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COMPUTER APPLICATIONS THE CPU AND MEMORY COM 6 THE SYSTEM UNIT Common Components Processor (CPU) Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer Memory module Houses the memory that temporarily holds data and instructions while they are being processed by the CPU
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COMPUTER APPLICATIONS THE CPU AND MEMORY COM 6
THE SYSTEM UNIT Common Components • Processor (CPU) • Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer • Memory module • Houses the memory that temporarily holds data and instructions while they are being processed by the CPU • Expansion cards • Circuit board that adds devices or capabilities • Ex. Sound, modem, and video cards • Ports • Connectors
Ports & Connectors Processor Sound, Modem, & Video Cards Memory Module
THE SYSTEM UNIT • The Motherboard (aka System Board) • Contains many of the electronic components • Chips • A small piece of semiconducting material on which one or more integrated circuits are etched • (1) of the most important chips: CPU
Motherboard Chips
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • CPU (processor) • Interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer • Microprocessor - contains the CPU on a single chip in a PC • Ex. Pentium, Celeron, Athlon
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • The Control Unit • A component of the CPU that directs and coordinates most of the operations in the computer • (4) Steps in Machine Cycle(aka Instruction Cycle) • Fetch - get the next instruction or data item from memory • Decode - translate the instruction • Execute - carry out the command • Store - write the result to memory • Speed - # of instructions processed per second • Measured in MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) • Refers to CPU speed only
Most of the devices connected to the computer communicate with the CPU in order to carry out a task. The arrows in this figure represent the flow of data, instructions, and information.
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • The Arithmetic/Logic Unit (aka ALU) • Performs the execution part of the machine cycle: • Arithmetic Operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) • Comparison Operations (greater than, equal to, less than) • Logical Operations (AND, OR, NOT)
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Pipelining • The CPU begins execution of a second instruction before the first instruction is completed • Results in faster processing because the CPU does not have to wait for (1) instruction to complete the machine cycle before fetching the next • See Next Slide…
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Registers • Temporary storage locations used by the CPU • Holds data and instructions • Many types • Storing location of where instruction was fetched • Storing an instruction while it is being decoded • Storing data while the ALU processes it • Storing the results of a calculation
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • The System Clock • Synchronizes all computer operations • Each tick is called a clock cycle • Faster clock means more instructions the CPU can execute each second • Speed measured in • Megahertz (MHz) = 1 million ticks of the system clock • Gigahertz (GHz) = 1 billion ticks of the system clock • Ex. 600 MHz has 600 million clock cycles per second • Speed ONLY affects the CPU & not the peripherals
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Microprocessor Comparison • Intel Pentium • Intel Celeron – for less expensive PCs • AMD (Intel-compatible) • Motorola PowerPC – found in Apple computers • Alpha – used primarily in workstations & high-end servers
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Microprocessor Comparison • Types of Intel processors: • Xeon • Pentium II with MMX • MMX allows the computer to manipulate and process multimedia data more efficiently • Celeron **Higher clock speed means faster processor and costs more $$ • See next slide for comparisons
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Processor Installation and Upgrades • Processor chips – inserted on motherboard • Zero-insertion force (ZIF) sockets – facilitate the installation & removal of processor chips • Upgrades: • Chip for chip – replace existing chip with a new one • Piggyback – new chip is stacked on top of the old one • Daughterboard – new chip is located on the daughterboard (small circuit board that plugs into the motherboard to add additional capabilities)
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Heat Sinks and Heat Pipes • Heat sink • Small ceramic or metal component with fins on its surface that is designed to absorb and ventilate heat produced by electrical components • Heat pipe • Like a heat sink, but used in laptops because there isn’t as much room as in a PC
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Coprocessors • Increases computer performance • Special processor chip or circuit board designed to assist the processor in performing specific tasks • Floating-point coprocessor (aka math or numeric coprocessors) • Beneficial in engineering, scientific, or graphics applications
CPU AND MICROPROCESSOR • Parallel Processing • Using multiple processors simultaneously to execute a program • Speeds execution of the problem • Requires special software designed to recognize how to divide up the problem and then bring the results back together again • Ex. Supercomputers use it for weather forecasting
Parallel processing divides up a problem so that multiple processors work on their assigned portion of a problem at the same time.
DATA REPRESENTATION • Analog (human speech) vs. Digital • Digital • Only understand two states (On and Off) • Binary number system • Combination of ones and zeroes represent characters • Bit – smallest unit of data a computer can handle; is each on or off digital value • 8 bits = 1 byte
DATA REPRESENTATION • ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)vs. EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code) • Both are sufficient for English and Western European languages • Unicode often used for other languages • Sending a character from the keyboard to the computer - Press key on keyboard computer converts it to binary & stores it after processing, converts binary code back to an image image displayed on screen
MEMORY • Used to store data, instructions, and information • Stores (3) basic items: • The operating system and other system software • Application programs • Data being processed by application programs • Bytes – the basic storage unit • Are stored at specific locations or addresses
Seats in a stadium are like addresses in memory… • Both: • Hold only (1) person/byte at a time • Can be empty • Have a unique identifying number
MEMORY • Size of memory is measured by the number of bytes available • Kilobyte (KB or K) - 1,024 bytes • Megabyte (MB) - one million bytes • Two memory types: • Volatile - contents lost when power is off; ex. RAM • Nonvolatile - not lost when power is off; ex. ROM
MEMORY • RAM (Random Access Memory) • Are the memory chips in the system unit • When the computer starts, operating system files are loaded from a hard disk into RAM • Information stays in RAM while computer is running • RAM Types: • Dynamic RAM (DRAM) • Must be re-energized constantly or it loses its contents • Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) – much faster than DRAM because it’s synchronized to the system clock • Static RAM (SRAM) • Faster and more reliable than any DRAM • Doesn’t have to be re-energized as often as DRAM • More expensive than DRAM
MEMORY • RAM Chips • Smaller in size than processor chips • Packaged on circuit boards called single inline memory modules (SIMMs) or dual inline memory modules (DIMMs) • Found on the motherboard
MEMORY • Configuring RAM • The more RAM, the more programs and files a computer can work on at once • Software usually tells you how much RAM is required • Amount of RAM needed depends on what type of work the computer is used for • Amount of RAM determines how many programs & how much data a computer can handle
MEMORY • Cache • Helps speed the processing time of the computer by storing frequently used instructions and data • Most modern computers have two types of cache: • Level 1 - small capacity (8-64KB); built into processor chip • Level 2 - larger capacity (64KB-2MB), but slower; not part of the processor chip • When the processor needs an instruction, it searches memory in this order: • L1 Cache L2 cache RAM
More Cache = More Speed L2 Cache
MEMORY • ROM (Read-only memory) • Cannot be modified • Contents not lost when the computer is turned off (Nonvolatile memory) • Contain data, instructions, or information that is recorded permanently • Programmable read-only memory (PROM) – program once and then it’s permanently on the chip • Flash Memory – can be erased and re-programmed
MEMORY • CMOS • Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor • Another type of memory chip in the system unit • Stores configuration information about the computer such as type of disk drives, keyboard, and monitor • Uses a battery to retain the information when the computer is turned off • Keeps the calendar, date, and time current when computer is off • Information can be changed – unlike ROM
MEMORY • Memory Access Times • Access Time - Speed at which the processor can access data from memory directly • Measured in fractions of a second • Measured in nanoseconds (ns) which is one billionth of a second Ten million operations in one blink