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COMPUTER CONCEPTS & C PROGRAMMING

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COMPUTER CONCEPTS AND C PROGRAMMING


UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INTERACTING WITH THE COMPUTER, COMPUTER ORGANIZATION Introduction to Computer Systems 1.1 Definition of Computer: A Computer is an electronic device, which takes input from the user in the form of data and instructions, it processes the data and generates output and displays it to the user. A computer performs the following tasks: Input: Sending the data and command to the computer. Processing: Work done by the computer with the help of processing hardware and software to produce the result. Output: The result displayed by the computer. Storage: A place to save the result inside or outside the computer. A Computer is a system consisting of software and hardware devices interacting with each other and generating output to the user. Features of Computer 1. Speed: The speed of computer to process all computations in fractions of seconds. 2. Storage & Reliability: Determines the storage capacity of the computer. 3. Accuracy: Determines whether the computer is providing the accurate results of the computation performed. 4. Versatility: Determines where the computers can be used. Ex-teaching, training, entertainment, accounting and hospitality. 5. Diligence: How many hours computer can work without getting tired. 1.2 Early days of computer: In early days i.e. 3500 years ago a huge stone carved structure spread in a circular pattern over the huge ground was used to perform astronomical calculations by considering the position of sunrays. This stone carved structure is known as Neolithic computer and the mode of calculation is known as Stonehenge calculation. Abacus: It was generally used for numerical calculations. It is widely used by merchants in Asia and Africa continent. It is also very popular among children to learn basics of calculations. Blaise Pascal: In 1642, French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented a machine, numerical wheel calculator. This calculator became popular as Pascaline. In 1673, German Dept of ISE, SJBIT 2010-2011 1

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mathematician Gottfried Leibniz invented a mechanical calculating machine that multiplies, divides, adds and subtracts faster than Pascaline. Charles Babbage: The real beginning of computers was started with the efforts of English mathematics professor Charles Babbage. In 1821, he invented a machine known as Difference Engine to perform mathematical calculations. In 1832, he got an idea to develop another machine that could perform any type of calculations. In 1856, he succeeded in developing the new machine called Analytical Engine. Charles Babbage is known as Father of Computers due to his contribution in the field of computers. ENIAC & EDVAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC) was the first electronic computer. Two American scientists, John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly, jointly developed ENIAC on Feb 19, 1946. ENIAC performed mathematical calculations at a very fast speed. It could do 5000 additions or subtractions and 360 multiplications in just one second. It was 80 feet long, weighed 30 tons and consumed a lot of electricity. It was very expensive and beyond the reach of common man. It was used to calculate the trajectories of bombs and shells. It had short memory and its components need a manual reset of wiring for performing different calculations. John Von Neumann proposed a new concept of storing information in a large internal memory that overcomes the disadvantages of ENIAC. This concept is known as stored program concept. Based on this concept Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) came into market. Figure given below shows the Von Neumann architecture.
Memory

Control Unit

Arithmetic Logic Unit Accumulator

Input

Output

Von Neumann Architecture IBM Personal Computer: In late 1970s, International Business Machine (IBM) decided to provide computers to common people. IBM developed personal computer in 1981 which can be used anywhere and by any one. 1.3 Generations of Modern Computers: Dept of ISE, SJBIT 2010-2011 2

