Chapter 4

Digital Computers
From research and development to
marketing and management
The computer revolution no sign of
slowing
The power of computers :
Capacity to store, display, ability to process

4.1 Trends in computer

development
4.1.1 What is a computer?
A computer is a device that can receive and
store a set of instructions and then carry out
those instructions to process data.
Receive, stores, and executes instructions

Black box
CPU
(central processing
unit)

input

output
Memory (data & Instructions)

 4.1.2 Analog Vs Digital Computers

Analog quantitiesvary continuously
Digital quantitiesa set of discrete values
Analog Computers: electronics circuits or
mechanical devicessimulate the behavior
of a system
Digital Computers: process the data in the form of
numbers
4.1.3 Evolution of Digital Computers
Main frame, minicomputer, personal computer

4.2 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF

DIGITAL METHODS
4.2.1 Number Systemsbinary (2):0, 1;
octal (8):0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; hexadecimal
(16):0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D,
E, F.
Decimal (10): 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

4.2.2 Representation of Information in Digital Form

1 kilobytes = 1024x8 bits

Integer mode, 16 bit

Floating point Representation, 32 bit
Mantissa (23), exponent (7), sign of
mantissa (1) & sign of exponent (1)
Logical Information, Boolean
variables(and, or, not)
Character or String dataASCII code

2n

4.2.3 Digital Signals

0, 1 (binary) 2 n
Potential freedom from the effects of
extraneous noise
Analog ADC Digital
4.2.4 Binary Logic
Not, and, or gates

4.3 DIGITAL COMPUTER

HARDWARE
CPU
Control unit
Arithmatic and logic unit

Input

Memory
RAM & ROM

Output

THE BASIC PARTS

THE MOTHERBOARD
THE BASICS

THE MOTHERBOARD - A
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

INPUT DEVICES

OUTPUT DEVICES

4.4 COMPUTER SOFTWARE

HIGHER LEVEL PROGRAMING LANGUAGES
ALGOL, BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, LISP, etc.

Assembly Language
FETCH F9C6, MPY FE41, STORE CO2O

Machine language (BINARY FORM)

4.4.3 Operating system

Unix
Window
Etc.
To control and monitor the use of
computers.

4.4.5 Programming
Algorithm
Flow chart