The Basics Of Computers: Types, Components, And Number Systems

History and Classification of Computers

A Computer is electronic machine that receives inputs stores it and processes them to get the required information or task. Basically, (Doi 2014)

Sire Charles Babbage designed and invented Computer in early 19^th century. The invention of computer has played a vital and important role to make the world globalized and faster communication system. Generally, the computers are classified in to three main categories.

The computers designed in between 1937 to 1946 are classified as First Generation computers

The computers designed in between 1947 to 1962 are classified as Second Generation or automatic computers

The computers designed in between 1963 to present are classified as third Generation computers.

The modern day’s computers are generally categorised into three main categories

Super Computers – The most powerful, largest and fastest computers with high proficiency (Levy 2014)

Main frame Computers-Same as Super computer but little less in performance, size and cost

Personal Computers- the computers used by the people in daily life.

The computer is consisted of three basic and main parts. (Levy and Eckhouse 2014)

It is the core brain of the computer, this part is consisted of the main control unit, The arithmetical and logical unit (ALU), The registers, The instruction implementation unit and the instructions in between the all the component  

The memory is the area where all the data’s and programmes are stored. These information’s and data are kept when a programme is running

There are generally two types of memories

• Volatile memories: – This type of storage generally retains the data only when its powered on, DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is one of its example.
• Non-Volatile memories: – This type of memory keeps the data and information even after the power is not there. The HARD Disk is the example, or the ROM part also

Basically, a computer has two types and part of Memories

This is the main memory system in a computer technology. This type of memory is the volatile one and is used to retain the program information while these are in execution. The DRAM is the primary memory of a computer.

• The secondary memory basically is the non-volatile memory. All the data and information’s are stored in it. The basic example is the magnetic disks.
• These types of memory are built by several storage cells, and each storage cells are sufficiently able to store one bit of data. When thee storage cells are bucketed in groups of sizes then these are known as WORDS.
• In the memory, Special and distinct address is provided to the word location to get an easy access to the word,
• The word length is defined as the number of bits per words, typically 16 to 64 bits.
• In early days, the capacity of the memory was a big factor deciding the size & Characteristics of the computer

All the instructions and required information details can be stored into a memory and can be read out in a controlled manner by the help of the processor.

This is very necessary to access the word location for each word location inside the memory as fast as possible.

In random Access memory (RAM) the location can be identified and reached in a fixed and short amount of time once the address is specified.

The time that is needed to access a word from a memory is denoted as the memory access time. This is fixed and independent of the word location which is to be accessed.

The Hierarchy of the memory of a basic computer are as follows: –

• The Small Memory
• The fast Memory
• The Cache Memory

The Three Basic Components of a Computer

The Largest and the slowest memory is called the main memory unit.

It is the unit present in the processor in which most of the computer operations takes place.

 (Nikoletseas et al. 2015)

Let’s consider a basic example of considering of two numbers which is stored in the memory and let us add those numbers

The basic process of adding those numbers is the first they should be presented to the processor and then by the help of the ALU the addition operation is done. The Sum may be kept within the memory or can be stored 

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Comparison
• Complement Etc.

Whenever the Operands are taken in the processor, they are stored in the registers. The registers are the High –Speed storing device, each register can store one word of Data.

The Control unit is the most crucial and important unit of a computer system. In other words, we can say this is the nervous system which sends information’s and control signals to the other related units and get their status and performs accordingly (Siewiorek and Swarz 2014) Generally, the control Unit acts as a coordinator or controller of a system Memory. Its Logic Operation’s and as well as the arithmetic operations along with the I/O signals.

To receive instruction and to provide output. The key board, Mouse, Touch screen, coders are the basic Input Devices the Screen is the basic output device. 

• The computer generally accepts all types of information provided by the programs and as well as data via an input signal and used get stored inside the memory.
• These information’s which are stored in the memory are then traced, located and fetched and under the control of the program these are processed by the Arithmetic and logical unit
• All the programming and activities as well as all the very tasks are monitored and controlled by the Control unit of the computer system.  

• The performance of a compute is dependent upon the speed with which it performs the execution of the program. This is always get effected by its hardware design and the instruction language of the system.
• As we know that all the programmes are generally written in high level languages. So, the performance of the computer also gets affected by the compilers which translate the programmes in to machine language. (Fischler and Firschein 2014)

The following factors must be considered for the best performance of a computer: –

• Compilers
• Instruction Sets
• Hardware design

There is a timing Signal called clock which is used to control the processor timing.