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First Generation of computer (1941-1956): First generation computers distinguish different version of operating systems designed to complete a single task. Computers were not able to process concurrent tasks. This type of computers uses vacuum tubes and magnetic drums for the purpose of data storage. Each computer contains a binary coded program known as machine language that helps the computer to operate. Due to this the computer performance limited its versatility and speed. The major contribution in the first generation computers was the invention of ENIAC produced by the US government and university of Pennsylvania, in partnership. In 1945, EDVAC developed by John Von Neumann that contains memory to hold both a stored program and data. This stored memory and conditional control transfer techniques provided versatility in computer programming that allows the computer to be stopped during the process and then resumed. In 1951, UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer), developed by Remington Rand was recognized as the first commercially available computer. Second Generation Computer (1956-1963): In second generation of computers transistor replaced vacuum tubes used in first generation of computers. Due to the use of transistors, the computers were small, fast, precise in making calculations, and consumes less electricity. The second generation computers comprised of printers, primary memory, storage media and operating systems. Computers of second generations were programmed with assembly language. The various manufacturers of computers in second generation were Burroughs, Control Data, Honeywell, IBM, and Sperry- Rand. The use of stored program and programming language transformed computers as flexible, cost effective and productive for business use. The stored program refers to instructions that run on a computer for a specific function is stored inside the computers memory. Common Business Oriented Language(COBOL) and Formula Translator(FORTRAN) languages came into use during this generation. BASIC FUNCTIONAL UNITS OF A DIGITAL COMPUTER A computer is an electronic device which accepts information and processes the information according to the program and produces the output. Computer programs may be written in High level languages like Pascal, Fortran, Cobol and so on. Some programmer also writes assembly language to carry out the desired task. A computer system consists of hardware and software. A hardware refers to any physical, electrical, electromechnaical components of the computer. For example keyboard, mouse, cabinet of computer is considered as hardware. A software refers to a program or set of instructions that is written to achieve a specified task. A computer system has five basic functional units which are listed below a) Input Unit b) Output Unit c) Control Unit d) Memory Unit central processing unit

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The figure shows the organization depicting Computer.

computer the basic units of a

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Input unit: The input device is used to enter data and information into a computer. The devices like keyboard, mouse and scanner are commonly used as input devices. A keyboard is used to enter alphanumeric characters and symbols. The mouse is used to pick or select a command from the monitor screen. A scanner is used to scan an image or read a barcode and so on. Central Processing Unit: The processing unit comprises a processor which interprets the program instructions in memory, controls the flow of data and performs arithmetic and logical operations. The program instructions are processed one at a time along with the necessary data. The results are sent to memory and the next instruction is processed. This method is repeated until the program is executed. Arithmetic and Logic unit: The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) is the unit of the computer that performs arithmetic and logical operations on the data. This section of the machine can be relatively small consisting of circuits and registers which perform arithmetic (+, -, *, /) and logic (>,<,<=,>=,etc) operations. Arithmetic-logic units which can add and subtract and perform logical operations form the backbone for the arithmetic and control operations in computers. To perform scientific calculations the floating-point number system is used.

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Control unit: The control unit controls the overall activities of the components of the computer. It is mainly used to coordinate the activities among other units. It will send commands signals and controls the sequence of instructions to be executed. The control unit may be defined as the parts that effect the retrieval of instructions in proper sequence and application of the proper signals to the arithmetic unit and the other parts. The function of the control circuitry in a general purpose computer is to interpret the instruction words and then sequence the necessary signals to those sections of the computer that will cause it to perform the instructions. Memory Unit: The memory unit is the unit where all the input data and results stored. The CPU memory is also called as memory register. The memory of a computer is also available in the form of Random Access Memory (RAM). RAM is a semiconductor chip. RAM is considered as a volatile memory, it means as long power is supporting information stored in it remain. Once the power is lost, the information stored in the RAM also get erased. Microcomputers contains read Only Memory (ROM). ROM contains instructions for the microcomputers. Microcomputers use ROM, programmable read only memory (PROM), and erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) to store selected application programs. The contents of ROM are determined when the chips are manufactured. The ROM memory is considered as non volatile, means the information is not get erased even when power is failed. The most important ROM chip(s) we should know about is the Basic Input/output system or BIOS. The BIOS is a collection of small computer programs built into a ROM chip. On personal computer there are three types of memory. They are 1) Conventional memory: The memory into which we load our software and work files. Conventional memory also known as base or low memory is any memory below 1M (1024) although only 640k of it is directly available for our work. 2) Extended memory (XMS): Memory above 1M. This type of memory is usually not directly available to our software. 3) Expanded memory (EMS): To expand the memory by reserving a special peephole of 64kb of memory to be used when the computer requests certain data not immediately available from RAM. Usually a software utility called an Expanded Memory Manager (EMM) manages this expanded memory. Output Unit: The output device is used to display or print result from a computer. Monitor, printer and plotter are commonly used output devices. A monitor is used to display the result in the form of text and graphics. The printer is used to print the result. A plotter is used to plot or print graphical result from a computer. Note that a result displayed in a monitor is temporary and it disappears when the next result is displayed, whereas the output printed using a printer or a plotter is permanent and these printouts can be used for any business correspondence or documentation. Normally soft copy is referred to

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information that is stored on the storage device. A hard copy refers to a print out showing the information.

