Hardware: The CPU

1
Hardware The CPU Storage
4
Chapter

• 4.1 Microchips, Miniaturization, Mobility
• 4.2 The System Unit The Basics
• 4.3 More on the System Unit
• 4.4 Secondary Storage
• 4.5 Future Developments in Processing
  Storage

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Microchips, Miniaturization, Mobility

• Vacuum Tubes vs. Transistors
• vacuum tube, electron tube, or thermionic valve
  or just valve, is a device used to amplify,
  switch or modify a signal by controlling the
  movement of electrons in an evacuated space.
• Vacuum tubes were the original logic gates of
  computers
• They looked like light bulbs, were hot, and
  burned out like them too
• High failure rates, damaged tubes had to be
  replaced for the computer to function
• A transistor is a switch, or gate, that can
  alternate between on and off many millions of
  times per second.
• Developed in 1947 by Bell Labs
• The original transistors were 1/100th the size of
  vacuum tubes (less power, faster, more reliable
  too)

3
Processor Basics

• Integrated Circuit An entire electronic circuit
  formed on a single chip often made of silicon
• Microchips AKA industrial rice Is a tiny piece
  of silicon that contains millions of
  micro-miniature electronic circuits.
• Store and process data.
• Etched on the chip via the photolithography
  process.
• Chip manufactures require very clean environment.
  

Die on an Intel Processor
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Processor Basics

• A microprocessor The miniaturized circuitry of an
  entire computer processor on a single chip.
• Contains the CPU, which processes data
• Microcontroller or Embedded Computer
• A microprocessor that was modified for use in a
  machine that isnt a computer.

Die on an Intel Processor
5
The System Unit The Basics

• Binary System the basic unit of computing
• Uses just two numbers 0 and 1
• All data and program instructions in the computer
  are represented as binary
• Bit each 0 or 1 is a bit
• Byte a group of 8 bits
• Kilobyte 1,000 (1,024) bytes
• Megabyte 1 Million (1,048,576) bytes
• Gigabyte 1 Billion (1,073,741,824) bytes
• Terabyte 1 Trillion (1,009,511,627,576) bytes
• Petabyte 1 quadrillion bytes
• Exabyte 1 quintillion bytes
• All the printed material in the world is 5
  exabytes

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The System Unit The Basics

• Binary coding schemes assign a unique binary code
  to each letter
• EBCDIC
• Requires 8 bits per character
• Used for IBM mainframes
• ASCII
• Requires 7 or 8 bits per character, depending on
  the version
• 8 bit Extended ASCII provides 256 characters
• 01000111 - G
• Used for PCs, Unix hosts, Macs
• Unicode
• Requires 16 bits per character
• Handles 65,536 characters

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The System Unit The Basics
8
The System Unit The BasicsComputer Terms

• Definitions
• Shell or opening used for the installation of
  electrical equipment.
• This converts AC to DC to run the computer.
• Protects the computer from being damaged by power
  spikes. Plug your computer into one.
• Protects a computer against brownouts or low
  power conditions that happen a lot in summer.
• Uninterruptible Power Supply. Battery-operated
  device that provides power for a time when there
  is a blackout.
• The main system board of the computer.
• The miniaturized circuitry of a computer
  processor.
• Groups of interconnected chips on the motherboard
  that control information flow between the
  microprocessor and other system components
  connected to the motherboard.

• Names
• Bay
• Power Supply
• Surge Protector
• Voltage Regulator
• UPS
• Motherboard
• Microprocessor
• Chipset

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Traditional Microcomputer Microprocessor

• Intel Type Chips. Have a similar internal desging
  and are made to run PCs.
• Produced by Intel and AMD.
• Motorola Type Chips. Made by Motorola and later
  its subsidiary Freescale Semiconductor for Apple
  Macintosh computers (up to and including the
  Apple Mac G4).
• G5 Macintoshes use PowerPC family of processors
  (Developed by Apple, Freescale and IBM).
• PowerPC Chips have the advantage that with
  certain hardware or software configurations, a
  Macintosh can run PC as well as Mac applications
  software

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New Microcomputer Microprocessor

• Intel Processor for Macintosh.
• Why?
• What happened to the software that ran in
  PowerPC?
• Is Mac OS going to run on a non-Apple computer?
• Multicore Processors. Designed to let the
  operating system divide the work over more than
  one processor, with two or more processor cores
  in a single piece of silicon.
• Single core vs. multicore processors

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Processing Speeds

• System Clock. Controls how fast all the
  operations within a computer take place.
• Delivers a steady stream of digital pulses or
  ticks to the CPU. This ticks are called
  cycles.
• Faster clock speed will result in faster
  processing
• The faster a CPU runs, the more power it
  consumes, and the more heat it generates
• The CPU
• Older CPUs processing speeds are in MegaHertz
• 1 MHz 1 Million ticks per second
• Current CPUs processing speeds are in GigaHertz
• 1 GHz 1 Billion ticks per second

