Hardware Basics: Inside the Box

Miguel Rebollo Introduction to Computer Science 2009-2010

Aims
Know how information is stored and
handled into a computer

Describe the basic structure of a computer Functions and interactions of computers

internal components devices

Difference memory types and storage

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Outline
1. What computers do 2. A bit about bits 3. The computer core: CPU and memory 4. Buses, ports and peripherals

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What computers do
Receive input data Process this information: perform
to the outside world memory arithmetic or logic (decision-making) operations

Produce output: communicate information Store information: move data to the

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Basic components
Storage

Input devices: keyboard and mouse

CPU

Output devices: screen, printer, speakers

Memory
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Von Newman archit.

CPU

system bus(*)
memory

i/o bus

input/output

(*) front side bus

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A bit about bits

computers information is digital Bits can represent letters, numbers,

instructions, codes, colours and so on

8 bits = 1 byte (256 different values)

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Bits as numbers
There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who dont
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Binary number system

All numbers as combinations of two digits: 0 and 1 (base 2) conversion binary-decimal with n digits we have 2n possibilities

decimal
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

binary
000 001 010 011 100 101 110 111

Play with the numbers

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Bits as characters
Each character has its representation in bits ASCII (see table) the most widely spread xed codication (1 character = 1 byte) Unicode (UTF) until 65,000 char., language independent variable codication (1 or 2 bytes)
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ASCII code
ASCII code uses 8 bits 8 bits produce 2 =256 possibilities Its not enough, several codes added mutually incompatible changes in special letters (, , , ...)
8
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 Bit-related terminology
1 Byte 1 kilobyte (kB) 1 megabyte (mB) 1 gigabyte (gB) 1 terabyte (tB) 1 petabyte (pB) 1 exabyte (eB)

Bits, bytes and buzzwords

= = = = = = = 1024 Bytes 1024 kB 1024 mB 1024 gB 1024 tB 1024 pB

Other units: Zettabyte,Yottabyte... See Data Powers of Ten

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The computers core: CPU

Its the main component of the computer Executes programs instructions Instructions are stored in memory Input data and results are stored in
memory too
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Evolution of Intel proc.

Intel processor history

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CPU equivalence
Intel
Obsolete Low-end

AMD

Pentium 4 Athlon 64 Celeron Sempron Core 2 Duo, i3, i5 Athlon 64 x2 Desktop Core 2 Quad, i5, i7 Phenom Laptop Centrino, i3, i5 Turion Netbook Atom ----Xeon Opteron Servers/ Workstation Itanium -----

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CPU performance
The computers overall performance is
determined by (among others) second

the internal clock (gHz): cycles per Two technologies: CISC and RISC Multiple core and Hyperthreading tech.
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the internal architecture

CPU compatibility
Each CPU has its own instruction set
depending on the manufacturer (Intel, Alpha...) maintain backwards compatibility (new models interprets all instructions from earlier CPU)

CPUs in the same family are designed to

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RAM memory
Stores temporally program instructions and data

its volatile divided in smaller elements (bytes) identied by its address and managed individually

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ROM (read only memory)

information stored in chips contains startup instructions

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Other memories

CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor): Special low-energy kind of RAM Flash memory: used in phones, PDA or cameras

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Buses, ports and peripherals

Information travels between components
on the motherboard through groups of wires called system buses (or just buses)

They have 32 or 64 parallel wires Expansion slots, bays and ports: connect
additional devices
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