Categorizing Computers
The computers can be categorized into: 1. Micro Computers. 2. Mini Computers. 3. Mainframe Computers. 4. Super Computers.

Microcomputers (Personal computers)


Microcomputers are the most common type of computers in existence today, whether at work in school or on the desk at home. The term "microcomputer" was introduced with the advent of single chip microprocessors. The term "microcomputer" itself, is now practically an anachronism. These computers include:

Desktop computers Laptop and notebook computers Tablet PC Palmtop computers Personal digital assistants (more commonly known as PDA's) Programmable calculator

Minicomputers (Midrange computers)


A minicomputer (colloquially, mini) is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). The contemporary term for this class of system is midrange computer, such as the higher-end SPARC, POWER and Itanium -based systems from Sun Microsystems, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Minicomputers are much smaller than mainframe computers and they are also much less expensive. The cost of these computers can vary from a few thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars. They possess most of the features found on mainframe computers, but on a more limited scale. They can still have many terminals, but not as many as the mainframes. They can store a tremendous amount of information, but again usually not as much as the mainframe. Medium and small businesses typically use these computers.

Mainframe Computers

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The term mainframe computer was created to distinguish the traditional, large, institutional computer intended to service multiple users from the smaller, single user machines. These computers are capable of handling and processing very large amounts of data quickly. Mainframe computers are used in large institutions such as government, banks and large corporations. These institutions were early adopters of computer use, long before personal computers were available to individuals. "Mainframe" often refers to computers compatible with the computer architectures established in the 1960s. Thus, the origin of the architecture also affects the classification, not just processing power. Mainframes are measured in millions of instructions per second or MIPS. An example of integer operation is moving data around in memory or I/O devices. A more useful industrial benchmark is transaction processing as defined by the Transaction Processing Performance Council. Mainframes are built to be reliable for transaction processing as it is commonly understood in the business world: a commercial exchange of goods, services, or money. A typical transaction, as defined by the Transaction Processing Performance Council, would include the updating to a database system for such things as inventory control (goods), airline reservations (services), or banking (money). A transaction could refer to a set of operations including disk read/writes, operating system calls, or some form of data transfer from one subsystem to another.

Supercomputer
A supercomputer is focused on performing tasks involving intense numerical calculations such as weather forecasting, fluid dynamics, nuclear simulations, theoretical astrophysics, and complex scientific computations. A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. The term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and today's supercomputer tends to become tomorrow's ordinary computer. Supercomputer processing speeds are measured in floating point operations per second or FLOPS. Example of floating point operation is the calculation of mathematical equations in real numbers. In terms of computational capability, memory size and speed, I/O technology, and topological issues such as bandwidth and latency, Supercomputers are the most powerful. Supercomputers are very expensive and not cost-effective just to perform batch or transaction processing. Transaction processing is handled by less powerful computer such as server computer or mainframe. Micro computers Microcomputers are the types of computers we are using in your classes at Floyd College. These computers are usually divided into desktop models and laptop models. They are terribly limited in what they can do when compared to the larger models discussed above because they can only be used by one person at a time, they are much slower than the larger computers, and they can not store nearly as much information, but they are excellent when used in small businesses, homes, and school classrooms. These