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More on the System UnitParts of the CPU

• Definition
• The number of bits the processor can process at
  any one time
• The part of the CPU that deciphers instructions
  and carries them out
• The ALU performs mathematical and logical
  operations and controls the speed of them
• High-speed storage areas that temporarily store
  data during processing
• Electrical data roadways used to transmit bits
  within the CPU and between CPU and other
  motherboard components

• Name
• Word size
• Control unit
• Arithmetic Logic Unit
• Registers
• Buses

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How the CPU Works

• The machine cycle consists of four operations
  fetching, decoding, executing, storing results

The CPU
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The System Unit The Basics

• The CPU Continued
• Mainframe and minicomputer speed is measured in
  MIPS
• MIPS stands for millions of instructions per
  second
• Workstations perform at 100 MIPS or more
• Mainframes perform at 200 1,200 MIPS
• Supercomputer processing speed is measured in
  flops
• Flops stands for floating point operations per
  second
• IBMs Blue Gene/L cranks out 70.72 teraflops
  (tera trillion) per second

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Hardware The CPU Storage
4
Chapter

• 4.1 Microchips, Miniaturization, Mobility
• 4.2 The System Unit The Basics
• 4.3 More on the System Unit
• 4.4 Secondary Storage
• 4.5 Future Developments in Processing
  Storage

16
More on the System UnitHow Memory Works

• Memory Chip
• RAM
• ROM
• CMOS
• Flash

• Explanation
• Random Access Memory chips are volatile and hold
  
• Software instructions
• Data before after the CPU processes it
• Read only memory
• Cannot be written on or erased without special
  equipment
• Are loaded at factory with fixed start-up
  instructions
• Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
• Powered by a battery
• Contains time, date, calendar, boot password
• Nonvolatile memory that can be erased and
  reprogrammed more than once
• Doesnt require a battery
• Used in newer PCs for BIOS instructions

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More on the System UnitTypes of RAM

• Explanation
• Dynamic RAM must be constantly refreshed by the
  CPU or it loses its contents
• Synchronous Dynamic RAM is synchronized by the
  system clock and is much faster than DRAM
• Static RAM is faster than DRAM and retains its
  contents without having to be refreshed by CPU
• Double-data rate synchronous dynamic RAM

• RAM Types
• DRAM
• SDRAM
• SRAM
• DDR-SDRAM

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More on the System UnitSpeeding up Processing

• The CPU works much faster than RAM
• So it could sit there waiting for information
• Cache temporarily stores instructions and data
  that the processor uses frequently to speed up
  processing
• Level 1 cache is part of the microprocessor
• Holds 8 to 256 kb
• Faster than Level 2 cache
• Level 2 cache is SRAM external cache
• Holds 64 kb to 2 Mb
• Level 3 cache is on the motherboard
• Comes on very high-end computers

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More on the System UnitSpeeding up Processing

• Method
• Interleaving
• Bursting
• Pipelining
• Superscalar Architecture
• Hyperthreading

• Description
• CPU alternates communications between two or more
  memory banks
• CPU grabs a block of data from memory instead of
  retrieving one piece at a time
• CPU doesnt wait for one instruction to complete
  before fetching its next instruction
• The computer can execute more than one
  instruction per clock cycle
• A technique used in superscalar architecture in
  which the OS treats the microprocessor as though
  it is two microprocessors

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More on the System UnitPorts

• Description
• Used to transmit slow data over long distances
• Sends data sequentially, one bit at a time
• Used to connect keyboard, mouse, monitors,
  dial-up modems
• For transmitting fast data over short distances
• Transmits 8 bytes simultaneously
• Connects printers, external disks, backups
• Small Computer System Interface
• Connects up to 7 devices in a daisy chain
• Transmits data 32 bits at a time
• Universal Serial Bus can theoretically connect up
  to 127 peripheral devices in a daisy chain

• Port Type
• Serial Port
• Parallel Port
• SCSI Port
• USB Port

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More on the System UnitUSB

• Goals
• Be low-cost
• Be able to connect lots of devices
• Be hot swappable
• People hate rebooting because it takes time
• Hot swapping means a device can be
  connected/disconnected without rebooting
• Permit plug and play
• Devices are automatically configured when they
  are installed no need to download new drivers

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More on the System UnitUSB Continued

• Standards
• USB 1.1 the original standard
• USB 2.0 the current standard for new PCs
• USB On The Go (OTG) currently under development
• Connectors
• A in USB Type 1.1 and 2.0
• B in USB Type 1.1 and 2.0
• Mini B in USB Type 2.0
• Mini A in USB OTG used for smaller peripherals
  like cellphones

