10Base2 is the IEEE standard for Ethernet running on thin coaxial cable
o the 2 refers to the approximate maximum segment length being 200 meters
o is popular in school networks, especially linear bus networks
Thick coaxial cable
refers to as thicknet
10Base5 is the IEEE standard for Ethernet running on thick coaxial cable the 5
refers to the approximate maximum segment length being 500 meters has an extra
protective plastic cover that helps keep moisture away from the center
conductor
difficult to bend and install
used for long distance linear bus networks
Fiber Optic
Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials
(See fig. 5). It transmits light rather than electronic signals eliminating the problem of electrical
interference. This makes it ideal for certain environments that contain a large amount of electrical
interference. It has also made it the standard for connecting networks between buildings, due to its
immunity to the effects of moisture and lighting.
Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over much longer distances than coaxial and twisted
pair. It also has the capability to carry information at vastly greater speeds. This capacity broadens
communication possibilities to include services such as video conferencing and interactive services. The
cost of fiber optic cabling is comparable to copper cabling; however, it is more difficult to install and
modify. 10BaseF refers to the specifications for fiber optic cable carrying Ethernet signals.
consist of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials

immunity to environmental interference
greater capacity (bandwidth of up to 2 Gbps)
used for distances up to 100 kilometers carry
information at vastly greater speeds very
expensive
small size and lighter weight
difficult to install and modify, require highly skilled installers
adding additional nodes is difficult
10BaseF refers to the specifications for fiber optic cable carrying Ethernet signals
Microwave: Microwave system uses very high frequency radio signals to transmit data through space.
The transmitter and receiver of a microwave system should be in line-of-sight because the radio
signal cannot bend. With microwave very long distance transmission is not possible. In order to
overcome the problem of line of sight and power amplification of weak signal, repeaters are used at
intervals of 25 to 30 kilometers between the transmitting and receiving end.
Communication Satellite: The problem of line-sight and repeaters are overcome by using satellites
which are the most widely used data transmission media in modern days. A communication satellite
is a microwave relay station placed in outer space. INSAT-1B is such a satellite that can be
accessible from anywhere in India. In satellite communication, microwave signal is transmitted
from a transmitter on earth to the satellite at space. The satellite amplifies the weak signal and
transmits it back to the receiver. The main advantage of satellite communication is that it is a single
microwave relay station visible from any point of a very large area. In microwave the data
transmission rate is 16 giga bits per second. They are mostly used to link big metropolitan cities.
4. COMPUTER NETWORK
A computer network is an interconnection of various computer systems located at different places.
In computer network two or more computers are linked together with a medium and data communication
devices for the purpose of communicating data and sharing resources. The computer that provides
resources to other computers on a network is known as server. In the network the individual computers,
which access shared network resources, are known as workstations or nodes.
NEED of COMPUTER NETWORK
Sharing information: the computer can help you centralize the information and maintain control
over it if you select one computer to store the shared information and have all other computers
reference the information on that computer over the network. Sharing hardware resources: a
network allows anyone connected to the network to use printers, fax modem, scanners, tape
backup units or almost any other device that can be attached to a computer.
Sharing software resources: administrator can centrally install and configure the software and also
restrict access to the software. It is easier than doing it on every one of the computers in an
organization.
Preserving information: a network also allows for information to be backed up to a central location.
It is difficult to maintain regular backups on a number of stand-alone computers so important
information can be lost easily by mistake or by accident.
Protecting information: a network provides a more secure environment for a company's important
information than stand-alone computers. Networks provide an additional layer of security by way of
passwords.
Electronic-mail (e-mail): the computer network can also help people communicate by e-mail. You
can attach electronic documents to mail message like photo, sound and video clip.
Computer Networks may be classified on the basis of geographical area in two broad categories.
1. Local Area Network (LAN)
2. Wide Area Network (WAN)
Local Area Network

