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1.1

Introduction to Information Technology

Introduction to Information Technology (IT)

1.1.1 Usage and Importance of IT

There is a general belief that Information

Technology (IT) is about computers. However, this is not true. Information Technology (IT) is about computers, communication networks, and people sharing information and knowledge (IT) has utilizing such computers and communication networks. Information Technology enabled people in different parts of the world to exchange information freely and with ease. In effect, IT makes us realize how small the world, we live in, is as it removes physical constraints such as distance between people in exchanging information. With rapid developments in IT, global communication took a giant leap. Today, Information Technology (IT) is practically utilized in diverse fields such as education, science, engineering and technology, manufacturing, banking, airline industry, health and medicine, provision of public and other services, commerce, administration and management etc. We all have become users of many of these IT applications in our day-to -day lives, no matter how sophisticated or moderate our lifestyles are. Further, more and more IT applications are introduced to human activities and with this scenario it is surmised that, in future, knowledge in IT will be an essential requirement for a person to secure any form of employment or even participate as a member of the modern day society. Information Technology (IT) has opened up a whole new range of employment opportunities as programmers, systems analysts, systems designers, software engineers, software architects, systems engineers, database administrators, network engineers, network administrators, computer hardware professionals, Website developers, multimedia professionals, IT consultants and the like. In addition, IT has created vast job opportunities in other fields such as management, accountancy, commerce, banking, publishing and media, engineering, architecture, health and medicine.

There are also emerging areas of specialization such as electronic commerce, Web services, network and data security, intelligent systems, e-government services all spurred by IT. With the availability of a wide variety of employment opportunities in the field of IT and a whole host of opportunities in the field of IT applications in other disciplines, those who are knowledgeable and proficient in IT will naturally find satisfying jobs with high remuneration both here and abroad. This is good enough reason for any student to embark on studies in IT.

1.1.2 Some Common IT Applications

Information Technology (IT) has found its way into more and more aspects of our society. Be it a supermarket, a hospital, a teaching institution, a bank or even the household, there are sys tems or products that depend on IT or utilize IT. Let us take the example of a modern hospital. When you visit such a hospital, you will be able to see several applications of IT. If you want to get an appointment with a specialist doctor, the receptionist at the appointment desk will invariably input some data via the keyboard of a computer to the hospitals information system and within seconds, she will be able to inform you of the availability of that particular doctor on a given date, at a given time, at a specified location. She is using the management information system of the hospital to give you fast and accurate information. If you get a chance to visit an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital, you will find much more significant IT applications such as monitoring of blood circulating system, cardiographs monitoring heart beat, encephalographs monitoring brain functions. These systems handle critical information about the patients condition which helps the doctor to give the patient timely and better treatment. Next consider a school. Even at a school, student information such as name of the student, registration number, students address, students examination marks and performance, and information about the students extra -curricular activities can be kept in a student information system. Students, teachers, principal and parents will be able to access this information. Such information systems help in the better management of the school.

Have you done shopping in a supermarket or joined your mother for shopping? Do you remember any IT applications being used there? The checkout clerk will be using a Point of Sale System to generate your bill. He doesnt have to know the price of each and every item in the supermarket. Instead he simply sc ans the little bar-code label attached to each item in your shopping cart using a small device, ie. a hand -held bar-code scanner. He is using the information system of the supermarket to get the prices of goods you are buying. The system also calculates the total amount very quickly and communicates with the inventory control system where the stock information is kept, to update the inventory.

Take the case of a bank. If your father wants to withdraw some money from a bank on a day when the bank is clos ed, he may withdraw money from the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) at the bank or from an ATM elsewhere. People do not need to go and wait inside a bank to withdraw money but they can do it from an ATM. An Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) is one of the most popular examples where IT is applied practically in banks. Most banks in Sri Lanka have now broaden their networks covering a wide area facilitating people with easy access points to interact with banks through ATMs to handle their money.

Let us consid er a household. How many IT applications have you noticed at your home? Things like TV, telephone, refrigerator, washing machine, microwave oven and video recorder are among some of the equipment found in a house hold these days. Do you know that many of such devices are controlled by microprocessors containing electronic circuitry usually referred to as an electronic chips? That is where Information Technology is used in these household equipment. As a student, what can you do with a computer? Can a student use computers for education purposes? Imagine a situation where you could not understand a lesson that a teacher taught in the class. When you get back home you are helpless. If you have access to the computer, may be at home or at school, and if the le sson notes are available to you in a computer, you will be able to review your lessons by yourself.

Now you will understand that the world is getting used to more and more IT applications on a global scale. This is why we say that the world is globalis ed. This is not only because IT on its own proved a great success but also because IT grew to be an essential tool that facilitates and enhances activities in most other fields.

1.1.3 Why Study IT?

Every one has an ambition to become a successful person in society. You may be planning to become an accountant, a doctor, an engineer, a lecturer, an IT professional or a businessman. level will be No a matter what your plans are, studying IT upto an appropriate decisive advantage and will certainly help you to prosper in your career.

Let us take a case where a student chooses the medical profession. Being a doctor is to belong to a noble profession. It is a job that requires a great deal of knowledge about the human system. But at the same time, being competent in Information Technology will provide an additional competence to a doctor in the practice of his profession. For example, as a doctor, one might face a situation where one has to use a sophisticated medical equipment to obtain an electrocardiograph of a patient or you may use a modern Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner to scan the human body. If the doctor has some knowledge in Information Technology it will help him to handle these equipment confidently and effectively.

On the other hand one might prefer to become an academic, such as a lecturer or a researcher. Today academics get invaluable help from IT in the practice of their profession, be it for capturing, processing or analysis of information, presentation, transmission of information to distant audiences or conduct of IT based examinations and evaluation. Academics depend heavily on Internet, specialized application software a n d they develop their own software in the conduct of research and dissemination of knowledge. Thus it i seen that an academic cannot be divorced s from IT.

If one is planning to be an IT professional, naturally one has to acquire a high proficiency in IT, well beyond the IT knowledge required by other professionals. One popular area of IT industry is software. Software industry has become extremely popular in modern times and it has generated a large number of jobs in various categories both in the developed and the developing world. There are a variety of careers in software industry such as software engineers, software test engineers, systems analysts, software developers, software project managers, etc which are highly remunerative. To enter such fields of employment, one needs to be highly knowledgeable and proficient in IT. If a student wants to purs ue a career as a telecommunication engineer, it will not be possible for him to proceed without a strong component of IT in his studies. Today, telecommunications and IT go hand -in-hand and one discipline depends on the other for advancement. In developed countries, landlines, wireless and mobile phones are used extensively and even in Sri Lanka, over the last few years, telecom industry has shown tremendous progress and employment prospects in this industry have become pretty attractive. To secure employment in this sector, one has to be highly proficient in IT and Communication Technologies. For that matter, all engineering and science based professions require studies in IT as engineering or scientific analysis and design cannot be performed without resorting to IT. Further, accountancy, management, banking, insurance etc. rely heavily on IT especially when dealing with large client-base. The above examples clearly demonstrate the importance of IT in most areas of employment and students must prepare themselves for the challenges of these professions by acquiring the necessary IT knowledge school level. Studying IT is both challenging and interesting. The rest of this chapter provides the student, information on data, data processing, information, history of computers, microprocessor development, computer organization and architecture, storage devices, peripherals, software, data communication, computer networks, Internet and the World Wide Web. and proficiency beginning at

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.1 1. Search through several news papers, for recent articles that discuss the use of Information technology in society and collect some articles on different IT applications available presently and categorize them. Summarize some information about Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) in schools. Develop a list of occupations that can benefit from using Information Technology. Keep this list and refer back to it at the end of the course. Then revise the list in the light of what you have learned, coming up with examples of how to apply Information Technology.

