FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTER

AND
PROGRAMMING
 UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER AND
ITS ARCHITECTURE
 DEFINITION OF A COMPUTER
• A COMPUTER IS A GENERAL PURPOSE DEVICE THAT CAN BE PROGRAMMED TO PROCESS
INFORMATION AND YIELD MEANINGFUL RESULTS.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTERS
• SPEED: ABILITY TO PROCESS DATA QUICKLY

• ACCURACY: HIGH PRECISION IN COMPUTATIONS

• AUTOMATION: ABILITY TO PERFORM TASKS AUTOMATICALLY

• STORAGE: CAPACITY TO STORE VAST AMOUNTS OF DATA

• VERSATILITY: ABILITY TO PERFORM A WIDE RANGE OF TASKS

• RELIABILITY: CONSISTENCY IN PERFORMANCE

• DILIGENCE: ABILITY TO PERFORM REPETITIVE TASKS WITHOUT FATIGUE

 TYPES OF COMPUTERS
• BASED ON SIZE: MICROCOMPUTERS, MINICOMPUTERS, MAINFRAME COMPUTERS,
SUPERCOMPUTERS

• BASED ON PURPOSE: GENERAL-PURPOSE AND SPECIAL-PURPOSE COMPUTERS

 APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTERS
• PERSONAL COMPUTING (WORD PROCESSING, WEB BROWSING)

• BUSINESS AND FINANCE (DATA MANAGEMENT, TRANSACTIONS)

• SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (SIMULATIONS, RESEARCH)

• HEALTHCARE (PATIENT RECORDS, DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS)

• EDUCATION (E-LEARNING, EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE)

• ENTERTAINMENT (GAMING, MULTIMEDIA)

GENERATION OF COMPUTERS
 TIME PERIODS AND KEY CHARACTERISTICS
FIRST GENERATION (1940-1956):
1. TECHNOLOGY: VACUUM TUBES
2. CHARACTERISTICS: LARGE SIZE, HIGH POWER CONSUMPTION, LIMITED SPEED AND
RELIABILITY
3. EXAMPLES: ENIAC, UNIVAC

SECOND GENERATION (1956-1963):

4. TECHNOLOGY: TRANSISTORS
5. CHARACTERISTICS: SMALLER SIZE, LESS POWER CONSUMPTION, MORE RELIABLE AND
FASTER THAN VACUUM TUBES
6. EXAMPLES: IBM 7090, CDC 1604

THIRD GENERATION (1964-1971):

7. TECHNOLOGY: INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (ICS)
8. CHARACTERISTICS: FURTHER MINIATURIZATION, INCREASED SPEED AND EFFICIENCY,
LOWER COST
 TIME PERIODS AND KEY CHARACTERISTICS
FOURTH GENERATION (1971-PRESENT):
1. TECHNOLOGY: MICROPROCESSORS
2. CHARACTERISTICS: SIGNIFICANT MINIATURIZATION, INCREASED PROCESSING POWER,
WIDESPREAD USE OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS
3. EXAMPLES: INTEL 4004, PERSONAL COMPUTERS

FIFTH GENERATION (PRESENT AND BEYOND):

4. TECHNOLOGY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI), MACHINE LEARNING (ML), QUANTUM
COMPUTING
5. CHARACTERISTICS: ADVANCED COMPUTING TECHNIQUES, PARALLEL PROCESSING,
POTENTIAL FOR REVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
6. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES: QUANTUM COMPUTERS, HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED AI SYSTEMS
 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
• COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE REFERS TO THE DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION OF A COMPUTER'S
CORE COMPONENTS, WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL FOR ITS FUNCTIONING.
• IT ENCOMPASSES THE WAY HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE INTERACT TO ACHIEVE THE
COMPUTER'S OVERALL PERFORMANCE.
• THE PRIMARY GOAL IS TO OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE, EFFICIENCY, AND
COST-EFFECTIVENESS.
 COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
• CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU):
• THE BRAIN OF THE COMPUTER WHERE MOST CALCULATIONS TAKE PLACE.
• COMPRISED OF THE ARITHMETIC LOGIC UNIT (ALU), CONTROL UNIT (CU), AND REGISTERS.
• MEMORY:
• STORES DATA AND INSTRUCTIONS NEEDED FOR PROCESSING.
• INCLUDES PRIMARY MEMORY (RAM, ROM) AND SECONDARY MEMORY (HDD, SSD).
• INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) DEVICES:
• FACILITATE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE COMPUTER AND THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT.
• EXAMPLES INCLUDE KEYBOARDS, MICE, MONITORS, AND PRINTERS.
• SYSTEM BUSES:
• PATHWAYS THAT ALLOW DATA TO TRAVEL BETWEEN VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER.
• TYPES INCLUDE DATA BUS, ADDRESS BUS, AND CONTROL BUS.
 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)
COMPONENTS OF THE CPU:

