INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

PROCESSORS

Lecture 2
 TOPICS to be COVERED
2.1 The System Unit: Processing & Number System Conversion

2.3 Inside the System Unit: Computing, Storing, and Communication

2.4 Typical CPU Components, System Clock and Machine cycle

2.5 Future Trends

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 UNIT 2.1

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Data and Program Representation
In order to be understood by a computer, data and programs need to be repre-
sented appropriately
Coding systems: Used to represent numeric, text-based, and multimedia
data, as well as to represent programs
Digital computers: Can only understand two states, off and on (0 and 1)
Digital data representation: The process of representing data in digital
form so it can be used by a computer

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[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 4
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Digital Data Representation
• Bit: The smallest unit of data that a binary computer
can recognize (a single 1 or 0)
Byte = 8 bits
Byte terminology used to express the size of doc-
uments and other files, programs, etc.
Prefixes are often used to express larger quantities of
bytes: kilobyte (KB), megabyte (MB), gigabyte (GB),
etc.

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 5
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The Binary Numbering System
Numbering system: A way of representing numbers
Decimal numbering system
Uses 10 symbols (0-9)
Binary numbering system
Uses only two symbols (1 and 0) to represent all possible numbers
In both systems, the position of the digits determines the power to which the
base number (such as 10 or 2) is raised

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 6
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The Binary Numbering System

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[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 7
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Coding Systems for Text-Based Data

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[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 8
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Coding Systems for Other Types of Data

Graphics (still images such as photos or

drawings)

Bitmapped images: A variety of bit depths are

possible (4, 8, 24 bits)

Vector-based images: Use mathematical

formulas to represent images rather than a
map of pixels

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 9
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Coding Systems for Other Types of Data

Audio data: Must be in digital form in order to be stored on or processed by a

PC
Often compressed when sent over the Internet
MP3 files
Video data: Displayed using a collection of frames, each frame containing a
single graphical image
Amount of data can be substantial, but can be compressed
MPEG-2 files

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 10
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Representing Programs: Machine Language

Machine language: Binary-based language for representing computer

programs the computer can execute directly
Early programs were written in machine language.
Today’s programs still need to be translated into machine language in or-
der to be understood by the computer
Most program are written in other programming languages
Language translators are used to translate the programs into machine
language

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 11
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 UNIT 2.2

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Inside the System Unit
System unit: The main case of a
computer
Houses the processing hardware for
a computer
Also contains memory, the
power supply, cooling fans, and
interfaces to connect peripheral
devices
Houses the drive bays in which
storage devices (hard drives, DVD
drives, etc.) are located
With a desktop PC, usually looks like
a rectangular box

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 13
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The CPU
Central processing unit (CPU): circuitry and components packaged together and at-
tached to the motherboard
Does the vast majority of processing for a computer
Also called a processor; called a microprocessor when talking about PCs
Dual-core CPU: Contain the processing components (cores) of two separate processors on a
single CPU
Quad-core CPU: Contains 4 cores
Typically designed for desktop PCs, portable PCs,
or servers
Often made by Intel or AMD

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 14
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The CPU

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 15
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Processing Speed
CPU clock speed: One measurement of processing speed
Measured in megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz)
Higher CPU clock speed = more instructions processed per second
Alternate measure of processing speed is the number of instructions a CPU can
process per second
Megaflops, gigaflops, teraflops
Other factors (CPU architecture, memory, bus speed, etc.) also affect the overall
processing speed of a computer
Benchmark tests: Can be used to evaluate overall processing speed

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 16
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Word Size and Cache Memory
Word size: The amount of data that a CPU can manipulate at one time
Typically 32 or 64 bits
Cache memory: Special group of very fast memory chips located on or close to
the CPU
Level 1 is fastest, then Level 2, then Level 3
More cache memory typically means faster processing
Usually internal cache today

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 17
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 How the CPU Works

CPU: Consists of a variety of circuitry and components packaged together

Transistor: Key element of the microprocessor
Made of semi-conductor material that acts like a switch controlling the
flow of electrons inside a chip
Today’s CPUs contain hundreds of millions of transistors; the number doubles
about every 18 months (Moore’s Law)

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 18
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 UNIT 2.3

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Typical CPU Components
Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU): Performs integer arithmetic and
logical operations
Floating Point Unit (FPU): Performs decimal arithmetic
Control unit: Coordinates and controls activities
Prefetch unit: Tries to fetch data and instructions before they are
needed
Decode unit: Translates instructions so they are understood by
the control unit, ALU, and FPU
Internal cache and registers: Store data and instructions
needed by the CPU
Bus interface unit: Where data and instructions flow in and out
of the CPU

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 20
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The System Clock and the Machine Cycle
System clock: Timing mechanism within the computer system that synchronizes the
computer’s operations
Each signal is a cycle
Number of cycles per second = hertz (Hz)
Many PC system clocks run at 200 MHz
Computers can run at a multiple or fraction of the system clock
For instance, with a CPU clock speed of 2 GHz, the CPU clock “ticks” 10
times during each system clock tick
During each CPU clock tick, one or more pieces of microcode are processed

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 21
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The System Clock and the Machine Cycle
Machine cycle: The series of operations involved in the exe-
cution of a single machine level instruction
Fetch: The program instruction is fetched
Decode: The instructions are decoded so the control
unit, ALU, and FPU can understand them
Execute: The instructions are carried out
Store: The original data or the result from the ALU or
FPU execution is stored either in the CPU’s registers or in
memory, depending on the instruction

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 22
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 The System Clock and the Machine Cycle

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 UNIT 2.4

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Making Computers Faster and Better Now and in the Future
Strategies for faster and better computers
Improved architecture: Smaller components, faster bus speeds,
multiple CPU cores, etc.
Improved materials: New backing materials, flexible circuits, etc.
Pipelining: Allows multiple instructions
to be processed at one time

Multiprocessing and parallel Processing: Use multiple proces-

sors to speed up processing
Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 25
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Parallel Processing

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 26
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Future Trends
Nanotechnology: The science of creating tiny computers and components less
than 100 nanometers in size
Carbon nanotubes used in many products today
Nanoparticles and Nano crystals
In the future, components may be built by working at the individual atomic
and molecular levels

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 27
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Future Trends
Quantum computing: Applies the principles of quantum
physics and quantum mechanics to computers
Utilizes atoms or nuclei working together as quantum bits
(qubits)
Qubits function simultaneously as the computer’s
processor and memory and can represent more than two
states
Expected to be used for specialized applications, such as
encryption and code breaking

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 28
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Future Trends
Optical computer: Uses light, such as from laser beams or infrared
beams, to perform digital computations
Opto-electronic computers use both optical and electronic components
Silicon photonics: The process of making optical devices using silicon
manufacturing techniques
Hybrid silicon laser
Terascale computing: The ability to process one trillion floating-point op-
erations per second
Expected to be needed for future applications
3D chips: Contain transistors that are layered to cut down on the surface area
required

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 29
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
 Summary

Data and Program Representation

Inside the System Unit
How the CPU Works
Making Computers Faster and Better Now and In the Future

Reference:
[Book By :Understanding Computers: Today and Tomorrow 15th International Edition, Deborah 30
Morley and Charles S. Parker.]
Thank you