2.

1.1.4 Data and Information

Let us assume that you have completed your Advanced Level examination and have now got to know your results. Not only your parents, even friends, teachers and relatives are very curious to know your results. When someone asks for your results , you may say that it is 2 As and a B. Your answer may not be enough to check whether you can enter a university. They might ask about your Z-score and the district rank etc. That shows that the first answer did not contain enough information to make a judgment. If your answer to the first question is only the marks that you obtained for the subjects if those are available, will they have any meaning? Probably not, and no judgment can be made using raw marks. These raw marks that are most probably not adequate to make a judgment are called Data. These raw marks should be converted into more usable and meaningful form. This task is done by the Department of Examinations. It collects marks for subjects that a student has scored at the examination and tra nsform them into different forms which become information for another person. Therefore, data should be processed or transformed into a different form to become information as in depicted Figure 1.1. This transformation or interpretation can be done throug h computers. Now we can formally define Data and Information.

Data
Figure 1.1

Processing /Conversion

Information

Processing and conversion of data in to information.

Data:
Data is a representation of a fact, number, word, image, or sound such as time, date, prices, name, numbers of items sold etc.

Information:
Information is processed data that is meaningful or useful to someone such as Zscore of Advanced level examination results, Salary slip of an employee, evaluation report of a student etc.

1.1.5 Computers for Data Processing

Now we understand the importance of transforming data into useful information. This process is called Data Processing. Input to a data processing system will be raw data and the output will be the required information or processed data. Who can do this transformation or processing? Can a human do this or do we need a machine? Look at our previous example of processing of AL examination results. The Department of Examinations may process the results of about 200,000 AL students a year. The processing of AL examination results can be extremely time consuming or even impossible without the aid of a computer. The computer helps us by processing the data given and providing results or reports that contain specific information for us to analyze or understand. This information can help you reach a decision. But the computer cannot take decisions to process data by itself as a human does when analyzing and processing data. A human should accurately give instructions or steps that are needed for a computer to work. Computer follows specific instructions step by step and needs accurate instructions and data to work with. Machines have to do things the hard way. Unlike humans, the computers do one thing at a time, one step at a time. All complex procedures must be broken down into very simple steps. If you use a computer to add two numbers, instructions should be given in steps as:

Input Input

Number 1 Number 2

addition = Number 1 + Number 2 Output addition

Then these steps can be repeated hundreds or thousands or millions of times without making errors. If the instructions are accurate ly given to the computer, accurate results can be obtained. But humans may make mistakes when they repeat the process several times.

1.1.6 Characteristics of Information

What we understood was that the information is processed data which can be used to make a decision. Now we will try to discover the qualities that make information so handy. The main qualities that information should have are given below: Timeliness: Completeness: Accuracy: Understandability: It should be available at the correct time. It should be sufficient for the purpose. It should be correct and reliable. It s hould be clear in meaning, practical and simple.

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.2 1. 2. Write some notes to explain how computers can be used for data processing. Identify some other places where computers are used for data processing. Prepare a list of them and describe few data processing activities. Observe student registration activities of a school. If the information of students are going to be kept in a Student Information System (SIS), identify the following components: Inputs to the system Processes of the system Outputs of the system

3.

1.2

Introduction to Computers

1.2.1 Computer Hardware

Recall a picture of a computer you have seen. What does it look like? Have you noticed it has more than one part? All these devices are called hardware of the computer. In other words those are the tangible things that make up a computer.

1. 2. 3.

Display Unit System Unit Keyboard Mouse

1 2

4.

As the above picture shows, a computer will typically consist of a set of devices. The most significant ones are Display, System Unit, Keyboard and Mouse. System Unit is the place where the brain of the computer exists. By itself computer has no intelligence and is referred to as hardware, which means simply the physical equipment. A computer will not be useful without making a computer system. A computer system is a combination of six elements: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Hardware basic electronic and electro -mechanical parts in a computer Software instruction to hardware Data and Info rmation data as input and information as processed data Procedures or instructions guidelines to use software and hardware People Those Operating the computer system

6. Communication connection between computers to share data and information

Now we will look at the main components of computer hardware. Generally computer hardware can be divided into five categories: (1) input devices, (2) processors, (3) storage devices, (4) output devices, and (5) communications.

1.2.1.1 Input devices

Input devices are used to input data that is to be processed and programs that includes processing instructions to the computer. Common input devices are the keyboard and the mouse. There are other input devices such as pointing devices, scanning devices, smart cards and optical cards, sensors, digital cameras etc.

Keyboard:
In a computer, a keyboard converts letters, numbers and other characters into electrical signals that are computer readable. The keyboard may look like a typewriter keyboard to which some special keys have been added such as Insert key, Enter key, Home key, Ctrl key, Alt key, etc.

Computer Keyboard

Pointing devices:
Pointing devices use one of the most natural gestures of humans i.e. the act of pointing. Mouse, trackballs, joysticks, touch screens are some of the most frequently used pointing devices.

Mouse
Right Button

Mouse is a pointing device. A ball underneath rolls as the mouse moves across the mouse pad. The cursor on the screen follows the movement of the mouse. Buttons on the mouse can be clicked or double -clicked to perform tasks, like to select an icon on the screen or to open the selected document. There are new mouse models

Left Button

that do not have a ball. They use a laser to sense the motion of the mouse instead.

Trackballs
Trackball is a movable ball, on top of a stationary device, that is rotated with the fingers or palm of the hand. Advantages of trackball are that, it does not need as much desk space as a mouse, and it is not as tiring since less motion is needed. On the other hand it requires fine control of the ball with just one finger or thumb.

Joysticks
A joystick is a pointing device that consists of a vertical handle like a gearshift lever mounted on a base with one or two buttons. Joysticks are commonly used in video games to c o ntrol the cursor motion. A joystick gives a more natural feeling of control for motion in games, especially those in which one is mimicking flying a plane or spaceship.

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Touch screens
Touch screen is a video display screen that receives input from the touch of a finger or stylus. Touch screens are often used in Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in banks.

Light Pen
The light pen is a light-sensitive stylus, or a pen like device connected to the computer. The user can bring the pen to the desired point on the screen. When pen touches the screen, it sends the information available at the location to the computer.

Scanners
Scanners computer generally and then convert text, drawings and these

photographs into digital form that c a n b e s t o r e d i n a manipulated. Sometimes scanners are called image scanners or graphics scanners. Image scanner There are special purpose scanners such as fingerprint scanners which are used to scan finger prints and bar code readers which read t h e which you see on some products. z e b r a -striped marks

Fingerprint scanner

Barcode reader

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1.2.1.2 Processors
You might now wonder how can a computer process data into information. This job will be done by means of electronic circuitry inside a computer known as the processor. The processor in a personal comp uter (PC) is generally considered as the PC's "brain". The processor does exactly what the name implies it does, it processes instructions. It processes instructions and also manipulates data. This will be explained in detail later.

