FIT - Student Manual - Chapter 5 (Asa-Kav)

©2020-2021 e-Learning Centre, UCSC
1. Introduction
In a world of telecommunication and data, it is important to have basic knowledge on how devices
communicate with each other, how storing, representing and processing the data done inside a
computer and how to do basic boolean arithmetics. This chapter discusses the above mentioned topics
briefly.
2. Data communication devices
Transferring of data between two or more devices can be known as data communication. Some of the
important terms used in data communication are
● Modem
● Broadband Connections
● Wireless Networks
2.1. Modem
In standard telephone service, a telephone converts the sound of your voice into an electrical signal that
is transmitted through telephone wires. The telephone at the other end converts this electric signal back
into sound so that the person you are talking to can hear your voice. Both the sound wave and the
telephone signals are analog signals. They vary continuously with the volume and the pitch of the
speakers’ voice.
A computer’s “voice” is digital; i.e. it consists of on/off pulses representing 1s and 0s. A device called a
modem is needed to translate these digital signals into analog signals that can travel over standard
telephone lines.
Name modem is derived from “modulator-demodulator”, which describes the functionality of the
device. In its modulation phase, the modem converts the computer’s digital signals into analog signs,
which are then transmitted across the phone line. In its demodulation phase, the modem converts
received analog signals into digital signals.
https://www.scienceabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Modulation-demodulation-computer-mode
m-digital-analog-signal-network.jpg
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There are three major types of modems. Namely,
● External modems
● Internal modems
● Fax modems
2.1.1. External modem
An external modem is a device that houses the modem's circuitry outside the computer. it connects to
the computer using a USB port (or alternatively a Serial port or FireWire port) and then connects to the
telephone system with a standard telephone jack.
An external modem (By © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50581041)
2.1.2. Internal Modem
An internal modem is a circuit board that plugs into one of the computer’s expansion slots. It saves
desktop space but occupies an expansion slot. Modems also come in the form of a PC Card for use with
laptop computers and with newer models, are likely to be built into the laptop appearing as a port in one
of the sides. Some use standard telephone lines, but others include cellular phone connectivity, which
enables completely wireless transmissions.
2
An internal modem
By Douglas Whitaker at English Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1129367
2.2. Broadband Connections
The term “broadband” is used to describe any data connection that can transmit data faster than a
standard dial-up connection using a modem. Some examples of broadband connections are
● ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

● T1
● T3
● DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
● ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
To get an understanding of the increments in bandwidth, you need to know that a basic rate ISDN
connection combines two 64 kbps data channels and one 19 kbps error-checking channel. A typical dial
up connection could transmit a maximum of 56 kbps.
2.3. Wireless Networks
Wireless technology allows connectivity so that portable and handheld devices can move around while
being continuously connected to a network.
2.3.1. Wireless 802.11
The wireless standard that is becoming very popular follows the family specifications called 802.11
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11) or WiFi. The 802.11g standard describes specifications for
wireless LANs that provide 20+ Mbps connection speeds.
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2.3.2. Wireless Access Point (WAP)
To create a wireless LAN, a wireless access point is needed. It is a networking hardware device that
allows other wireless devices to connect to a wired network. In a wireless network, a single device or
multiple devices can connect through a single Wireless Access Point. In larger wireless networks,
multiple wireless devices can roam through different access points and stay on the same network
domain with the same level of security.
Cisco Aironet wireless access point
By Xosema - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60636184
2.3.3. Wireless Adapter
A PC or laptop needs a wireless adapter card (also known as a wireless NIC) that meets 802.11b or
802.11g standards to make a connection with the WAP. Many wireless NICs come with utility software
that allows you to monitor signal strength and download speeds.
A Wireless network interface card with a USB interface and internal antenna
By Marcus Wong Wongm - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

