Lesson-2

Components of a Computer System

“To err is human, and to blame it on a computer is more so.”-- Author unknown.

Learning Objectives

• To understand the components of computer

• To understand the details of organization of computer
• To analyze input and output device
• To understand the meaning of processor

Introduction

We have seen that computer affects our life in a big way by increasing the efficiency and
enhanced ability. Now we will have to look for the anatomy of computer. What is it made
up of? The parts of computer did not appear all at once in one machine by one person. It
is a continuously evolving process starting as early as 17th century when people began to
work on machines that would automate task. The first such machine was developed in the
17th century by mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal but it was not an electronic
device. It was purely a mechanical machine which used meshed gears to add and multiply
the numbers. But after him, there was a long gap before an idea emerged from Charles
Babbage to process information. Although he could never successfully develop such
mechanical machine yet his idea was of million-dollar worth. That is why he is known as
the “father of computer.” Modern electronic computer started taking shape in 1940s with
the invention of Mark-I Computer. Since then, there have been a lot of research and new
inventions in the technology of computers.

Components of a Computer

Components of a computer can be broadly divided into the following two categories:

1. Software

Software refers to the programs required to operate a computer. For example, DOS (Disk
Operating System), BASIC, COBOL, dBase, Accounting Software etc. are all software.
An analogy of hardware can be the book which you are reading and, in this case, software
would be the text written on it. Another analogy could be that “brain” is hardware but
“memory stored in brain” is software.

Both hardware and software are dependent on each other. CPU, memory unit, hard disk
etc. are useless unless they are provided with instructions and data for storage and
processing. Similarly, BASIC or COBOL has no importance unless they are used along
with various hardware components of computer.

2. Hardware
Hardware refers to any physical component of computer. For example, CPU, monitor
(VDU), keyboard, hard disk, floppy disk, printer etc. are physical components and, thus,
are all hardware.

Hardware can be compared to a human body capable of doing any activity. But without
the presence of blood and oxygen, it will not be able to do anything. The same is the case
with computer and hardware. It is capable of doing many things but without software it
just cannot work.

Thus, for computer both software and hardware components are essential.

Organization of Computer

We will discuss the basic structure of a computer system. The diagram of a generalized
architecture of a computer system is shown below. A computer system has the following
main components (refer to figure 2.1):

• Input/output unit
• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Memory unit
Storage Unit

Secondary
Storage

Input Device Output Device

Primary
Storage

Control Unit

A.L.U

Central Processing Unit

Figure 2.1-- Main components of a computer system

In order to solve a computational problem, a computer has to perform the following four
major tasks:

• Input
• Process
 • Output
• Storage

Input/Output Unit

The computer is a machine which processes input data according to a given set of
instructions and gives output. Before a computer does processing, it should be given data
and instructions. After processing, output should be displayed or printed by computer.
The unit used for getting the data and instructions into computer and displaying or
printing output is known as an Input/Output Unit (I/O Unit).

There are many peripheral devices which are used as input/output units for a computer.
The most common form of an input device is known as “terminal.” A terminal has an
electronic typewriter-like device called keyboard and has a display screen called “Visual
Display Unit” (VDU) or “monitor.” Keyboard is the main input device while the monitor
can be considered both as an input as well as an output device. There are some other
common input devices like mouse, punch card, tape, joystick, scanner, modem etc.
Monitor, printer and plotter are the main peripheral devices used as output units for a
computer.

Central Processing Unit

Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main component or “brain” of a computer. It

performs all the processing of input data. Its function is to fetch, examine and execute the
instructions stored in the main memory of a computer. In microcomputers, CPU is built
on a single chip or Integrated Circuit (IC) and is called a microprocessor. A CPU consists
of the following distinct parts:

• Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

• Control Unit (CU)
• Registers
• Buses
• Clock

Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

The arithmetic and logic unit of CPU is responsible for all arithmetic operations like
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as well as logical operations, such as
less than, equal to and greater than. All calculations and comparisons are performed in
arithmetic logic unit.