Networks used to interconnect computers in a single room, rooms within a building or buildings on one
site are called Local Area Network (LAN). LAN transmits data with a speed of several megabits per
second (106 bits per second). The transmission medium is normally coaxial cables. LAN links computers,
i.e., software and hardware, in the same area for the purpose of sharing information. Usually LAN links
computers within a limited geographical area because they must be connected by a cable, which is quite
expensive. People working in LAN get more capabilities in data processing, work processing and other
information exchange compared to stand-alone computers. Because of this information exchange most of
the business and government organisations are using LAN.
Major Characteristics of LAN
- every computer has the potential to communicate with any other computers of the network
- high degree of interconnection between computers
- easy physical connection of computers in a network
- inexpensive medium of data transmission
- high data transmission rate
Advantages
- The reliability of network is high because the failure of one computer in the network does not effect
the functioning for other computers.
- Addition of new computer to network is easy.
- High rate of data transmission is possible.
- Peripheral devices like magnetic disk and printer can be shared by other computers.
Disadvantages
If the communication line fails, the entire network system breaks down.
Use of LAN
Followings are the major areas where LAN is normally used
File transfers and Access

Word and text processing
Electronic message handling
Remote database access
Personal computing
Digital voice transmission and storage
Wide Area Network

The term Wide Area Network (WAN) is used to describe a computer network spanning a regional,
national or global area. For example, for a large company the head quarters might be at Delhi and
regional branches at Bombay, Madras, Bangalore and Calcutta. Here regional centers are connected to
head quarters through WAN. The distance between computers connected to WAN is larger. Therefore the
transmission medium used are normally telephone lines, microwaves and satellite links.
Characteristics of WAN
Followings are the major characteristics of WAN.
1. Communication Facility: For a big company spanning over different parts of the country the
employees can save long distance phone calls and it overcomes the time lag in overseas
communications. Computer conferencing is another use of WAN where users communicate with each
other through their computer system.
2. Remote Data Entry: Remote data entry is possible in WAN. It means sitting at any location you can
enter data, update data and query other information of any computer attached to the WAN but located
in other cities. For example, suppose you are sitting at Madras and want to see some data of a
computer located at Delhi, you can do it through WAN.
3. Centralised Information: In modern computerised environment you will find that big organisations
go for centralised data storage. This means if the organisation is spread over many cities, they keep
their important business data in a single place. As the data are generated at different sites, WAN
permits collection of this data from different sites and save at a single site.
Examples of WAN
1. Ethernet: Ethernet developed by Xerox Corporation is a famous example of WAN. This network uses
coaxial cables for data transmission. Special integrated circuit chips called controllers are used to
connect equipment to the cable.
2. Aparnet: The Aparnet is another example of WAN. It was developed at Advanced Research Projects
Agency of U. S. Department. This Network connects more than 40 universities and institutions
throughout USA and Europe.
Difference between LAN and WAN
LAN is restricted to limited geographical area of few kilometers. But WAN covers great distance
and operate nationwide or even worldwide.
In LAN, the computer terminals and peripheral devices are connected with wires and coaxial cables.
In WAN there is no physical connection. Communication is done through telephone
lines and satellite links.
Cost of data transmission in LAN is less because the transmission medium is owned by a single
organisation. In case of WAN the cost of data transmission is very high because the
transmission medium used are hired, either telephone lines or satellite links.
The speed of data transmission is much higher in LAN than in WAN. The transmission speed in LAN
varies from 0.1 to 100 megabits per second. In case of WAN the speed ranges from
1800 to 9600 bits per second (bps).
Few data transmission errors occur in LAN compared to WAN. It is because in LAN the
distance covered is negligible.
NETWORK TOPOLOGY
Network topology are the physical layout of the network that the locations of the computers and how the
cable is run between them. It is important to use the right topology. Each topology has its own strengths
and weakness.
Bus topology
A bus topology connects computers along a single or more cable to connect linearly as figure 1.
A network that uses a bus topology is referred to as a "bus network" which was the original form of
Ethernet networks. Ethernet 10Base2 (also known as thinnet) is used for bus topology.
Bus topology is the cheapest way of connecting computers to form a workgroup or departmental LAN,
but it has the disadvantage that a single loose connection or cable break can bring down the entire LAN
Termination is important issue in bus networks. The electrical signal from a transmitting computer is free
to travel the entire length of the cable. Without the termination, when the signal reaches the end of the
wire, it bounces back and travels back up the wire. When a signal echoes back and forth along an
unterminated bus, it is called ringing. The terminators absorb the electrical energy and stop the
reflections.
Advantages of the bus are following.

