WIX1003 – COMPUTER SYSTEMS & ORGANIZATION

TUTORIAL 1

1. Briefly explain basic computer function and relate it to IPOS cycle.

A computer executes four basic functions: Input, processing, output and storage,
also known as the IPOS cycle.
Input: Input devices such as mouse or keyboard send data given by the user to the
CPU.
Processing: CPU receives and processes the data where various operations are
formed to manipulate the data to be computed into the desired outcome.
Input refers to the instruction or information given by the user to the computer. It
is then received by the central processing unit in the processing stage, where
various operations are formed to manipulate the data to be computed into the
desired outcome. The output is then generated into multiple forms, it can be
displayed through the screen or printed out on a paper. The computer then either
stores the data in built-in storage devices like solid-state drives and RAM, or
alternative storage such as thumb drives and CDs.

2. What is the difference between ROM and RAM?

RAM ROM
Requires electric energy to store data (Volatile) Not volatile
Not fixed Fixed
Data and instruction can be read and altered by Instruction is written by manufacturer in the
user factory
Temporary Permanent

3. Differentiate between data and information in computer context. Give one

example for each answer.

Data: Raw unorganized facts, numbers or symbol and doesn’t convey specific
meaning.
 Information: Processed, organized data to be utilized in understanding or
decision-making
Example: A sequence of numbers (3,5,6,9) is considered a data. An information
such as average can be obtained from the sequence, which is 5.75.

4. List the component inside the central processing unit. How do they work together
and interact with computer memory?

Central processing unit (CPU) consists of two parts; Control unit (CU) and
arithmetic logical unit (ALU). CU moves data from the memory to be registered
in ALU. The control is then given to ALU to perform suitable operations on the
data and execute the instruction. The control is returned to the control unit once
the instruction is executed. Memory or register holds the operation answer stored
by CU.

5. Explain how data is represented and how program is executed in computer.

Data is represented in binary numbers also known as bit, 1 or 0, which

equivalently represent the circuit condition (on and off) in a computer. The data
can also be represented in the form of byte, consisting of 8 bits.
A program is executed in a cycle where the CU inside the CPU fetches one
instruction and holds it in the memory, decodes the instruction and informing the
related device to take action, executes the task, then stores the data. These steps
can be serially (done one at a time) or parallelly processed (simultaneously
processed).
6. List the unit to measure the computer processing speed and briefly explain the
factor that can influence the speed.

Units: Megahertz (MHz) and Gigahertz (GHz)

Factors:
1. Microprocessor or clock speed: Determines the number of instructions
processed per second. Higher clock speed usually results in faster processing.
2. Bus line size: Larger bus width in a CPU transfers more data at a time and can
refer larger address which makes a computer faster, and more memory can be
used.
3. Cache: Bigger and quicker cache memory reduces the delays in CPU to access
frequently used data.
4. RISC: Usage of smaller instruction subsets can increase the speed of a
computer.

7. Picture a process on how data is searched in computer memory.

Each location in the memory has unique addresses, that is unchangeable.

However, the content inside the address might change. One address can hold only
one instruction or data at a time. The CPU accesses the memory by comparing the
content of the address with the data gained from the input.

8. What is meant by bus line and how the larger bus line is able to influence the
processing performance of a computer?

A bus line is a path which transfers electric signal & communicate within the bus
system, for instance to transfer data between CPU and memory. A larger bus line
allows more data to be transferred from CPU to the memory.
9. What is the difference between CISC and RISC technology?

CISC
Contains complex instruction sets to perform
various operations simultaneously.
Lower or non-pipelined due to the high number
of stages to be executed
Slower
RISC
Contains simplified instruction sets where each
instruction carries out a single operation.
Highly pipelined with fewer stages
Increased speed

10. What is meant by coding system? Give examples of their usage.

A coding system determines which bit group representing which character on the
keyboard to be perceived by the computer.

Examples:
1. ASCII
-uses 1 byte (8 bit)
-represents text characters as numeric values
-used in almost all PC and larger computer.
2. EBCDIC
-uses 1 byte (8 bit)
-less common in modern computing, mainly used on IBM
3. Unicode
-uses 2 bytes (16 bits)
-has 65536 combination or character
-supports character for all language in the world
-compatible with ASCII