Control Unit

The control unit is responsible for controlling the transfer of data and instructions among
other units of a computer. It is considered as the “central nervous system” of a computer
as it manages and coordinates all the units of computer. It obtains the instructions from
the memory, interprets them and directs the operation of computer. It also performs the
physical data transfer between memory and peripheral devices.
Registers

Registers are small high-speed circuits (memory locations). These are used to store data,
instructions and memory addresses (memory location numbers) when ALU performs
arithmetic and logical operations. Registers can store one word of data (1 word = 2 bytes
and 1 byte = 8 bits) until it is overwritten by another word. Depending on the processor’s
capability, the number and type of registers vary from one CPU to another. Depending
upon their functions, these can be divided into the following six categories:

• General purpose registers

• Pointer registers
• Segment registers
• Index registers
• Flags registers
• Instruction pointer registers

Buses

Data is stored as a unit of eight bits (bit stands for binary digit, i.e. 0 or 1) in a register.
Each bit is transferred from one register to another by means of a separate wire. This
group of eight wires that is used as a common way to transfer data between registers is
known as a bus. It is actually a connection between two components to transmit signal
between them. A bus can be of three major types. These types are as follows:

1. Data bus-- It is used to move data.

2. Control bus-- It is used to move address or memory location.
3. Address bus-- It is used to send control signals between various components of a
computer.

Clock

A clock is another important component of CPU. It measures and allocates a fixed time
slot for processing each and every micro-operation (smallest functional operation). In
simple terms, CPU is allocated one or more clock cycles to complete a micro-operation.
CPU executes the instructions in synchronization with the clock pulse. The clock speed
of CPU is measured in terms of Mega Hertz (MHz) or Millions of Cycles per second. The
clock speed of CPU varies from one model to another in the range 4.77 MHz (in 8088
processor) to 266 MHz (in Pentium II). The speed of CPU is also specified in terms of
Millions of Instructions Per Second (MIPS) or Million of Floating Point Operations Per
Second (MFLOPS).

Memory Unit

Memory unit is that component of a computer system which is used to store data,
instructions and information before, during and after the processing by ALU. It is
actually a work area (physically a collection of integrated circuits) within a computer
where CPU stores data and instructions. It is also known as a main/primary/internal
memory.
Input Devices

Input devices are used to input data, information and instructions into RAM. These
devices can be classified into the following two broad categories:

• Basic input devices

• Special input devices

The structure and function of common input devices of these two categories are discussed
below in detail.

Basic Input Devices

The input devices which have now-a-days become essential to operate a PC (personal
computer) may be called as “basic input devices.” These devices are always required for
basic input operations. These devices include keyboard and mouse.

Keyboard

Keyboard (similar to a typewriter) is the main input device of a computer (refer to figure
2.2). It contains three types of keys-- alphanumeric keys, special keys and function keys.
Alphanumeric keys are used to type all alphabets, numbers and special symbols like $, %,
@, A etc. Special keys such as <Shift>, <Ctrl>, <Alt>, <Home>, <Scroll Lock> etc. are
used for special functions. Function keys such as <Fl>, <F2>, <F3> etc. are used to give
special commands depending upon the software used. The function of each and every key
can be well understood only after working on a PC. When any key is pressed, an
electronic signal is produced. This signal is detected by a keyboard encoder that sends a
binary code corresponding to the key pressed to the CPU. There are many types of
keyboards but 101 keys keyboard is the most popular one.

Figure 2.2-- Keyboard

 Figure 2.3-- Mouse
Mouse

Mouse (similar to a mouse) is another important input device (refer to figure 2.3). It is a
pointing device used to move cursor, draw sketches/diagrams, select text/object/menu
item etc. on monitor screen while working on Windows (graphics-based environment of a
computer). Mouse is a small, palm size box containing three buttons and a ball
underneath which senses the movement of the mouse and sends the corresponding signals
to CPU on pressing the buttons.

Special Input Devices

The input devices which are not essential to operate a PC are called as “special input
devices.” These devices are used for various special purposes, and are generally not
required for basic input operations. These devices include trackball, light pen, touch
screen, joystick, digitizer, scanner, OMR, OCR, bar code reader, MICR and voice input
devices.

Trackball

Figure 2.4-- Trackball

A trackball looks like a mouse (refer to figure 2.4). It has a roller on the top with
selection buttons on the side. It is also a pointing device used to move the cursor and
works like a mouse. For moving cursor in a particular direction, the user spins the ball in
that direction. It is sometimes considered better than a mouse because it requires little
arm movement and less desktop space. It is generally used with portable computers.

Light Pen
 Figure 2.5-- Light Pen

Light pen (similar to a pen) is a pointing device which is used to select a displayed menu
item or draw pictures on the monitor screen (refer to figure 2.5). It consists of a photocell
and an optical system placed in a small tube. When its tip is moved over monitor and pen
button is pressed, its photocell-sensing element detects the screen location and sends
corresponding signal to CPU.