• ARITHMETIC LOGIC UNIT (ALU):

• FUNCTION: PERFORMS ALL ARITHMETIC (E.G., ADDITION, SUBTRACTION) AND LOGICAL (E.G., AND, OR, NOT) OPERATIONS.
• EXAMPLE OPERATIONS: ADDITION OF TWO NUMBERS, COMPARISON OF VALUES.
• CONTROL UNIT (CU):
• FUNCTION: DIRECTS THE OPERATION OF THE PROCESSOR BY FETCHING INSTRUCTIONS FROM MEMORY, DECODING THEM,
AND EXECUTING THEM, FETCHES INSTRUCTIONS FROM CPU, REPRESENTED IN BITS, AND TRANSLATES THOSE INSTRUCTIONS
INTO CONTROL SIGNALS.
• CONTROL SIGNALS: CU GENERATES CONTROL SIGNALS TO MANAGE THE EXECUTION OF INSTRUCTIONS AND COORDINATE
BETWEEN THE CPU AND OTHER COMPONENTS.
• REGISTERS:
• FUNCTION: SMALL, FAST STORAGE LOCATIONS WITHIN THE CPU THAT TEMPORARILY HOLD DATA AND INSTRUCTIONS.
• TYPES OF REGISTERS:
PROGRAM COUNTER (PC): HOLDS THE ADDRESS OF THE NEXT INSTRUCTION TO BE EXECUTED.
 CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)
• REGISTERS:
• INSTRUCTION REGISTER (IR): HOLDS THE CURRENT INSTRUCTION BEING EXECUTED.
• ACCUMULATOR (ACC): USED FOR ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC OPERATIONS.
• GENERAL PURPOSE REGISTERS: USED FOR GENERAL OPERATIONS AND TEMPORARY DATA
STORAGE.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
• PRIMARY MEMORY:
• RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM):
• VOLATILE MEMORY USED FOR TEMPORARY STORAGE WHILE THE COMPUTER IS RUNNING.
• ALLOWS DATA TO BE READ AND WRITTEN QUICKLY.
• TYPES: DRAM (DYNAMIC RAM), SRAM (STATIC RAM).

• READ-ONLY MEMORY (ROM):

• NON-VOLATILE MEMORY THAT STORES FIRMWARE (PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE) AND SYSTEM SOFTWARE.
• DATA CANNOT BE MODIFIED OR CAN ONLY BE MODIFIED SLOWLY.
• ROM IS SLOWER AND CHEAPER THAN RAM.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
PRIMARY MEMORY:
CACHE MEMORY:
• CACHE MEMORY HOLDS FREQUENTLY REQUESTED DATA AND INSTRUCTIONS SO THAT THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE TO THE
CPU WHEN NEEDED.
• CACHE MEMORY IS FASTER THAN MAIN MEMORY BECAUSE IT'S PHYSICALLY CLOSER TO THE PROCESSOR. IT SITS BETWEEN THE
MAIN RAM AND THE CPU, ACTING AS AN INTERMEDIARY FOR FASTER DATA ACCESS.
• CACHE MEMORY IS COSTLIER THAN MAIN MEMORY OR DISK MEMORY BUT MORE ECONOMICAL THAN CPU REGISTERS.
• WHEN THE CPU NEEDS DATA, IT FIRST CHECKS THE CACHE. IF THE DATA IS THERE, THE CPU CAN ACCESS IT QUICKLY. IF NOT, IT
MUST FETCH THE DATA FROM THE SLOWER MAIN MEMORY.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
• PRIMARY MEMORY:
• RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM):
SRAM: IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE REFRESHED AGAIN AND AGAIN. CPU USE IT AS CACHE MEMORY ALSO. EXAMPLE TO OPEN PPT,
ANY MUSIC FILE ETC SRAM IS USED.
DRAM: DATA CAN BE STORED ONLY IF IT IS REFRESHED FREQUENTLY. IN CASE WE WANT LIVE UPDATES THEN DRAM IS USED.