1.2.1.3 Storage or memory devices

The computer operates based on a set of instructions given by the user. If it is a data processing a pplication, data will be fed to the computer with a set of necessary instructions which is called a computer program. These data and programs, when they are fed, should be stored inside the computer during the processing. But the computer will generally store these information, data and programs temporarily. When the computer is switched off, information stored will disappear. This storage is refered to as the Primary storage where both data and programs are temporarily stored. Before you switch off your computer data and instructions should be permanently stored for later or future use. The devices used to store data in a relatively permanent form are called Secondary storage. Thus, there are two types of storage devices namely: Primary storage devices and Secondary storage devices

Primary storage or memory devices

Primary memory is directly accessible by the processing unit of the computer. You can store and retrieve data much faster with primary memory compared to secondary memory. Details of primary memory and primary memory types can be found in the section 1.2.4.

Secondary Storage
Secondary storage or memory is designed to store very large amounts of data for extended periods of time. Secondary storage can have large memory capacity of gigabytes or more, whereas only small portions of that data are placed in primary storage at any one time. Secondary storage has the following characteristics:

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It is nonvolatile (i.e. data is not lost when electrical power is switched off). It takes much more time to retrieve data from secondary storage than it does from main memory.

Secondary storage devices appear on a variety of media, each with its own technology, as discussed below.

Magnetic tapes
Magnetic tape is thin plastic tape on which data can be represented with magnetized spots. The magnetic tape used for computers, is made from the same material used for audiotape and videotape. Magnetic t ape is kept on a large open reel or in a small cartridge or cassette. Although this is an old technology, it remains popular because it is the cheapest storage medium and can handle enormous amount of data. The downside is that it is the slowest for retrieval of data, because all the data are placed on the tape sequentially. Sequential access means that the system might have to run through a major part of the tape, before it comes to the desired piece of data.

Magnetic disks
Magnetic disks come in a varie ty of styles and are extremely popular because they allow much more rapid access to data as compared with magnetic tape. The magnetic disk is like a phonograph record in that it has tracks, and like a pizza in that it is divided into wedges that are called sectors. Every piece of data has an address attached to it corresponding to a particular track and sector. Any piece of desired data can be retrieved in a non-sequential manner, by direct access . A read -write head uses the data address to quickly locate and read the data. Unlike magnetic tape the system does not have to read through all the data to find what it wants.

Hard drives
Hard drives use stacks of rigid magnetic disks. These disks are permanently The data The mounted as a unit that may be internal or external to the computer. transferring to and from the computer is handled by the read/write heads. read/write heads are attached to arms that hover over the disks moving in and out. They read the data when positioned over the correct track and when the correct Hard Disks

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sector spins by. Because the head floats just above the surface of the disk (at 25 millionths of a meter), any bit of dust or contamination can disrupt the device. For that reason, hard drives are hermetically sealed when manufactured. A modern personal computer may have several gigabytes of storage capacity in its internal hard drive. Data access is very fast, measured in milliseconds. For these reasons, hard disk drives are extremely popular and common.

Magnetic diskettes or Floppy Disks

Magnetic diskettes are commonly called floppy disks and function similarly to hard drives, but with some key differences. A floppy disk is a removable round, flat piece of plastic that stores data and programs as magnetized spots. This is enclosed in a rectangular plastic case. The basic sizes of the diskettes are 3 inch which is now more popular and 5 inch. A floppy drive copies or reads data from disk and writes or records data to the disk. Diskettes are often called floppy because the disk with the case is flexible. They are much slower than Floppy disks hard drives. They have much less capacity, ranging from 1.44 megabytes for a standard high density disk to 200 megabytes for a disk formatted for a zip drive (on which the data are compressed). Further, although they are individually inexpensive floppy disks are less c o s t-efficient than hard drive storage. However, the big advantage of floppy disks is that they are portable.

Optical Disks
An Optical Disk is a re movable disk on which data is written and read through the use of a laser beam. Few types of optical technologies are used in computers. They are: Compact Disk Read -Only Memory (CD-ROM) Write Once Read Many Disk (WORM) Rewritab le Compact Disk CD ROMs

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Compact Disk- Read Only Memory (CD-ROM)

Compact Disk Read -Only Memory (CD-ROM) storage devices feature high capacity, low cost, and high durability. However, because it is a read -only medium, the CD-ROM can only be read and not written on.

Write Once Read Many Disk (WORM)

Write Once Read Many Disk can be written or recorded onto once and then cannot be erased. But it can be read many times.

Rewritable Compact Disk

Rewritab le Compact Disks allow user to rewrite onto the CD.

Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)

DVD was originally called Digital Video Disc but is now known as Digital Versatile Disc. While most attention has been placed on DVD-video, the most important aspect of it for sometime to come is said to be computer-based DVD drives as programs start to outstrip the capacity of CDROMs. About 5 minutes of digital video requires about 1 gigabyte of storage and so roughly only about 3 minutes worth will fit on a C D -ROM. While a DVD disc is the same size as a CD -ROM, and both store data in the same way, a single layer of a DVD can hold about seven times as much data as a CD-ROM and there can be two layers per side and the disc can be double sided.

1.2.1.4 Output Devices

These devices allow the computer to output information for the benefit of the users. Output can be printed on paper or other permanent media. This is called a hard copy. Also it can be displayed on a screen or output by other non-permanent means. This is called a softcopy such as on a floppy disk.

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Monitor /Visual Display Unit

The device that displays computer output to us has various names such as monitor, screen, Visual Display Unit (VDU) etc. There are a variety of them. First we can group them according to the range of colors they can display. There are two types: Monochrome display screens Color display screens

Monochrome display screens can display only one color text on single color background, i.e. white letters on blue, or green characters on black. In color screens various colors can be displayed. Another way of grouping them is based on their internal structure. The most common type of monitor uses a cathode ray tube (CRT). Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens are used in laptops. This is a good solution especially if you do not have desk space for a large CRT monitor or you need a portable computer. Plasma screens are used for very large screens and in some modern laptops. They are flat screens with good color, but are quite expensive.

Printers
The job of a printer is to put on paper what you see on your monitor. How easy and how successfully it is done depends on the choice of your printer. Selection of a printer is based on many parameters such as cost, speed, type of paper used, quality or resolution, size, type of cable connection etc. There are different types of printers. The less expensive but a noisy version is a Dot matrix printer whereas expensive ones are inkjet and laser printers. These are capable of producing high quality printouts and their biggest advantage is that they are noiseless.

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Plotters
A plotter is a specialized output device designed to

produce high-quality graphics in a variety of colors. Plotters are especially useful for creating maps and architectural drawings, although they may also produce less complicated charts and graphics.

Speakers
Speakers output sound such as alerts, music, voice etc. Voice output is now possible via sophisticated synthesizer software that can be installed in most personal computers. A voice output system constructs the sonic equivalent of textual words, which can be played through speakers.

1.2.1.5 Communication hardware

Communication hardware facilitates the connection between individual computers and groups of computers. Details of Communication hardware can be found in section 1.4.

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.3 1. Go to your computer resource center and note each different type of computer in use and find out what type of applications are run on each type. Identify the hardware components of a computer system in the school computer lab. Go to different computer vendors and find out the configurations of few personnel computers. Check and compare the following: Name and type of microprocessor, clock speed, size and type of memory, size and type of secondary storage, input and output devices, warranties and any other additional features.