Touch Screen

Figure 2.6-- Touch screen

Some special VDU devices have touch sensitive screens (refer to figure 2.6). These
screens are sensitive to human fingers and act as tactile input devices. Using touch
screen, the user can point to a selection on the screen instead of pressing keys. Touch
screen helps users to get an information quickly. It is mainly used in hotels or airports to
convey information to visitors.

Joystick

Figure 2.7-- Joystick

Joystick is also a pointing device used to move cursor position on a monitor screen. It is a
stick having a spherical ball at its both lower and upper ends. The lower spherical ball
moves in a socket. It can be moved in all the four directions. The function of a joystick is
similar to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer-Aided Designing (CAD) and
playing computer games.

Digitizer

Figure 2.8-- Digitizer

A digitizer is used to create drawings and pictures with the help of a digitizer tablet by a
process called digitizing. Digitizing is a process by which graphic representations are
converted into digital data. A digitizer consists of the following three main parts (refer to
figure 2.8):

• A flat surface called tablet

• A small hand held mouse-like device called puck
• A special pen like device called stylus

The puck is used to input existing drawings into the computer. The stylus is used to trace
existing drawings placed on tablet. It is also used to draw new drawings on a piece of
paper placed on tablet. The user makes contact to the tablet with stylus. As the stylus is
connected to the tablet by a wire, the traced image is stored in RAM and displayed on
monitor.

Scanner

Figure 2.9-- Scanner

A scanner is widely used in Desktop Publishing (DTP) applications (refer to figure 2.9).
It is used for digitizing images such as photographs, forms, documents etc. in computer
memory. There are many types of scanners which can also read text by converting them
to digital code. The scanners are very useful for converting the typed pages into word
processing files. Graphic scanners convert a printed image into video image without
converting it to digital code.
Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

Figure 2.10-- Optical mark reader

Optical Mark Reader (OMR) is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the
type of mark made by pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be
selected and marked. It is especially used for checking answer sheets of examination
having multiple-choice questions. The answer sheet contains special marks such as
squares or bubbles. The student fills in these squares with soft pencil or ink to indicate
the correct choice. The OMR detects these marks and sends corresponding signals to the
processor. If a mark is present, the amount of reflected light is reduced and, thus, OMR
detects the presence of mark for each and every answer. These are widely used for almost
all competitive examinations having objective type questions.

Bar Code Reader

Figure 2.11-- Bar code reader

Bar code reader is an optical scanner used for reading bar coded data (data in the form of
light and dark lines). The bar coded data consists of a number of bars of varying
thickness and spacing between them. The bar code reader reads the bar coded data and
converts it into electrical pulses which are then processed by computer. Bar coded data is
generally used in labeling goods, numbering the books, or encoding ID or A/c numbers.

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

 Figure 2.12-- Optical character reader

Optical Character Reader (OCR) is an optical scanner which is capable of detecting

alphanumeric characters typed or printed on paper using an OCR font (refer to figure
2.12). The text which is to be scanned is illuminated by a low frequency light source. The
dark areas on the text absorb light while light areas reflect it. The photocells of OCR
device receive this reflected light and provide binary data corresponding to dark and light
areas. OCR devices are used for large volume applications like reading of passenger
tickets, computer printed bills of credit card companies and ZIP codes in postal services.

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

Figure 2.13-- Magnetic ink character recognition

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) is used to recognize the magnetically

charged characters mainly found on bank cheques. The magnetically charged characters
are written by special ink called “magnetic ink.” MICR device reads the patterns of these
characters and compares them with special patterns stored in memory. Using MICR
device, a large volume of cheques can be processed in a day. It is widely used by banking
industry for the processing of cheques.

Voice-Input Devices

Voice-input devices are the latest input devices that can recognize human voice. They
seem to be very useful but are not popular due to storage of limited vocabularies and
variations in the way of pronouncing words by different persons.

Output Devices
Output devices are hardware components which are used to display or print the processed
information. The structure, working and uses of common output devices is discussed
below.

Monitor

Figure 2.14-- Monitor

Visual Display Unit (VDU), commonly known as monitor, is the main output device of a
computer (refer to figure 2.14). It consists of a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) which displays
characters as an output. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels. Pixels are arranged
in a rectangular form. The sharpness of image (screen resolution) depends upon the
number of pixels.

