2 THE COMPUTER SYSTEM HARDWARE

Why this chapter

The computer as a machine consists of different components that interact with each other to
provide the desired functionality of the computer. As a user of the computer, we need to be aware
of the main components of the computer, their functions and the interconnection between the
different components of the computer. This chapter describes the different hardware components
of the computer.

2.1 INTRODUCTION

When we talk of computer hardware, the three related terms that require introduction are —
computer architecture, computer organization and computer design. Computer architecture refers
to the structure and behavior of the computer. It includes the specifications of the components, for
example, instruction format, instruction set and techniques for addressing memory, and how they
connect to the other components. Given the components, computer organization focuses on the
organizational structure. It deals with how the hardware components operate and the way they are
connected to form the computer. Given the system specifications, computer design focuses on the
hardware to be used and the interconnection of parts. Different kinds of computer, such as a PC or
a mainframe computer may have different organization; however, basic organization of the
computer remains the same.

A computer consists of three main components—(1) Input/Output (I/O) Unit, (2) Central
Processing Unit (CPU), and (3) Memory Unit. The computer user interacts with the computer via
the I/O unit. The purpose of I/O unit is to provide data and instructions as input to the computer
and to present relevant information as output from the computer. CPU controls the operations of
the computer and processes the received input to generate the relevant output. The memory unit
stores the instructions and the data during the input activity, to make instructions readily available
to CPU during processing. It also stores the processed output. This chapter discusses the hardware
components of the computer and the interaction between them.

2.2 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT

Central Processing Unit (CPU) or the processor is also often called the brain of computer. CPU
(Figure 2.1) consists of Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and Control Unit (CU). Depending on the
number of cores of the processor, the computer’s CPU may have multiple ALUs, CUs and
several registers. CPUs have sets of registers which are temporary storage areas for holding data,
and instructions. ALU performs the arithmetic and logic operations on the data that is made
available to it. CU is responsible for organizing the processing of data and instructions. CU
controls and coordinates the activity of the other units of computer. CPU uses the registers to
store the data, instructions during processing.

CPU executes the stored program instructions, i.e. instructions and data are stored in memory
before execution. For processing, CPU gets data and instructions from the memory. It interprets
the program instructions and performs the arithmetic and logic operations required for the
processing of data. Then, it sends the processed data or results to the memory. CPU also acts as an
administrator and is responsible for supervising the operations of other parts of the computer.

The CPU is fabricated as a single Integrated Circuit (IC) chip and is also known as the
microprocessor. The microprocessor is plugged into the motherboard of the computer (a
Motherboard is a circuit board that has an electronic circuit etched on it and connects the
microprocessor with the other hardware components).

Figure 2.1 CPU

2.2.1 Arithmetic Logic Unit

• ALU consists of two units—an arithmetic unit and a logic unit.

• The arithmetic unit performs arithmetic operations on the data that is made available to it.
Some of the arithmetic operations supported by the arithmetic unit are—addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division.
• The logic unit of ALU is responsible for performing logic operations. The logic unit performs
comparisons of numbers, letters, and special characters. Logic operations include testing for
greater than, less than, or equal to condition.
• ALU performs arithmetic and logic operations and uses registers to hold the data that is being
processed.

2.2.2 Registers.

• Registers are high-speed storage areas within the CPU but have the least storage capacity.
Registers are not referenced by their address but are directly accessed and manipulated by the
CPU during instruction execution.
• Registers store data, instructions, addresses, and intermediate results of processing. Registers
are often referred to as the CPU’s working memory.
• The data and instructions that require processing must be brought in the registers of CPU
before they can be processed. For example, if two numbers are to be added, both numbers are
brought into the registers, added and the result is also placed in a register.
• Registers are used for different purposes, with each register serving a specific purpose.
Some of the important registers in CPU (Figure 2.2) are as follows—
o Accumulator (ACC) stores the result of arithmetic and logic operations.
o Instruction Register (IR) contains the current instruction most recently fetched.
 o Program Counter (PC) contains the address of next instruction to be processed.
o Memory Address Register (MAR) contains the address of next location in the memory
to be accessed.
o Memory Buffer Register (MBR) temporarily stores data from memory or the data to
be sent to memory.
o Data Register (DR) stores the operands and any other data.

Figure 2.2 CPU registers.