2. 3.

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1.2.2

History of Computers

What do you know about the history of computers ? The history of computers is unique because of the fact that it is really very recent and full of controversy. Because it is very recent, we have the ability to learn what happened firsthand from the pioneers. Human attempts to create tools to manipulate numbers date back at least as far as 3000 B.C. All the earlier efforts to juggle numbers had two things in common. They were mechanical and made up of parts big enough to be assembled by hand. To explore the history of computers we will look at the following topics: Early Computational Devices Early Computers Generations of Computers

1.2.2.1 Early Computational Devices

The earliest computational devices were used to do things like keeping track of days, count animals, etc. To do that humans used the first thing that you probably used to count anything; your fingers. When there were too many things to keep track of, using fingers and toes, they used sticks, knots in ropes, etc. Somewhere around 3000 BC the first (probably) mechanical counting device was created and was called the abacus. The abacus is still used today, by some Chinese traders with fair speed and accuracy. In 1642 another mechanical device called the Pascaline was created. (after Blaise Pascal, a famous French mathematician). The Pascaline used gears and wheels ("counting -wheels") to perform the calculations. The interesting thing to note is that the counting -wheel design was used in calculators the 1960s. until

Pascaline

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Abacus The next major breakthrough in computer history revolves round Charles Babbage and his Difference Engine and Analytical Engine. The machines that Charles Babbage designed in the early 1800s were not electronic computers as we know them now but they were general purpose computational devices that were designed to be driven by steam engines. Charles Babbage is credited with being the "Father of Computing" due to the fact that his designs were way ahead of his time. He thus laid the foundation for the modern computer.

The Difference Engine.

Charles Babbage

The Analytical Engine.

1.2.2.2 Early Computers

The next major advances and the real beginning of the computer age took place in the mid 1940s. Prior to that the definition of computer was, "a person who performs computations". Part of the war effort revolved around human computers performing calculations for bomb trajectories.

ENIAC These calculations required extreme precision and took quite a bit of time. One of the reasons for the development of the first computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), was to automate the calculations of bomb

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trajectories. The inventors of the ENIAC went on to create the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC), the first commercial computer. These first computers were extremely large, slow, and inefficient. Many advances have taken place between the creation of the ENIAC and now. Among the most interesting and pertinent to us in the history the is the development took place of in the the microcomputer. The major development of microcomputer 1970s. During this period we have witnessed the emergence multi-national of highly profitable including UNIVAC corporations

Microsoft, Apple, Dell, Compaq, etc. and the growth and prosperity of pioneering companies like IBM.

1.2.2.3 The First Generation (1951-1958)

The first generation of computers took place during the mid 1940s to the late 1950s. The computers that were developed during this time used vacuum tubes and wires for their circuitry. If you've vacuum ever tube had or been around radio, a or television,

amplifier you know that, when they are left on for a length of time, they get very hot and like light bulbs, they burn out. In addition to vacuum generation Vacuum Tubes tubes, the firstus ed magnetic computers

drums for main memory.

The use of magnetic drums and vacuum tubes made these computers extremely large and bulky. The first generation of computers also were very expensive to operate, generated a lot of heat, used a lot of electricity, and failed often. The programming of these computers required that wires were disconnected from one place and connected to another or that one circuit was turned on and another turned off. All

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programming during this generation was done in Machine Language - the language of the machine.

1.2.2.4 The Second Generation (1959-1963)

The second generation of computers took place during the late 1950s to mid 1960s. During this period, there was a shift of emphasis from vacuum tubes to transistors and the use of trans istors allowed radios, TVs, amplifiers, and computers to become much smaller, faster and less energy consuming.

Programming

languages

evolved

from

the

machine

language using the binary 1 and 0 to something closer to the language of humans. These languages known as assemblers and early high level languages were easier to use by people but required more work by the computer. They were still a far cry from English, the language we use for communication. Companies that were purchasing computers during this time were using them mostly for accounting purposes and interacted with the computer via Transistors punched cards for input and printed paper for output. The storage capacity was greatly increased with the

introduction of magnetic disk storage and the use of magnetic cores for main storage. High speed card readers, printers, and magnetic tape units were also introduced. Internal processing speeds increased and were measured in millionths of a second (microseconds).

1.2.2.5 The Third Generation (1964-1979)

The third generation of computers began during the mid 1960s and lasted until the mid 1970s. Computers became much smaller, much faster, and much more affordable due to the advent of the integrated circuit. The use of silicon chips or integrated circuits (IC) brought about the design and development of the minicomputer (multi-user desk sized computers). It was during this time period that humans began to interact with computers directly through the use of

First Integrated Circuit (IC) 21

terminals with keyboards and monitors.

The smaller circuits allowed for faster internal processing speeds resulting in faster execution of instructions. Internal processing speeds were measured in billionths of a second (nanoseconds). The faster computers made it possible to run jobs that were considered impractic al or impossible on first or second generation equipment. Because the miniature components were more reliable, maintenance A third Generation Computer was reduced. New mass storage was introduced during this generation, giving a storage capacity of over 100 million characters. Drum and disk capacities and speed have been increased, the portable disk pack has been developed, and faster, higher density magnetic tapes have come into use. Considerable improvements were made to card readers and printers, while the overall cost has been greatly reduced. Manufacturers of third generation computers produced a series of similar and compatible computers. This allowed programs written for one computer model to run on most larger models of the same series. Most third generation systems were designed to handle both scientific and business data processing applications. Improved program and operating software have been designed to provide better control, resulting in faster processing. These enhancements were of significant importance to computer us ers.

1.2.2.6 The Fourth Generation (1979- Present)

The computers of the fourth generation were not easily distinguished from earlier generations, yet there were some striking and important differences. The manufacturing of integrated circuits has advanced to the point where thousands of circuits can be placed on a silicon wafer only a fraction of an inch in size. This has led to what is called large scale A modern microchip integration (LSI) and very large scale integration (VLSI). As a result of this technology, computers were significantly smaller in physical size and lower in cost. Yet they have retained large memory capacities and are ultra fast. Large mainframe computers are increasingly

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complex. Medium sized computers can perform the same tasks as large third generation computers. An entirely new breed of computers called microcomputers and minicomputers have become smaller and less expensive, and yet they provide a large amount of computing power.

1.2.2.7 The Fifth Generation (Future)

This generation of computers represents a unification research: Artificial lntelligence knowledge-based expert systems very high-level programming languages decentralized computing very large-scale integration technology (VLSI). A fifth Generation Computer Computers of this generation make use of parallel processing and they are capable of performing multiple, simultaneous instructions using more than one microprocessing chip. of four separate areas of

The following Table summarizes the Evolution of computers. Evolution 3000 B.C. The zeroth generation Focus Achievements Abacus Arithmetic Machine 'Difference engine' Analytical Engine Mechanized system of punched cards with holes Vacuum tubes - COLOSSUS Digital computer- ENIAC Von Neumann machine EDSAC (first stored program computer) Important People Chinese Blaise Pascal Charles Babbage Charles Babbage Herman Hollerith Jon Ambrose Fleming Eckert, Mauchley, John Atanasoff John von Neumann

Mechanical computers.