Types of Monitors

Depending upon the resolution, monitors can be classified as follows:

(a) CGA (Color Graphics Adapter)

(Figure 2.15)

Figure 2.15

(b) MDA (Monochrome Display Adapter)

(Figure 2.16)

Figure 2.16

(c) HGA (Hercules Graphics Adapter)

(Figure 2.17)

Figure 2.17
 (d) EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adapter)
(Figure 2.18)

Figure 2.18

(e) VGA (Video Graphics Adapter)

(Figure 2.19)

Figure 2.19

(f) SVGA (Super VGA)

The differences between these monitors are summarized below. Depending upon the
color of display, monitors can be classified as monochrome (with single color/ black and
white display) and color (with all colors display) monitors.

Table 2.1-- Comparison among Different Types of Monitors

Type of Display Type Text Graphics Resolution
Monitor Resolution
CGA Text and Graphics Fair quality 320 x 200
MDA Text only Good quality -
HGA Text and Mono Fair quality 320 x 200
Graphics
EGA Text and Enhanced Good quality 640 x 350
Graphics
VGA Text and Video Much better than 640 x 480
Graphics all the above
SVGA Text and Video Best quality 1600 x 1280
Graphics

Printer

Printer is the most important output device. It is used to print information on paper. It is
essential for getting output of any computer-based application.

Types of Printers

Printers can be broadly categorized into the following two types:

1. Impact Printers

The printers that print the characters by striking against the ribbon and onto the paper
are called “impact printers.” These are of two types:

(a) Character Printers

These printers print one character at a time. These printers are further of two
types:

(i) Daisy Wheel Printers

Figure 2.20-- Daisy wheel printer

These printers print the characters by a mechanism that uses a plastic or metal
hub with spokes, called daisy wheel (refer to figure 2.20). The characters are
embossed on the radiating spokes and printed by striking these spokes against
the ribbon and paper. These printers give a good quality but are more
expensive than dot matrix printers.

(ii) Dot Matrix Printers

Figure 2.21-- Dot matrix printer

These printers print the characters by putting dots onto paper. They do not
give better printing quality than daisy wheel printers but are faster in speed.
The printing speed of a dot matrix printer can be upto 360 cps (characters per
second). They are widely used with microcomputers.

(b) Line Printers

These printers print one line at a time. Their printing speed is much more than
character printers. They are also of two types:

(i) Drum Printers

 Figure 2.22-- Drum Printer

These printers print line by a rotating drum having a ring of characters for each
print position (refer to figure 2.22). The hammers strike each character of the
drum simultaneously so that entire line is printed in one full rotation of the drum.
These printers are also called as “barrel printers.” The printouts obtained from
these printers have even character spacing but uneven line height.

(ii) Chain Printers

Figure 2.23-- Chain printer

These printers print the line by a rotating chain having ring characters for each
print position. Their printing mechanism is similar to drum printers. The printouts,
thus, obtained from these printers have uneven character spacing but even line
height.

2. Non-Impact Printers

The printers that print the characters without striking against the ribbon and onto the
paper are called “non-impact printers.” These printers print a complete page at a time
and, therefore, are also called as “page printers.” Page printers are of three types:

(a) Laser Printers

Figure 2.24-- Laser printer

 These printers look and work like photocopiers. They are based on laser
technology which is the latest development in high speed and high quality
printing. In these printers, a laser beam is used to write an image on a paper. First,
the image is formed by electrically charged thousands of dots on a paper by laser
beam. Then, the paper is sprayed with a toner having the opposite charge and is
passed over a heated roller to make the image permanent. Laser printers are very
popular and have become an essential part of DTP. Although laser printers are
costlier than dot matrix yet they are generally preferred in all offices due to their
high quality of printing. There are many models of laser printers depending upon
the speed and number of dots printed. The latest model of laser printer is 1200
DPI (dots per inch) which can print 10 pages per minute. Some high-speed laser
printers give a speed of upto 100 pages per minute.

(b) Inkjet Printers

Figure 2.25-- Inkjet printer

These printers print characters by spraying electrically charged ink on paper.

These printers give better quality than character printers but not better than laser
printers. They are cheaper than laser printers and hence used widely in many
offices. They also offer an option of using color cartridges for multi-color
printing.

(c) Thermal Printers

Figure 2.26-- Thermal printer

These printers print characters by melting a wax-based ink off a ribbon onto a
special heat sensitive paper. They give letter-quality printing but are relatively
expensive in maintenance than other printers.