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More on the System UnitSpecialized Expansion
Ports

• Description
• Intended for devices working with lots of data
• Used for camcorders, DVD players, TVs
• Handles up to 400 megabits per second
• Musical Instrument Digital Interface
• Connects musical instruments
• Used in creating, recording, editing, performing
  music
• Infrared Data Association Infrared ports used to
  make a cableless connection
• Uses short-range radio waves that transmit up to
  30 ft at 721 Kbps
• Connects computers to printers, keyboards,
  headsets, even refrigerators
• Named after King Harald Bluetooth, son of Gorm,
  who united the Norway and Denmark. Ruled 910-940
  A.D.
• The standard for linking all devices in a Local
  Area Network

• Port Type
• FireWire
• MIDI
• IrDA
• Bluetooth
• Ethernet

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More on the System UnitExpansion Cards
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More on the System Unit Expansion Buses

• Bus
• PCI bus
• AGP Bus

• Description
• Peripheral Component Interconnect
• For high-speed connections
• 32 or 64 bits wide
• Typically used for sound cards, modems,
  high-speed network cards
• Accelerated Graphics Port
• Twice the speed of PCI bus
• For Video and 3-D graphics cards

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Secondary Storage

• Descriptions
• Removable disks.
• Floppies store 1.44 MB
• Zip disks store 100, 250, or 750 MB
• Made from thin rigid metal covered with
  magnetizable substrate. Most disks have 2 or more
  platters
• Removable CDs and DVDs
• Thin plastic tape coated with magnetizable
  substance
• Like a credit card, but contains a microprocessor
  and memory chips
• Nonvolatile memory no moving parts
• Lets you store data on an online vendors server

• Storage Types
• Floppy and Zip disks
• Hard disks
• Optical disks
• Magnetic tape
• Smart Cards
• Flash memory
• Online secondary storage

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Secondary StorageHard Disks

• Thin, rigid metal, glass, or ceramic platters
  covered with a substance that allows data to be
  held in the form of magnetized spots
• The more platters there are, the higher the drive
  capacity
• Store data in tracks, sectors, and clusters
• Formatting creates a file allocation table that
  maps files to clusters or inodes
• Typical file systems are VFAT NTFS for Windows,
  HFS and ext2 for Unix
• Drive heads ride on .000001 cushion of air, and
  can crash!
• Important data should always be backed up!

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Secondary StorageHard Disks

• Hard Disk Types
• External Hard Disks a freestanding disk drive
• Removable Hard Disk inserted into a cartridge
  drive on the PC
• Hard Disk Controllers
• EIDE Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics
• Supports up to 4 disks at 137 GB per disk
• Marketed as SATA, Fast ATA, Ultra ATA, ATA-2,
  ATA/100
• SCSI Faster than EIDE controllers

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Secondary StorageOptical Disks

• CDs and DVDs are Optical disks
• Data is written and read using lasers, not a disk
  head
• CD-ROM is Compact Disk Read-Only Memory
• CD-R is used for recording only once
• CD-RW is an erasable optical disk that can both
  record and erase data over and over again
• DVD is a CD-style disk with extremely high
  capacity
• Stores 4.7 or more GB
• DVD-R is used for recording only once
• DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVDRW are reusable DVDs
• Blu-Ray/HD-DVD vs. conventional red laser disk
  technology (25 GB)

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Secondary StorageFlash Memory

• Nonvolatile memory with no moving parts
• But the electronics can wear out
• Available as
• Flash memory cards
• Insert these into a flash port of a camera,
  handheld PC, smartphone
• Flash memory sticks
• A form of flash memory that plugs into a memory
  stick port
• Flash memory drives
• A finger-sized module of flash memory
• Plugs into the USB port of most PCs and
  Macintoshes

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Future Developments in Processing Storage

• New Technology
• M-RAM
• OUM
• Nanotechnology
• Optical Computing
• DNA Computing

• Description of Processing Technology
• Magnetic RAM uses miniscule magnets rather than
  electrical charges
• Ovonic Multiplied Memory stores bits by
  generating different levels of low and high
  resistance on a glossy material
• Tiny machines work at a molecular level to make
  nanocircuits
• Uses lasers and light, not electricity
• Uses strands of synthetic DNA to store data

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Future Developments in Processing Storage

• Description of Storage Technology
• Magnetic disk drives currently hold 100 GB of
  data
• Blank CDs are replacing floppy disks since they
  hold 650MB and cost
• DVD disks hold up to 4.7 GB of data currently
• Perpendicular recording technology allows 25 -
  100 more data to be stored on the same disk
• Polymer memory creates chips that store data on
  plastics
• Nonvolatile memory
• Data is stored based on polymers electrical
  resistance

• New Technology
• Higher-density disks
• Molecular electronics