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INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER HARDWARE

2.1 Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. List different components of a computer
2. Explain how information flows in a computer
3. Explain the different hardware units of a computer system

2.2 This topic is divided into three sub-sections as follows:

Sections 1: Basic Computer Operations

Sections 2: Computer Components
Sections 3: Computer Organization

2.2.1 Basic Computer Operations

A computer as shown in Fig. 2.1 performs basically five major operations or functions irrespective
of their size and make. These are 1) it accepts data or instructions by way of input, 2) it stores data,
3) it can process data as required by the user, 4) it gives results in the form of output, and 5) it
controls all operations inside a computer. We know that a computer is used to (i) Collect (ii)
Organize (iii) Sort and, (iv) transform raw facts into meaningful information form, which logic
conclusions can be drawn.

We discuss below each of these operations.

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1. Input: This is the process of entering data and programs in to the computer system. You should
know that computer is an electronic machine like any other machine which takes as inputs raw data
and performs some processing giving out processed data. Therefore, the input unit takes data from
us to the computer in an organized manner for processing.

Figure 2.1: Basic computer Operations

2. Storage: 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 functionality.
It provides space for storing data and instructions.
The storage unit performs the following major functions:

• All data and instructions are stored here before and after processing.
• Intermediate results of processing are also stored here.

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

4. Output: 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

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somewhere inside the computer before being given to you in human readable form. Again the
output is also stored inside the computer for further processing.

5. Control: The manner how instructions are executed and the above operations are
performed. Controlling of all operations like input, processing and output are performed by control
unit. It takes care of step by step processing of all operations inside the computer.

2.2.2 Computer Components

All types of computers follow a same basic logical structure and perform the following five basic
operations for converting raw input data into information useful to their users
No. Operation Description
1 Take Input The process of entering data and instructions into the
computer system.
2 Store Data Saving data and instructions so that they are available for
processing as and when required.
3 Processing Data Performing arithmetic, logical operations on data in order to
convert them into useful information.
4 Output Information The process of producing useful information or results for
the user, such as a printed report or visual display.
5 Control the workflow Direct the manner and sequence in which all of the above
operations are performed.

Table 2.1: Five basic operations for converting raw input data into information

Figure 2.2 Components of Computer system

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Activity
In the computer lab, look at the manuals that come with the computers. Review
the manuals to find out what type of microprocessor is in the computer. Look
also at the computer screen when the computer is turned on to see if information
about
the computer is shown there.

2.2.3 Computer Organization

2.2.3.1 Input Hardware

This unit contains devices with the help of which we enter data into computer. This unit makes
link between user and computer. The input devices translate the human being information into the
form understandable by computer. An input unit of a computer System performs the following
functions:

i. It accepts (or reads) instruction and data from outside world

ii. It converts thee instruction and data in computer acceptable form
iii. It supplies the converted instruction and data to the computer system for further
processing

Following are few of the important input devices, which are used in Computer Systems:

a) Keyboard
b) Mouse
c) Joystick
d) Light pen
e) Track Ball
f) Scanner
g) Graphic Tablet
h) Microphone
i) Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)
j) Optical Character Reader (OCR)
k) Bar Code Reader
l) Optical Mark Reader

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Keyboard

Most common and very popular input device is keyboard. The keyboard helps in inputting the
data to the computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional typewriter, although
there are some additional keys provided for performing some additional functions.

Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now 104 keys or 108 keys keyboard is
also available for Windows and Internet.

The keys are following

No. Keys Description
1 Typing Keys These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digits keys (0-9)
which generally give same layout as that of typewriters.
2 Numeric Keypad It is used to enter numeric data or cursor movement.
Generally, it consists of a set of 17 keys that are laid out in the
same configuration used by most adding machine and
calculators.
3 Function Keys The twelve functions keys are present on the keyboard. These
are arranged in a row along the top of the keyboard. Each
function key has unique meaning and is used for some specific
purpose.
4 Control keys These keys provide cursor and screen control. It includes four
directional arrow keys. Control keys also include Home, End,
Insert, Delete, Page Up, Page Down, Control(Ctrl),
Alternate(Alt), Escape(Esc).

5 Special Purpose Keys Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such as
Enter, Shift, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, and Print
Screen.

Table 2.2: Description of keys on a keyboard

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Figure 2.3: Computer Keyboard

Mouse

Mouse is most popular Pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device. It is a small
palm size box with a round ball at its base which senses the movement of mouse and sends
corresponding signals to CPU on pressing the buttons.