• The number of registers and the size of each (number of bits) register in a CPU helps to
determine the power and the speed of a CPU.
• The overall number of registers can vary from about ten to many hundreds, depending on the
type and complexity of the processor.
• The size of the register, also called word size, indicates the amount of data with which the
computer can work at any given time. The bigger the size, the more quickly it can process data.
The size of a register may be 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits. For example, a 32–bit CPU is one in which
each register is 32 bits wide and its CPU can manipulate 32 bits of data at a time. Nowadays,
PCs have 32–bit or 64–bit registers to cater for general compatibility.
• 32-bit processor and 64-bit processor are the terms used to refer to the size of the registers. Other
factors remain the same, a 64-bit processor can process the data twice as fast as one with a 32-
bit processor.

2.2.3 Control Unit

• The control unit of a computer does not do any actual processing of data. It organizes the
processing of data and instructions. It acts as a supervisor and, controls and coordinates the
activity of the other units of the computer.
• CU coordinates the input and output devices of a computer. It directs the computer to carry out
stored program instructions by communicating with the ALU and the registers. CU uses the
instructions in the Instruction Register (IR) to decide which circuit needs to be activated. It
also instructs the ALU to perform the arithmetic or logic operations. When a program is run,
the Program Counter (PC) register keeps track of the program instruction to be executed next.
• CU tells when to fetch the data and instructions, what to do, where to store the results, the
sequencing of events during processing etc.
• CU also holds the CPU’s Instruction Set, which is a list of all operations that the CPU can
perform.
The function of a (CU) can be considered synonymous with that of a conductor of an orchestra.
The conductor in an orchestra does not perform any work by itself but manages the orchestra and
ensures that the members of orchestra work in proper coordination.

2.3 MEMORY UNIT.

The memory unit consists of cache memory and primary memory. Primary memory or main
memory of the computer is used to store the data and instructions during execution of the
instructions. Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory (ROM) are the primary
memory. In addition to the main memory, there is another kind of storage device known as the
secondary memory. Secondary memory is non-volatile and is used for permanent storage of data
and programs. A program or data that has to be executed is brought into the RAM from the
secondary memory.

2.3.1 Cache Memory

• The data and instructions that are required during the processing of data are brought from the
secondary storage devices and stored in the RAM. For processing, it is required that the data
and instructions are accessed from the RAM and stored in the registers. The time taken to move
the data between RAM and CPU registers is large. This affects the speed of processing of
computer, and results in decreasing the performance of CPU.
• Cache memory is a very high speed memory placed in between RAM and CPU. Cache memory
increases the speed of processing.
• Cache memory is a storage buffer that stores the data that is used more often, temporarily, and
makes them available to CPU at a fast rate. During processing, CPU first checks cache for the
required data. If data is not found in cache, then it looks in the RAM for data.
• To access the cache memory, CPU does not have to use the motherboard’s system bus for data
transfer. (The data transfer speed slows to the motherboard’s capability, when data is passed
through system bus. CPU can process data at a much faster rate by avoiding the system bus.)

Figure 2.3 Illustration of cache memory.

• Cache memory is built into the processor, and may also be located next to it on a separate chip
between the CPU and RAM. Cache built into the CPU is faster than separate cache, running at
the speed of the microprocessor itself. However, separate cache is roughly twice as fast as
RAM.
• The CPU has a built-in Level 1 (L1) cache and Level2 (L2) cache, as shown in Figure 2.3. In
addition to the built-in L1 and L2 cache, some CPUs have a separate cache chip on the
motherboard. This cache on the motherboard is called Level 3 (L3) cache. Nowadays, high-
end processor comes with built-in L3 cache, like in Intel core i7. The L1, L2 and L3 cache
 store the most recently run instructions, the next ones and the possible ones, respectively.
Typically, CPUs have cache size varying from 256KB (L1), 6 MB (L2), to 12MB (L3) cache.
• Cache memory is very expensive, so it is smaller in size. Generally, computers have cache
memory of sizes 256 KB to 2 MB.

2.3.2 Primary Memory.

• Primary memory is the main memory of computer. It is used to store data and instructions
during the processing of data. Primary memory is semiconductor memory.
• Primary memory is of two kinds—Random Access Memory (RAM) and Read Only Memory
(ROM).
• RAM is volatile. It stores data when the computer is on. The information stored in RAM gets
erased when the computer is turned off. RAM provides temporary storage for data and
instructions.
• ROM is non-volatile memory, but is a read only memory. The storage in ROM is permanent
in nature, and is used for storing standard processing programs that permanently reside in the
computer. ROM comes programmed by the manufacturer.
• RAM stores data and instructions during the execution of instructions. The data and
instructions that require processing are brought into the RAM from the storage devices
like hard disk. CPU accesses the data and the instructions from RAM, as it can access it at a
fast speed than the storage devices connected to the input and output unit (Figure 2.4).
• The input data that is entered using the input unit is stored in RAM, to be made available during
the processing of data. Similarly, the output data generated after processing is stored in RAM
before being sent to the output device. Any intermediate results generated during the
processing of program are stored in RAM.
• RAM provides a limited storage capacity, due to its high cost.