Plotter
Plotter is an important output device which is used to print high quality graphics and
drawings. Although the graphics can be printed on printers yet the resolution of such
printing is limited. Plotters are generally used for printing/drawing graphical images such
as charts, drawings, maps etc. of engineering and scientific applications. Some important
types of plotters are discussed below:

1. Flat Bed Plotters

Figure 2.27-- Flat bed plotter

These plotters print the graphical images by moving the pen on stationary flat surface
material. They produce very accurate drawings. (Refer to figure 2.27)

2. Drum Plotters

Figure 2.28-- Drum plotter

These plotters print graphical images by moving both the pen and the drum having
paper. They do not produce as accurate drawings as printed by flat bed plotters.
(Refer to figure 2.28)

3. Inkjet Plotters

Figure 2.29-- Inkjet plotter

These plotters use inkjets in place of pens. They are faster than flat bed plotters and
can print multi-colored large drawings. (Refer to figure 2.29)

Computer Output Microfilm

 Figure 2.30-- Microfilm reel

Computer Output Microfilm (COM) is a technique to produce output on a microfilm

media (microfilm reel or microfiche card). (Refer to figure 2.30) A microfilm is a
continuous filmstrip that can store several thousands miniaturized document pages. A
microfiche card is a 4 x 6 inch film sheet which can store several hundred pages. The
process of producing microfilm or microfiche takes place on a special COM unit. The
information recorded on the microfilm is read with the help of a microfilm viewing
system. It is generally easier to read a microfiche than microfilm. COM is particularly
useful for organizations which need to store and manipulate large amount of data. It helps
them in tremendous savings in paper and document handling costs.

Binary Logic

Binary logic deals with binary variables and logical operations. The binary variables are
denoted by x, y, z, A, B, C etc. that can have only two distinct values (e.g., 1 and 0, true
or false, yes or no etc.). There are three basic logical operations-- AND, OR and NOT. In
binary logic, if x and y are two binary variables, x.y (read as x AND y) represents AND
operation and x+y (read as x OR y) OR operation. The NOT operation is represented by
x'.

It follows that for each combination of the values of x and y, there is a value for x+y, x.y,
and x' as specified by the definition of logical operations. The definitions of AND, OR
and NOT logical operations is demonstrated in tables, called truth tables.

Bits and Bytes

“Bit” stands for binary digit. It is a single digit in binary number which can be either 0 or
1. Within a computer, a single bit can be stored in many ways, generally by using
transistor, multi-vibrator (flip-flops-- circuits made of “logic gates”), or a capacitor as
on/off switch. If a bit is OFF, its value is considered 0 and if it is ON, its value is 1. Bit is
the smallest unit of data in a computer.

A single bit alone does not provide much information but a combination of 8 bits is
enough to store all alphabets, numbers and other characters used by computer. The group
of 8 bits is known as a “byte.” For example, when a user types A (1 byte) on the
keyboard, the system delivers a signal which sets input location to the bit value
01000000. In memory, each byte occupies a unique address (storage location). Byte is
considered as the smallest unit of memory. There are higher units of memory such as
word, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and terabyte. These are illustrated in table 2.2 given
below:
 Unit of Memory Equivalent Units

Byte 8 bits
Word 2 bytes
Double word 4 bytes
Quad word 8 bytes
Paragraph 16 bytes
Kilobyte (K) 1024 bytes
Megabyte (MB) 1024 K
Gigabyte 1024 MB
Terabyte 1024 GB

Table 2.2
Notes

1. The components of a computer are as follows:

• Software-- Software refers to the programs which are required to operate a

computer
• Hardware-- Hardware refers to any physical component of a computer. For
example, CPU, monitor, keyboard, hard disk, floppy disk, printer etc.

2. Input devices are used to input data, information and instructions into RAM.
Keyboard, mouse, OCR, OMR, MICR etc. are all input devices.

3. Output devices are hardware components which are used to display or print the
processed information. For example, monitor, printer, plotter etc.

Questions

1. Draw a block diagram to illustrate the basic organization of a computer system

and explain the functions of various units.
2. Define the term hardware. Discuss in brief the classification of hardware
components of a microcomputer.
3. How does an OMR differ from an OCR? Which of these devices is used for
checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple-choice questions?
4. Which component of a computer is generally called “brain” of computer and
why? Also describe the functions of the distinct parts of this component.