The First Generation

Electronic computers using vacuum tubes

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The Second Generation

Electronic computers using transistors

Invention of the transistor

Beginning of the minicomputer

John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley Kenneth Olsen

Evolution The Third Generation

Focus Electronic computers using Integrated Circuits

Achievements Silicon integrated circuits Small-scale integrated (SSI) circuits Medium-scale (MSI) integrated circuits IBM system/360 Very large scale integration (VLSI) DEC Alpha True 64 bit processor Use of parallel processing, performing multiple, simultaneous instructions using more than one microprocessing chip.

Important People Robert Noyce

The Fourth Generation

Computers using VLSI devices Intelligent Computers

The Fifth Generation

1.2.3 Microprocessor Development

Since the days of the first vacuum tube computer, designers have sought better, faster, and cheaper computer performance. Improvements in these areas directly mirror the evolution of electronic device technology from vacuum tubes to transistors, integrated circuits, Large Scale Integration (LSI), and Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). Important milestones along the way include the introduction of integrated circuits (IC) in 1964, and the introduction of the microprocessor - often called the microprocessing unit or, more commonly, central processing unit (CPU) in 1971.

1.2.3.1 What is a Chip or Integrated Circuit (IC)?

The integrated circuit or chip is a small, thin piece of silicon onto which the transistors , resistors, capacitors and diodes, are etched according to a given circuit design. A chip might be as large as an inch on a side and can contain tens of millions of transistors. Simpler processors might consist of a few thousand transistors

24

etched onto a chip just a few millimeters square. The transistors act like switches and can turn electricity ON and OFF or these can amplify current. Therefore, it is used in computers to store information and is used in computer memory.

Microprocessors
A microprocessor is a single chip that contains the entire Central Processing Unit of a computer. It does the bulk of the processing and controls the rest of the system. Microprocessors are not only used by computers. They are used in many devices such as TVs, telephones, motor cars, or traffic lights, etc. For example, a microprocessor lets your phone redial or determine the timing in a traffic light system.

1.2.3.2 The Central Processing Unit CPU

The Centra l Processing Unit (CPU) performs the actual computations inside a computer. The CPU is a made up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a silicon wafer or chip. Hence microprocessors are commonly referred to as chips. Some microprocessors are listed in the table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Examples of Microprocessors

Name 8086 80486 Pentium Pentium MMX Pentium ii Pentium iii Pentium iv Pentium iv

Manufacturer/Year Intel / 1978 Intel / 1989 -1994 Intel / 1993 Intel / 1997 Intel / 1997 Intel /1999 Intel / 2000 to date Intel / 2001 to date

Clock Speed MHz 10 20-100 75-200 166-233 133-450 450-500 500-750 1000-2500 (1- 2.5 GHz)

Applications IBM PCs and clones IBM PCs and clones IBM PCs and clones Multimedia PCs and Workstations High-end PCs and Workstations Multimedia PCs and Workstations Multimedia PCs and Workstations Multimedia PCs and Workstations

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) performs the actual processing of data. It follows the instructio ns of the program to manipulate data into info rmation. The CPU cons ists of three main parts: 1. Contro l Unit

25

2. 3.

Arithmetic/logic unit (ALU). Registers

Control Unit and ALU are connected by a kind of electronic roadway called a bus as in Figure 1.2.

CPU
Arithmetic/Logic Unit

Control Unit
B U S

Bus
Registers

Memory
Figure 1.2 Central Processing Unit

Control Unit:
The control unit controls the flow of information and instructs the computer how to carry o ut program instructions. It directs the movement of data and instructions between the main memory and the ALU. It also carrie s out the controlling of input and output devices and passing of data to the ALU for computation.

Arithmetic/Logic Unit:
Arithmetic/Logic Unit performs arithmetic operations and logical operations and controls the speed of those devices. As you know, arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are fundamental to all mathematical operations. Logical operations are comparisons. That is, the ALU compares two pieces of data to see whether one is equal to (=), greater than (>), or less than (<) the other.

Registers:
Registers store very small amounts of data and instructions for short periods of time. They hold various types of information such as data, instructions, memory addresses and the intermediate results of calcula tions. Essentially, they hold the data and instructions that the CPU is currently working with and they can be thought of as being the CPU's workspace. As soon as a particular instruction or piece of data is finished with, the next ones immediately replace it and information that results from

26

the processing is returned to main memory. Data and instructions do not go into either the Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) or the Control Unit (CU). The ALU works on the data held in the registers acting on the instructions that are also held there.

27

1.2.3.3 Computer Memory

Unlike humans who use the decimal system which has 10 digits, computers use two state system which is called the binary system which has only two digits 0 and 1. Binary concept was originated from s witching O N and OFF electricity. In the computer, 0 represents the electrical current OFF and 1 by the current being ON. All data and programs that go into the computer will be represented in terms of these numbers.

Memory Capacity
It is important to know how many 0s and 1s can be stored in a computer? We need to know the memory capacity. In a binary system, each 0 or 1 is called a bit, which is short for b inary digit. To represent numbers, letters or special characters such as ! or %, bits are combined into groups. A group of 8 bits is called a byte, and a byte can represent one character, digit or other value. For an example, 0100 0001 represents the letter A. The capacity of computer memory or a diskette is expressed in numbers of bytes. Generally, it is given in kilobytes or megabytes.

Kilobyte

Kilo means one thousand, so a kilobyte (KB) is approximately one thousand bytes. Actually, a kilobyte is 1,024 (2
10

) bytes.

Megabyte Gigabyte

Mega means one million, so a megabyte (MB) is approximately million bytes. Actually a megabyte is 1,048,576 (2 (2
30 20

) bytes.

Giga means one billion, a gigabyte (GB) is actually 1,073,741,824 ) bytes. means one
40

Terabyte

Tera

trillion, a terabyte

(TB)

is

actually

1,099,

511,627,776 (2

) bytes.

To get a feel for these amounts, consider the following examples. If your computer has 32 MB of RAM (a type of primary storage explained later), it can store 33,554,432 bytes of data. A written word might, on average, contain 6 bytes, so this translates to approximately 5.6 million words

1.2.3.4 Evolution of Microprocessors

Now you know what microprocessors are and the functions of ALU. Here we will look at how these microprocessors evolved. When we look at the technological advances of microprocessors, it is observed that complexity of these microprocessors have increased significantly over the last twenty five years.

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First Microprocessor Intel 4004

Intel 4004 which was introduced in 1971, was the first single chip microprocessor as well as the first commercial microprocessor. The 4004 was not very powerful. It was a 4 bit chip which used only 4 bits to carry out internal processing in the CPU. Intel 4004 was originally designed to use in electronic calculators. Intel 4004 chip

Intel 8080
Intel 8080 was designed a manufactured by Intel and was nd generally considered as the first truly usable microprocessor deign. This chip was introduced in 1974. Intel 8080 was used in many early computers This was a 8 bit chip which was running at 2 MHz. At Intel, the 8080 was followed by more advance Intel 8085, Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. Intel 8086 was a 16 bit microprocessor designed and manufactured in 1978. This led to design the x86 architecture.

Intel x86 family

x86 or Intel 80x86 was the generic name of a and

microprocessor

architecture

first

developed

manufactured by Intel. The architecture was called x86 because Intel used to give the earliest processors in this family numeric brand names ending in the sequence 86, the 8086, the 80186, the 80286 the 80386 and the 80486.