Figure 2.4 Interaction of CPU with memory

2.3.3 Secondary Memory

• The secondary memory stores data and instructions permanently. The information can be
stored in secondary memory for a long time (years), and is generally permanent in nature unless
erased by the user. It is a non-volatile memory.
• It provides back-up storage for data and instructions. Hard disk drive/SSD, floppy drive
,optical disk drives, Flash Drives, SD card drives are some examples of storage devices.
• The data and instructions that are currently not being used by CPU, but may be required later
for processing, are stored in secondary memory.
• Secondary memory has a high storage capacity than the primary memory.
• Secondary memory is also cheaper than the primary memory.
• It takes longer time to access the data and instructions stored in secondary memory than in
primary memory.

Magnetic tape drives, disk drives and optical disk drives are the different types of storage
devices.

2.4 INSTRUCTION FORMAT

A computer program is a set of instructions that describe the steps to be performed for carrying
out a computational task. The program and the data, on which the program operates, are stored in
main memory, waiting to be processed by the processor. This is also called the stored program
concept.
An instruction is designed to perform a task and is an elementary operation that the processor can
accomplish. An instruction is divided into groups called fields. The common fields of an
instruction are— Operation (op) code and Operand code (Figure 2.5). The remainder of the
instruction fields differs from one computer type to another. The operation code represents action
that the processor must execute. It tells the processor what basic operations to perform. The
operand code defines the parameters of the action and depends on the operation. It specifies the
locations of the data or the operand on which the operation is to be performed. It can be data or a
memory address.

Figure 2.5 Instruction format.

Figure 2.6 Instruction format for ADD command

The number of bits in an instruction varies according to the type of data (could be between 8 and
32 bits). Figure 2.6 shows the instruction format for ADD command.

2.5 INSTRUCTION SET.

A processor has a set of instructions that it understands, called as instruction set. An instruction set
or an instruction set architecture is a part of the computer architecture. It relates to programming,
instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, etc. An Instruction Set is the set of
all the basic operations that a processor can accomplish. Examples of some instructions are shown
in Figure 2.7. The instructions in the instruction set are the language that a processor understands.
All programs have to communicate with the processor using these instructions. An instruction in
the instruction set involves a series of logical operations (may be thousands) that are performed to
complete each task. The instruction set is embedded in the processor (hardwired), which
determines the machine language for the processor. All programs written in a high-level language
are compiled and translated into machine code before execution, which is understood by the
processor for which the program has been coded.

Figure 2.7 Examples of some instructions.

Two processors are different if they have different instruction sets. A program run on one computer
may not run on another computer having a different processor. This is the reason for compatibility
issues between Mac machines and other machines. Two processors are compatible if the same
machine level program can run on both the processors. Therefore, the system software is
developed within the processor’s instruction set.
Microarchitecture is the processor design technique used for implementing the Instruction Set.
Computers having different microarchitecture can have a common Instruction Set. Forexamp,e
Pentium and Athlon CPU chips implement the x86 instruction set, but have different internal
designs. Some commonly used microarchitectures in modern control processing units (CPUs)
include x86 (Intel® and AMD), ARM, PowerPC, and RISC-V.

2.6 INSTRUCTION CYCLE.

The primary responsibility of a computer processor is to execute a sequential set of instructions

that constitute a program. CPU executes each instruction in a series of steps, called the
instruction cycle (Figure 2.8).
• An instruction cycle involves four steps (Figure 2.9)—
o Fetching The processor fetches the instruction from the memory. The
fetched instruction is placed in the Instruction Register. Program Counter holds
the address of next instruction to be fetched and is incremented after each fetch.
o Decoding The instruction that is fetched is broken down into parts or
decoded.
The instruction is translated into commands so that they correspond to those in the CPU’s
instruction set. The instruction set architecture of the CPU defines the way in which an
instruction is decoded.
o Executing The decoded instruction or the command is executed. CPU performs
the operation implied by the program instruction. For example, if it is an ADD
instruction, addition is performed.
o Storing CPU writes back the results of execution, to the computer’s memory.
 Figure 2.8 Instruction cycle.

Figure 2.9 Steps in instruction cycle

• Instructions are of different categories. Some categories of instructions are—

o Memory access or transfer of data between registers.
o Arithmetic operations like addition and subtraction.
o Logic operations such as AND, OR and NOT. o Control the sequence,
conditional connections, etc.
A CPU performance is measured by the number of instructions it executes in a second, i.e., MIPS
(million instructions per second), or BIPS (billion instructions per second) and it is currently
tending to trillions of instructions per second.