• Clock generally defines the regular time interval called clock cycles
• To perform a machine instruction, the processor splits the accomplishment to be done into an order of simple stages, such that every step can be accomplished in one clock cycle(Hahnel et al. 2016)
• Let the length P of one clock cycle, its inverse is the clock rate, R=1/P

T=(NXS)/R

T= TIME REQUIRED BY THE PROCESSOR TO PERFORM A PROGRAM

N=NUMBER OF INTRUCTIONS T BE EXECUTED

S=AVG NUMBER OF THE BASIC STEPS REQUIRED TO EXECUTE THE INSTRUCTION.

If one changes a machine’s processor by a model having double the performance, this will not double the complete system performance without matching developments are completed to other portions of the system. 

Pipe lining by covering the implementation of sequential instruction

Super scaling: – Dissimilar instructions are concomitantly performed with numerous instructions pipelines. This means that purposeful units are compulsory.

Refining the integrated-circuit technology creates logic circuits quicker, which decreases the time required to whole a basic step

Decreasing quantity of handling done in one basic step similarly makes it likely to decrease the clock period, P. Though, if the activities that must be achieved by an instruction persist the similar, the number of simple steps required can increase

Main Memory Types

Reduced instruction set computers (RISC) and complex instruction set computers (CISC) (Byrne 2013)

The different Integer number systems are as follows: –

This type of numbering system is a numbering system that signifies numeric values by means of two exceptional digits (0 and 1).

This type of numbering system is a numbering that defines a base-8 number system. An octal number system contains of eight single-digit numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

This type of numbering system is a numbering that defines the base-10 number system; possibly the most frequently used number system. The decimal number system contains of ten single- digit numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9

This type of numbering system defines a base-16 number system. That is, it is covering 16 consecutive numbers as base units (counting 0) beforehand addition a new location for the following number. (Cowlishaw 2016) 

8	4	2	1	BINARY	decimal	HEX	OCTAL
0	0	0	0	0 0 0 0	0	0	0
0	0	0	1	0 0 0 1	1	1	1
0	0	1	0	0 0 1 0	2	2	2
0	0	1	1	0 0 1 1	3	3	3
0	1	0	0	0 1 0 0	4	4	4
0	1	0	1	0 1 0 1	5	5	5
0	1	1	0	0 1 1 0	6	6	6
0	1	1	1	0 1 1 1	7	7	7
1	0	0	0	1 0 0 0	8	8	10
1	0	0	1	1 0 0 1	9	9	11
1	0	1	0	1 0 1 0	10	A	12
1	0	1	1	1 0 1 1	11	B	13
1	1	0	0	1 1 0 0	12	C	14
1	1	0	1	1 1 0 1	13	D	15
1	1	1	0	1 1 1 0	14	E	16
1	1	1	1	1 1 1 1	15	F	17

Floating point is the demonstration of real numbers, roughly to provision a condition that includes losing one excellence or feature of somewhat in reappearance for acquisition extra quality or aspect typically recognized as trade-off between variety and random errors or statistical inconsistency. Generally, a number is a depiction of important digits which can be defined as important and scaled using exponents in many fixed bases. (Aliasgari et al. 2013)

The illustration of real numbers in binary arrangements can be completed by Floating point number. Basically, two different floating point arrangements are there under IEEE 754 standard

• Binary Interchanges format.
• Decimal Interchange format.

Basically, the double precision floating point s are 64 bits’ Binary numbers. These are divided into 3 sub parts 

The mantissa of the numbers is generally characterised by the LSB (least significant bits) which are 52 in counts. The rest 11 bits characterizes the exponent of the number. The sign of the number is denoted by the MSB (most significant bit)

The Positive numbers are designated by Sign bit “0” and however the Negative one is represented by bit “1” (Boldo et al. 2015) 

EX: – Decimal number – (-0.03125)10 in IEEE standard (floating point)

First Step: –

binary format Conversion

(-0.03125)10 = (0.00001)2

Second Step: –

Floating point conversion

(0.00001)2 = 0.00001× 2+0 = 0.00001

Third Step: –

Normalizing the Value

0.00001 000001×2-5 = 1× 2-5

Fourth Step: –

Biased exponent =127-5 =122 =1111010  

EX: – Decimal number – (-0.03125)10 in IEEE standard (floating point)

First Step: –

Binary format Conversion

Input and Output Devices

(-0.03125)10 = (0.00001)2

Second Step: –

Floating point Conversion

(0.00001)2 = 0.00001× 2+0 = 0.00001

Third Step: –

Normalizing the Value

0.00001 000001×2-5 = 1× 2-5

Fourth Step: –

Biased exponent =1023-5 =1018 = 1111111010      

• Instructions
• The government and controlling of the transfer and movement of information within the system as well as in between the Input and output and the computer systems.
• Specification and performing of the arithmetic and logical operations