Bus is easy to use and understand and inexpensive simple network
It is easy to extend a network by adding cable with a repeater that boosts the signal and allows it to travel
a longer distance.
Disadvantages are following.

A bus topology becomes slow by heavy network traffic with a lot of computer because networks do not
coordinate with each other to reserve times to transmit.
It is difficult to troubleshoot a bus because a cable break or loose connector will cause reflections and
bring down the whole network.
Star topology
A star topology links the computers by individual cables to a central unit, usually a hub as in
figure 2. When a computer or other networking component transmits a signal to the network, the signal
travels to the hub. Then, the hub forwards the signal simultaneously to all other components connected to
the hub. Ethernet 10BaseT is a network based on the star topology.
Star topology is the most popular way to connect computers in a workgroup or departmental
network.
Figure 2: Star topology
Advantages of star topology are such as:\

The failure of a single computer or cable doesn't bring down the entire network.
The centralized networking equipment can reduce costs in the long run by making network
management much easier.
It allows several cable types in same network with a hub that can accommodate multiple cable types.
Disadvantages of star topology are such as:

Failure of the central hub causes the whole network failure. It is
slightly more expensive than using bus topology.
Ring topology
A ring topology connects the computers along a single path whose ends are joined to form a
circle as figure 3. The circle might be logical only but the physical arrangement of the cabling might be
similar to star topology, with a hub or concentrator at the center. The ring topology is commonly used
in token ring networks that the ring of a token ring network is concentrated inside a device called a
Multistation Access Unit (MAU) and fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) networks that the ring in
this case is both a physical and logical ring and usually runs around a campus or collection of buildings
to form a high-speed backbone network.
Figure 3: Ring topology
Advantages are following:

One computer cannot monopolize the network.
It continue to function after capacity is exceeded but the speed will be slow.
Disadvantages are following:
Failure of one computer can affect the whole network. It is
difficult to troubleshoot.
Adding and removing computers disrupts the network.
Mesh topology
In a mesh topology, each computer on network has redundant data paths as showing in figure 4.
The mesh topology provides fault tolerance-if a wire, hub, switch, or other component fails, data can
travel along an alternate path. A diagram of a mesh network looks like a fishing net. A mesh topology is
most often used in large backbone networks in which failure of a single switch or router can result in a
large portion of the network going down.
Figure 4: Mesh topology

Module V : Overview of the
Internet
1. What is the Internet?
The Internet is a worldwide connection of millions of computers connected to thousands of different