2.7 MICROPROCESSOR.
A processor’s instruction set is a determining factor in its architecture. Based on the instruction
set, microprocessors are classified as—Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC), and Complex
Instruction Set Computer (CISC). The x86 instruction set of the original Intel 8086 processor is of
the CISC type. The PCs are based on the x86 instruction set.
• CISC architecture hardwires the processor with complex instructions, which are difficult
to create otherwise using basic instructions. CISC combines the different instructions into
one single CPU.
 o CISC has a large instruction set that includes simple and fast instructions for
performing basic tasks, as well as complex instructions that correspond to
statements in the high level language.
o An increased number of instructions (200 to 300) results in a much more complex
processor, requiring millions of transistors.
o Instructions are of variable lengths, using 8, 16 or 32 bits for storage. This results
in the processor’s time being spent calculating where each instruction begins and
ends.
o With a large number of application software programs being written for the
processor, a new processor has to be backward compatible with the older version
of processors.
o AMD and Cyrix are based on CISC.
• RISC has simple, single-cycle instructions, which performs only basic instructions. RISC
architecture does not have hardwired advanced functions. All high-level language support
is done in the software.
o RISC has fewer instructions and requires fewer transistors, which results in the
reduced manufacturing cost of processor.
o The instruction size is fixed (32 bits). The processor need not spend time in finding
out where each instruction begins and ends.
o RISC architecture has a reduced production cost compared to CISC processors. o
The instructions, simple in nature, are executed in just one clock cycle, which
speeds up the program execution when compared to CISC processors. o RISC
processors can handle multiple instructions simultaneously by processing them in
parallel.
o Apple Mac G3 and PowerPC are based on RISC.

Processors like Intel's x86-64 architecture and ARM's Cortex-A series use a hybrid of both
technologies.
Pipelining improves instruction execution speed by putting the execution steps into parallel. A
CPU can receive a single instruction, begin executing it, and receive another instruction before it
has completed the first. This allows for more instructions to be performed, about, one instruction
per clock cycle.
Parallel Processing is the simultaneous execution of instructions from the same program on
different processors. A program is divided into multiple processes that are handled in parallel in
order to reduce execution time.

2.8 INTERCONNECTING THE UNITS OF A COMPUTER.

CPU sends data, instructions, and information to the components inside the computer as well as
to the peripherals and devices attached to it. A bus is a set of electronic signal pathways that allows
information and signals to travel between components inside or outside of a computer. The
different components of a computer, i.e., CPU, I/O unit, and memory unit are connected by a bus.
The data, instructions, and signals are carried between the different components via a bus. The
features and functionality of a bus are as follows—
 • A bus is a set of wires used for interconnection, where each wire can carry one bit of data.
• A bus width is defined by the number of wires in the bus.
• A computer bus can be divided into two types—Internal Bus and External Bus.
• The Internal Bus connects components inside the motherboard like, CPU and system
memory. It is also called the System Bus. Figure 2.10 shows interaction between processor
and memory.

Figure 2.10 Interaction between CPU and memory

• The External Bus connects the different external devices, peripherals, expansion slots, I/O
ports and drive connections to the rest of computer. The external bus allows various devices
to be attached to the computer. It allows for the expansion of computer’s capabilities. It is
generally slower than the system bus. It is also referred to as the Expansion Bus.
• A system bus or expansion bus comprise of three kinds of buses — data bus, address bus
and control bus.
• The interaction of CPU with memory and I/O devices involves all the three buses.
o The command to access the memory or the I/O device is carried by the control bus.
o The address of I/O device or memory is carried by the address bus.
o The data to be transferred is carried by the data bus.

Figure 2.11 shows interaction between processor, memory and the peripheral devices.

2.8.1 System Bus

The functions of data bus, address bus and control bus, in the system bus, are as follows—

• Data Bus transfers data between the CPU and memory. The bus width of a data bus
affects the speed of computer. The size of data bus defines the size of the processor. A
processor can be 8, 16, 32 or 64-bit processor. An 8–bit processor has 8 wire data bus to
carry 1 byte of data. In a 16–bit processor, 16–wire bus can carry 16 bits of data, i.e.,
transfer 2 bytes, etc.
 Figure 2.11 Interaction between CPU, memory and peripheral devices

• Address Bus connects CPU and RAM with set of wires similar to data bus. The width
of address bus determines the maximum number of memory locations the computer can
address. Previously, Pentium Pro, II, III, IV have 36–bit address bus that can address 2 36
bytes or 64 GB of memory. Currently, modern processors such as Intel Core (i3, i5, i7,
i9) and AMD Ryzen typically have a 48-bit physical address bus, enabling them to
address up to 2⁴⁸ bytes, or 256 TB of memory. High-end server processors like Intel Xeon
and AMD EPYC can utilize a 52-bit address bus, allowing them to address up to 2⁵²
bytes, or 4 PB of memory.
• Control Bus specifies whether data is to be read or written to the memory, etc.