Generally, it has two buttons called left and right button and scroll bar is present at the mid.
Mouse can be used to control the position of cursor on screen, but it cannot be used to enter text
into the computer.

Advantages

• Easy to use
• Not very expensive
• Moves the cursor faster than the arrow keys of keyboard.

Table 2.4: Mouse

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Joystick

Joystick is also a pointing device, which is 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. The joystick can be moved in all four directions. The function of joystick is similar to that
of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer Aided Designing (CAD) and playing computer games.
Commonly used for video games, flight simulators, training simulators, and for controlling
industrial robots

Figure 2.5: Joystick

Light Pen

Light pen is a pointing device, which is similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu item
or draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists of a photocell and an optical system placed in a
small tube.

When light pen's tip is moved over the monitor screen and pen button is pressed, its photocell
sensing element, detects the screen location and sends the corresponding signal to the CPU.

Figure 2.6: Light Pen

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Track Ball

Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer, instead of a mouse.
This is a ball, which is half inserted and by moving fingers on ball, pointer can be moved.

Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A track ball
comes in various shapes like a ball, a button and a square.

Figure 2.7: Track ball

Scanner

Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. It is used when some
information is available on a paper and it is to be transferred to the hard disc of the computer for
further manipulation.

Scanner captures images from the source which are then converted into the digital form that can be
stored on the disc. These images can be edited before they are printed.

Figure 2.8: Scanner

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Digitizer

Digitizer is an input device, which converts analog information into a digital form. Digitizer can
convert a signal from the television camera into a series of numbers that could be stored in a
computer. They can be used by the computer to create a picture of whatever the camera had been
pointed at.

Digitizer is also known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet because it converts graphics and pictorial data
into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as digitizer is used for doing fine works of drawing and images
manipulation applications.

Figure 2.9: Digitizer

Microphone

Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in digital form. The microphone is
used for various applications like adding sound to a multimedia presentation or for mixing music.

Figure 2.10: Microphone

Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

MICR input device is generally used in banks because of the large number of cheques to be
processed daily. The bank's code number and cheque number are printed on the cheques with a
special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material that are machine readable.
This reading process is called Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR). The main advantage
of MICR is that it is fast and less error prone.

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Figure 2.11: Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)

Figure 2.12: MICR Character Set

Optical Character Reader (OCR)

OCR is an input device used to read a printed text. OCR scans text optically character by character,
converts them into a machine readable code and stores the text on the system memory.

Figure 2.13: Optical Character Reader (OCR)

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Bar Code Readers

Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in form of light and dark lines).
Bar coded data is generally used in labeling goods, numbering the books, etc. It may be a hand-
held scanner or may be embedded in a stationary scanner.

Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value, which is then fed
to the computer to which bar code reader is connected.

Figure 2.14: Bar Code Reader

Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

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 specially used for
checking the answer sheets of examinations having multiple choice questions.

Figure 2.15: Optical Mark Reader (OMR)

In summary: the various input devices can be classified as: keying devices, pointing devices, stylus,
voice-recognition devices, and scanning devices

2.2.3.2 Processing Hardware

This unit controls the operations of all parts of computer. It does not carry out any actual data
processing operations.

Functions of this unit are:

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It is responsible for controlling the transfer of data and instructions among other units of a
computer.
• It manages and coordinates all the units of the computer.
• It obtains the instructions from the memory, interprets them and directs the
operation of the computer.
• It communicates with input/output devices for transfer of data or results from
storage.
• It does not process or store data.

CPU is considered as the brain of the computer. CPU performs all types of data processing
operations. It stores data, intermediate results and instructions (program). It controls the operations
of all parts of computer

CPU itself has the following three components

• ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit)

• Memory Unit
• Control Unit

CPU is considered as the brain of the computer.

CPU performs all types of data processing
operations. It stores data, intermediate result and
instructions (program). It controls the operations of
all parts of computer.

2.2.3.3 Interconnecting the Units of a Computer

CPU sends data, instructions and information to the components inside the computer as well as to the
peripherals and devices attached to it. Bus is a set of electronic signal pathways that allows information and
signals to travel between components inside or outside of a computer. The different components of
computer, i.e., CPU, I/O unit, and memory unit are connected with each other by a bus. The data,
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instructions and the signals are carried between the different components via a bus. The features and
functionality of a bus are as follows—

• A bus is a set of wires used for interconnection, where each wire can carry one bit of data.
• A bus width is defined by the number of wires in the bus.
• A computer bus can be divided into two types—Internal Bus and External Bus.
The Internal Bus connects components inside the motherboard like, CPU and system memory. It is
also called the System Bus. Figure 2.10 shows interaction between processor and memory.