• Numbers and the coding and encoding of the operands which are to be used by the instructions

• When several instructions those are used in a collaborate way to perform a task is termed as programming.
• The program is stored usually in a certain part of the memory known as programming Memory.
• The programs which are stored has the complete control on the computer. The main exceptional case is the interruption caused by the operator via Input or Output device.
• The information that is to be operated or handled by the system computer should be in a format called encoded suitably. Modern days computer hardware’s uses the digital circuits having two states either ZERO and the ONE 

Computers generated within the subsequent twenty years can turn around a technology in which laser beams unite intimate crystals the size of sugar cubes, developing holographic pictures for handling giant quantities of information. Possibly by the year 2020, computers will turn around new kinds of optical processors. These “holographic computers” might practice the use of crystals that accept and operate data-laden images, handling information much faster than orthodox computers. (Phillips and O’toole 2014) 

Construct the following digital circuit with Logisim. The circuit has two outputs S and T and three inputs A, B and C.

S = /AB/C + A/B/C + /A/BC + ABC 

T = /ABC + A/BC + AB/C + ABC  

 S = /AB/C + A/B/C + /A/BC + ABC 

Sum= /AB/C + A/B/C + /A/BC + ABC

=A ? B ? C

Proof:

(Output S) = A ? B ? C

=(/AB+A/B) ?C

=/(/AB+A/B) C + (/AB+A/B)/C

=[/(/AB). /(A/B)]C+(/AB+A/B)/C

=[(A+/B) (/A+B)]C+(/AB+A/B)/C

=A/AC+ABC+/A/BC+B/BC+/AB/C+A/B/C

=/AB/C + A/B/C + /A/BC + ABC

(Output T) =BC+A.(B?C)

=/ABC + A/BC + AB/C + ABC

=BC(/A+A) +A(/BC+B/C)

=BC+A(B?C)

So we have proved that

T=/ABC + A/BC + AB/C + ABC= BC+A(B?C)

And

S=/AB/C + A/B/C + /A/BC + ABC = A ? B ? C.   

A	B	C	OUTPUT (S)	OUT PUT (T)
0	0	0	0	0
0	0	1	1	0
0	1	0	0	0
0	1	1	1	1
1	0	0	0	1
1	0	1	1	1
1	1	0	0	1
1	1	1	1	1

Fig/: – Truth Table for output S & T 

Verification that the above circuit can be used as 3-bit Full adder

C	B	A	OUTPUT (S)	OUT PUT (T)
0	0	0	0	0
0	0	1	1	0
0	1	0	1	0
0	1	1	0	1
1	0	0	1	1
1	0	1	0	1
1	1	0	0	1
1	1	1	1	1

Fig: – Truth Table for 3-bit Full adder 

If we compare Both the truth Table the Output (S) is equivalent to the Output of the sum.

And If we consider C as Carry in then output (T) is equivalent to The Carry out 

Step 1: Look at the sign of the number

Because -100.375 is negative, the sign bit=1

Step 2: Find the exponent.

The bias for single precision format is 127. This means that exponent is,

100	50	-2	0
50	25	-2	0
25	12	-2	1
12	6	-2	0
6	3	-2	0
3	1	-2	1
1	0	-2	1

 0b1100100 or 100

Step 3: Writing the fraction in binary form

The fraction: 0.375. Here best can be done is to approximate the value. Single precision format allows 23-bit for the fraction.

It looks like,

0.375 *2 0.75 0.75 *2 1.5 0.5 *2 1 To approximate, 0.375= (0/2) +(1/4) +(1/8) +(0/16) +(0/32) +….

Thus, fraction is 0110000… Step 4: Put the binary strings in the correct order 1 bit for the sign, 8 for the expression and 23 for the fraction. Hence the answer is: Sign Exponent Fraction Decimal  – 100 0.375 Binary 1 1100100 1100000000000000000000

4	3	7	F	F	0	0	0
0100	0011	0111	1111	1111	0000	0000	0000

 Step 2: Split the binary into 1+8+23 bit pieces.

010000101111111111100000000000

• 0   10000110 11111111111000000000000

Number is positive – the sign bit is zero: 0

Factors Affecting Computer Performance

The next eight bits are the exponent: 10000110

The next 23 bits are the mantissa: 11111111111000000000000

Step 3: Convert the exponent to decimal and subtract 127

Binary 10000110 (=128+4+2) = 134 à134-127=7

Step 4: De-normalize the mantissa (make exponent zero)

1.11111111111000000000000 times à(must move right places to right)

à11111111.111100000000000

Step 5: Binary 11111111.11110000000 à Decimal 255(128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1)

Answer: IEEE 754 32-bit binary 438FF000 is decimal 255.  