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computers are inexpensive and easy to use. They have become an indispensable part of modern life. Workstation It is a type of computer used for engineering applications (CAD/CAM), desktop publishing, software development, and other types of applications that require a moderate amount of computing power and relatively high quality graphics capabilities. Workstations generally come with a large, high-resolution graphics screen, at large amount of RAM, built-in network support, and a graphical user interface. Most workstations also have a mass storage device such as a disk drive, but a special type of workstation, called a diskless workstation, comes without a disk drive. The most common operating systems for workstations are UNIX and Windows NT. Like personal computers, most workstations are single-user computers. However, workstations are typically linked together to form a local-area network, although they can also be used as stand-alone systems. Desktop Computers A computer designed to fit comfortably on top of a desk, typically with the monitor sitting on top of the computer. Desktop model computers are broad and low, whereas tower model computers are narrow and tall. Because of their shape, desktop model computers are generally limited to three internal mass storage devices. Desktop models designed to be very small are sometimes referred to as slimline models. Notebook computer An extremely lightweight personal computer. Notebook computers typically weigh less than 6 pounds and are small enough to fit easily in a briefcase. Aside from size, the principal difference between a notebook computer and a personal computer is the display screen. Notebook computers use a variety of techniques, known as flat-panel technologies, to produce a lightweight and non-bulky display screen. The quality of notebook display screens varies considerably. In terms of computing power, modern notebook computers are nearly equivalent to personal computers. They have the same CPUs, memory capacity, and disk drives. However, all this power in a small package is expensive. Notebook computers cost about twice as much as equivalent regular-sized computers. Notebook computers come with battery packs that enable you to run them without plugging them in. However, the batteries need to be recharged every few hours. Laptop computer A small, portable computer -- small enough that it can sit on your lap. Nowadays, laptop computers are more frequently called notebook computers. Subnotebook computer A portable computer that is slightly lighter and smaller than a full-sized notebook computer. Typically, subnotebook computers have a smaller keyboard and screen, but are otherwise equivalent to notebook computers. Hand-held computer

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A portable computer that is small enough to be held in ones hand. Although extremely convenient to carry, handheld computers have not replaced notebook computers because of their small keyboards and screens. The most popular hand-held computers are those that are specifically designed to provide PIM (personal information manager) functions, such as a calendar and address book. Some manufacturers are trying to solve the small keyboard problem by replacing the keyboard with an electronic pen. However, these penbased devices rely on handwriting recognition technologies, which are still in their infancy. Hand-held computers are also called PDAs, palmtops and pocket computers. Palmtop A small computer that literally fits in your palm. Compared to full-size computers, palmtops are severely limited, but they are practical for certain functions such as phone books and calendars. Palmtops that use a pen rather than a keyboard for input are often called hand-held computers or PDAs. Because of their small size, most palmtop computers do not include disk drives. However, many contain PCMCIA slots in which you can insert disk drives, modems, memory, and other devices. Palmtops are also called PDAs, hand-held computers and pocket computers.

Essential Computer Hardware


Hardware refers to the physical components that make up a computer system. These include the computer's processor, memory, monitor, keyboard, mouse, disk drive, printer and so on. The hardware of a computer system is made up of a number of electronic devices connected together.

Essential Computer Software


System software: System software is designed for a specific type of hardware. For example, the disk operating system (DOS) is used to co-ordinate the peripherals of a computer. The system software controls the activities of a computer, application programs, flow of data in and out of memory and disk storage. Our operating system, compilers, assemblers, linker and loaders are the example of system software. System software also handles data in communication applications and within the computer systems in a computer network. The communication software transfers data from one computer to another. These programs also provide data security and error checking along with the transfer of data between the computer systems. Application software: Application software are developed for application of the computer to common problems and tasks. They are available for business applications, science and engineering applications and so on. Personal productivity programs are categorized based on the nature of their use in word processing, generating spreadsheet, presenting graphics and maintaining databases. Application software is also available as packages and usually with a user manual. Dept of ISE, SJBIT 2010-2011 10

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Some of the application software are: a) Word processors: A word processor is used to prepare a report, a personal or business letter, in desktop publishing and so on. These offer formatting features such as using different character styles, line spacing, and page numbering and so on. Documents prepared using a word processor can be easily printed in any type of printer. b) Electronic spread sheets: Electronic spreadsheet software is used to prepare documents containing information or data in the form of numbers or characters. The information is arranged in rows and columns for further processing and analysis, preparing reports and generating charts. It is also capable of performing arithmetic operations and using functions. c) Database software : Databases are records related to a person or an organization. Database software has capability to edit and update data in a file. The data are processed to prepare and print salary details of employees, annual sales details and so on. One of the major applications of a computer is database management.