• READ-ONLY MEMORY (ROM):

PROM: INSTRUCTION CAN BE STORED ONLY ONCE.
EPROM: INSTRUCTION CAN BE ERASED USING ULTRA VIOLET RAY. ERASING AND PROGRAMMING IS SLOW. WE NEED TO ERASE
ENTIRE CHIP TO MODIFY.
EEPROM: INSTRUCTION CAN BE ERASED WITH THE HELP OF ELECTRICITY. ERASING AND PROGRAMMING IS FAST. WE CAN
MODIFY ONE BYTE OF DATA AT A TIME RATHER THAN ERASING THE WHOLE CHIP.
FLASH MEMORY: ADVANCED VERSION OF EEPROM. WE CAN WRITE BLOCKS OF DATA AT A TIME. FASTER THAN EEPROM.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
SECONDARY MEMORY:
• A TYPE OF STORAGE THAT ALLOWS USERS TO STORE DATA AND PROGRAMS ON A LONG-TERM BASIS.
• NON-VOLATILE, MEANING THAT INFORMATION IS STORED EVEN WHEN THE COMPUTER IS TURNED OFF, AND CAN
BE REMOVED OR FIXED AS NEEDED.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
SECONDARY MEMORY:
• FIXED STORAGE: THE FIXED STORAGE IS A MEMORY DEVICE THAT IS PRESENT AS AN INTERNAL
HARDWARE COMPONENT OF THE SYSTEM.
EXAMPLE: HARD DISK DRIVES (HDD), SOLID-STATE DISK (SSD)
• REMOVAL STORAGE: THESE ARE EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICES THAT STORE DATA OF A
COMPUTER.

EXAMPLE: MAGNETIC TAPES, FLOPPY DISKS, OPTICAL DISKS LIKE CD, DVD, BLU RAY DISKS, MEMORY CARDS ETC.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
SECONDARY MEMORY:
• HARD DISK DRIVE (HDD):
• NON-VOLATILE STORAGE WITH MAGNETIC STORAGE PLATTERS.
• USED FOR LONG-TERM DATA STORAGE.
• SOLID STATE DRIVE (SSD):
• NON-VOLATILE STORAGE USING FLASH MEMORY, NO MOVING PARTS PRESENT.
• FASTER AND MORE RELIABLE THAN HDD.
 MEMORY HIERARCHY
SECONDARY MEMORY:

• MAGNETIC TAPE:
• DATA READ AND WRITE SPEED IS SLOWER.
• OPTICAL DISK:
• ELECTRONIC STORAGE MEDIUM USES LOW POWER LASER BEAMS TO RECORD AND READ DATA.
• EXAMPLE : CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, BLU-RAY (TO STORE HD VIDEOS)
• FLASH MEMORY:
• A FLASH DRIVE IS A SMALL, ULTRA-PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICE. USB FLASH DRIVES WERE ESSENTIAL FOR EASILY MOVING FILES FROM ONE DEVICE TO
ANOTHER.
• EXAMPLE: PEN DRIVE, SD CARD.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH MEMORY
Characteristic Registers Cache Memory RAM Secondary Storage

Faster than main memory, Slower than cache,

Fastest but smallest Slowest but highest
Speed used to store frequently but faster than
in capacity capacity
accessed data secondary storage

Larger than cache,

Larger than registers but
Capacity Smallest capacity smaller than Largest capacity
smaller than RAM
secondary storage

Less expensive than

Most expensive per Less expensive than registers Least expensive per
Cost cache, more than
byte but more than RAM byte
secondary storage
 MEMORY HIERARCHY PYRAMID
• TOP: REGISTERS (SMALLEST, FASTEST, MOST EXPENSIVE)

• SECOND LEVEL: CACHE MEMORY (SMALL, FAST, EXPENSIVE)

• THIRD LEVEL: MAIN MEMORY (RAM) (LARGER, SLOWER, LESS EXPENSIVE)

• BOTTOM: SECONDARY STORAGE (LARGEST, SLOWEST, LEAST EXPENSIVE)

 INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES
INPUT DEVICES:
• AN INPUT DEVICE IS A HARDWARE DEVICE THAT TAKES INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE USER AND PASSES
IT TO A PROCESSING UNIT, SUCH AS A CPU.
• INPUT DEVICES CAN TRANSMIT DATA TO OTHER DEVICES BY TAKING IT FROM ONE DEVICE BUT
CANNOT RECEIVE DATA.
• FOR EXAMPLE - THE KEYBOARD, THE MOUSE, SCANNER, MICROPHONE, WEBCAM.

OUTPUT DEVICES:

• OUTPUT DEVICES ARE HARDWARE DEVICES THAT RECEIVE DATA FROM THE PROCESSING UNIT AND
OTHER DEVICES AND RETURN THE RESULT OF THE DATA. (IMAGE, VIDEO, MUSIC, TEXT FILE)
• FOR EXAMPLE - MONITORS, SPEAKERS, PRINTERS, PROJECTOR.
 INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES
KEYBOARD:
• THE KEYBOARD IS A BASIC INPUT DEVICE THAT IS USED TO ENTER DATA INTO A COMPUTER OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICE BY PRESSING KEYS.