2.8.2 Expansion Bus.

The functions of data bus, address bus and control bus, in the expansion bus, are as follows—
• The expansion bus connects external devices to the rest of computer. The external devices like
monitor, keyboard and printer connect to ports on the back of computer. These ports are
actually a part of the small circuit board or expansion card that fits into an expansion slot on
the motherboard. Expansion slots are easy to recognize on the motherboard.
• Expansion slots make up a row of long plastic connectors at the back of the computer with
tiny copper ‘finger slots’ in a narrow channel that grab the connectors on the expansion cards.
The slots are attached to tiny copper pathways on the motherboard (the expansion bus), which
allows the device to communicate with the rest of the computer. Modern expansion slots
include PCIe slots.
• Data Bus is used to transfer data between I/O devices and CPU. The exchange of data between
CPU and I/O devices is according to the industry standard data buses. The most commonly
used standard is Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) which is a
32-bit bus architecture. Some of the common bus technologies are—
o Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus for hard disks, sound cards,
network cards and graphics cards.
o Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus for 3–D and full motion video,
o Universal Serial Bus (USB) to connect and disconnect different devices.
o M.2 slots, which are used primarily for NVMe SSDs but can also support Wi-
Fi adapters and other expansion devices.
 • Address Bus carries the addresses of different I/O devices to be accessed like the hard disk,
CD ROM, etc.
• Control Bus is used to carry read/write commands, status of I/O devices, etc.

2.8.3 External Ports.

The peripheral devices interact with the CPU of the computer via the bus. The connections to the
bus from the peripheral devices are made via the ports and sockets provided at the sides of the
computer. The different ports and sockets facilitate the connection of different devices to the
computer. Some of the standard port connections available on the outer sides of the computer
are— a port for network, modem, and, audio port, serial port, parallel port, USB port, HDMI port,
VGA port, and D-port. The different ports are physically identifiable by their different shapes, size
of contact pins, and number of pins. Figure 2.12 shows the interaction of serial and parallel port
interfaces with the devices.

Figure 2.12 Interaction of serial and parallel port interfaces

2.9 PERFORMANCE OF A COMPUTER.

There are several factors involved that are related to the CPU and affect the overall speed and
performance of the computer. Some of the factors that affect the performance of the computer
include—

Figure 2.13 System properties in Windows 10.

 • Registers The size of the register (word size) indicates the amount of data with which the
computer can work at any given time. The bigger the size, the more quickly it can process
data. A 32–bit CPU is one in which each register is 32 bits wide, the one for the computer
stated in figure 2.13 is a 64 bit meaning each register is 64 bits wide.
• RAM It is used to store data and instructions during execution of the instructions. Anything
you do on your computer requires RAM. When the computer is switched on, the operating
system, device drivers, the active files and running programs are loaded into RAM. If RAM
is less, then the CPU waits each time the new information is swapped into memory from
the slower devices. Larger the RAM size, the better it is. Good PCs nowadays usually have
8 GB to 128 GB of RAM.
• System Clock The clock speed of a CPU is defined as the frequency with which a processor
executes instructions or the data is processed. Higher clock frequencies mean more clock
ticks per second. The computer’s operating speed is linked to the speed of the system clock.
The clock frequency is measured in millions of cycles per second or megahertz (MHz) or
gigahertz (GHz) which is billions of cycles per second. A CPU’s performance is measured
by the number of instructions it executes in a second, i.e., MIPS or BIPS. PCs nowadays
come with a clock speed of more than 3 GHz. In Windows 10 or 11, you can select the
System Properties dialog box to see the processor name, clock frequency and more of the
information.
• Bus Data bus is used for transferring data between CPU and memory. The data bus width
affects the speed of the computer. In a 16–bit processor, 16–bit wire bus can carry 16 bits of
data. The bus speed is measured in MHz. Higher the bus speed the better it is. Address bus
connects CPU and RAM with a set of wires similar to data bus. The address bus width
determines the maximum number of memory locations the computer can address. Previously,
Pentium Pro, II, III, IV processors had a 36-bit address bus, allowing them to address up to 64
GB of memory, with bus speeds ranging from 100 MHz to 400 MHz. Today, modern processors
like Intel Core i3, i5, i7, i9 and AMD Ryzen use 64-bit architectures with a typical 48-bit
physical address bus, enabling access to up to 256 TB of memory. Traditional front-side bus
(FSB) has been replaced by faster interconnects like Intel's QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) and
AMD's Infinity Fabric, allowing much higher data transfer speeds. Modern systems utilize
DDR4 and DDR5 memory with speeds ranging from 2400 MHz to over 6400 MHz, and PCIe
4.0 and 5.0 provide transfer rates of up to 32 GT/s. These advancements allow for significantly
faster communication between system components, vastly improving performance over older
architectures.
• Cache Memory Two of the main factors that affect a cache’s performance are its size
(amount of cache memory) and level L1, L2 and L3. Larger the size of cache, the better it is.
PCs nowadays have a L1 cache of 256KB and L2 cache of 1MB.