Interacting with the Computer


Exploring a Keyboard Keyboard is the input device which sends the data to the computer for processing. It just looks like a typewriter. The keyboard contains normal alphabet keys and numeric keypad. The keyboard that we use is also known as QWERTY keyboard. This name comes from the first six letters of the top left alphabet row. It is also known as Universal Keyboard. Christopher Sholes, inventor of typewriter designed the arrangement of QWERTY keyboard in 1868.

the diagram of a keyboard with various parts. Keyboards are available in two models: 1 The standard model: 83-84 keys 2 The enhanced model: 104 or more keys. Functions of Different keys in a standard keyboard: 1 Typewriter keys: Include letters, numbers and punctuation symbols used for typing.

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2 Function Keys: Performing according to software used (F1 to F12). 3 Cursor Control Keys: Enables the user to move cursor to left, right, top & bottom. 4 Numeric Keys: Enables user to type numeric characters. These numeric keys also have double functions. To switch over between functions NUM LOCK key is pressed. 5 Page Up & Page Down Keys: Used for moving to preceding and next pages of the document. 6 Home & End Keys: Move the cursor to the beginning & end of the line or window. 7 Caps Lock Key: To type any letter in uppercase. 8 Shift Key: Pressing any key with two symbols or characters while holding down the shift key causes the upper symbol to appear. 9 Ctrl and Alt Keys: Carry out special actions when used in combination with other keys. By pressing the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys simultaneously the computer automatically restarts. 10 Enter Key: Provides the computer the signal that you have finished giving an instruction. It also begins a new paragraph or line in word document. 11 Tab Key: Moves the cursor along a line to a preset point. 12 Esc Key: Enables you to cancel or ignore the entry or command just entered and also used to exit a program. 13 Delete & Backspace keys: Used to erase a space/character.

Exploring Different Types of Keyboard Different types of Keyboard are: 101-key enhanced keyboard 104-key windows keyboard. Ergonomic keyboard Multimedia keyboard Cordless keyboard 101-key Enhanced Keyboard This keyboard is based on the IBM PC/AT 339 model. This layout was introduced in 1986 and it is the standard for keyboards. It consists of a basic keypad, a row of function keys, a cursor keypad and a numeric keypad. The features of the keyboard are: 1. Separate cursor and navigation key 2. Placement of the function keys 3. Extra Alt and Ctrl keys 4. Extra keys in numeric keypad 5. Placement of the Esc and Caps Lock keys 104-keys Windows keyboard This keyboard was introduced by Microsoft and is an advanced version of the 101-key enhanced keyboard. It offers three additional keys:

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1. Two Windows keys helps to resume Windows related functions such as opening the start menu. 2. Context menu key used for right click options done by the mouse. Ergonomic Keyboard This keyboard is designed using the physical comfort of the user in mind. It helps to keep the strain and stress caused by constant working on the keyboard to a minimum. The main typing keys are split into two typing areas. This allows a user to keep both the hands properly aligned to each other. Multimedia Keyboard This keyboard is designed in a standard keyboard layout. It provides media control to play CD, DVD and Mp3 media files. This keyboard also has special keys to access web browser, e-mails or a music player at the touch of a button. Cordless Keyboard This keyboard can be placed as per your convenience or comfort. It normally runs on batteries. Exploring the Keyboard Technologies The Keyboard uses switch technology to convert a typing action into a signal for the keyboard interface to know that a key has been pressed. Different types of Keyboard technologies are: 1. Membrane Switch Technology 2. Rubber Switch Technology 3. Mechanical Switch Technology Membrane Switch Technology This type of keyboard is flat in shape. It has a single rubber sheet with bulges for each key. These keyboards are commonly used in equipments such as Video game machines, calculators, photocopier machine and medical instruments. The keys need to be pressed physically. It relies on sensory touch. These keyboards were used in some early computers in 1980. They have been used in consumer electronic devices. Rubber Dome Switch Technology In this keyboard each key is placed over a small, flexible rubber dome that has a hard graphite center. When the key is pressed, a plunger at the bottom of the key pushes down against the dome. This causes the carbon center to push down until it presses against a hard flat surface beneath the key matrix.