4
A WiFi NIC
By © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 4.0,

3. Data Representation in a Computer System
This section discusses how the data are represented within a computer system. To a computer,
everything is a number. Everything including numbers, letters, punctuation marks, images, video,
software are represented as numbers in a computer. All these data are represented by a collection of
electronic switches with different combinations of states.
A switch has only two possible states; on and off. Therefore a switch can represent two numeric values. If
the switch is off, it can be represented as 0 and if it is on, it can be represented as 1.
3.1. Bits and Bytes
A bit is the smallest possible unit of data a computer can represent. The computer uses bitsin groups to
represent data. A group of 8 bits is called a byte. Half of a byte (4 bits) is called a nibble. With 1 byte, the
computer can represent 256 different symbols or characters as the 8 1s or 0s in a byte can be combined
in 256 different ways.
- 1 bit
8 bits 1 byte
1024 bytes 1 kilobyte
1024 kilobytes 1 Megabyte
1024 Megabytes 1 Gigabytes
1024 Gigabytes 1 Terabyte
1024 Terabytes 1 Petabyte
1024 Petabytes 1 Exabyte
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Note : Even though we use kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte etc. in everyday life, the correct usage is
kibibyte, mebibyte,gibibyte etc. Further information can be found in NIST web site
(https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html)
4. How computer process data
A computer needs to process the data given to show the user useful information. Processing is done by
the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer.
4.1. CPU
The CPU is the “brain” of the computer, the place where data is processed and manipulated. In large
computer systems, such as supercomputers and mainframes, processing tasks may be handled by
multiple processing chips. In an average computer, the entire CPU is a single unit called a microprocessor.
Regardless of its construction, every CPU has at least two basic parts, namely
● the control unit

● the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)
4.2. The Control Unit
All the computer’s resources are managed by the control unit. It works as a traffic signal, directing the
flow of data through the CPU, as well as to and from other devices. The CPU’s instructions for carrying
out commands are built into the control unit. The instructions (the instruction set) list all the operations
that the CPU can perform.
4.3. The Arithmetic and Logic Unit
All computer data is stored as numbers, and much of the processing that takes place involves comparing
numbers or carrying out mathematical operations. In addition to establishing ordered sequences and
changing those sequences, the computer can perform two types of operations; namely,
● Arithmetic operations
● Logical operation
Arithmetic operations include addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Logical operations
include comparisons, such as determining whether one number is equal to, greater than, or less than
another number. The ALU performs these arithmetic and logical operations.
5. Character representation
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Early programmers realized that they needed a standard text code that was agreeable to all of them. In
such a system, numbers would represent the letters of the alphabet, punctuation marks and other
symbols. This standard code system would enable any programmer or program to use the same
combination of numbers to represent the same individual pieces of data.
The 4 most popular text code systems invented are
● EBCDIC
● ASCII
● Extended ASCII
● Unicode
5.1. EBCDIC
EBCDIC stands for Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. It is an eight bit code that defines
256 symbols. It is still used in IBM mainframe and midrange systems, but rarely encountered in personal
computers.
A EBCDIC Code page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBCDIC
5.2. ASCII
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ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It was developed from telegraph
code. ASCII encodes 128 specified characters into seven-bit integers. 95 of the encoded characters are
printable: these include the digits 0 to 9, lowercase letters a to z, uppercase letters A to Z, and
punctuation symbols. It also contains 33 non printable control codes.
US-ASCII Code Chart
By an unknown officer or employee of the United States Government -

http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/GE/GE.TermiNet300.1971.102646207.pdf (document
not in link given), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63485656
5.3. Extended ASCII
Extended ASCII is an eight-bit code that specifies characters from 128 to 255 (in addition to characters in
ASCII). The first 40 symbols represent pronunciation and special punctuations while remaining symbols
are graphic symbols.
8
Output of the program ascii in Cygwin
By I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: - screenshot + gimp
composition, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1581324
5.4. Unicode
With four bytes, enough Unicode codes can be created to represent more than 4 billion different
characters or symbols. One major advantage that Unicode has over other text code systems is its
compatibility with ASCII codes.
9
https://home.unicode.org/
6. Basic Arithmetic and Logic Operations
As described in section 4, the Arithmetic and Logic Unit is a major component of the central processing
unit of the computer system. Different operations carried out by the ALU can be categorized as follows.
● Logical Operations
Operations like AND, OR, NOT, XOR, NOR, NAND etc.
● Bit-Shifting Operations
This refers to shifting the position of the bits by a certain number of places either
towards the right or left, which is considered multiplication or division operations.
● Arithmetic Operations
This refers to bit addition and subtraction. Although multiplication and division are
sometimes used, they are more expensive to make. Multiplication and division can also be done by
repetitive additions and subtractions respectively.
7. Logic Gates and Boolean Functions
Circuits which enable building of certain logical conditions using binary values and enable making certain
decisions are called logic circuits. It is an electrical circuit that has one or more input and only one
output. There are 2 types of logic gates, namely
● Basic Logic Gates