Windows 10 is the flagship operating system product of Microsoft, released in July 2015. It is designed to overcome the flaws and criticisms of Windows 8 like poor touchscreen, keyboard interfaces. Microsoft choses to skip Windows 9 due to many reasons or one can say to discontinue with earlier versions. Windows 10 carries a lot of features like swift touchscreen, virtual desktop feature, uses less memory.

Ubuntu 16 LTS version which is also called as Xenial Xerus released on the month of April 2016. The main feature includes SNAP packaging system and GNOME software. Adding to it this version promises to be suitable for enterprises and end users who hates upgrading their OS now and then. One of the major flaw which surfaced was released to GENOME software, where application is not able to install third party .deb packages, which was taken care apparently.   

	Windows 10	Ubuntu 16
Source Model	Closed source and shared source (Windows driver framework is now open)	Open Source
OS family	Microsoft Windows	Unix-like
Kernel type	Hybrid (Windows NT)	Monolithic(Linux)
Initial release	Jul-15	Apr-16
Working State
Package Manager	PowerShell package manager	SNAP
Default user interface	User Interface Language Management	Unity
Company/Developer	Microsoft	Canonical Ltd. / Ubuntu Foundation
Latest stable release	Aug-15	Apr-16
Update method	Windows Update, Windows Store, Windows Server Update Services	Software Center
Website	www.microsoft.com	www.ubuntu.com

1. This one is the latest and greatest update of all the windows edition.
2. The modern apps are redesigned so that Windows 7 user or earlier can be comfortable using it.
3. Most of the drivers will automatically updated by the OS itself.

1. Ubuntu 16 is free and more stable.
2. One can update everything on system in one go using just one update manager.
3. Bug fix- One don’t have to wait for years to get the bug fixed, as they can track it by themselves. 

Basic Requirement for Windows 10:

1. Processor: 1gigahertz(GHz) or faster processor or SoC
2. RAM: 2GB for both 32-bit and 64-bit
3. Hard Disk Space:  16 GB for 32-bit OS or 20 GB for 64-bit OS
4. Graphics Card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
5. Display: 800 by 600 resolution 

Installation of Windows 10

Why it is needed?

The windows 10 process pulls old files, settings and program from previous version of Windows installed. Thus, to get a completely fresh system, clean install is needed.

There are two possible way of performing clean install before installing Windows 10 to the system.

As clean install is out of scope as per the provided number of words, thus continuing with guide to installation steps.

One thing to remember that Windows 10 is free only for an upgrade.

Step 1: Windows 10 ISO image can be downloaded from Microsoft’s website. Alternatively, web installer can be downloaded from the same page and choose to upgrade PC. 

Step 2: If installing in PC which is already installed with Windows. Installation will directly prompt to start the upgrade process. Otherwise, burn it into DVD or create bootable USB flash drive or else attach the ISO image using virtual software.

Step 3: Installation can be done by mostly clicking the Next button, keeping in mind to choose upgrade when prompted. For clean installation, it requires different approach.

Please follow below steps with screenshot for more effective approach: 

At this point, one needs to choose whether upgradation of Windows or custom installation is needed. 

Windows partition is the step, where one needs to decide whether delete or creating a partition is required, which is not required if using virtual machine. Just click Next.  

And now it will install. Once the PC reboots again, setting need to be selected like whether Windows are enabled or not 

And after that, sign into Microsoft account where it is advisable to use Microsoft account otherwise one cannot use utilise half of the new features. If setup of account is done properly, one need to probably verify in the middle, which is excluded from the steps as they are easy to understand. 

Google Android is an operating system developed by Google. It is based on the Linux Kernel and designed for touch screen mobile devices- smartphones and tables. Android provides a rich application of framework which allows to build innovative apps and games in a Java language environment. First android was released in September 2008 with first version being called as “Cupcake” and latest one being 7.0 “Nougat”, released in August 2016. Google announces major upgrades to Android on a yearly basis.

Android is widely accepted due to its active community of developers and enthusiasts who develop and distribute their own modified version of OS using Android Open Source Project code.

BlackBerry OS is a closed source proprietary mobile operating system developed by BlackBerry Limited mainly for its BlackBerry line of handsets. This mobile operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized input particularly the track wheel, track ball and recently the touchpad and touchscreen. BlackBerry OS was first released in January 1999 and now have been stopped and replaced by BlackBerry 10 and Android. With the latest release, back in November 2013. The mobile OS kernel is based on Java Virtual machine. 

References

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