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As long as the key is pressed, the carbon completes the circuit for that part of t he matrix. When the key is released, the rubber dome springs back to its original shape, forcing the key back to its rest position. Rubber dome switch keyboards are inexpensive, have a good touch response and are resistant to spills and corrosion because of the rubber layer. Mechanical Switch Technology This keyboard provides visual, sensory and audio feed back. The most widely used mechanical switch keyboard is IBM model M keyboard. In this type of keyboard when the switch is in normal position, the contact is open, when the switch is pressed, the contact closes, which is sensed by keyboard interface. Exploring Keyboard Connectors A keyboard connector is used to connect the keyboard to the computer. The keyboards can be connected to Personal System/2 or Universal Serial Bus ports of the computer. The connection established between the keyboard connector and the computer carries power to the keyboard. Data is sent by the keyboard to the computer through the cable. The keyboard controller monitors the port to which the keyboard is connected. The integrated circuit processes the data that comes from the keyboard and forwards it to the computer. There are 3 types of connectors: 1. 5-pin Deutsches Institut Normung (DIN) connector It was used in the IBM personal computers. They are round, with pins arranged in a circular pattern. They were used in mid 1990s. 2. 6-pin PS/2 Connector It was introduced by IBM to connect Keyboard and mouse to a computer. It is also known as mini DIN keyboard connector. The PS/2 port supports the 6-pin PS/2 connector. The pins in connector are arranged in horizontal rows. They are also used for S-video connections. 3. 4-pin USB connector This connects the keyboard to the computer by using a USB port. Mouse: A mouse is an input device used to select a command by moving it in any direction on a flat surface. It has two or three buttons to confirm the selection.

the picture of a mouse. The software developed with graphical interface requires the mouse. The cursor is moved to the required icon or menu on the monitor and a button is pressed. The control

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is sent to the CPU to select the command corresponding to the icon or menu item. The latest is the wireless mouse or remote mouse which works on transmission of infrared or radio waves are also available. The mouse can also be used to open menus, select text for editing, move objects on the screen and draw images or diagrams. The mechanical mouse uses a rubber-coated ball on the underside. The movement of this ball sends electrical signals to the system unit which cause the cursor or pointer to move in a corresponding fashion. An optical mouse uses diodes to emit light onto a metal pad performing the same work but with great accuracy. Scanners: A peripheral input device used to assist in the entry of data into a computer system. In desktop publishing, a scanner may be used to digitize artwork or photographs so that they can be merged with text. Scanners are used to scan a printed page or an illustration. These data are then converted into bit patterns for processing storage or output. When an image is scanned, it is converted into light and dark picture elements or pixels. The scanned images are used for word processing and printing multiple copies. Scanners are also useful to scan fingerprints. The scanned fingerprints can be compared with another fingerprint to find probable match in investigative services. Photoelectric scanners are commonly used in supermarkets to read barcodes.

the diagram of a scanner. Scanners are available in different sizes. A handheld scanner is used to scan a few lines of text or a small photograph. A page scanner is used to scan a drawing or page. The scanner is connected to the computer using a cable and controlled by software. Optical character recognition (OCR) OCR device can scan a document and recognise characters. Originally, text had to be printed in a special OCR font for OCR to operate but nowadays OCR can handle almost Dept of ISE, SJBIT 2010-2011 15

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any font. The advantage of OCR for companies is that when statements are returned with payments, they can be scanned in and the customer accounts automatically credited. A less sophisticated but similar device is an optical mark reader which can scan a specially designed form and recognise the presence of marks in particular positions. One use for such a device is in lottery games machines where a user marks numbers on a pre-printed form which is then read by an OCR reader connected to a lottery computer. Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) is similar to OCR but this time the characters are not scanned optically. Instead they are scanned magnetically as they have been printed with magnetised ink, each character having a very distinct shape. This is used on cheques by banks, to encode bank account numbers. Barcode scanners are very popular input devices in supermarkets and stores. These devices scan barcodes which identify products. This is a form of OCR. The barcode is translated to a number which can be used by the computer to identify the product and look up its price in a database. In addition the software can keep track of stock levels by recording the number of sales of each item. Image scanners are devices which scan an image (document, photograph) and produce a digital version of the image i.e. the image is stored as a sequence of binary numbers. Special software can then display the digital version of the image on a monitor. They effectively photocopy the image into the computer. This type of technology is very useful for storing legal documents, application forms and anywhere there is a requirement to access the contents of an original document very quickly. The term document image processing (DIP) is used to describe the application of this technique and it is becoming an important application in insurance and banking organisations. Voice Input is perhaps the most exciting form of computer input. While some devices and applications are available, a good deal of work remains to be done before we will easily be able sto use computer software without the need for a keyboard and mouse. Output devices: Hard copy: The data consisting of text or graphics that is obtained as printouts or microfilm using printers or plotters is known as hardcopy. For example, the hardcopy of an engineering drawing is obtained using plotters. Some hardcopy devices include dot matrix printer, laser printer, inkjet printer , flatbed pen plotter and drum type inkjet plotter. A combination of printing, scanning, copying and/or faxing can also obtain a hardcopy. A hardcopy can be used for business correspondence and documentation. A copier machine also comes under hardcopy devices. Dept of ISE, SJBIT 2010-2011 16