● Combinational Logic Gates
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7.1. Basic Logic Gates
There are 3 types of basic logic gates. Namely,
● AND gate
● OR gate
● NOT gate
AND Gate
OR Gate
NOT Gate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_gate
7.1.1. AND Gate
The output signal from an AND gate is True if and only if both input signals are True. Otherwise the
output signal is False.
Example
11
Here, the two switches A and B, the bulb Q and the battery are connected in series. Only when both
switches, A and B are closed, the bulb will be switched on. The bulb Q will not be switched on when
either switch A or B is open.
The Truth Table for the AND gate is as below.
A B Q
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
Q=1, only when both A and B inputs are in the “1” state. Q=0, when either inputs are in the “0” state. In
boolean expressions the and gate is represented as “A.B” .
7.1.2. OR Gate
The output signal from an OR gate is True if either or both input signals are True. The output signal from
an OR gate is False if and only if both input signals are False.
Example
12
Here, two switches A and B are connected to the circuit in parallel. The bulb Q of this circuit will be on
when either A or B switch or both A and B switches are closed.
The Truth Table for the OR gate is as below.
A B Q
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1
Q= 0, only when both A and B inputs are in the “0” state. Q=1, when either inputs or both are in the “1”
state. In boolean expressions OR gate is represented as “A+B”.
7.1.3. NOT Gate
The output signal from a NOT gate is True, if and only if the input signal is False, and the output signal
from a NOT gate is False, if and only if the input signal is True.
Example
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Truth Table for the NOT Gate
A Q
0 1
1 0
Here Q is the complement of A. In boolean expression NOT gate is represented as Ā or A’
7.2. Combinational and Universal Logic Gates
A combinational logic gate is a logic gate that is a combination of basic logic gates. A universal logic gate
is a logic gate that can be combined to reproduce the functionality of all the other logic gates.
7.2.1. NOR Gate
The logic gate which indicates NOT OR is known as the NOR gate. (Complement operation of the OR
operation). The concept of the NOR gate is the combination of OR and NOT gates to get the output from
NOT after leading the output to NOT from OR gate.
The Truth Table for NOR gate is as follows.
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A B Q
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0
When the both inputs of the NOR logic gate is 0, the output is 1 else the output is 0. In a NOR logic gate
with more than 2 inputs, when all those inputs are 0, output is 1 otherwise it is 0. In boolean expression
NOR gate is represented as or (A+B)’.
7.2.2. NAND Gate
The logic gate which indicates NOT AND is called the NAND gate. (Complement operation of the AND
operation). The basic idea of the NOR gate is the combination of AND and NOT gate to get the output
from NOT after leading the output to NOT from AND gate.
The truth table for the NAND gate is as follows.
A B Q
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
When both (or all) inputs of a NAND gate are 1, the output is 0 otherwise it is 1. In boolean expression
NAND gate is represented as or (A.B)’.
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7.3. Boolean Algebra
Boolean Algebra is a form of mathematical algebra that is used in digital electronics. The main aim of any
logic design is to simplify the logic as much as possible so that the final implementation will be easy. To
simplify the boolean equations and expressions, there are some laws and theorems.
7.3.1. Annulment Law