Intel 80386 was used in many personnel computers from 1986 until 1991. When Intel 80486 was introduced in 1989 by Intel with its faster processing abilities it became more popular in personnel computers.

Intel Pentium microprocessors

After manufacturing Intel 486, Intel and other competitors stopped using numeric brand names for microprocessors. They started to use word brand names such as Pentium. Pentium processor was first introduced in 1993. Pentium chips offered just under twice the performance of Intel 80486 chip. Intel microprocessors moved from the 8088 to the 80286 to the 80386 to the 80486 to the Pentium to the Pentium II to

29

the Pentium III to the Pentium 4. Pentium 4 was first released in November 2000. Pentium 4 processor can execute any piece of code that ran on the original 8088, but it does it about 5,000 times faster! With Intel Pentium 4 processor Intels announcement of releasing a new

microprocessor called Pentium M which was for mobile technology, a new trend of microprocessor industry

was noticed. This technology has been used in todays notebook computers. You are bound to come across more and more advances in the microprocessor industry in the future.
CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.5 1. 2. Explain the function of the Central Processing Unit. Prepare a table of types of microprocessors presently available including their specifications.

1.2.4

Computer Organization and Architecture

1.2.4.1 Basic Operations of a Computer

In this section we will discuss about an overview of the basic design of a computer. We will first check how different parts of a computer are organized and how various operations are performed between different parts to do a specific task. Basic organization of computer is the same for all computer systems as shown in Figure 1.3. A computer as shown in Figure 1.3 performs basically five major operations.

1. The input Function 2. The storage function 3. The processing function 4. The output function 5. The control function

: accepts data or instructions by way of input : stores data and instructions : processes data as required by the user : gives results in the form of output : controls all operations inside the computer

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Data & Instructions INPUT UNIT STORAGE UNIT OUTPUT UNIT

Results

CONTROL UNIT

Data flow Control signal flow

ARITHMATIC/ LOGIC UNIT CPU Figure 1.3 Basic Organization of a computer

Each of the above operations can be described as follows:

1.

The Input Function:

This is the process of entering data a n d instructions into the computer system. Computer takes raw data as an input and performs some processing giving out processed data based on the instruction given to the computer.

2.

The Storage Function:

The process of saving data and instructions permanently is known as storage. 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 function. It provides space for storing data and instructions. The storage unit performs the following major functions: It stores all data and instructions before and after processing. It stores intermediate results of processing.

3.

The Processing Function:

The task of performing operations like arithmetic and logical operations is called processing. The Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) takes data and instructions from the storage unit and makes all calculations based on the instructions given and the type of data provided. It is then sent back to the storage unit.

31

4.

The Output Function:

This is the process of producing results from the data for getting useful information. Similarly the output produced by the computer after processing must also be kept inside the computer before being given out in human readable form. Again the output is also stored inside the computer for further processing.

5.

The Control Function:

Controlling of all operations like input, processing, storage and output are performed by the control unit. It takes care of step by step processing of all operations inside the computer. It controls how instructions are executed and the above operations are performed.

The above functions are based on the major operations of the computer, but not directly equitable to given hardware. As you observe, a given function may share a number of different physical hardware. For example, the Input or Output function is only partially contained within the CPU. Other portions of these functions are located in other pieces of hardware.

The flow of information within the computer can be described as follows All information that the computer possesses must be entered via the Input function (except in special cases where some of the computers information may be permanently contained within the machine) Depending on the type of information, it may be used either to instruct the computer what to do (instructions) or it may be used as data in arithmetic or logical operations (data). As an instruction, the information tells the computer where the next information is stored or what to do with the next packet of information obtained. As data, it will be routed to the Arithmetic/Logic function for processing and back to await its next use. All instructions and data are placed in the memory (storage) Instructions and data are processed sequentially as required by the stored program and the intermediate/final results are returned to storage. The output function displays the results of the internal processing of information when called upon by the control function.

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This concept derived from the above flow is called the stored program concept. Basic feature of the stored program concept is that the instructions and data must be stored in the memory (storage) and instructions are stored sequentially in a separate area called program area. Since the instructions are executed sequentially and data items are picked up from the specified storage location, these computers are called sequential computers.

1.2.4.2 Von Neumann Architecture

John Von Neumann in 1946 presented the requirements for a general purpose computer and the structure of a computer that are still valid today. He described a general purpose computer as a machine containing five main units as Arithmetic and logic unit, control unit, memory, input and output devices. He laid out some of the fundamental concepts inherent in the design of computer systems as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The use of the binary number system A single sequentially addressed memory A separate arithmetic/logic unit for performing arithmetic and logical computations The stored program concept in which both the programs and its data are stored in memory. A controller that fetches instructions from memory and executes them. The overall functional organization of computers and how the major pieces fit together. There have been a number of alternative architectures proposed since 1946, and a few such computers have been built, but the overwhelming majority of modern computers are based on the classic Von Neumann Architecture
CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.6 1. 2. Describe the organization of the main components of a computer and their functions. Compare Von Neumann Architecture with some other architectures which may be found elsewhere.

1.2.5
1.2.5.1

Memory System in a Computer

Primary Storage or Main Memory

As we know, computer memory is used to store data and instructions internally in the computer. These data and information will be stored in primary storage which is also called the main memory of the computer and it stores three type of information for very brief periods of time:

33

Data to be processed by the CPU Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data Operating System programs that include instructions for computer how to function (details can be found in Section 1.3)

As the program, which is a set of instructions written in an orderly manner, is kept in the main memory, the computer is able to follow these instructions fast. For example, when you reserve an appointment for a doctor, the computer will have to follow several steps to give you an appointment: take the request, check the availability of the doctor, calculate the channeling fee, wait for money to be paid, store reservation information and give a reservation number. The program which contains those instructions is kept in the main memory of the computer and is followed for each request.

But inside the computer, the steps followed are quite different from what we can see on the display unit. As you understand, both data and instructions are stored in computer memory in the binary form. The computer takes data and instructions in decimal and/or character form, converts them into binary form, processes them producing an output in binary form and again converts the binary output to decimal and/or character form for the user. There are four main types of primary storage: Registers Random Access Memory (RAM) Read -Only Memory (ROM). Cache Memory

Registers:
Since the processing of data within the CPU takes place at high speed, it is necessary to transfer the processed data too at high speed. So computer uses a number of special memory units called registers which are located inside the CPU. Registers store data and instructions temporarily and pass it on as directed by the control unit of the CPU. Registers have the least capacity, storing very limited number of data and instructions only immediately before and after processing.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Primary storage provides both temporary storage for data during the processing stage, called Random Access Memory (RAM) and permanent storage, called Read Only Memory (ROM). RAM is made of several small storage locations which are Integrated Circuits and these small storage locations are called cells. Each cell has a unique number assigned to it and this unique number is called the address of the cell

34

and is used to identify the cell. This memory is like a large cabinet containing as many drawers as there are addresses in memory. Each drawer contains a word and the address is written on the outside of the drawer as in Figure 1.4.

Address 2002 2003 2004 2005

Cell Content

00100110 10100110 00111110 10101010

Figure 1.4 Depiction of a Random Access Memory This memory is referred to as the Random Access Memory because the memory locations of the Random Access Memory can be directly accessed to store and retrieve data. Whenever the computer wants to work with data or instructions, they are first loaded in to RAM where they are held temporarily until the computer needs them. Therefore, the storage of data and instructions inside RAM is Random Access Memory temporary and data and information which have been stored will disappear from RAM as soon as the computer is switched off. RAM is therefore a volatile memory and it loses its content when the power is switched off.

