Gary Vatnsdal Introduction to Microcomputers

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Gary VatnsdalIntroduction to Microcomputers

• 01000111 01000001 01110010 01111001

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Speed is all there is !!!(Or is it?)

• (1) A computer is an electronic device ,
• (2) operating under control of instructions
  stored in its own memory unit, (ORA 00000001)
• (3) that can accept data (23-9)
• (4)process data arithmetically (22) and
  logically (2gt1).
• (5)produce output from processing, (4, true)
• (6)and store the results for future use.

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Whats the Difference?

RAM
ROM
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Some Examples

• Word processing - takes words, formats them
• Spreadsheets - takes numbers and analyses them
• Games - Takes input from Joystick and processes
  game movements.
• Database - takes raw data and organizes it.

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Binary Numbers
16
64
256
4
2
8
32
128
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G
R
Y
A
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A World full of digits

• Computer memories
• Computer storage
• Music CDs (DDD or ADD) (recorded, edited,
  mastered)
• Credit card swipe strips
• Digital Cameras (still and video)
• DVDs (digital video (versatile) disks)
• Digital video recorders and players

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Some Definitions

• Bit smallest chunk of meaningful data a
  computer can hold (Y,N) (T,F) (M,F) (paid, not
  paid)
• Byte A group of eight bits.
• Hertz cycles per second
• nano 1 billionth
• kilo 1 thousand
• mega 1 million
• giga 1 billion
• tera 1 trillion

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Input Devices for the user

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Disk Drives
• Scanner
• Modem
• CD-ROM
• Microphone
• Wand
• Touch Screen
• Bar Code Reader

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Input/Output Devices for the Computer

• Standard serial port - E.G. external modem, some
  printers
• Parallel Port - E.G. Printers, scanners,
  removable storage devices
• IDE (Imbedded Drive Electronics - hard drives (up
  to 528 Mbytes), CD ROMs), Zip drives - today
  E(enhanced)IDE is used - can address HD up to 8.4
  Gbyte.
• SCSI (Small Computer System Interface - printers,
  scanners, various other devices. Can be daisy
  chained.)

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The Main or Mother Board (1)

• An earlier Main
• board would have
• connectors for things
• like IDE drives, serial
• ports, parallel ports,
• ISA slots and maybe
• a PCI slot or two.

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More computer Input/Output Devices

• USB (Universal Serial Bus - new for many add on
  devices such as audio players, joysticks,
  scanners, printers. Fast - up to 12 Mb/sec - can
  be daisy chained - plug and play)
• USB 2 - up to 30 or 40 times faster then USB 1.1
  (above) Should start appearing in devices soon.
• Firewire (IEEE 1394) - Apple spec. (1995) -
  speeds up to 400 Mbits/sec - daisy chain up to 63
  devices - plug and play - good for camcorders,
  DVDs
• ISA (Industry Standard Architecture - 16 bit bus
  - soon to be gone.
• PCI (Peripheral Component Interface - 32 bit
  INTEL
• Pentium standard.)

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Main or Mother Board (2)

• In addition to the older
• connections, a newer
• design may include
• connections for USB
• ports, audio ports and
• a joystick port. Two
• types of Microprocessor
• slots may be provided.

Notethe many PCI slots and few ISA slots.
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The Microprocessor
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Control Devices

• Clock (determines speed of computer)
• BIOS (contained in ROM)(basic input/output
  system)
• Busses
• Control Bus (regulates input and out put of
  sections of the computer.)
• Address Bus (alerts memory cell of read or
  write)
• Data Bus (carries information between processor
  and memory and back)

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Memory

• ROM (a small amount used to boot up the
• computer)
• SRAM Static RAM (expensive but fast and so used
  in cache RAM) 4 megabytes of DRAM cost the same
  as 256 kilobytes of SRAM Takes up more space but
  does not need to be refreshed.
• RAM Random Access Memory (Dynamic and Static
  )(Dynamic memory has to be refreshed every few
  thousandths of a second)
• DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory (early type)
• EDO Extended Data Out or Output
• SDRAM - Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
  Can match best speed of internal bus. Also known
  as SyncDRAM.
• Rambus DRAM Pentium 4 especially designed to
  use this RAM. Very expensive but fast.
• DDR SDRAM Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic
  Random Access Memory. New chip sets are being
  design for Pentium 4 machines so they can use
  this RAM. It is cheaper then Rambus DRAM and
  faster then SDRAM.

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Auxiliary Storage

• Floppies from single sided 5.24 (180K) to 2
  Mbyte 3.5 floppies and more!
• Hard drives from early 10 Mbytes to todays
  standard of 13 or more Gigabytes (IBM recently
  announced a 73 Gig)
• Other storage zip drives (100Mbytes, 250
  Mbytes)
• Recordable CDs (CD-R/CDRW)
• (600 plus
  megabytes)
• Removable backup drives (2 Gbyte)
• coming soon 200 Gigabytes of storage
  on
• a CD sized disk

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Output Devices

• Monitor
• Printer
• Disk Drives
• Modem
• Speakers
• CD-RW

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Other Acronyms

• SVGA - Super video Graphics Array - Latest of a
  line of monitor displays.
• DPI - Dots Per Inch (number of dots printer by
  printer in one inch)
• MMX Matrix Manipulation Extensions
• CD-R (CD recorable) CD-RW (CD ReWritable)
• DVD Digital Video Disk

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Computer Software 1(System Software)

• DOS
• UNIX
• OS/2
• Mac OS 9
• Windows NT
• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows 2000 Professional (dropping the NT)
• Windows Millenium Edition (Win Me - replaces
  Windows 98)
• Windows 2000/64 (works with 64 bit
  microprocessors)
• Windows XP (unites Windows ME and Windows 2000)

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Computer Software 2 (Application Software)

• Word-processing
• Databases
• Spreadsheets
• Communications
• Games
• E-mail
• Presentation Graphics
• Organizers
• Desktop Publishing
• Graphics and Sound Editors

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Communication ChannelsA Path that Data Follows

• Transmission Media
• Twisted Pair (telephone wires)
• Coaxial Cable
• Fiber Optics
• Under sea Cable
• Microwave Transmission
• Satellite Transmission
• The channel maybe composed of any combination of
  the above.

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Networks

• Point to point MODEMS or Cable
• Local Area Networks (LANs)
• Privately owned
• Small (in one or a few buildings)
• Used for downloading files and info and
  controlling print jobs. Allows common share of
  data.
• Wide Area Networks (WANs)
• Usually public ( Governments, the Internet,
  Banks, Communication Companies)
• Large geographical scope
• Are composed of many kinds of communication
  channels.

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How to Buy a Computer

• Decide what you will be using your computer for.
• Choose software first.
• Be aware of hidden costs.
• Make a comparison sheet and take it around when
  you are shopping.
• Look for stores that have been around for a
  while, have a good reputation and don't sell
  computers as a sideline.
• Worry about prices that seem too low. Even
  computers can be made cheaply.
• Look at bundled software. A lot of it could be
  useless. Don't be stunned by a big list.
• Consider an on site service agreement, or
  extended service agreement.
• Be prepared to see prices drop, and features
  increase after you have purchased your system.
  Speed and capacity usually double every 18
  months.

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