Figure 2.13 shows the general information about a computer as displayed in the system
properties window in Windows 10.
2.10 INSIDE A COMPUTER CABINET.

The computer cabinet encloses the components that are required for the running of the computer.
The components inside a computer cabinet include the power supply, motherboard, memory chips,
expansion slots, ports and interface, processor, cables and storage devices.

2.10.1 Motherboard.

The computer is built up around a motherboard. The motherboard is the most important component
in the PC. It is a large Printed Circuit Board (PCB), having many chips, connectors and other
electronics mounted on it. The motherboard is the hub, which is used to connect all the essential
components of a computer. The RAM, hard drive, disk drives and optical drives are all plugged
into interfaces on the motherboard. The motherboard contains the processor, memory chips,
interfaces and sockets, etc.

The motherboard may be characterized by the form factor, chipset and type of processor socket
used. Form factor refers to the motherboard’s geometry, dimensions, arrangement and electrical
requirements. Different standards have been developed to build motherboards, which can be used
in different brands of cases. Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) is the most common design
of motherboard for desktop computers. Chipset is a circuit, which controls the majority of
resources (including the bus interface with the processor, cache memory and RAM, expansion
cards, etc.) Chipset’s job is to coordinate data transfers between the various components of the
computer (including the processor and memory). As the chipset is integrated into the motherboard,
it is important to choose a motherboard, which includes a recent chipset, in order to maximize the
computer’s upgradeability. The processor socket may be a rectangular connector into which the
processor is mounted vertically (slot), or a square-shaped connector with many small connectors
into which the processor is directly inserted (socket). The Basic Input Output System (BIOS) and
Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) are present on the motherboard.

Figure 2.14 ROM BIOS

• BIOS It is the basic program used as an interface between the operating system and the
motherboard. The BIOS (Figure 2.14) is stored in the ROM and cannot be rewritten. When
the computer is switched on, it needs instructions to start. BIOS contain the instructions
for the starting up of the computer. The BIOS runs when the computer is switched on. It
 performs a Power On Self Test (POST) that checks that the hardware is functioning
properly and the hardware devices are present. It checks whether the operating system is
present on the hard drive. BIOS invokes the bootstrap loader to load the operating system
into memory. BIOS can be configured using an interface named BIOS setup, which can be
accessed when the computer is booting up (by pressing the DEL key or F12 or F11
depending on different manufacturers).
• CMOS Chip BIOS ROMs are accompanied by a smaller CMOS (CMOS is a type of
memory technology) memory chip. When the computer is turned off, the power supply
stops providing electricity to the motherboard. When the computer is turned on again, the
system still displays the correct clock time. This is because the CMOS chip saves some
system information, such as time, system date, and essential system settings. CMOS is kept
powered by a button battery located on the motherboard (Figure 2.15). The CMOS chip is
working even when the computer power is switched off. Information of the hardware
installed in the computer (such as the number of tracks or sectors on each hard drive) is
stored in the CMOS chip.

Figure 2.15 Battery for CMOS chip

2.10.2 Ports and Interfaces

Motherboard has a certain number of I/O sockets that are connected to the ports and interfaces
found on the rear side of a computer (Figure 2.16). You can connect external devices to the ports
and interfaces, which get connected to the computer’s motherboard.

• Serial Port— to connect old peripherals.

• Parallel Port— to connect old printers.
 Figure 2.16 Ports.

• USB Ports—to connect newer peripherals like cameras, scanners and printers to the
computer. It uses a thin wire to connect to the devices, and many devices can share that
wire simultaneously.
• Firewire is another bus, used today mostly for video cameras and external hard drives.
• RJ45 connector (called LAN or Ethernet port) is used to connect the computer to a network.
It corresponds to a network card integrated into the motherboard.
• VGA connector for connecting a monitor. This connector interfaces with the built -in
graphics card.
• Audio plugs (line-in, line-out and microphone), for connecting sound speakers and the
microphone. This connector interfaces with the built-in sound card.
• PS/2 port to connect mouse and keyboard into PC.
 • SCSI port for connecting the hard disk drives and network connectors.