• KEYBOARDS ARE CONNECTED TO A COMPUTER THROUGH USB OR A BLUETOOTH DEVICE FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION.

• QWERTY IS THE MOST POPULAR KEYBOARD.

• ALPHABETICAL KEYS (A TO Z), FUNCTION KEYS (F1 TO F12), NUMBER KEYS (0-9), COMBINATION KEYS (CTRL, SHIFT), ARROW KEYS, MODIFIER KEYS (CTRL, ALT, SHIFT),
TOGGLE KEYS (CAP LOCK, NUM LOCK), SPACE BAR KEY, TAB KEY (TO GIVE 3-4 SPACES AT A TIME), ENTER KEY, ESCAPE KEY (TO CANCEL THE OPERATION), PAGE UP AND
PAGE DOWN, HOME KEY (MOVES TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LINE), END KEY (MOVES TO THE ENDING OF THE LINE).

MOUSE:
• THE MOUSE IS A HAND-HELD INPUT DEVICE WHICH IS USED TO MOVE CURSOR OR POINTER ACROSS THE SCREEN

• FUNCTIONS OF MOUSE : CLICK (TO SELECT A FILE), DOUBLE CLICK (TO OPEN A FILE), RIGHT CLICK (TO CHECK PROPERTIES OF FILE), DRAG AND DROP.

MONITOR:
• IT IS A DEVICE THROUGH WHICH WE SEE AND OPERATE OUR SOFTWARE. ALL ICONS, TEXT, AND IMAGES ARE DISPLAYED HERE.

• THE MONITOR RECEIVES SIGNALS FROM THE COMPUTER'S GRAPHICS CARD OR INTEGRATED GRAPHICS AND DISPLAYS THE IMAGE OR VIDEO ON THE SCREEN.
 INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES
TYPES OF MONITOR:
• CRT: IT CONSISTS OF A VACUUM TUBE WITH ELECTROSTATIC DEFLECTION PLATES, ONE OR MORE ELECTRON GUNS,
AND A PHOSPHOR TARGET BEHIND A GLASS SCREEN. THREE TYPES OF ELECTRON GUNS ARE AVAILABLE THAT ARE
RED, GREEN, AND BLUE, OFTEN CALLED RGB, WHICH PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE MONITOR TO PROJECT
PICTURES ON THE SCREEN. LARGE AND BULKY. CONSUMES LOTS OF ELECTRICITY.

• LCD: AN LCD CONTAINS A BACKLIGHT RATHER THAN THE FIRING ELECTRONS AT A GLASS SCREEN, WHICH OFFERS
LIGHT TO INDIVIDUAL PIXELS ARRANGED IN A RECTANGULAR GRID. ALL PIXELS HAVE A SUB-PIXEL, RED, GREEN, AND
BLUE, WHICH CAN BE TURNED ON OR OFF. LCD CONSUMED MUCH LESS POWER, THINNER AND LIGHTER. THE SOLID
ELEMENT IN THE LCD IS A CRYSTAL, AND THE COMBINATION OF THE LIQUID AND CRYSTAL CREATES A CLEAR IMAGE.

• LED: THE LED MONITOR WORKS BY CONVERTING AN ELECTRIC CURRENT INTO LIGHT. AN LED DISPLAY CONSISTS
OF MANY CLOSELY-SPACED LEDS. BY VARYING THE BRIGHTNESS OF EACH LED, THE DIODES JOINTLY FORM AN IMAGE
ON THE DISPLAY. LED PRODUCES HIGH CONTRAST IMAGES. THINNER, LIGHER AND USES LESS POWER THAN OTHER
MONITORS.

• PLASMA DISPLAY: A PLASMA MONITOR PANEL USES TINY COLORED FLUORESCENT LIGHTS THAT PRODUCE
IMAGE PIXELS. PLASMA TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS EACH PIXEL TO PRODUCE ITS LIGHT, PROVIDING EXCELLENT
CONTRAST AND COLOR DEPTH. BACKLIGHTING IS NOT REQUIRED HERE. PLASMA SCREENS CONSUME A LOT OF POWER
AND HEAVIER.
 SYSTEM BUSES
• SYSTEM BUS: COMBINATION OF WIRES AND CIRCUITS TO CREATE COMMUNICATION PATHWAY
THAT CONNECTS VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER, ENABLING DATA TRANSFER BETWEEN
THE CPU, MEMORY, AND INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES.
• TYPES OF SYSTEM BUSES:
1. DATA BUS:
• FUNCTION: TRANSFERS ACTUAL DATA BETWEEN THE CPU, MEMORY, AND PERIPHERALS.
• CHARACTERISTICS: BIDIRECTIONAL, WITH WIDTH MEASURED IN BITS (E.G., 8-BIT, 16-BIT,
32-BIT, 64-BIT).
2. ADDRESS BUS:
• FUNCTION: CARRIES THE ADDRESSES OF DATA (BUT NOT THE DATA ITSELF) TO BE READ OR
WRITTEN.
• CHARACTERISTICS: UNIDIRECTIONAL, WIDTH DETERMINES THE MAXIMUM ADDRESSABLE
MEMORY (E.G., A 32-BIT ADDRESS BUS CAN ADDRESS 4 GB OF MEMORY).
3. CONTROL BUS:
• FUNCTION: CARRIES CONTROL SIGNALS FROM THE CPU TO OTHER COMPONENTS TO
COORDINATE ACTIVITIES.
• CHARACTERISTICS: INCLUDES LINES FOR READ/WRITE SIGNALS, INTERRUPT REQUESTS,
CLOCK SIGNALS, ETC.
 MOTHERBOARD DESCRIPTION
1. IT IS THE CENTRAL ELECTRONIC BOARD THAT TIES ALL THE OTHER PARTS OF THE COMPUTER TOGETHER AND
ALLOWS THEM TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER.