● A.0 = 1
● A +1 = 1
● Result is fixed irrespective of the value of A
7.3.2. Identity Law
● A.1 = A
● A+0=A
● Result is identical to A
7.3.3. Idempotent Law
● A.A = A
● A+A=A
● Result is identical to A
7.3.4. Complement Law
● A.A’ = 0
● A + A’ = 1
● Result is fixed irrespective of the value of A
7.3.5. Commutative Law
● A.B = B.A
● A+B=B+A
● Can interchange the terms without affecting the result
7.3.6. Double Negation Law
● A’’ = A
7.3.7. Distributive Law
● A(B+C) = A.B + A.C
● A +(B.C) = (A + B).(A + C)
● Can expand terms
7.3.8. Redundancy Law (Absorption Law)
● A + A.B = A
● A(A+B) = A
● Result is independent of the value of B
7.3.9. De Morgan’s Law (De Morgan’s Theorem)
● (A.B)’ = A’ + B’
● (A+B)’ = A’.B’
7.3.10. Associative Law
● (A+B) + C = A + (B+C)
● (A.B).C = A.(B.C)
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7.4. Boolean Expressions
Boolean algebra deals with binary variables and logic operations. Boolean expressions/functions consist
of binary variables, the constants 0 and 1 and the logic operation symbols.
7.4.1. Truth table formation
For example consider the following switching equation.
F(A,B,C) = A + B.C
Here, F(A,B,C) will become 1, if either A = 1 or B.C =1 or both are 1. The number of rows in the truth
table is 2n where n is the number of input variables. In the above example, there are 2 input variables,
namely, A,B and C. Therefore there are 23 (=8) possible input combinations.
Truth table for the above expression is as follows.
A B C B.C F(A,B,C) = A +B.C
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 0
0 1 1 1 1
1 0 0 0 1
1 0 1 0 1
1 1 0 0 1
1 1 1 1 1
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References
Basics of Logic Design: Boolean Algebra, Logic Gates by Andrew Hilton.
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_logical_organization/boolean_algebra.htm
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_logical_organization/logic_gates.htm
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_logical_organization/boolean_function.htm
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2. Data communication devices

2.1.1. External modem

2.1.2. Internal Modem

By Douglas Whitaker at English Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5,

2.2. Broadband Connections

● ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

2.3. Wireless Networks

2.3.1. Wireless 802.11

Cisco Aironet wireless access point

By Xosema - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60636184

2.3.3. Wireless Adapter

By Marcus Wong Wongm - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

By © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 4.0,

3. Data Representation in a Computer System

3.1. Bits and Bytes

1024 bytes 1 kilobyte

1024 kilobytes 1 Megabyte

1024 Megabytes 1 Gigabytes

1024 Gigabytes 1 Terabyte

1024 Terabytes 1 Petabyte

1024 Petabytes 1 Exabyte

4. How computer process data

● the control unit

4.2. The Control Unit

4.3. The Arithmetic and Logic Unit

The 4 most popular text code systems invented are

A EBCDIC Code page

US-ASCII Code Chart

By an unknown officer or employee of the United States Government -

5.3. Extended ASCII

6. Basic Arithmetic and Logic Operations

Operations like AND, OR, NOT, XOR, NOR, NAND etc.

7. Logic Gates and Boolean Functions

● Basic Logic Gates

There are 3 types of basic logic gates. Namely,

7.1.1. AND Gate

The Truth Table for the AND gate is as below.

The Truth Table for the OR gate is as below.

7.1.3. NOT Gate

Here Q is the complement of A. In boolean expression NOT gate is represented as Ā or A’

7.2. Combinational and Universal Logic Gates

7.2.1. NOR Gate

The Truth Table for NOR gate is as follows.

7.2.2. NAND Gate

The truth table for the NAND gate is as follows.

7.3.1. Annulment Law

7.4.1. Truth table formation

For example consider the following switching equation.

Truth table for the above expression is as follows.

A B C B.C F(A,B,C) = A +B.C

Basics of Logic Design: Boolean Algebra, Logic Gates by Andrew Hilton.

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