Read Only Memory (ROM)

Read Only Memory stores data and instructions permanently and unlike RAM, ROM can only be read by the CPU and cannot be written on. ROM generally stores standard processing programs which give instructions how to start the computer and the basic input/output programs that examine and initialize various equipment attached to the computer when the computer is switched on. These programs will be supplied by the manufacturers and will be permanently kept inside the ROM. Data and instructions stored in the ROM will not be lost on failure of power supply and therefore, memory. ROM is known as non-volatile

35

Cache memory
The speed of the CPU is high compared to the access time of Random Access Memory (RAM). Therefore the performance of the CPU decreases due to the slow speed of RAM. To decrease the mismatch in operating speed, a small memory chip is attached between CPU and RAM whose access time is close to the processing speed of CPU. This memory is called Cache Memory. The CPU will first retrieve data from the Cache Memory. If the data is not available in the Cache Memory, then the data is first loaded from RAM into the Cache Memory, and then taken by the CPU from the Cache Memory as shown in Figure 1.5. Usually, the Cache Memory is accessed much faster than conventional RAM. It is used to store programs or data currently being executed or temporary data frequently used by the CPU. So the Cache Memory makes the RAM to be faster and it also supplements the RAM. Since it is expensive to have a bigger size of Cache Memory its size is normally kept small.

CPU

Cache Memory
Figure 1.5

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Arrangement of Cache Memory

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.7 1. 2. Discuss the difference between different primary storage devices. Explain what cache memory is and explain how it is different from main memory.

1.3

Software

What is software?
It is important to note that a computer cannot do anything on its own. It must be instructed to do a desired job. Hence it is necessary to specify a sequence of instructions that a computer must perform to solve a problem. Such a sequence of instructions written in a language that can be understood by a computer is called a computer program. It is the program that controls the activity of processing by the computer and the computer performs precisely what the program wants it to do. The term Software refers to the set of computer programs, procedures, and associated documents. To be precise, software means a collection of programs whose objective is to enhance the capabilities of the hardware.

36

1.3.1 Types of Software

Computer software is normally classified in to two broad categories: Application Software System software

Application software is usually custom written or packaged and it enables the user to perform their work (example Microsoft Word). System software enables the computer to run application software (example Microsoft Windows).

1.3.2 Application Software

An Application Software also referred to as an application package, is a set of programs designed to carry out operations for a specified purpose. For example, a payroll package produces pay slips as the major output and an application package for processing examination results produces mark sheets as the major output along with some other statistical reports. Similarly, a program written by a scientist to solve his particular research problem is also application software. The programs that constitute an application package are known as application programs and the person who prepares application programs is known as an application programmer.

1.3.3 System Software (Operating System)

When you switch on the computer, the programs stored in the Read -Only Memory (ROM) is executed which activates different units of the computer. This makes the computer ready for you to work on it. These programs are called system software. Therefore, system software may be defined as a set of programs designed to control the operation of a computer system. Therefore, system software is also called as Operating System. System Software generally performs tasks such as controlling all operations required to move data in and out of the computer. It communicates with printers, card readers disk etc., and monitors the use of hardware such as memory, CPU etc. A computer cannot work without an operating system. System Software allows application software to be run on the computer with less time and effort. Application software cannot be run without having system software.

37

User

Application Software System Software

Hardware

Figure 1.5 Relationship among hardware, software and the user of a computer system

Some common operating systems are DOS, various versions of Windows, OS/2, UNIX, and Linux. All these behave in very different ways and have different hardware requirements and they will not run on all machines.

The creation of systems software is a complex task. Systems programmers, who prepare systems software, are highly trained computer specialists and important members of the computer architectural team. Because of its technical complexity, systems software is rarely developed in -house. They are normally developed and distributed by computer manufacturers.

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.8 1. 2. List the differences between application software and system software. Explain why a computer is not useful without the system software.

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1.4

Communication and Computer Networks

1.4.1 Introduction to Communication

The Romans used the Latin word communication when they meant to make common, to share, or to impart. Communication is the sharing of information or messages between two or more entities.

Why do we communicate?

I want to
v Discuss some subject matter v Inform my abilities to another person v Get an appointment v Have a chat with my friend v Transfer a file v Send e -mails v SMS!

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1.4.2 Components of a Data Communication System

We all are familiar with some sorts of communication in our day to day life. For communication of information and messages we sometimes use telephone and postal communication systems. Similarly data and information from one computer system can be transmitted to other systems across geographical areas. Therefore, data transmission is the movement of data or information using some standard communication methods s u c h a s electrical s ignals carried along a conductor or microwave link or optical signals along an optical fiber etc. Suppose your teacher wants to send some tutorials to his students, and he wants to use his computer to send these tutorials, how can he send those? First, he has to use his PC and Word Processing package to prepare the tutorial. If the teachers PC is connected to the computers of students through networking, he can send the tutorial to all students 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 student also can send some acknowledgments of the receipt of the tutorial sent by teachers using the same network. Message

Message

Medium

Teacher = sender

You =receiver

Communication is a process of transferring messages or information from one point to another. We can identify three basic elements of any communication process. Those are: The Sender The Medium The Receiver

For example, when you speak to your friend over the telephone, you are the sender. The telephone line through which your voice is transmitted is the medium and your friend is the receiver. The same concept pertains to data communication too.

40

Data communication is the function of transporting data from one location to another. In this case the sender and the receiver a r e normally machines, in particular, computer devices (computers, system terminals, peripheral and devices software like that printers). transmits A communication consists of hardware

information from one location to another. These systems can transmit text, data, graphics, voice, documents, or full-motion video information.

Communication Model
To transmit information between two locations, it is necessary to have a transmitter, receiver and a transmission medium, which provides the connection as in Figure 1.6 .

Transmitting/ Receiving devices

Transmit

Transmitting/ Receiving devices

Modem medium Figure 1.6

Modem

Two-way transmission model

To transmit and receive information, a communication system must perform a number of separate functions. The system must do all of the following: transmit information, establish the interface between the sender and the receiver, route messages along the best path, ensure that the right message gets to the right receiver, check the message for errors and rearrange the format if necessary, convert messages from one speed to anther, ensure that the sending devices, receiving devices and communication links are operational and secure the information at all times.

Communication Protocols
You may be wondering how the computers send and receive data across communication links. There must be some set of rules to instruct computer systems and devices as to how exactly data is to be transferred from one place to another. For example, there are some rules and procedures to use a telephone network which leads to a sequence of activities such as pick up the phone, listen for a dial tone, dial a number having a specific number of digits, wait for the phone to ring, and say hello. Similarly in data communication, some software defines the procedures and standards for the communication. The procedure of data transformation is commonly called protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that governs how information is delivered.

41

Modem
If you want to send a picture of your family to one of your friends via a telephone line which transmits only analogue signals, you may have to convert the digital image to analogue signals and then transmit. Your friend will have to convert the analogue signals back to the digital image. Analog signals vary continuously; an example of an analog signal is a sound wave. Therefore, in order to send digital signals over an ordinary telephone line not designed for digital signals, a special device called a modem should be used. Modem is the device that converts between analog and digital signals. Digital signals, which are used by computers, are usually represented by a series of 1's and 0's. Modems are often used to enable computers to communicate with each other across telephone lines. A modem converts the digital signals of the sending computer to analog signals that can be transmitted through telephone lines. When the signal reaches its destination, another modem reconstructs the original digital signal, which is processed by the receiving computer. Modem

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.9 1. 2. Describe the main components of a communication model and the function of each component. Explain why protocols are needed in a communication system.

