SRAS Computer 1

Computer 1

Introduction to Microcomputers with

Microsoft Word

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Introduction to Microcomputers

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Definition of a Computer A computer is a fast

and accurate manipulating electronic device that is organized to accept, store and process data, and produce output results under the supervision of stored program of instructions.

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Computer Generations

“Consider the past and you’ll know the future.”

- Chinese Proverbs

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3000 B.C.3000 B.C. Abacus, the first man-made device was invented.

It marked the beginning of computers.

16421642 Blaise Pascal designed an adding machine called

the Pascaline.

16741674Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz made improvements on Pascal’s machine and developed a mechanical calculating machine that can also divide and multiply and called it the Stepped Reckoner.

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18011801 Joseph Jacquard developed the

mechanical loom that uses punched cards.

18221822 Charles Babbage designed an automatic

mechanical calculating machine called Difference Engine.

18331833Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine which is the prototype of the modern computer. Next

18901890 Herman Hollerith adopted the punched card

concept of Joseph Jacquard and invented a tabulating machine.

19431943A team composed of John P. Eckert and John W. Mauchly started building a machine using electronics capable of doing rapid calculations of large quantities of information. It was called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator/Computer). Next

First Generation: The Vacuum Tubes Computers built in the technological era of

development when the vacuum tube was the main electronic component. It was invented by Thomas Alva Edison.

1946, the ENIAC was completed. It was the first electronic digital computer without moving parts. It was programmable and capable of storing problem calculations.

1950, Remington Rand manufactured the first commercially available first generation computer. It was called UNIVAC (UNIVersal Automatic Calculator).

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Second Generation: The Transistors Describes computers in the second era of

computer technology development in which the transistor was introduced and quickly replaced the thousands of vacuum tubes used in electronic computers.

Transistors are smaller, lighter, less expensive to produce, cheaper to operate, more reliable than vacuum tubes and consume less power.

It was invented by William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain in 1948.

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Third Generation: The Integrated Circuits Describes computers in the third era of

computer technology development in which Integrated Circuit (IC) and miniaturization replaced the transistor-based computers.

Computers with micro-circuits. It is a complete electronic circuitry on a small chip of silicon.

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Fourth Generation: The Microprocessors The fourth generation computers were

characterized by the use of microprocessor and further miniaturization of circuits, an increased in multiprogramming and the use of virtual storage memory.

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Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence They will be able to take commands in a

audio visual way and carry out instructions. Many of the operations which require low human intelligence will be performed by these computers.

The goal for fifth generation computers is the ability to sense, reason and interact with people and the physical world.

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Characteristics of a Computer It is a machine. It is an inanimate object.

Machines do not feel pain and are senseless. It needs outside intervention for it to run. It can only do things for which it was designed.

It is electronic. It runs only on electrical energy. It is made up of electronic circuits.

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Continuation...

It is automatic. Once started, it continues to run without outside assistance. The moment a particular computer, programmed to perform a task, is switched on, it will promptly do its job minus human interference.

It can manipulate data. Following specific rules, it can perform arithmetic functions. Also, it can compare data.

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Continuation... It has memory. It has the capacity to

remember what it has done. It can store instructions in its memory and follow these through unaided.

It has logical functions. It can be given a set of instructions that tells what it must do and how it must be done. It can produce results upon completion of these instructions.

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Classification of Computers According to Purpose According to Data Handled According to Size/Performance

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According to Purpose Special Purpose Computers

Computers designed to perform only one specific task.

General Purpose Computers Computers designed to perform countless

applications and can store different programs.

Types of Data Discrete Data

A representation of a variable that may assume any of several distinct states and is usually coded.

Data that can be obtained through simple counting. Continuous Data

Data that can be ascertained continuously in time. Data that can be obtained through measurement.

According to Data Handled Analog Computers

Computers that operate on continuous data. Digital Computers

Computers that operate on discrete data. Hybrid Computers

Computers that carries the features of both analog and digital computers.

According to Size / Performance Supercomputers Mainframes Minicomputers Microcomputers

Supercomputers The fastest, most

powerful type of computer, capable of performing its basic operations in picoseconds (trillionths of a second), rather than nanoseconds (billionths of a second), like most other computers.

Supercomputers To achieve these

extraordinary speeds, supercomputers use several processors working together and techniques such as cooling processors down to nearly absolute zero temperature, so that their components conduct electricity many times faster than normal.

Supercomputers Supercomputers have the highest processing

speeds and the largest primary memories, and they are required for modeling very complex phenomena such as the weather. The semicircular arrangement of the processors in this Cray-2 supercomputer is meant to keep interconnecting wire lengths at a minimum and the speed of signal transfers at a maximum.

Of the world's 500 most powerful supercomputers 232 are in the US, 109 in Japan, and 140 in Europe, with 23 in the UK. Fujitsu announced the launch of the world's most powerful computer 1992; it can perform 300 billion calculations a second.

Mainframes Large computer used

for commercial data processing and other large-scale operations. Because of the general increase in computing power, the differences between the mainframe, supercomputer, minicomputer, and microcomputer (personal computer) are becoming less marked.

Minicomputers A small digital computer not usually based on a

single processor chip, which is larger than a microcomputer and smaller than a mainframe computer.

Multi-user computer with a size and processing power between those of a mainframe and a microcomputer. Nowadays almost all minicomputers are based on microprocessors.

Minicomputers are often used in medium-sized businesses and in university departments handling database or other commercial programs and running scientific or graphical applications.

Microcomputers Microcomputers are

the smallest of the four classes of computer. Since the appearance in 1975 of the first commercially available microcomputer, the Altair 8800, micros have become widely accepted in commerce, industry, and education.

Microcomputers A computer whose

processing unit is based on a microprocessor chip. Microcomputers originally had an increasing variety of applications in the home, office, and many other areas. Although they are smaller than minicomputers and mainframe computers, multiprocessor and parallel micro systems now compete in power and price.

Microcomputers Small desktop or portable

computer, typically designed to be used by one person at a time, although individual computers can be linked in a network so that users can share data and programs. Its central processing unit is a microprocessor, contained on a single integrated circuit.

Capabilities of Computers Speed

Computers can do billions of operations in a second.

Reliability Failures are usually due to human

errors, one way or the other. Storage

Computers can keep huge amounts of data.

Applications of Computers Home School Government Military Communications Banks Airlines Medicine Arts

Overview of a Computer System Hardware

Physical components of a computer. Software

Programs we feed to a computer. Peopleware / Human Resources

Personnel who use the computer.

Organization of a Computer Hardware System

Abacus

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Blaise Pascal French

mathematician and philosopher. He made the Pascaline to help his father who is a tax collector.

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Pascaline

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John P. Eckert and John Mauchly

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ENIAC

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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz A German who

advocated the binary system – now a foundation of computing- and was one of the inventors of calculus. He is widely known for his work in philosophy, too.

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Joseph Marie Jacquard A French weaver

who revolutionalized the weaving industry when he developed the mechanical loom.

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Transistors

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Vacuum Tubes

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Integrated Circuit

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Punched Card

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UNIVAC

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Herman Hollerith New York-born

engineer who used his tabulating machine to tabulate data for the U.S. Census Bureau’s 1890 census. He is the founder of the Tabulating Machine Company which eventually became IBM (International Business Machines).

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Mechanical Loom

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Woven silk produced on a Jacquard loom.

Charles Babbage An English

mathematician who is generally considered as the “Father of Computers” because he was able to conceptualized the modern computer.

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Tabulating Machine

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William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain

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Thomas Alva Edison

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Difference Machine

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