2. SOME OF THE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF A MOTHERBOARD INCLUDE THE MAIN PROCESSING UNITS (SUCH AS CPU,
GPU, RAM ETC), THE POWER AND DATA CONNECTORS, CAPACITORS, HEAT SINKS, FANS, SLOTS ETC.

3. ON ALL MOTHERBOARDS, THERE ARE ALSO CONNECTION PORTS CALLED “EXPANSION SLOTS”, WHICH ARE USED
FOR ADDING ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS TO YOUR BUILD SUCH AS NETWORK CARDS, AUDIO CARDS, VIDEO
CARDS AND MORE.
 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE DOES THE COMPUTER UNDERSTAND?
A) COMPUTER UNDERSTANDS ONLY C LANGUAGE
B) COMPUTER UNDERSTANDS ONLY ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
C) COMPUTER UNDERSTANDS ONLY BINARY LANGUAGE
D) COMPUTER UNDERSTANDS ONLY BASIC

2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT A CHARACTERISTIC OF A COMPUTER?

A) VERSATILITY B) ACCURACY C) DILIGENCE D) I.Q.

3. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING UNIT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CONVERTING THE DATA RECEIVED FROM THE USER INTO A COMPUTER UNDERSTANDABLE FORMAT?
A) OUTPUT UNIT B) INPUT UNIT C) MEMORY UNIT D) ARITHMETIC & LOGIC UNIT

4. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MONITOR LOOKS LIKE A TELEVISION AND ARE NORMALLY USED WITH NON-PORTABLE COMPUTER SYSTEMS?
A) LED B) LCD C) CRT D) FLAT PANEL MONITORS

5. THE GENERATION BASED ON VLSI MICROPROCESSOR.

A) 1ST B) 2ND C) 3RD D) 4TH

6. ULSI STANDS FOR?

A) ULTRA LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION
B) UNDER LOWER SCALE INTEGRATION
C) ULTRA LOWER SCALE INTEGRATION
D) UNDER LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION

7. . ______________ ARE USED FOR SOLVING COMPLEX APPLICATION SUCH AS GLOBAL WEATHER FORECASTING.
A) SUPER COMPUTERS
B) PUBLIC COMPUTERS
C) MOBILE COMPUTERS
D) HYBRID COMPUTERS
 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
8. THE PERIOD OF ________ GENERATION WAS 1952-1964.
A) 1ST B) 2ND C) 5TH D) 4TH

9. WHAT IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MAINFRAME AND A SUPER COMPUTER?

A) SUPER COMPUTER IS MUCH LARGER THAN MAINFRAME COMPUTERS

B) SUPER COMPUTERS ARE MUCH SMALLER THAN MAINFRAME COMPUTERS

C) SUPERCOMPUTERS ARE FOCUSED TO EXECUTE FEW PROGRAMS AS FAST AS POSSIBLE WHILE MAINFRAME USES ITS POWER TO EXECUTE AS MANY PROGRAMS
CONCURRENTLY

D) SUPERCOMPUTERS ARE FOCUSED TO EXECUTE AS MANY PROGRAMS AS POSSIBLE WHILE MAINFRAME USES ITS POWER TO EXECUTE FEW PROGRAMS AS
FAST AS POSSIBLE.

10 . HOW MANY COLOR DOTS MAKE UP ONE COLOR PIXEL ON A SCREEN?

A) 256 B) 16 C) 8 D) 3

11. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT AN INPUT DEVICE?