networks. These computers "communicate" that is, share, exchange, and transmit data to another
computer on the same or another network.
Who runs it?
Nobody owns or controls the Internet. It is a global information system similar in some respects to
telephone networks that allow anybody to call any other number anytime, anywhere. Each network is
run by its own operating center subject to the laws in their country and international conventions. There
are, instead, several "councils of elders," consortiums, societies, and communities whereby representatives
from various countries, institutions, and organizations collaborate occasionally to establish common
standards for hardware, software, and telecommunications technologies.
How did it come to be?
The Internet was born in the era of the Cold War. At that time the U.S. Department of Defense was
interested in establishing a communication system using computer, radio and satellite networks that will
be able to work around power outtages in the event of a nuclear attack. How will the government
communicate if the communication network is destroyed? The answer was to do away with a
centralized communication network and come up with separate networks where each will be
independently responsible for getting messages across through any route. An experimental network called
the ARPAnet was set up in 1968 to enable scientists and researchers in universities to collaborate on this
project. Some universities were later permitted during the
1970s to connect their local area networks to ARPAnet. Demand grew as networking spread among
schools. With the invention of the first e-mail program in 1972, academic resources started using
the network not only for long-distance computing but more to exchange information and gossip
with their colleagues. Concerned by security risks, the military broke off and established a separate
network in 1983. By the late 1980s the National Science Foundation commissioned its own network
called NSFNET to share its information resources for scholarly research. Major universities were
connected to five computer centers using telephone lines. To avoid the cost of laying down telephone
cables for every institution to connect directly to the computer centers, regional networks were created.
This resulted in a chain that allowed schools to connect to their nearest neighbor, thus permitting their
computers to forward messages from one link to another.
How does it work?
This ability of computers and networks all over the world to share information was made possible
by two important communication protocols - the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet
Protocol (IP). Together they are often referred to as TCP/IP, and together they make the Internet known as
a "packet-switched network.".
A good analogy will be the postal service. Your computer is both your address and post office.
To send a message to another computer you need to put the address of your destination, too. When
you transmit, your message travels through cable lines or signals, in the case of wireless
technologies. However, your message does not travel in one piece. It is first broken down into
numbered, bite-size chunks called "packets" and sent separately through different routes, and then
recombined again in their original form at their destination by Transmission Control Protocol. The
Internet Protocol handles how these packets are routed. The packets are placed in separate IP
"envelopes" and are sent through a series of switches or routers.
Speed and efficiency are essential, as you will soon find out. Many breakthroughs in Internet and
computer technologies are guided by the principle of sending and receiving data in the shortest time
possible. The data is broken down into packets for faster transmission. As the packets travel in IP
envelopes routers examine the addresses of these envelopes and determine the most efficient path for
sending each packet to the nearest available router until these reach their final destination. Since the
traffic load on the Internet constantly changes every second, the packets may travel in different routes
and arrive in different order. At the their destination the TCP will reassemble the packets into their
original form according to their numbered order. If a packet is missing the TCP determines that the
file or message was corrupted in transit, and will request for retransmission.
Here's another analogy. You have a big family who are traveling from one country to attend a reunion in
another country. There are not enough seats on the plane to accommodate everyone so the TCP breaks up
everybody in different planes (IP). These flights take different routes and make different stops. It is
likely that the passengers in each flight have different destinations. At each of these stops or airports, the
router checks the destination of every passenger's ticket and directs each to the next available flight
towards their final destination. The members of the convention group arrive at their final destination
separately. To regroup them the TCP will do a headcount making sure everybody is accounted for, and
then usher them out of the airport in proper order, that is, grandpa first, grandma second, eldest child
next, and so on.
What is an Internet address?
As you have learned how messages are transmitted from one computer to another, every computer
in the Internet must have a unique and specific address. An Internet or IP address, as it is sometimes
called, consists of four numbers separated by periods. The smallest address would be 0.0.0.0 while the
biggest would be 1234.5678.9101.1121. Don't worry, only computers are expected to remember all
these numbers without getting confused. For humans, we use the Domain Name System (DNS).
What are domains?
Like IP addresses which are numerical, the alphabetical domain names are also separated by periods or
dots. Thus, the U.S. Library of Congress will have an IP address of 140.147.248.7 and the domain name
