Week 1

Summaries

Computer is an electronic device that operates under a set of instructions, stored in its memory.

There are 5 components of computer:

Input device: entering data and instructions. Example… Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone, scanner,
Touchpad Etc,.
Output device: hardware that conveys the instruction or data. Examples: Monitor, printer, speaker,
etc.
System Unit: Is CPU or processor. It is where the electronic part of the computer is.
Storage Device: hold data, info and instruction. Example, USB, Hard disk
Communication Device: helps computer to send and receive data. Wifi, Bluetooth etc.
Transferring from computer and devices to a transmission media and vice versa.
software or program tells the computer what tasks to perform and how to perform.

A software developer is someone who develops programs and apps

2 software we learned:
System software: Mac, IOS, Android, Windows
Application software: Any application on the device. Whatsapp, word, google etc

There are 2 kind of disk also

Hard Disk and SSD (Solid State Drive)

Hard Disk is older form of storage, it has mechanical components (mechanical spinning Disk) which
can easily end up malfunctioning in small time or even overtime.
SSD on the other hand is a modern version, it has a small chip which makes it function.

Communication technologies could be Email, Chat room, Instant messages, VoIP, Fax
Videoconference( Skype, Teams, Webex) etc.

Network is where all computers or devices are linked to each other.

Home Networks:
Connect to Internet
Share a single high speed internet connection
Share devices
Interact with other smart devices

Business Networks:
Facilitates communication
Share hardware
Share data, information and Software

Installing is setting up, whereas, Downloading is copying from one device to another.
Green computing is a new way of sustainability. This is where we try to use less electricity and reduce
the waste generated in the environment, when using computer.

Ways to do it could be:

Recycling
Donating computers
Extending life of computers

Technology is used everywhere, like education, Hospitals, Finance, Retail etc.

Week 2 – Summary

What is inside CPU?

The case protects the electronics of the computer.

Consists of Mother Board, Memory, processor, sound card, power supply etc.,

Laptop or Desktop both have same CPU. Mac might be slightly different.
Also they have the same CPU system, different size.

A motherboard is the main circuit board of a computer.

Has a piece of computer chip, with a semiconducting material, usually silicone, on which integrated
circuits are etched.

- Software under CMOS Battery is BIOS (Basic Input Output Software). It saves date and time
but also many other things I think?

Slots for adaptor cards is also called Expansion Slots.

CPU is in the processor Chip slot.

CPU or Processor interpret and carry out basic Instructions that operates a computer.

Whereas, a Multicore processor is a single chip with two or more separate processor cores.

Processor contains of two Units:

Control Unit and ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) CU
ALU
Control Unit directs and coordinates most of
the operations in computer.

ALU performs arithmetic, comparison and other operations.

 A processor has 4 basic operations:
-Fetch: what we input, it gets it from the memory.
-Decode: Then in the control Unit, it decodes (change it to binary) and then sends it to ALU
-Execute: In ALU it performs whatever task it needs to.
-Store: The result is then stored in the memory. (which we see)

The processor contains Memory Unit called Registers/ Temporary Memory Units, as it holds data
and instructions temporarily.

The processor has 4 memory Units

- Register
- Cache
- RAM
- Hard Disk

The processor likes to deal with the fastest memory unit. In case, if lets say the register is not fast
enough then the data will be sent to Cache and if that is not fast then Ram.

Register holds information of particular stuff. They are small and hold small amount of data. May
hold storage address, or any data such as bit sequence and individual characters.
Cache holds frequently used data which is why it is fast.

Ram pretty much stores everything and will even hold it if you close the app. However if you restart
the device it will be gone… I think.

System Clock controls the timing of the processor.

The pace of it is called Clock Speed, and its measured in GHz (Gigahertz)

A processor chip generates heat, which could cause the chip to malfunction or fail.
Few ways to handle it is:
- Heat Sinks
- Liquid Cooling Technology
- Cooling pads

The cooling sinks are below the heat sink fan. Which is placed on the Processor. When the fan blows
inside, the aluminium pad cool down. The purpose of the fan is to cool down the aluminium pads
which are actually absorbing the heat and not the processor itself. This is why the fan blows inside
not outside.
There is a different fan for the outside.

Data Representation

Analog signals, are continuous and vary in strength and quality

Example of an Analog still in use is heart monitor.

Digital Signals are in of two states: On or Off.

- Most computers are digital
- The binary system uses two unique digits (0 and 1)
 o Bits and Bytes (1 Byte = 8 Bits)
o Where 0 is OFF and 1 is ON.

Binary Digits to learn

0
1
10
11
100
101
110
111

When writing a binary digit for alphabets we will keep 01000 the same in the beginning. The last 3
digits are what will be changed.
For example:

E – 01000101
So
F – 01000110 and just like that G will be 01000111 and so on

BTW ASCI (US Standard) method is used for the binary digit . just for reference.

Memory consists of electronic component that stores instructions waiting to be executed by the
processor, data needed by the instructions and the results of processing the data.
Three basic categories are:
- Operating system and other programs
- Applications
- Data being processed and resulting information

Each byte resides temporarily in a location in memory that has an address,

Memory size is commonly measured in Gigabytes (GB).

1TB = 1024GB
1024GB = 1024MB
1024MB = 1024KB
1024KB = 1024 something byte
1 Byte = 8 Bits

Computer and Mobiles have 2 types of memory:

1) Volatile Memory
o Loses content when power is turned off
o Example, RAM (Random Access Memory)
2) Non-Volatile Memory
o Does Not lose content when power is removed.
 o Example, ROM (Read Only Memory), Flash Memory and CMOS (Complimentary
Metal Oxide Semiconductor)

Now Memory categories:

1) RAM chip usually is in Memory module and inserted in Memory slots.
2) Cache speeds up the process, as it usually stores frequently used instructions and data.
3) ROM stores permanent data and instructions (Firmware – embedded already in hardware
like the Windows logo when starting computer)
4) Flash Memory can be erased electronically and written. Like CMOS which retains information
because of the battery power or else when turned off it would all be gone.

Access Time is the amount of time it takes the processor to read from memory.
Usually measured in Nanoseconds.