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Soft copy: The data that is stored in a storage device such as floppy disk, hard disk, CDROM magnetic tape and so on is called softcopy. The data in a softcopy may be modified using the relevant software. A few softcopy devices are monitor and floppy disk Printers: A printer is an output device used to print text or graphics on paper or on any other hardcopy medium which includes even microfilm. A permanent copy from the computer is produced using the printer. Printers are of two basic types impact and nonimpact. Impact and Non-impact printers: Printers are categorized based on the physical contact of the print head with the paper to produce a text or an image. An impact printer is one where the print head will be in physical contact with the paper. In a nonimpact printer, on the other hand the print head will have no physical contact with the paper. The Dot matrix printer is considered as a Impact printer and Laser printer is considered as Non-impact printer. The basic operations performed by a printer are: 1) Moving the paper to a given line. 2) Moving the print head along the line. 3) Generating the character or image. 4) Producing the character or image on the paper. Dot Matrix Printer: The most popular kind of printer for small computers is the dot matrix printer, which forms characters as arrays of dots. Dot matrix printers are compact, reliable and relatively fast. This type of printer is an impact printer. The print head is the important hardware which produces the character using pins arranged in a matrix form. Normally a print head has 9 pins or 24 pins arranged in a matrix form. Combinations of pins strike an ink bed ribbon during the printing process. The print head moves in a line and the pattern of dots required for each character is printed on the paper. After printing a line, the paper rolls to print the next line.

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the diagram of a dot matrix printer. Dot matrix printers produce average quality prints and as generally used in business applications. They are used printing train number, seat number etc on a railway reservation ticket. The speed of printing in dot matrix printer in dot matrix is measured in characters per second (cps). The advantages in this type of printer is carbon copies can be obtained as printing takes place by physical impact with the paper. It is less of cost and easy to maintain. The disadvantage is average printing quality and printer ribbon printer ribbon needs to be changed frequently. Laser Printer: Laser printers are fastest type of non impact electrostatic printers. They produce high quality prints at high speeds. It operates like a copier machine. In these printers, the controlled beam of intense laser forms images on an electrically charged rotating drum. The drum is rotated near the fine black powder called the toner. These charged images which sticks to the paper due to pressure and heat. The toner consists of oppositely charged ink particles which stick to the drum in the places where the laser has charged.

the diagram of a laser printer. The light beam strikes a multi-sided rotating mirror. As the mirror rotates, the side currently in the path of the light beam sweeps the beam across the surface of the drum. As the beam sweeps across the drum, the light is modulated and a single line is drawn after a line has been drawn, the next side of the mirror is in place and a new line is drawn below the previous line. The quality of the printout is measured by the number of dots per inch (dpi). Since the dots are printed closely, the text or graphics appears very smooth and elegant. The