will be www.loc.gov.
Domain names have the format: hostname.subdomain.top-level-domain. My school's domain name, for
example, is ocean.otr.usm.edu. This naming structure will give you clues about the address. Ocean is the
name of the host computer, otr stands for "Office of Technology Resources" which manages the
system, usm is the abbreviation for University of Southern Mississippi, the sub-domain, and edu
signifies that this is an educational institution. The gov for the Library of Congress indicates it is a
government institution.
Here are the existing top-level domains in the Internet:
.com - commercial
.edu - educational
.net - network
.org - organization
.gov - government
.mil - military
Other countries sometimes add their codes at the end, such as .au for Australia, .ph for
Philippines, and .fr for France.
2. Internet Services
Most of these Internet Services operate on the client/server model or concept. A computer is a client if it is
receiving files, and is a server if it is sending files. Another way of putting it is you, your computer, and
the corresponding software for each type of service are all clients. A server is a software that allows a
computer to offer a service to another computer. The computer on which the server software runs is also
called a server. To gain access to the Internet most people open an account with an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) in their area. To connect they "dial-up" to their ISP's server and "log-in" with their
account name and password. If you noticed, these services are loosely and interchangeably used as nouns
and verbs, i.e. "please e-mail me."
Electronic Mail
E-mail, so far, is still the most popular service of the Internet. Most users get acquainted with the Internet
using this service. It is better than "snail mail" by post because your message can be transmitted in
seconds. It is better than telephones because the recipient doesn't have to be around to receive the
message. A person also has the option to read and respond to the messages at one's convenience. Cheaper
than long distance phone calls, some people are even able to send and receive e-mail wherever they go
when they travel as long as they have access to a connected computer. Better than fax, through e-mail
people can send forms, documents, colored pictures, etc. as attachments.
Mailing List
Listserv, a popular type of mailing list, is short for "list server" and is based on the e-mail protocol. As an
electronic mailing list it is very convenient when somebody wants to send a message or newsletter, for
example, to many people at once. There are thousands of listservs for every imaginable purpose, interest,
service, and information like online newsletters, online sales or services, and class listservs. To join a
listserv means to be included in the mailing list. You send an e-mail saying you want to subscribe and you
will henceforth receive announcements, notices, and information through your e-mail inbox.
Newsgroups
This is the Internet equivalent of a discussion group or an electronic bulletin board. There are newsgroups
for every conceivable topic and more, from educational technology and Brazil culture to stamp
collecting and mountaineering. Those with specific hobbies or unusual interests are quiet happy to have
this service in the Internet when there are so few people in their area to discuss their interests with. You
can usually tell a newsgroup by its name. Computer newsgroups start with comp as in
comp.apps.spreadsheets. while recreational newsgroups start with rec as in
rec.arts.cinema. The others are alt for alternate, soc for social, sci for science, and news for
news.
Some newsgroups are moderated, others are not. If it is moderated a human moderator screens all
messages and decides if these are worth posting. Discussions can be "threaded." For example, in a
newsgroup for beer (alt.beer), one member might ask about good beer pubs in England and another will
start discussing how to keep a beer fresh. More than one threaded discussion can occur at the same
time with different members posting their opinions and reactions to either one or more threads.
Chat
Another popular form of communication over the Internet. Unlike e-mail, listservs, and newsgroups, chat
allows people to converse in "real time." People may actually see you type your questions and
responses. Chats are also organized in chat channels and chat rooms according to different factors.
There are chat rooms for "techies," cat lovers, singles, etc.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is the standard method for transferring files, whether downloading or uploading, to
and from your computer with another computer on the Internet. It is fairly simple to use and is the most
popular way to download software and other files from the Internet. All the files in this web site -- the
HTML, graphics, etc. -- were uploaded into the Web using WS_FTP95. There are private FTP sites that
require you to log-in with your account or user name and password before you are allowed to enter.
There are also anonymous FTP sites that allow you to enter using "anonymous" as your user name and
your e-mail address as your password.
Telnet
Telnet is short for "terminal emulation." It is one amazing feature of the Internet that lets you use the
resources of another computer in another part of the world. This is done by remotely logging to the
distant computer which is called the host. Once you are connected you can operate a remote
computer using your keyboard. Some systems require you to log in as a "guest" and others require
your name and address, or user name and password. The telnet is most useful to access the databases of
public services like library catalogs and government directories. Telnet also allows you to access your e-
mail account if you can remotely log in to your ISP's server computer.
The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is one of the latest information service to arrive on the Internet but is