Figure 2.16: Interaction between processor and memory.

The External Bus connects the different external devices, peripherals, expansion slots, I/O ports and drive
connections to the rest of computer. The external bus allows various devices to be attached to the computer.
It allows for the expansion of computer’s capabilities. It is generally slower than the system bus. It is also
referred to as the Expansion Bus.

A system bus or expansion bus comprise of three kinds of buses - data bus, address bus and control bus.

The interaction of CPU with memory and I/O devices involves all the three buses.

• The command to access the memory or the I/O device is carried by the control bus.
• The address of I/O device or memory is carried by the address bus.
• The data to be transferred is carried by the data bus.

2.2.3.4 Output hardware

Output unit consists of devices with the help of which we get the information from computer. This
unit is a link between computer and users. Output devices translate the computer's output into the
form understandable by users. An output unit of a computer System performs the following
functions:

➢ It accepts the results produced by the computer, which are in coded form and
hence, cannot be easily understood by human beings
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➢ It converts theses coded results to human acceptable (readable) form

➢ It supplies the converted results to outside world

There are two forms of output:

a) Hardcopy – tangible or touchable output usually in printed form

b) Softcopy output- intangible usually presented as visual or audio form

Following are few of the important output devices, which are used in Computer Systems:
Monitors
• Graphic Plotter
• Printer

Monitors

Monitor commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the main output device of a computer. It forms
images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image
depends upon the number of the pixels.

There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors:

• Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)

• Flat-Panel Display

a) Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor

In the CRT, display is made up of small picture elements called pixels for short. The smaller the pixels, the
better the image clarity or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form whole character, such
as the letter 'e' in the word help.

A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at once. The screen can be divided into a series
of character boxes - fixed location on the screen where a standard character can be placed.

Most screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically.
There are some disadvantages of CRT:

• Large in Size
• High power consumption
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Figure 2.17: Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor

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Flat-Panel Display Monitor

The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight and power
requirement compared to the CRT. You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses
for flat-panel displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, graphics display.

The flat-panel display is divided into two categories:

• Emissive Displays - The emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy into
light. Examples are plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).
• Non-Emissive Displays - The Non-emissive displays use optical effects to convert
sunlight or light from some other source into graphics patterns. Example is LCD (Liquid-Crystal
Device)

Figure 2.18: Flat-Panel Display Monitor

Printer

Printer is the most important output device, which is used to print information on paper.

There are two types of printers:

• Impact Printers •
Non-Impact Printers

a) Impact Printers

The printers that print the characters by striking against the ribbon and onto the paper, are called
impact printers.

Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following:

• Very low consumable costs
• Impact printers are very noisy
• Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
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• There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image

These printers are of two types:

• Character printers
• Line printers

i. Character Printers

Character Printers are printers, which print one character at a time.

These are of further two types:

Dot Matrix Printer (DMP)

Daisy Wheel

Dot Matrix Printer

In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer because of their ease of printing
features and economical price. Each character printed is in form of pattern of Dot's and head consists of a
Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which comes out to form a character that is why it is called
Dot Matrix Printer.

Advantages
• Inexpensive
• Widely Used
• Other language characters can be printed
•
Disadvantages
• Slow Speed
• Poor Quality

Figure 2.19: Dot-Matrix Printer

Daisy Wheel
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Head is lying on a wheel and Pins corresponding to characters are like petals of Daisy (flower name) that
is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These printers are generally used for word-processing in offices
which require a few letters to be sent here and there with very nice quality representation.

Advantages
• More reliable than DMP's
• Better quality
• The fonts of character can be easily changed.

Disadvantages
• Slower than DMP's
• Noisy
• More expensive than DMP's

Figure 2.20: Daisy Wheel

ii. Line Printers

Line printers are printers, which print one line at a time.

Figure 2.21: Line Printer

These are of further two types:

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Drum Printer
Chain Printer
Drum Printer

This printer is like a drum in shape so it called drum printer. The surface of drum is divided into number
of tracks. Total tracks are equal to size of paper, i.e., for a paper width of 132 characters, Drum will have
132 tracks. A character set is embossed on track. The different character sets available in market are 48
character set, 64 and 96 characters set. One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum Printers are fast in
speed and prints between 300 to 2000 lines per minute.

