Report writing for Fundamental of computing(week 1)

Topic A01 and Topic A02

By Karma Tenzin

On the 1st week of the August, 07/08/2023 and 00/08/2023 I started my first class at college with a Moodle called fundamental of computing, which is taught by Sir Suraj Mukhai. Moodle for this week was of 5 hours and within this very short 5 hours I learned basic structure of computers in Topic A01 and Fetch, Execution and IO in Topic A02.

First class of topic A01, basic structure of computers consist of 38 slides . In that class the main objectives were to describe what computer really is, what are the basic computer components and operations are, and different types of storage and networking communication. Firstly computer is defined as, the electronic device which takes in input, processes it with the help of CPU(central processing unit) and finally giving out the the output. In general computer consist of three components and those are input, processing, and output. In computer input refers to parts like keyboard, mouse, microphone, and even different types of ports falls under input components. Input is like giving a instruction, example like typing something a keyboard which result in sending code. After the input is done and the code is sent to the processing component and processing component processes the code with the help of CPU(central processing unit). A soon as the processing part is done the output is given on a monitor, speaker, printer, and network cards. Out of this three components CPU is given the importance since it is the brain of the computer. CPU are composed of two or more processer called cores .As stated CPU being the brain of the computer, the working of computer improves with the increasing number of the CPUs(cores). Secondly I learned about  the storage components. And storage is one of the factor for computer to have better performance(more the storage computer has, better is the performance). Storage components are moreover of input and output type like disk drives, DVD, CD, and USB flash drives. All in all storage are two main categories, and the they are short-term storage and long-term storage. short-term storage are those which losses its memory when the power of the computer is turned off. RAM(random access memory ) is also a short-term storage. Main role of the RAM is to operate the computer smoothly and efficiently. When it comes to long-term storage it maintains the content or memory even when the power is turned off. Most of the storage components like DVD and hard disks falls under long-term storage. When we save our files and documents we actually saves it in long-term storage so that even after turning off the computer we can still get the documents and files. After that we came across the computer Bus Fundamental. Buses in computer works similar to buses in real life. In the computer buses are of three types and they are Data Bus which carries data and it is bidirectional, second is Address Bus which carries address signals to show the location and it is unidirectional, and third type is Control Bus which carries control signals. Buses carries signals and data in the form of bytes(singular: bits). I also learned how CPU responses to multitasking of computer. It is mainly based on I/O polling and interrupt. Where polling means regular checking by CPU on the I/O devices whether it needs CPU or not. And interrupt means the interruption of the CPU by I/O devices and telling CPU that they needs CPU services. 

Then we got deeper towards the knowledge of storage where we learned about hard drive fundamental. Like stated in the previous note hard drive is categorized into primary long-term storage due to its character for not losing the content. Hard drive are made up of magnetic disk called platters that store data in the form of magnetic pulses. With development SSD(solid state drive) evolved which is faster and reliability compared to hard drive but with disadvantages like its cost(expensive) and all. I also finally concluded that if the storage does not have moving parts, the accessing of data becomes faster and it's the reason why RAM is much faster than other storage. I was also briefly explained on BIOS(basic input and output system) which makes CPU do certain task after the computer is powered. [COMS: complementary metal oxide semiconductor-type of memory ]. finally we came to the end with fundamental of network connection. It is all about the connection between devices and computer with the help of cable wires and air waves. NIC(network interface card)-required when computer is connecting to a network as it creates connection between computer and medium for networking. Since we know all the components and the processing of computer I was finally taught with how the computer starts or boots. As soon as power is supplied to motherboard the CPU starts and and every things get processed from input to CPU and CPU to output. 

Content 

1. What is computer?
2. Three main components of the computer.
3. How three components works?

What is computer? 

- Computer is defined as the electronic device which takes in input, processes it with the help of CPU (central processing unit) and finally giving out the output. 

Three main components of the computer. 

Computer consist of three main components and they are

1. Input - it refers to keyboard, mouse, microphone, and even different types of ports falls under input components. 

•         Input is like giving a instruction, example like typing something on a keyboard which result in sending code to to the CPU.

2. Processor - the code sent by input devices reaches to processing component and processing component processes the code with the help of CPU (central processing unit)

CPU(Central processing unit).

3. Output - it refers to parts like monitor, speaker, printer, and network cards.

• During output the code gets converted to keys, letters, digits, or sounds.

CPU is the brain of the computer.

• CPU consist of two or more processer called cores.
• Number of core is directly proportionally to the speed or the performance of the computer. (More number of core will enhance the speed of the computer and give better performance.)
• Greater storage capacity indicates better performance of the computer. 

Storage components 

Storage components are moreover of input and output devices like disk drives, DVD, CD, and USB flash drives.

Storage are of two main categories 

1. Short-term storage 

2. long-term storage 

The second lecture, topic A02 was about fetch, execution and I/O.(CPU is also the heart of the computer processer). Firstly we learned how and in what type the data is stored. Data is stored in the form of bits(plural : byte). Eight bits make one byte and it is considered to be the smallest unit of the data like cell in the living being. Bits are of  0 and 1called binary numbers. A byte can be defined as collection of 8 bits or combination of 8 bits containing 0 and 1's(binary number). In general we looked on how our computer works are interpreted with a simple diagram. For example when user type something on the keyboard, the characters are first converted into binary number and it is sent to the CPU for processing(all processing are done in the binary form) and finally it is transmitted back to output components in the binary form and there it get converted back into the characters. Then we learned moved towards memory. Memory are of three types and they are register, cache, and RAM respectively according to their functionality and performance. Out of three we learned more about the cache memory. Cache memory is temporary storage area and its connected to the main memory(primary memory, RAM). Cache memory in comparison to main memory like RAM it is much smaller and works way faster. It also makes retrieving data from the computers memory more efficient. 

ALU( Arithmetic and logic unit) is a part of CPU most of the operations of CPU are performed by it. Next was about the control unit which is also a part of CPU that coordinates the operation of the processor or sequence of operations.

Formula to find no.of possibilities of binary combination is 2^n n is the number of bits.

Now coming to the operation of computer. In general the computer operations were all done through instruction cycle also know as fetch-decode-execute cycle. Though we see working of computer complex, its basic operation is very simple. Instruction cycle really means the basic operations performed by a CPU to execute an Instruction given by users. Instruction cycle can repeat its cycle billion of times per second. Instruction can be of three types and they are load, store, and operate. Load Instruction are those who move data from memory to processor register. Store Instruction are those who move data from register to memory.  And operate Instruction are those who perform ALU in the processor. Then we learned about PC(program counter) register. It is located in the computer processor which has the address of the next instruction to be executed from the memory. And Instruction register holds the current Instruction.

Brief explanation on how PC register works.

As soon as the Instruction gets fetched, the program counter increase its stored value by 1 and it points to the next instruction in the sequence. Program counter register is like a short term storage where it reverts to zero after restart and reset. Since we learned all about memory which is responsible for better performance, we finally knew some factors on how it works faster, all in all , execution. Some factors are speed of electric circuits, access time to the cache and main memory, sequence of instruction set and parallelism. 

Parallelism means numbers of operations that can be done at the same time or how many times the operation can be operated by the CPU at a particular time. Since parallelism means many operations at a go, so CPU must contain multicore on single chip( more the core, better is the performance). Core can be of two, four, and eight called dual-cores, quad-core and octo-core respectively. Finally we learned how can technology work faster. For faster execution, it needs improved material for transistor since transistor are the one who carries instruction. Using improved transistor can lead to more logic functionality and more memory storage capacity, all in all makes technology work faster and have better performance.