A) OCR B) OPTICAL SCANNERS C) VOICE RECOGNITION DEVICE D) COM (COMPUTER OUTPUT TO MICROFILM)

12. MAGNETIC DISKS ARE THE MOST POPULAR MEDIUM FOR

A) DIRECT ACCESS B) SEQUENTIAL ACCESS C) BOTH OF ABOVE D) NONE OF ABOVE

13. NUMBER KEYS ARE PRESENT AT ……… PLACES ON THE KEYBOARD.

A) ONE B) TWO C) THREE

14. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS THE FASTEST MEANS OF MEMORY ACCESS FOR CPU?
A) REGISTERS B) CACHE C) MAIN MEMORY D) VIRTUAL MEMORY
 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
15. ANY ELECTRONIC HOLDING PLACE WHERE DATA CAN BE STORED AND RETRIEVED LATER WHENEVER REQUIRED IS ____________
A) MEMORY
B) DRIVE
C) DISK
D) CIRCUIT

16. HOW MANY ADDRESS LINES ARE REQUIRED TO CONNECT A 4 KB RAM TO A MICROPROCESSOR?
A) 10
B) 16
C) 12
D) 20
 UNIT 3
NUMBER SYSTEMS
 INTRODUCTION TO NUMBER SYSTEM
• NUMBER SYSTEM TELLS HOW CAN WE STORE NUMBERS IN A DIGITAL SYSTEM.
• WE HAVE TWO IMPORTANT COMPONENTS BASE AND SYMBOLS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
• THE BASE OR RADIX OF A NUMBER SYSTEM REFERS TO THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DIGITS
THAT ARE ACTUALLY USED IN THE GIVEN NUMBER SYSTEM.
• THE NUMBER SYSTEM THAT HAS THE BASE ‘B’ CONSISTS OF ITS DIGITS IN THE [0, B-1]
RANGE.
 TYPES OF NUMBER SYSTEM
• DECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM HAVING BASE 10 HAVE SYMBOLS 0,1,2,3…..9.
• BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM HAVING BASE 2 HAVE SYMBOLS 0,1.
• OCTAL NUMBER SYSTEM HAVING BASE 8 HAVE SYMBOLS 0,1,2,3...7.
• HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM HAVING BASE 16 HAVE SYMBOLS 0,1,2,3….9,A,B,C,D,E,F.
• A COMPUTER CAN UNDERSTAND ONLY THE “ON” AND “OFF” STATE OF A SWITCH. THESE TWO
STATES ARE REPRESENTED BY 1 AND 0.
• OCTAL NUMBERS ARE USEFUL FOR REPRESENTING BINARY VALUES BECAUSE EACH DIGIT
REPRESENTS THREE BINARY DIGITS, OR BITS. THIS MAKES IT EASIER TO READ AND REDUCES THE
LENGTH OF NUMERICAL REPRESENTATIONS, ESPECIALLY WHEN DEALING WITH LARGE BINARY
VALUES.
• HEXADECIMAL CAN BE USED TO WRITE LARGE BINARY NUMBERS IN JUST A FEW DIGITS.
HEXADECIMALS DEFINE LOCATIONS IN MEMORY.
CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
DECIMAL BINARY OCTAL HEXADECIMA
L
0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1
2 10 2 2
3 11 3 3
4 100 4 4
5 101 5 5
6 110 6 6
7 111 7 7
8 1000 10 8
…. …. …. ….
 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
DECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM TO OTHER NUMBER SYSTEM :
• STEP 1 − DIVIDE THE DECIMAL NUMBER TO BE CONVERTED BY THE VALUE OF THE NEW BASE.

• STEP 2 − GET THE REMAINDER FROM STEP 1 AS THE RIGHTMOST DIGIT (LEAST SIGNIFICANT DIGIT) OF NEW
BASE NUMBER.

• STEP 3 − DIVIDE THE QUOTIENT OF THE PREVIOUS DIVIDE BY THE NEW BASE.

• STEP 4 − RECORD THE REMAINDER FROM STEP 3 AS THE NEXT DIGIT (TO THE LEFT) OF THE NEW BASE
NUMBER.

• REPEAT STEPS 3 AND 4, GETTING REMAINDERS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT, UNTIL THE QUOTIENT BECOMES
ZERO IN STEP 3.

• THE LAST REMAINDER THUS OBTAINED WILL BE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DIGIT (MSD) OF THE NEW BASE
NUMBER.
EXAMPLE :
DECIMAL NUMBER: 2910
CALCULATING BINARY EQUIVALENT :

OPERATION RESULT REMAINDER

29/2 14 1
14/2 7 0
7/2 3 1
3/2 1 1
1/2 0 1

Decimal Number : 2910 = Binary Number :111012

 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
OTHER NUMBER SYSTEM TO DECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM:
• STEP 1 − DETERMINE THE COLUMN (POSITIONAL) VALUE OF EACH DIGIT (THIS DEPENDS ON THE
POSITION OF THE DIGIT AND THE BASE OF THE NUMBER SYSTEM).