Advantages
• Very high speed

Disadvantages
• Very expensive
• Characters fonts cannot be changed

Chain Printer

In this printer, chains of character sets are used so it called Chain Printers. A standard character
set may have 48, 64, 96 characters.

Advantages
• Character fonts can easily be changed.
• Different languages can be used with the same printer.

Disadvantages
• Noisy
• Do not have the ability to print any shape of characters.

b) 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, also called as Page
Printers.

These printers are of two types:

• Laser Printers
• Inkjet Printers

Characteristics of Non-impact Printers:

• Faster than impact printers.
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• They are not noisy.

• High quality.
• Support many fonts and different character size.
i. Laser Printers

These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed to form the
characters to be printed on a page.

Advantages
• Very high speed.
• Very high quality output.
• Gives good graphics quality.
• Supports many fonts and different character sizes.

Disadvantage
• Expensive.
• Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.

Figure 2.22: Laser Jet Printer

ii. Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new technology. They
print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers produce high quality
output with presentable features.

They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of printing
modes available. Color printing is also possible. Some models of Inkjet printers can produce
multiple copies of printing also.

Advantages
• High quality printing
• More reliable
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Disadvantages
• Expensive as cost per page is high
• Slow as compared to laser printer

Figure 2.23: Ink Jet Printer

Activity

In the computer lab/your surroundings, identify the various Input and Output devices
in use.

2.2.3.5 Storage hardware

Computer memory is used to store data and instructions. Computer memory is the storage space
in computer where data is to be processed and instructions required for processing are stored.
The memory is divided into large number of small parts. Each part is called cell. Each location
or cell has a unique address, which varies from zero to memory size minus one. For example, if
computer has 64k words, and then this memory unit has 64 * 1024=65536 memory location. The
address of these locations varies from 0 to 65535.

The storage Unit of a computer system holds (or stores) the following:
i. Data and instruction required for processing (received from input devices)
ii. Intermediate result of processing
iii. Final result of processing, before they are released to an output device

Types of Memory

• Cache Memory
• Primary Memory/Main Memory
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• Secondary Memory

a) Cache Memory

Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory, which can speed up CPU. It acts as
a buffer between the CPU and main memory.

It is used to hold those parts of data and program which are most frequently used by CPU. The
parts of data and programs are transferred from disk to cache memory by operating system, from
where CPU can access them.

Advantage
• Cache memory is faster than main memory.
• It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
• It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
• It stores data for temporary use.

Disadvantage
• Cache memory has limited capacity.
• It is very expensive.

b) Primary Memory (Main Memory)

Primary memory holds only those data and

instructions on which computer is currently
working. It has limited capacity and data gets lost
when power is switched off.

It is generally made up of semiconductor device.

These memories are not as fast as registers. The
data and instructions required to be processed
earlier reside in main memory. It is divided into
two subcategories RAM and ROM.

Characteristic of Main Memory

• These are semiconductor memories.
• It is known as main memory.
• Usually volatile memory.
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• Data is lost in case power is switched off.

• It is working memory of the computer.
• Faster than secondary memories.
• Relatively expensive
• A computer cannot run without primary memory (Used to hold running program
instructions, used to hold data, intermediate results, and results of ongoing processing
job(s))

Computer RAM

A RAM constitutes the internal memory of the CPU for storing data, program and program result.
It is read/write memory. It is called random access memory (RAM).

Since access time in RAM is independent of the address

to the word that is, each storage location inside the
memory is as easy to reach as other location & takes the
same amount of time. We can reach into the memory at
random & extremely fast but can also be quite
expensive.

RAM is volatile, i.e., data stored in it is lost when we

switch off the computer or if there is a power failure.

Hence, a backup uninterruptible power system (UPS) is often used with computers. RAM is small,
both in terms of its physical size and in the amount of data it can hold.

RAM is of two types:

• Static RAM (SRAM)
• Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

i. Static RAM (SRAM)

The word static indicates that the memory retains its contents as long as power remains applied.
However, data is lost when the power gets down due to volatile nature. SRAM chips use a
matrix of 6-transistors and no capacitors. Transistors do not require power to prevent leakage, so
SRAM need not have to be refreshed on a regular basis.