arguably the technology that revolutionized the Internet. It is the fastest growing and most exciting
feature. People who "surf" or "browse" are describing activities on the WWW. Other words pertaining
to the Web are homepages, websites, URL, HTML, and HTTP. This section certainly deserves a page
or two of its own so please click on the "Next" button to proceed.
How internet is useful in Education
There are many advantages to using the services of the Internet, particularly the tools and resources on the
Web, in education. Instruction materials such as syllabi, lecture notes, presentations assignments, and
announcements could be made available online.
The Internet puts the concept of "anytime, anywhere" into a higher level as far as learning is
concerned. Students will be able to learn at their pace. The primary beneficiaries would be students and
adult learners who are too far or too busy to attend classes. Even traditional students will benefit when
instructional materials are available to support or complement classroom attendance. Students will be able
to prepare for the next class if they are reminded of the assignments and topics of discussion. Those who
missed class or missed the teacher's point can go over the lecture notes and presentation.
Both teacher and student will also benefit from being able to research any topic from library
catalogs, topical databases, and the World Wide Web. Anonymous FTP and Telnet will alow them to
access public databases maintained by government institutions. Services like e-mail and mailing lists can
support communication between teacher and student, and among peers (teacher to teacher, student to
student). Using a combination of e-mail and the Web, teachers and students can collaborate on research
and creative projects even with those who don't live in the same city or country.
The World Wide Web
What is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web?
Think of the Net as primarily hardware and software, you know, technical stuff -- and the Web as
wholly content and information, as in creative and intellectual in nature. The Net consists of cables,
computers, satellites, and networks. Computers are able to communicate using different software and
protocols with each other, connected either by cable or wireless technology. The Web, on the other hand,
is an abstract concept that exists in cyberspace. When we speak of the Web we talk of text, sound,
graphics, and videos that are presented in Web page formats. To navigate, surf, or browse around the
Web is to move from one site to another, from one page to another, one file to another using the hypertext
links.
Who invented it?
The father of the World Wide Web is Tim Berners-Lee, a physicist working at CERN, the European
Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland. In 1989 he developed a network protocol called Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as a way for physicists to send documents over the internet to share research
information. He is also credited as the man who coined the words "World Wide Web" and defined
standards such as the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML).
What is a Web page?
It is a document written in HTML code that contains text and links to other pages, files, or parts of the
document. The earliest Web pages were all-text documents and at present there are still text-based
browsers like Lynx. Although Tim Berners-Lee also wrote the first multimedia browser in 1990,
graphical user-interface (GUI) browsers didn't become popular until Mosaic came along in 1993.
What are browsers?
Browsers are viewer programs that display Web pages. There are also browsers to view e-mail ,
newsgroup discussions, etc. The most popular GUI browsers today are Netscape and Internet
Explorer. Marc Anderssen, the founder of Netscape, is also the brains of Mosaic.
Web browsers interpret HTML codes how to display text, graphics, links, and multimedia files in a page.
When your computer loads a web page, that is, an HTML file, you don't see these codes unless you
give the "View at Page Source" command. To see what the HTML
code for this page looks like press CtrlandUat the same time, or click on the word
View in the toolbar above you, and select Page Source.
Not all files on the Web can be displayed by a browser. There are, for example, applications that
perform specific tasks when you click on the appropriate link, like e-mail.
With their "point-and-click" features, GUI browsers dramatically made the Internet user-friendly to
novice users and its popularity exploded when people were able to dial-in using a home computer
and modem to an Internet Service Provider. Before this only large institutions like universities,
corporations, and government organizations that could afford to install cables have access to the
Internet. These two innovations opened up the Internet to a critical mass of individual users, people
who don't have the time or inclination to learn technical stuff, and people who use computers at home for
work and personal activities.
Next to the e-mail, the Web is the most popular service on the Internet. According to the Online
Computer Literacy Center, as of June 28, 1999, there are 4.8 million Web sites all over the world, a 71
percent increase from 1998.
Websites, Homepages, and URL
A website is a collection of pages in the Web. Home page, as the name suggests, is the main or opening
page of a website. You will notice that several websites use the word "Home" or an image of a house to
guide surfers back to the main page. The URL or Unform Resource Locator is the specific address of a
webpage, like http://geocities.com/toe6000/www1.html for this particular page. If you
look up at your Location Toolbar above you will see this address displayed. Sometimes, the URL of
another website is all you need to go to that site. Try this, click and delete the URL of this page
and in its place, type http://cnn.com which is