Dept of ISE, SJBIT

2010-2011

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speed is measured in number of pages printed per minute (PPM) which varies between 5 and 25. The advantages are good quality printouts can be obtained for documentation and business applications. The printing is faster and easy to handle and maintain. The disadvantages are the price is high and higher print cost. Inkjet printer: An inkjet is a non impact printer. It sprays tiny drops of ink to form character and graphic images on paper. The text and graphics printed in an inkjet printer are technically similar to that of a dot matrix printer. These type of printers can also be used color printing. The black inkjet printer uses black cartridge filled with black ink whereas the color printer uses four color cartridges namely cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black. These four colors are used in combination to generate any color in the visible spectrum. The print heads move across the page by the control of software and spray the dots of ink with the required combination of colors. The printer sends electrical pulses to thin resistors at the base of firing chambers behind the nozzle. A thin layer of ink is heated by the resistor which in turn forms a vapour bubble and the expansion forces ink through the nozzle and onto the paper at a rate of about 6000 dots per second. The quality of the printout is equivalent to that of laser printouts. The speed of printing is slower than that of laser printers. The advantages of this type printer are the cost is low; quality of printing is equivalent to that of laser printing, color printouts are cheaper easy to handle and maintain. The disadvantages are the ink cartridges may get spoiled if unused for a long time. Some inkjet printers are very expensive. Plotters: A plotter is an output device used to print engineering drawing or graphics on large size sheets. These are also used to draw the patterns from which microprocessors, memory chips, and other integrated circuits are manufactured. Plotters are used when highest quality and greatest accuracy are required.

Dept of ISE, SJBIT

2010-2011

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the diagram of a Plotter. There are two basic types of plotters: flat bed plotters and drum type plotters. Pen plotter is an example of a flatbed plotter. Laser plotter and inkjet plotter are commonly used drum type plotters. A pen plotter has a surface where the paper or drawing sheet is properly fixed. It has a pen holder in a movable arm. Under the control of the computer the arm with the pen moves across the paper to draw the picture. A few pens are also placed in a row and the arm will pick the required color pen as per the instruction of the computer. A drum type plotter uses a drum where the paper will be rolled. It has a print head/pen that moves like the print head in a printer. Drum type plotters are capable of producing longer, continous drawings. Drum type plotters that can produce color plots are available. The disadvantages are these are expensive than printers. The cost of printing is high. Cost of maintenance is high. High skill of operation is required. Process time of printing is longer.

Computer Organization
Bus System The processor must be able to communicate with all devices. They are connected together by a communications channel called a bus. A bus is composed of a set of communication lines or wires. A simple bus configuration is shown Figure 1.2. We refer to this bus as the system bus as it connects the various components in a computer system. Internally, the CPU has a CPU bus for transferring information between its components (e.g. the control unit, the ALU and the registers).

Buses
To form an operational system, these different individual parts of computer must be connected together in some organized way. There are many ways of doing it. Now, we will consider three popular structures. If computer is to achieve a reasonable speed of operation, it must be organized so that all units can handle one full word of data at a given time. When a word of data is transferred between units, all its bits are transferred in parallel. This requires a considerable number of wires to establish the necessary connections. A collection of wires that connects several devices is called a BUS. In addition to the wires that carry the data, the computer must have some lines for addressing and control purpose. There are mainly three types of bus, namely DATA BUS They are used for transmission of data, and the number of them corresponds to the number of bits in a word.

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2010-2011

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ADDRESS BUS They are used to specify the location of data in the main memory. CONTROL BUS They indicate the direction of data transfer and coordinate the timing of events during the transfer.

SINGLE BUS STRUCTURE

A simplest structure, which has a single bus, is as shown in the above diagram. All units are connected to this bus, so it provides the sole means of interconnection. Because the bus can be used for only one transfer at a time, only two units can actively use the bus at any given instant. Bus control lines are used to arbitrate multiple requests for use of this bus. The main virtue of the single bus structure is its low cost and flexibility for attaching peripheral devices, but the trade-off is lower operating speed. It is not surprisingly that a single-bus structure is primarily found in small machines, namely minicomputers and microcomputers.

TWO BUS STRUCTURE

The figure above shows the simplest form of a two bus structure. The processor interacts with the memory through a memory bus and handles input and output functions over an I/O bus. Data passes through the processor on its way to the memory. In such configurations the I/O transfers are usually under direct control of the processor, which initiates transfers and monitors their progress until completion. Microprocessor A microprocessor is a semiconductor chip, which is manufactured using the Large Scale integration (LSI) or Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI), which comprises

Dept of ISE, SJBIT

2010-2011

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Arithmetic Logic Unit, Control unit and Central Processing Unit (CPU) fabricated on a single chip. Intel 8088, Motorola 68000 are few microprocessors

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