• STEP 2 − MULTIPLY THE OBTAINED COLUMN VALUES (IN STEP 1) BY THE DIGITS IN THE
CORRESPONDING COLUMNS.

• STEP 3 − SUM THE PRODUCTS CALCULATED IN STEP 2. THE TOTAL IS THE EQUIVALENT VALUE IN
DECIMAL.

EXAMPLE:

BINARY NUMBER − 111012

CALCULATING DECIMAL EQUIVALENT :

((1 × 24) + (1 × 23) + (1 × 22) + (0 × 21) + (1 × 20))10 =

16 + 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = (29)10
 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
OCTAL & HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM TO BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM:

• TO CONVERT OCTAL TO BINARY, WE CAN DIRECTLY CONVERT ALL THE OCTAL

DIGITS INTO 3 DIGIT BINARY.
• FOR HEXADECIMAL, EACH DIGIT IS REPRESENTED AS FOUR BIT BINARY.

EXAMPLE:
OCTAL NUMBER : (213)8 = (010 001 011)2
HEXADECIMAL NUMBER : (8B)16 = (1000 1011)2
 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM TO OCTAL & HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM:
• GROUP EVERY 3 BINARY BITS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT AND CONSTRUCT THE OCTAL
NUMBER SYSTEM.
• GROUP EVERY 4 BINARY BITS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT AND CONSTRUCT THE
HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM.

EXAMPLE:
(101010101)2 = (101)(010)(101) = (525)8
(101010101)2 = (1)(0101)(0101) = (155)16
 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
OCTAL TO HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM & VICE-VERSA:
• FOR EACH GIVEN HEXADECIMAL NUMBER DIGIT, WRITE THE EQUIVALENT BINARY
NUMBER. IF ANY OF THE BINARY EQUIVALENTS ARE LESS THAN 4 DIGITS, ADD 0’S TO
THE LEFT SIDE.
• COMBINE AND MAKE THE GROUPS OF BINARY DIGITS FROM RIGHT TO LEFT, EACH
CONTAINING 3 DIGITS. ADD 0’S TO THE LEFT IF THERE ARE LESS THAN 3 DIGITS IN THE
LAST GROUP.
• FIND THE OCTAL EQUIVALENT OF EACH BINARY GROUP.
• VICE VERSA METHOD TO CONVERT OCTAL TO HEXADECIMAL.
EXAMPLE:
GIVEN, 1BC16 IS A HEXADECIMAL NUMBER.
1 → 0001, B → 1011, C →1100
NOW GROUP THEM FROM RIGHT TO LEFT, EACH HAVING 3 DIGITS.
000, 110, 111, 100
000→0, 110 →6, 111→7, 100→4
HENCE, 1BC = 674
 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
DECIMAL FRACTION TO BINARY:
(A) CONVERT THE INTEGRAL PART OF DECIMAL TO BINARY EQUIVALENT AS
MENTIONED EARLIER.
(B) CONVERT THE FRACTIONAL PART OF DECIMAL TO BINARY EQUIVALENT
• MULTIPLY THE FRACTIONAL DECIMAL NUMBER BY 2.
• INTEGRAL PART OF RESULTANT DECIMAL NUMBER WILL BE FIRST DIGIT OF
FRACTION BINARY NUMBER.
• REPEAT STEP 1 USING ONLY FRACTIONAL PART OF DECIMAL NUMBER AND THEN
STEP 2.
C) COMBINE BOTH INTEGRAL AND FRACTIONAL PART OF BINARY NUMBER.
 CONVERSION BETWEEN NUMBER SYSTEM
BINARY FRACTION TO DECIMAL:
(A) CONVERT THE INTEGRAL PART OF BINARY TO DECIMAL EQUIVALENT
(B) CONVERT THE FRACTIONAL PART OF BINARY TO DECIMAL EQUIVALENT
• DIVIDE EACH DIGIT FROM RIGHT SIDE OF RADIX POINT TILL THE END BY 2-1, 2-2,
2-3, … RESPECTIVELY.
• ADD ALL THE RESULT COMING FROM STEP 1.
• EQUIVALENT FRACTIONAL DECIMAL NUMBER WOULD BE THE RESULT
OBTAINED IN STEP 2.
(C) ADD BOTH INTEGRAL AND FRACTIONAL PART OF DECIMAL NUMBER.
 ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS
FOUR RULES FOR BINARY ADDITION: FOUR RULES FOR BINARY
SUBTRACTION:

Difference
Input A Input B Sum (A + B) Carry Borrow
(A-B)