the URL for the home page of "CNN Interactive," and hit Enter. You can always
click on the Back button to return to this page.
URLs are also used in newsgroups, FTP, and telnet to access other addresses and files.
What makes the Web so popular?
Ease of use, thanks to the graphical user interface and point-and-click features. Navigation is non-
linear and non-hierarchical. The hypertext links allows you to jump from one section, page, file, or site to
another in any direction as you please. The variety of file types makes it interactive and multimedia. Once
again, the hypertext links to different file types allows you to perform any task such as read articles and
documents; write an e-mail; view pictures or computer-generated animation; watch a video clip; listen to
music and radio; take an online test; fill out a survey form; and download files and software.
This section will help you identify the most common file types on the Web by their file names and
extensions on the URL. You already know that a URL that ends with "html" is a web page.
Common File Types
In general, on the Internet you'll find two kinds of files: ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange) and binary. These are also the commonly used ways to transfer data by FTP. ASCII files are
simple text files, with the computer codes defining the alphabetical characters. Examples of ASCII file
types are plain text files, HTML, and most e-mail files.
Binary file types are more sophisticated in that the codes also carry formatting and graphical
information, like spreadsheets, sound, images, video, animation, and Adobe Acrobat's PDF
(Portable Document File). They are called binary because the codes are in 0's and 1's.
Text
Plain text files are identified by the filename extension of .txt. The beauty of plain text files is they can
be translated by any text editor and word processor program, whether your computer has Notepad®,
Microsoft Word®, or WordPerfect.®
HTML. Files in this format are called Web pages and have extensions of either html or htm. The
formatting instructions that tell the browser how to display the page are called tags. For example, to
align a sentence on the center, the sentence will begin with
<CENTER> and end with </CENTER>.
DOC and WPD. These are the file extensions of the most common word processor formats, namely,
Microsoft Word® for .doc and WordPerfect® for .wpd. Since web browsers do not typically support this
format, your computer will be asked or prompted by what application to open or save this file.
Image
There are at least 10 computer graphic formats out there but the two types you will often come across
in the Web are .gif developed by Compuserve and .jpeg by the Joint Photographic Experts
Group.
Gif (pronounced "jif") images are efficient in that there is no distortion when during
compression and decompression. Thus, they take up less kilobyte space and therefore
load faster, but are limited to 256 colors only.
JPEG (pronounced "jay-peg") can contain a million colors and are ideal for photos or
pictures. JPEG graphics usually don't support transparent backgrounds and shadow
features. Some JPEG files have extensions of .jpg.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has introduced .png. PNG stands for Portable
Network Graphics and was designed to be fast-loading, efficient, and patent-free. Newer
websites will likely use this format.
Sound/Audio
There are .wav, .mid., and .ra audio files. Each format requires a different software player, fortunately,
most of these come with your multimedia PC, or built-in with your browser, or may be downloaded at no
or minimal cost. These players have panel controls to stop, play, and pause using the same symbols
found on regular cassette players and VCR. The more elaborate ones have volume control, counter, and
channel selector. You can even choose and download custom- designed "skins" if you want, say, a zebra
stripe theme or metallic look for your control panel.
Waveform is the most common, and both Netscape and Internet Explorer are able to play this
audio file type. Many sound effects such as glass breaking, horn blowing, and animal
sounds are in wave format.
MIDI, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, is a music synthesizer
format that takes up a lot less space than waveform.
RealNetworks.com developed what is called "real-time audio streaming" which allows the
Internet to function like a radio, broadcasting music and voices in real time. There are several
Internet radios and channels now playing music and talk programs in different countries. You can
listen to a channel that plays nothing but classical music while you are working on the computer,
or hear a live concert, or listen to an interview with a famous
rock star.
MP3 is short for MPEG-1 Layer-3, a technology that compresses digital audio files like CD
music without losing sound quality. Its flexible format makes the MP3 easy to download, copy,
and play on any sequence you want. Sometimes called MPEG Audio Layer 3 to differentiate it
from MPEG digital video files, otherwise, the rest of the world
knows it by its more popular, rather, controversial name of MP3.
Video
Both Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer have built-in players for video file types
.mpg, .avi, and .mov and .qt.
AVI ("audio video interleave") was developed by Microsoft and is, naturally, the most common
format in Windows. Although there are less and less video files in this format now it still comes in
handy at times.
MOV and QuickTime are products of Apple. The beauty of QuickTime is it can run on either
Mac
MPEG, developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group, is an emerging digital video format
with applications on the Web, CDs, cable TV, direct satellite broadcasts, and high-definition
television (HDTV). It is endorsed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) that
formed the MPEG committee, and recognized by over 70
companies including IBM, Apple, Philips, and Sony.
Animation
Animation helps make a page appear more alive, although too much of it can cause headaches. There are
animated gifs such as the ones used in this site, i.e. rotating apple. Dynamic HTML (DHTML), also
creates special effects that makes pages more interactive and, yes, dynamic. A programming language
like JavaScript can create DHTML effects like pop-up windows, scrolling text, buttons or images that
change colors when your mouse moves over them, and in this particular page, the slideshow on the
upper left corner.