2.10.3 Expansion Slots.

The expansion slots (Figure 2.17) are located on the motherboard. The expansion cards are
inserted in the expansion slots. These cards give the computer new features or increased
performance. There are several types of slots:
• ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) slot—To connect modem and input devices.
• PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot—To connect audio, video and graphics.
They are much faster than ISA cards.
• AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) slot—A fast port for a graphics card.
• PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express slot—Faster bus architecture than
AGP and PCI buses.
• PC Card—It is used in laptop computers. It includes Wi-Fi card, network card and
external modem.

Figure 2.17 Expansion slots

2.10.4 Ribbon Cables.

Ribbon cables (Figure 2.18) are flat, insulated and consist of several tiny wires moulded together
that carry data to different components on the motherboard. There is a wire for each bit of the
word or byte and additional wires to coordinate the activity of moving information. They also
connect the floppy drives, disk drives and CD-ROM drives to the connectors in the motherboard.
Nowadays, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) cables have replaced the ribbon
cables to connect the drives to the motherboard.
 Figure 2.18 Ribbon cables inside a PC

2.10.5 Memory Chips.

The RAM consists of chips on a small circuit board (Figure 2.19). Two types of memory chips—
Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM) and Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM) are used in
desktop computers. The CPU can retrieve information from DIMM chip at 64 bits compared to 32
bits or 16 bits transfer with SIMM chips. DIMM chips are used in Pentium 4 onwards to increase
the access speed.

Figure 2.19 RAM memory chip.

2.10.6 Storage Devices.

The disk drives are present inside the machine. The common disk drives in a machine are hard
disk drive, Flash disk drive (USB), SD card drive, SSD, floppy drive (Figure 2.20) and CD drive
or DVD drive. Only that currently the CD drive, floppy drive, and other old storage drives are
phasing out. High-storage devices like hard disks, Solid state disks, Flash disk, SD cards, floppy
disk and CDs (Figure 2.20) are inserted into the respective drives. These storage devices can store
large amounts of data, permanently.
2.10.7 Processor.
The processor or the CPU is the main component of the computer. Select a processor based on
factors like its speed, performance, reliability, and motherboard support. As an engineer you are
implored to first check the specifications of a computer before purchasing it to have knowledge
whether it will satisfy your needs.

Figure 2.20 Storage devices.

KEYWORDS

Accelerated Graphics Port CPU performance Peripheral Component

(AGP) Data bus Interconnect (PCI)
Address bus Decoding Power On Self Test
(POST)
Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) Executing Primary memory
Audio plugs Expansion bus PS/2 Port
Basic Input Output System Expansion card Random Access Memory
(BIOS) Expansion slot (RAM)
 Billion Instructions Per Second Extended Industry Standard Read Only Memory
(ROM)
(BIPS) Architecture (EISA) Reduced Instruction Set
Brain of computer Fetching Computer (RISC)
Bus Firewire Registers
Cache memory Form factor Ribbon cables
Central Processing Unit (CPU) Input/Output (I/O) unit SCSI port
Chipset Instruction format Serial port
Complementary Metal-Oxide Instruction set Speed of computer
Semiconductor (CMOS) Instruction cycle Stored program
Complex Instruction Set Memory Unit Storing
Computer
(CISC) Microprocessor System bus
Computer architecture Million Instructions Per System clock
Second
Computer design (MIPS) Universal Serial Bus
Computer organization Motherboard (USB)
Control bus Parallel port Word size
Control Unit (CU)

QUESTIONS

Section 2.1

1. Define computer architecture, computer organization and computer design.

2. Give a brief description of the working of the computer.

Section 2.2
3. CPU is also often called the of computer.

4. Define a microprocessor.

5. Define a motherboard.

6. The different parts of the CPU are , and .

7. and are the main memory.

8. What is the purpose of the main memory?

9. List the main functions of the CPU.

Section 2.2.1–2.2.3

10. ALU consists of the unit and _ unit.

11. What are the functions of the ALU?

12. is also called the working memory of the CPU.

13. List five important registers of the CPU. Also state the purpose of each register.

14. Why are Registers used in the CPU?

15. Define word size.

16. “This is a 64–bit processor”. Explain its meaning.