Because of the extra space in the matrix, SRAM uses more chips than DRAM for the same amount
of storage space, thus making the manufacturing costs higher.

Static RAM is used as cache memory needs to be very fast and small.
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Characteristics of the Static RAM:

• It has long data lifetime
• There is no need to refresh
• Faster
• Used as cache memory
• Large size
• Expensive
• High power consumption

ii. Dynamic RAM (DRAM)

DRAM, unlike SRAM, must be continually refreshed in order for it to maintain the data. This is
done by placing the memory on a refresh circuit that rewrites the data several hundred times per
second. DRAM is used for most system memory because it is cheap and small. All DRAMs are
made up of memory cells. These cells are composed of one capacitor and one transistor.

Characteristics of the Dynamic RAM:

• It has short data lifetime
• Need to refresh continuously
• Slower as compared to SRAM
• Used as RAM
• Lesser in size
• Less expensive
• Less power consumption

Computer - ROM

ROM stands for Read Only Memory. The memory from which we can only read but cannot write
on it. This type of memory is non-volatile. The information is stored permanently in such
memories during manufacture. A ROM stores such
instructions as are required to start computer when
electricity is first turned on, this operation is referred to as
bootstrap. ROM chip are not only used in the computer
but also in other electronic items like washing machine
and microwave oven.

Types of ROM
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i. MROM (Masked ROM)

The very first ROMs were hard-wired devices that contained a pre-programmed set of data or
instructions. These kinds of ROMs are known as masked ROMs. It is inexpensive ROM.

ii. PROM (Programmable Read only Memory)

PROM is read-only memory that can be modified only once by a user. The user buys a blank
PROM and enters the desired contents using a PROM programmer. Inside the PROM chip, there
are small fuses, which are burnt open during programming. It can be programmed only once and
is not erasable.

iii. EPROM (Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

The EPROM can be erased by exposing it to ultra-violet light for a duration of up to 40 minutes.
Usually, an EPROM eraser achieves this function. During programming, an electrical charge is
trapped in an insulated gate region. The charge is retained for more than ten years because the
charge has no leakage path. For erasing this charge, ultra-violet light is passed through a quartz
crystal window (lid). This exposure to ultra-violet light dissipates the charge. During normal use
the quartz lid is sealed with a sticker.

iv. EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

The EEPROM is programmed and erased electrically. It can be erased and reprogrammed about
ten thousand times. Both erasing and programming take about 4 to 10 ms (millisecond). In
EEPROM, any location can be selectively erased and programmed. EEPROMs can be erased
one byte at a time, rather than erasing the entire chip. Hence, the process of re-programming is
flexible but slow.

Advantages of ROM
• Non-volatile in nature
• These cannot be accidentally changed
• Cheaper than RAMs
• Easy to test
• More Reliable than RAMs
• These are static and do not require refreshing

c) Secondary Memory

This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. It is slower than main
memory. These are used for storing Data/Information permanently. There are several limitations
with primary storage:
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- Limited capacity because the cost per bit of storage is high

- Volatile- data stored is lost is lost when electric power is turned off or interrupted

CPU directly does not access these memories; instead they are accessed via input-output routines.
Contents of secondary memories are first transferred to main memory and then CPU can access it.
For example, disk, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.
Characteristics of Secondary Memory

• These are magnetic and optical memories.

• It is known as backup memory.
• It is non-volatile memory.
• Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off.
• It is used for storage of the data in the computer.
• Cheaper than primary storage
• Computer may run without secondary memory.
• Slower than primary memories.

Activity

Identify the processing speed, size of RAM and the capacity of a hard disk of any of
the computers you have used.

2.3 Summary

I/O Unit, CPU and Memory Unit are the main components of the computer.
Cache memory, primary memory and secondary memory constitute the memory
unit. Primary memory consists of RAM and ROM. The different components of
computer are connected with each other by a bus. A computer bus is of two types—
system bus and expansion bus. A system bus or expansion bus comprise of three kinds of buses—
data bus, address bus and control bus. Inside a computer cabinet, there is a motherboard, ports and
interfaces, expansion slots, ribbon cables, RAM memory chips, high storage disk drives, and,
processor
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2.4 Self-check Questions

1. Identify any two input and output devices (2 Marks).
2. Identify the components of a computer system (5 Marks)
3. Describe the functions of the Central Processing Unit (3 Marks)
4. Describe the different types of memory giving advantages and
disadvantages of each (10 Marks).