PRIMARY STORAGE DEVICE,

COMPUTER PORTS & CABLES

Course Instructor : Dr. Shabana Bibi

Department of Biosciences,
Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad. Pakistan
PRIMARY STORAGE DEVICE
 It’s a temporary storage.
 It consists of some chips.
 The data & instruction are resided in this memory when
the CPU executing programs.
 This memory can capable to store & retrieved data very
quickly.
Primary memory is only the memory that is directly
access to the CPU.
RAM
 The complete name of RAM is random access memory which is
also known as Primary memory.
 It is called read/write memory because data can be read as well
as write in RAM.
 It is called random access because you can directly access any
data from RAM if you know row & column cell.
 The RAM chip is fixed on the mother board & the mother board is
designed in such a way that its memory capacity can be
enhanced by adding more RAM chip.
 RAM is a VOLETILE memory.
TYPES OF RAM
RAM chips are of two types:
DRAM:
Dynamic Random Access Memory is a volatile memory that allows
fast access to data and is ideal for use as the primary store of computer
systems.
However, the information is stored as electrical charges and the
charges need to be constantly refreshed in order for the data to be
maintained.
SRAM:
Static Random Access Memory is also a volatile memory.
Once data is written into the chip, it is maintained as long as power is
supplied to it; it does not need refreshing.
However, SRAM is slower than DRAM and it is also more expensive.
ROM
 The complete name of ROM is read only memory.
 The data stored permanently & can’t be altered by the programmer.
 Data stored in ROM chip can be read & used but cannot be
changed.
 This memory also known a field storage permanent storage or dead
storage.
 It is basically used to store manufacturer programmed & user
program.
 Most of the basic operations are carried out by electronic circuits
which are known as micro programs.
 These programs are stored in ROM. For ex. System Boot Loader.
TYPES OF ROM
PROM
Programmable Read Only Memory is a non-volatile memory which
allows the user to program the chip with a PROM writer.
The chip can be programmed once, thereafter, it cannot be altered.
EPROM & EEPROM
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory and Electrically Erasable
Programmable Read Only Memory chips can be electrically
programmed.
Unlike ROM and PROM chips, EPROM chips can be erased and
reprogrammed.
Computer PORTS

SERIAL PORT
 Known as asynchronous port or RS-232-C port.
 This type of port is sends & receives data using only two line
 Therefore this type of port is ideal for connection to the phone
circuits which uses 2 data lines.
 The communication process of data transfer is slower.
 Due to this reason it is not used for printer.
 It has high signal travelling capacity.
PARALLEL PORT
 Known as centronics or printer port.
 It’s a type of socket found on personal computer for connecting
various types of computer devices.
 Normally it is reserved for printer.
 They carry 8 bits at the same time so that communication becomes
very faster.
 Due to the faster data communication capability it is used in input &
output
devices.
 The signal travel capacity is less than serial port.
USB PORT
 It’s a new interface technology which are used to connect
computer peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, scanner, joysticks,
printer, web camera etc.
 USB operate at two speeds 1.5 mbps & 12 mbps.
 The speed is depending upon the devices which are attached with
the port.
 For example the devices such as mouse, keyboard Use the low
band while digital camera use high speed channel.
 Main advantage is that when devices are attached the appropriate
drivers are loaded automatically.
PS/2 PORT
 Developed by IBM for connecting mouse or keyboard to
PC.
 It supports the plug that contains 6 pins.
 Also called mouse port.
Serial Cable
 Serial Cables are typically used for RS-232 communication.
 A serial cable is a cable that can be used to transfer information
between two devices using serial communication.
 The form of connectors depends on the particular serial port used.
 The maximum working length of a cable varies depending on the
characteristics of the transmitters and receivers.
 This cable has short transmission distance because of noise limiting the
transmission of high numbers of bits per second when the cable is
more than 15 meters long.
 It is cheap to purchase and is simple to join and connect.
 It is suitable for unbalanced data standards.
 Only one device can be connected to the cable.
Parallel Cable
 On many legacy peripherals, the parallel cable utilized both the 25
pin Sub-D connector and the 36 pin Centronics connector.
 This was a common printer interface and is still in service in great
numbers.
 With the advent of "intelligent" laser and ink jet printers, the IEEE-1284
bidirectional printer cable was introduced.
 This parallel interface allows for bi-directional communication
resulting in speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional cables.
USB Cable
 To Connecting a USB device to a computer is simple, you find the
USB connector on the back of your machine and plug the USB
connector into it.
 If it's a new device, the operating system auto-detects it and asks
for the driver disk.
 If the device has already been installed, the computer activates it
and starts talking to it.
 USB devices can be connected and disconnected at any time.
GRAPHIC CARDS
 A graphics card is the component in your computer that handles
generating the signals that are sent to the monitor or "graphics".
 It is responsible for generating all the text and pictures that are
displayed on your screen.
 The images you see on your monitor are made of tiny dots called
pixels.
 At most common resolution settings, a screen displays over a
million pixels, and the computer has to decide what to do with
everyone in order to create an image.
 To do this, it needs a translator, something to take binary data from
the CPU and turn it into a picture you can see.
GRAPHIC CARDS
 This task is performed by Graphic Card which is built into motherboard.
 A graphics card's job is complex, but its principles and components are
easy to understand.
 The CPU, working in conjunction with software applications, sends
information about the image to the graphics card.
 The graphics card decides how to use the pixels on the screen to create
the image.
 It then sends that information to the monitor through a cable.
 To make a 3-D image, the graphics card first creates a wire frame out of
straight lines. Then, it rasterizes the image.
 It also adds lighting, texture and colour.
GRAPHIC CARDS
The graphics card accomplishes this task using four main
components:
o A motherboard connection for data and power
o A processor to decide what to do with each pixel on the
screen
o Memory to hold information about each pixel and to
temporarily store completed pictures
o A monitor connection so you can see the final result