17. The size of the register is also the size.

18. Which is faster—a 32-bit processor or a 64-bit- processor?

19. What are the functions of the control unit?

Section 2.3–2.3.3

20. Explain the need of the cache memory?

21. The memory is placed between the RAM and the CPU.
22. There are levels of cache memory.

23. Explain the three levels of the cache memory.

24. State three important features of the cache memory.

25. The size of the cache memory is generally in the range _.

26. What is the purpose of RAM?

27. List the features of the primary memory.

28. List the key features of the secondary memory.

Section 2.4

29. Define the stored program concept.

30. Describe the format of an instruction.

31. The common fields of an instruction are _ code and code.

32. What is the function of the operand code and the operation code?

Section 2.5

33. Define an Instruction set.

34. What is the significance of the Instruction set in the CPU?

35. “Two processors are compatible”. How do you deduce this statement?

36. Define microarchitecture.

Section 2.6

37. Define an instruction cycle.

38. Give a detailed working of the instruction cycle.

39. Name the four steps involved in an instruction cycle.

40. The number of instructions executed in a second by the CPU, is measured in .

Section 2.7
41. The microprocessors are classified as and on the basis of the instruction set.

42. The x86 instruction set of the original Intel 8086 processor is of the type.

43. Describe the features of the CISC architecture.

44. Give two examples of the CISC processor.

45. Describe the features of the RISC architecture.

46. Give two examples of the RISC processor.

47. What is the use of parallel processing and pipelining?

Section 2.8

48. Define a bus.

49. Define a system bus.

50. Define an expansion bus.

51. Why is a bus used?

52. Define—control bus, address bus and data bus.

53. A system bus or expansion bus comprises of three kinds of buses , and .

54. Name the bus connecting CPU with memory?

55. Name the bus connecting I/O devices with CPU?

Section 2.8.1

56. In a system bus, what is the significance of the control bus, address bus and data bus?

57. The of data bus affects the speed of computer.

58. Name the bus whose width affects the speed of computer?

59. The of address bus determines the maximum number of memory locations the computer can
address.

60. Name the bus whose width determines the maximum number of memory locations the
computer can address?
Section 2.8.2–2.8.3

61. What are the functions of data bus, address bus and control bus in the expansion bus?

62. Where is the expansion card fixed on the motherboard?

63. What is an expansion slot?

64. Name three common bus technologies.

65. What kind of devices is attached to the PCI bus, AGP bus and USB bus?

Section 2.9

66. List the factors that affect the performance of the computer.

67. Explain in detail the factors that affect the performance of the computer.

68. What is the use of the system clock?

69. The clock frequency is measured in .

Section 2.10–2.10.1

70. “The motherboard is characterized by the form factor, chipset and the type of processor
socket used”. Explain.

71. Define form factor.

72. Define chipset.

73. is the most common design of the motherboard for desktop computers.

74. What is the significance of the chipset?

75. What is the function of the BIOS?

76. What is the function of the CMOS chip?

77. Explain the booting process when the computer is switched on.

78. What is POST?

Section 2.10.2–2.10.7
79 . List five ports and interfaces available on the backside of the computer to connect the
devices.

80. What devices are attached to—(a) Serial Port, (b) Parallel Port, (c) USB Port, (d) Firewire,
(e) RJ45 connector, (f) VGA connector, (g) Audio plugs (Line-In, Line-Out and microphone),
(h) PS/2 Port, and (h) SCSI Port.

81. List five expansion slots available in the computer.

82. What devices are attached to—(a) ISA slots, (b) PCI slot, (c) AGP slot, (d) PCI Express slot,
and (e) PC Card.

83. What is the purpose of the Ribbon cables?

84. Two types of memory chips and are used in desktop computers.

85. List any three storage devices that are attached to the computer.

Extra Questions

86. Give full form of the following abbreviations

1. IC
2. MIPS
3. EISA
4. PCI
5. USB
6. AGP
7. BIPS
8. SIMM
9. DIMM
10. GHz
11. MHz
12. PCB
13. BIOS
14. CMOS
15. POST
16. ISA
17. ROM
18. ACC
19. IR
20. PC
21. MAR
22. MBR
23. DR
24. RISC
25. CISC
26. ATX
27. SATA

87. Write short notes on—

1. Working of computer
 2. Central processing unit
3. Registers
4. Cache memory
5. RAM
6. Control unit
7. ALU
8. Instruction format
9. Instruction set
10. Instruction Cycle
11. Microprocessor
12. System bus
13. Expansion bus
14. Performance of computer
15. System clock
16. Motherboard
17. BIOS
18. CMOS chip
19. Ports and interfaces in computer
20. Expansion slots
21. Main components in a computer case

88. Give differences between the following—

1. Registers and cache memory

2. Cache memory and RAM
3. RISC and CISC
4. System bus and expansion bus
5. Data bus, address bus and control bus