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 1 1

1 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 0 1 0 0

Note: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (Sum) with 1 (Carry)

 ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS
EXAMPLES:
(1101.101)2 + (111.011)2 = (10101.000)2
(1010.01)2 - (111.111)2 = (0010.011)2
(1101)2 X (110)2 = (1001110)2
(23)8 + (67)8 = (112)8
(743)8 - (564)8 = (157)8
(7A6)16 + (2BA)16 = (A60)16
(974B)16 - (587C)16 = (3ECF)16
BINARY NUMBER REPRESENTATION
 BINARY NUMBER REPRESENTATION
• UNSIGNED NUMBER : THE UNSIGNED NUMBERS DON'T HAVE ANY SIGN FOR
REPRESENTING NEGATIVE NUMBERS. SO THE UNSIGNED NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS
POSITIVE.
• SIGNED NUMBER : THE SIGNED NUMBERS HAVE A SIGN BIT SO THAT IT CAN
DIFFERENTIATE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE INTEGER NUMBERS. THE SIGNED BINARY
NUMBER TECHNIQUE HAS BOTH THE SIGN BIT AND THE MAGNITUDE OF THE NUMBER.
• 1'S COMPLEMENT : BY INVERTING EACH BIT OF A NUMBER, WE CAN OBTAIN THE 1'S
COMPLEMENT OF A NUMBER. THE NEGATIVE NUMBERS CAN BE REPRESENTED IN THE
FORM OF 1'S COMPLEMENT.
• 2'S COMPLEMENT : BY INVERTING EACH BIT OF A NUMBER AND ADDING 1 TO ITS LEAST
SIGNIFICANT BIT, WE CAN OBTAIN THE 2'S COMPLEMENT OF A NUMBER. THE NEGATIVE
NUMBERS CAN ALSO BE REPRESENTED IN THE FORM OF 2'S COMPLEMENT.
 BINARY NUMBER REPRESENTATION
• SIGNED NUMBER : THERE IS ONE SIGN BIT AT THE LEFTMOST POSITION, IF IT IS 0 THEN IT
REPRESENTS A POSITIVE NUMBER AND IF IT IS 1, THEN NUMBER IS A NEGATIVE NUMBER.

0 +0 to +15
1 -0 to -15

THE STRING OF NUMBERS 11001 REPRESENTS 25, WHEN USING UNSIGNED NUMBER
REPRESENTATION AND REPRESENTS -9, WHEN USING SIGNED NUMBER REPRESENTATION.

• 1'S COMPLEMENT : +5 0101

THE REPRESENTATION OF -5, IN 1’S COMPLEMENT FORM IS -5 1010.
• 2'S COMPLEMENT : +5 0101
THE REPRESENTATION OF -5, IN 2’S COMPLEMENT FORM IS -5 1011.
Sl no. B3 B2 B1 B0 Signed 1’s comp. (2n-1-x) 2’s comp. (2n-x)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
2 0 0 1 0 2 2 2
3 0 0 1 1 3 3 3
4 0 1 0 0 4 4 4
5 0 1 0 1 5 5 5
6 0 1 1 0 6 6 6
7 0 1 1 1 7 7 7
8 1 0 0 0 -0 -7 -8
9 1 0 0 1 -1 -6 -7
10 1 0 1 0 -2 -5 -6
11 1 0 1 1 -3 -4 -5
12 1 1 0 1 -4 -3 -4
13 1 1 0 1 -5 -2 -3
14 1 1 1 0 -6 -1 -2
15 1 1 1 1 -7 0 -1
THE RANGE OF VALUES THAT WE CAN REPRESENT USING SIGNED MAGNITUDE, 1’S
COMPLEMENT, 2’S COMPLEMENT USING “N” BITS
• SIGNED & 1’S COMPLEMENT :
-(2N-1 – 1) TO (2N-1 – 1)
• 2’S COMPLEMENT:
-(2N-1) TO (2N-1 -1)
 SUBTRACTION USING 2’S COMPLEMENT (A-B)
• AT FIRST, FIND 2'S COMPLEMENT OF THE B(SUBTRAHEND).
• THEN ADD IT TO THE A(MINUEND).
• IF THE FINAL CARRY OVER OF THE SUM IS 1, THEN IT IS DROPPED AND THE
RESULT IS POSITIVE.
• IF THERE IS NO CARRY OVER, THEN 2'S COMPLEMENT OF THE SUM IS THE FINAL
RESULT AND IT IS NEGATIVE.
EXAMPLE:
• FIND SUBTRACTION OF 110 AND 101 USING 2'S COMPLEMENT METHOD : 001
• FIND SUBTRACTION OF 10110 AND 11101 USING 2'S COMPLEMENT METHOD : -0011