Rajasthan Central University 09/08/2011

5 Generation of Computers
First Generation(1940-1956)
Vacuum tube based

Second Generation(1956-1963)
Transistor based Transistor is an electronic component made of semiconductor

Third Generation(1964-1974)
Integrated Circuit(IC) based Many transistors fabricated on single chip

Fourth Generation(1974-Till Date)

Microprocessor based Large Scale Integration(LSI) and Very Large Scale Integration(VLSI) technology with thousands of transistors on small chip

Fifth Generation(Still in Development)

Thinking and learning capacity like human brain

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Processes instructions and data

Input Unit
Accepts inputs/commands from the user

Output Unit
Communicates the results

Storage Unit
Stores the results

CPU has 3 parts

This is the brain of a computer Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
Processes the data using arithmetic and logic operations Performs arithmetical operations such as Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division Performs logical operations such as AND, OR, NOT and XOR

Control Unit
Controls the sequence of calculations Controls the input and output devices

Memory Unit
Stores the data temporarily

Input Devices
Accept the data from the users Example: Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick

Output Devices
Display/Output the results Examples: Monitor, Printer

Used to store data/results permanently Examples: CD, DVD, Hard disk, Floppy, USB Drive

Microprocessor is an Integrated Circuit (IC)/chip which incorporates the functions of a CPU. An IC has many transistors (an electronic component) etched on it. Number of transistor on a chip directly contributes to the speed of a microprocessor. Intel 4004 released in 1971 is regarded as the first microprocessor. Intel 8080 released in 1974 was the firs microprocessor to make into a home computer. IBM PCs (released in 1982) were designed with Intel 8088 released in 1979.

Every microprocessor can execute a limited set of basic operations The set of these operations is called as Instruction Set. The instruction set is hardwired into the microprocessor. Any program that runs on a computer eventually gets translated to the instruction set.

Chip making technologies are approaching their physical limits, so improving the speed of microprocessors is becoming challenging. In response, microprocessor manufacturers are designing a single chip with multiple microprocessor cores. This increases the processing power by multiple times. Examples: Intel Dual Core, Intel i5, Intel i7

Intel:
Processors: 4004, 8008, 8086, 8088, 80186, 80286, 80386, 80486, Pentium, Core i3, i5, i7

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices):

Processors: Am2900, Athlon, Duron, Semphron, Turion, Fusion

3 Main Types:
Processor Internal Memory:
Also known as cache. Placed inside the CPU Fastest among all Used as cache between primary memory and the processor

Primary Memory:
Also known as main memory Has mainly 2 types Random Access Memory (RAM): Programs and data are temporarily stored for efficiency. This is volatile i.e. once the power is switched off, this is erased. Data is very frequently erased and written. Read Only Memory (ROM): This is non-volatile. Is used to stored persistent information about the system such as hardware configuration and to load the operating system. Data is persistent and almost never erased.

Secondary Memory:
Also known as Auxiliary/Virtual Memory Most common example is hard disk

Bit: The smallest unit of information. It can hold only one of the two values 0 or 1. Byte: 8 bits together represent a Byte. E.g. 00001101, 11010011 Kilobyte:1 Kilobyte = 1024 bytes. But generally represents 1000 bytes. Abbreviated as KB. Megabyte: 1 Megabyte = 1024 Kilobytes = 1,048,576 bytes. Generally represents 1,000,000 bytes. Abbreviated as MB. Gigabyte: 1 Gigabyte = 1024 Megabytes. Abbreviated as GB. Terabyte: 1 Terabyte = 1024 Gigabytes. Abbreviated as TB.

Provide mechanism to connect various input and output devices to the computer. PS/2 Port: This is used to plug mouse and keyboard into the computer. Serial Port: Used for transmitting data serially, one bit at a time.

Parallel Port: Transfers multiple bits (8 bits) of data at the same time. Used to connect printers. USB (Universal Service Bus) Port: Have replaced parallel and serial port. Plug a - p interface. Supports data - nd lay transfer rate of up to 12 MB/second.

OS is a program Controls the hardware and I/O devices of a computer. Provides an easy interface to the end user. OS functions include:
Process Management: Manages creation, scheduling and termination of processes. Memory Management: Allocation and de-allocation of memory to the executing programs. File Management: Providing services to search, store and organize files. Device Management: Controls devices through special programs called device drivers. Security Management: Provides Authorization and authentication services.

The OS has evolved from console/text based Command Line Interface (CLI) such as DOS, UNIX to Graphical User Interface (GUI) such as Mac-OS and Windows.

MS DOS
Microsoft Disk Operating System First version released in 1982 Gained popularity for IBM PC based computers Console based Command Line Interface (CLI) No longer released as stand alone product

UNIX
Developed in 1969 at AT&T Bell Labs Multitasking, Multiuser operating system IBM AIX, HP UX, Sun Solaris are all UNIX based operating systems

Linux
Created in 1992 by Linus Torvalds, a Univ. of Helsinki student Free and Open Source Software Ubuntu, Fedora are other Linux based operating system

MS Windows
First version was released in 1985 A multitasking operating system A GUI (Graphical User Interface) based operating system Most widely used OS, about 90% market share

Mac OS
A GUI based operating system developed by Apple released in 1984

It is also the basis of iOS used on iPod, iPhone and iPad

z/OS
An IBM operating system for mainframe computers

A typical specification looks like:

Intel Core i5-750 quad-core processor 2.66GHz, 1MB L2 cache. 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM 500GB - 7200RPM SATA II hard drive GeForce 7300 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Video Card 20X DVDRW Dual Layer drive for burning your own DVDs and CDs Microsoft Windows 7

Heres what it means: Intel Core i5-750 quad-core processor 2.66GHz, 1MB L2 cache
Describes the vendor of the microprocessor, Intel in this case Core i5-750 quad core describes the family of the processor and the number of cores, 4 in this case 2.66Hz is the clock speed of the processor which indicates the processing speed 1 MB L2 Cache is the high efficiency memory build on the microprocessor for higher efficiency

6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM6GB is the size of memory DDR3 is the generation of memory. DDR, DDR2 are also available but offer lower performance in terms of speed. DDR stands for Double Data Rate 1333MHz is the speed at which memory can be accessed SDRAM Stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. It is a type of RAM based on the way data is accessed.

500GB - 7200RPM SATA II hard drive500GB is the size of hard disk 7200 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) indicates the revolution speed of the disk. The more the RMP the faster the access. SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) is the interface that connects the motherboard to the hard disk. SATA is comparatively a recent phenomenon. Previous version was PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) Solid state hard disks (Like the one used in USB drive) are also becoming common now

XFX GeForce 7300 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Video Card This is the details of graphics/video capabilities of the computer. A graphics card is sort of a small computer with its own processor and memory. GeForce 7300 GT is a processor (GPU Graphics Processing Unit) designed by a company called NVIDIA It is manufactured by various manufacturers, XFX in this case The card has 512MB of dedicated DDR2 memory for efficient graphics processing.

20X DVD+RW Dual Layer drive for burning your own DVDs and CDs This detail pertains to DVD/CD drive. DVDRW specifies the capabilities of the drive to read and write DVDs and CDs. Older drives were capable of only reading DVDs. sign indicates the compliance to two difference DVD formats + and -. 20X denotes the speed of the drive. 20X denotes that this drive can write 20 times faster than the first version of DVD drives. Dual layer recording allows more data(8.54GB) to be stored on DVDs.