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Module I: Computer Basics

Pascal's Adding and Subtractory Machine

Leibniz’s Multiplication and Dividing Machine

Babbage’s Analytical Engine

Mechanical and Electrical Calculator

Modern Electronic Calculator

First Generation Computers

Other Important Computers of First Generation

Fig. 1.4: Univac Computer

1. The operating speed was quite slow.

Second Generation Computers

Fourth Generation Computers

Fifth Generation Computer

2. MiniComputer: T A minicomputer (colloquially, mini) is a class of multi-user computers that lies

Memory ranges from 128 Mb over 8 Gigabyte on line RAM

Its processing power ranges from 80 over 550 Mips

Historically, a mainframe is associated with centralized computing opposite from distributed

IBM 701 1953http://www.thocp.net/hardware/ibm_360_family.htm

IBM 360 1963

4. Supercomputer: Supercomputing means "mass computing at ultra high speed."

A Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a commonplace item in many businesses and

3. Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

 does all of the mathematics in a computer

Control Unit (CU)

The Control Unit

Personal Computer Configuration

Keys on the keyboard

Fig. optical mouse

Fig. cordless mouse

Other pointing devices

fig. flatbed scanner

barcode's content to the scanner's output port.

Fig. barcode reader

•Magnetic ink character recognition such as on bank checks.

Fig. MICR reader

•Optical mark recognition

•Optical character recognition

Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic

Computer Display (Monitors)

Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT)

Flat Panel Displays

Liquid-Crystal Displays (LCDs)

Electroluminescent (EL) Displays

Another classification can be made by the way they form characters.

Fig. Daisy wheel printer

Fig. inkjet printer

Fig: laser printer

How a laser printer works

Figure 12-5.—A print drum showing character lines. 12-7

Chain and Band Printers

Top view of a flat bed plotter

Fig. A speak and spell toy

7.1 Memory Hierarchy

Memory Hierarchy in computer system

7.2 Main Memory

7.2.1 RAM and ROM Chips

Example: 512 bytes RAM and 512 bytes ROM

Memory Connection to CPU

7.3.1 Magnetic Tapes

7.3.2 Magnetic Disks

Unit 3: Instruction Set Architecture

3.2 Computer Languages