1.4.3 Introduction to Computer Networks

1.4.3.1 What is a Computer Network?
A computer network is an interconnection of various computer systems located at different places. In a 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, whic h access shared network resources, are known as workstations or nodes. Since people need to communicate over long as well as short distances, geographic size of data communication networks are important. 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)

42

1.4.3.2 Local Area Networks (LANs)

If your teacher wants to send some information to his students within the school, he will be able to use a network setup within the school. This network will connect two or more computers and other devices such as printers within the school premises. These networks with two or more communicating devices within the same premises are called Local Area Networks (LAN). Since the computers and other devices are connected to the network, users who have access via the network will be able to communicate with others. Usually, a LAN allows a large number of users to share corporate resources such as storage devices, printers, software and data files. LAN integrates a wide range of functions into a single system.

1.4.3.3 Wide Area Networks (WANs)

For example, if your teacher wants to send some information to a student who is residing in a different geographical area such as in another city, he will not be able to send these information via a LAN, but it can be sent through a network which covers a wide geographic area. A computer network spanning a regional, national or global area is called a Wide Area Network (WAN). The distance between computers connected to WAN is larger. Therefore the transmission medium used are normally telephone lines, microwaves and satellite links.

1.4.3.4 Difference between LAN and WAN

LAN is restricted to limited geographical area of few kilometers. But WANs cover great distances and operate nationwide or even worldwide. In LANs, the computer terminals and peripheral devices are connected with wires and coaxial cables. In WANs there is no physical connection. Communication is done through telephone lines and satellite or terrestrial communication links. Cost of data transmission in LANs is less because the transmission medium is owned by a single organization. In the c a s e o f WANs the cost of data transmission is very high because the transmission mediums used are hired. The speed of data transmission is much higher in LANs than in WANs. Few data transmission errors occur in a LAN as compared to that of a WAN. It is because in a LAN the distance covered is relatively short.

43

1.4.4 Network Topologies

Both in LANs and WANs, computers and other equipment are connected to networks. It is important to know how these computers and other equipment can be connected to networks. The term topology, in communication networks, refer to the way in which machines of a network are linked together. It determines the data flow paths that may be used between any pair of machines of the network. There are four basic network topologies; Star Topology Ring Topology Tree Topology Bus Topology

Each topology has strengths and weaknesses. System designers should consider performance issues such as delay, speed, reliability, and the networks ability to continue through, or recover after, a failure in any device or connection to the network.

Star Topology

Ring Topology

44

Tree Topology

Bus Topology

1.4.4.1 Star Topology

In Star topology a number of workstations or computers are directly linked to a central workstation which is called a server or central node. Any communication between stations on a star LAN must pass through the central node. There is b i-directional communication between various nodes. The central node controls all the activities of the nodes. The advantages of the star topology are: It offers flexibility of adding or deleting of workstations from the network. Breakdown of one station does not affect any other device on the network.

The major disadvantage of star topology is that failure of the central node disables communication throughout the whole network.

45

1.4.4.2 Ring Topology

In Ring topology each station is attached to nearby stations on a point to point basis so that the entire system is in the form of a ring. In this topology data is transmitted in one direction only. Thus the data packets circulate along the ring in either clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. The advantage of this topology is that any signal transmitted on the network passes through all the LAN stations. The disadvantage of ring network is that the breakdown of any one station on the ring can disable the entire system.

1.4.4.3 Tree Topology

In Tree topology, a group of star-connected workstations are connected to a linear bus. Therefore, Tree topology combines characteristics of linear bus and star topology. The advantage of this topology is that it supports hardware of different vendors to be connected. The main disadvantage is that if the main linear bus fails it affects the entire network. Networks with Tree topology is more difficult to configure compared to networks with other topologies.

1.4.4.4 Bus Topology

In Bus topology, all workstations are connected to a single communication line called a bus. In this type of network topology there is no central node as in star topology. Transmission from any station travels the length of the bus in both directions and can be received by all workstations. The advantage of the bus topology is that It is quite easy to set up. If one station of the topology fails it does not affect the entire system.

The disadvantage of bus topology is that any break in the bus is difficult to identify.

1.4.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer Networks

1.4.5.1 Advantages of computer networks
Devices (e.g. printers) can be shared. Software can be shared. All users can access and update files from anywhere on the network. Data and software can be stored centrally. Network security can ensure that only authorised users can access data.

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1.4.5.2 Disadvantages of computer networks

Ne tworks can be expensive to install and operate. Server breakdowns cause the whole network to stop working. Network breakdowns can cause chaos. Security must be of the highest level possible to ensure that unauthorised access and infection by computer viruses are prevented.

1.4.6 Applications of Data Communication and Computer Networks

The Internet
The Internet is the largest computer network in the world. It is actually a network of networks. It is a collection of more than 200,000 individual computer networks owned by governments, universities, nonprofit organizations and private companies. These interconnected networks exchange information seamlessly by using the same open nonproprietary standards and protocols. They are connected via high-speed, long distance, backbone networks. The Internet began as one network called the Advanced Research Projects Administration Network (ARPANET). It was started in 1969 by the Department of Defense in the United State of America (USA) with one computer in Californ ia and three in Utah. Initially ARPANET allowed researchers to share computing resources and exchange information, regardless of their locations. Computers on the Internet may use one or all of the following Internet services: Electronic mail (e-mail). Permits you to send and receive mail. Provides access to discussion groups. Telnet or remote login. Permits your computer to log onto another computer and use it as if you were there. FTP or File Transfer Protocol. Allows your computer to rapidly retrieve complex files intact from a remote computer and view or save them on your computer. Gopher. An early, text-only method for accessing internet documents. Gopher has been almost entirely subsumed in the World Wide Web, but you may still find gopher documents linked to in web pages. The World Wide Web (WWW or "the Web"). The largest, fastest growing services on the Internet.

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World Wide Web (WWW)

The WWW incorporates all of the Internet services above and much more. You can retrieve documents, view images, animation, and video, listen to sound files, speak and hear voice, and view programs, providing your computer has the hardware and software to do these things. When you log onto the Internet using Netscape or Microsoft's Internet Explorer or some other browser, you are viewing documents on the World Wide Web

E-mail
E-mail stands for electronic mail. This is one of the most widely used features of Internet. Mails are regularly used today where with the help of postage stamp we can transfer mails to anywhere in the world. With electronic mail the service is similar. But here data are transmitted through Internet and therefore within minutes the message reaches the destination may it be anywhere in the world. Therefore the mailing system is exceedingly fast and is being used widely for mail transfer.

CLASS ACTIVITIES 1.10 1. 2. How do you describe a data communication network? What are the main network topologies and compare their advantages and disadvantages? Develop a plan describing how you would build a telecommunications infrastructure in your school. Discuss the communication media, devices, and services you would use. Visit the following websites and describe what information you could find from them: i. www.piru.gov.lk ii. www.moe.gov.lk

3.

4.

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