MUSINGS

Explain the functions of the CU and ALU in the CPU of a computer. The characteristics of the CU or control unit are as follows: - This part of the of the CPU is the one that is in charge of all the operations being carried out. - It is responsible to direct the system to execute instructions. - It helps in communication between the memory and the arithmetic logical unit. - It also aids in the loading of data and instructions residing in the secondary memory to the main memory as required. The characteristics of the ALU are as follows: - The ALU is responsible for performing all logical and arithmetic operations. - Some of the arithmetic operations are as follows: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. - Some of the logical operations are as follows: comparison between numbers, letter and or special characters. - The ALU is also responsible for the following conditions: Equal-to conditions, Less-than condition and greater than condition.

Operating System  is the  System Software  that makes the  Compute r  work. We can say that an Operating System (OS) is Software that acts as an  interface between you and the hardware . It not only contains drivers used to speak the hardware's language, but also offers you a very specific graphical user interface (GUI) to control the  computer . An OS can also act as an interface (from the hardware) to the other software. A  complex OS like Windows or Linux or Mac OS offers the services of an OS , but also has applications built in.  Solitaire, Paint, Messenger, etc. are all applications .  Application software is the software that you install onto your Operating System. It consists of the programs that actually let you do things with your computer. These Applications are written to run under the various  Operating Systems . These include things like your word processing programs, spread sheets, email clients, web brow...

Explain what do you understand by registers, briefly explain the various types of registers. - Registers can be considered to be special purpose memory which reside within the CPU. - The registers are high speed temporary memory used to help the CPU get access to data and instructions quickly and effectively. There are various type of registers such as Instruction register, Status register and data register. - The instructions register is responsible for the storage of the of the instructions that are being currently executed. - The status register is used to keep a tab of the status operations of the arithmetic logical unit. - The data register is used to store information or data that is to be processed, it is also used to store information or results that have been derived from a process.

What are the different ways in which data can be represented? There are three ways in which data can be represented namely Bit, Byte and Word: - Bit: This is also the short name for binary digits. By being binary it means that BIT can only have two values zero and one. A characteristic of BIT is that it can never be empty. Zero implies a power off state whereas one means on state. - Byte: A byte is a collection or group of 8 bits. A byte can store a single character which can either be an alphabet, a number or a special character. The byte is generally used to measure the storage capacities. - Word: The number of bits that a cpu possess indicates the power of the computer. It also indicates how many number of bytes are present. In today`s date most computers can handle 32 or 64 bit length.

What is cache memory? It is a temporary memory storage area which helps to speed up data transfer within a computer. A Microprocessor looks for the data in the Cache memory as the data transferred Cache is much faster. If the data is not found in the cache, the CPU looks for it in the memory. The following are two types of Cache- i. Internal or Level 1: In this, the Cache is built into the Microprocessor. ii. External or Level 2: In this, the Cache is built on a separate chip. The Internal Cache is the fastest but it is very expensive.

What do you mean by RAM? In RAM or Random Access Memory, Data can be accessed randomly. There are two types of RAM- - Static RAM: It retains its contents with the help of CPU. It is faster and more expensive than Dynamic RAM. It is generally used for Level 2 cache. - Dynamic RAM: It cannot retain its contents if not continuously refreshed by the CPU. Its types are-  i. Synchronous DRAM: It is the faster type of DRAM, used in modern and more advanced systems. ii. Rambus DRAM: It is faster than Synchronous DRAM and is expected to become more commonly used.

Are there any problems that the CPU faces? Have any measures been taken to make it more efficient? Although the CPU needs only a few parts to do its job, it has been modified to  increase its performance. The enhancements are made in order to process data faster.  - One of the weaknesses of the basic CPU was that it was not doing any processing during the time that it fetches an instruction from the computer memory.  To reduce this, a memory storage area was created inside the CPU called Cache or  L1 type Cache. The Cache is very fast, and is used to store information that the CPU  needed to access the most. Level 2 Cache was also developed. - Now that the CPU has to wait much less for the data to be processed, the speed at which the data can be processed had to be enhanced. To do this, multiple ALUs  (Arithmetic Logic Unit ) were placed on the CPU, so that many more calculation was done each clock cycle. - In addition, the FPU (Floating Point Uni...

Define the basic logical structure of a computer. The basic logical structure of a computer are as follows: - The BIOS ( basic input output system ) responsible for booting up the computer. - CPU ( central processing unit ) the brains of the computer executes the processes. - Memory / RAM ( random access memory ) used to store temporary data. - Hard Disk is used for the storage of permanent data. - Input / output devices are used to give input to a computer and derive output from it. - Communication Channel acts as an interface for external and internal devices.

Briefly explain the types of data storage and its relation with the CPU. There are overall two main types of storage: - Primary Storage ( memory ): This type of storage is primarily used to store information temporarily. The CPU does not directly access the secondary memory, instead it always relies on the primary memory. - Secondary storage: This type of storage is primarily used to store data or long periods. This type of memory is stored in external devices such as hard drives etc. - Any data that resides on a disk or input device cannot be accessed by the CPU directly, it should always reside in the main memory. The control unit accesses the data from the disk memory and places it in the main memory. - The data is present in the primary memory until the program requiring it is executed or is terminated.

What functions are performed by the control unit? Can we call it the control centre of computer system? Why? Ans.  The Control Unit (CU) controls and guides the interpretation, flow and manipulation of all data and information. The CU sends control signals until the required operations are done properly by ALU and memory. Another important function of CU is the program execution that is, carrying out all the instructions stored in the program. The CU gets program instructions from memory and executes them one after the other. After getting the instructions from memory in CU, the instruction is decoded and interpreted that is, which operation is to be performed. Then the asked operation is carried out. After the work of this instruction is completed, control unit sends signal to memory to send the next instruction in sequence to CU. The control unit even controls the flow of data from input devices to memory and from memory to output devices.

Software components of a computer system have no physical presence, they are stored in digital form within computer memory. There are different categories of software, including  system software ,  utilities  and  applications software . Software can also be described as being either  generic  or  bespoke . System software  is the software used to manage and control the hardware components and which allow interaction between the hardware and the other types of software. The most obvious type of system software is the computer's  operating system  but device drivers are also included within this category.  Systems software  includes the programs that are dedicated to managing the computer itself, such as the  operating system , file management utilities, and disk operating system (or DOS). The operating system manages the computer hardware resources in addition to applications and data. Without systems software installe...

Data Representation refers to the methods used internally to represent information stored in a computer. Computers store lots of different types of information: numbers text graphics of many varieties (stills, video, animation) sound At least, these all seem different to us. However, ALL types of information stored in a computer are stored internally in the same simple format: a sequence of 0's and 1's.  How can a sequence of 0's and 1's represent things as diverse as your photograph, your favorite song, a recent movie, and your term paper? It all depends on how we  interpret  the information. Computers use numeric codes to represent all the information they store. These codes are similar to those you may have used as a child to encrypt secret notes: let 1 stand for A, 2 stand for B, etc. With this code, any written message can be represented numerically. The codes used by computers are a bit more sophisticated, and they are based on the binary number system...

Advantages Following list demonstrates the advantages of computers in today's arena. High Speed Computer is a very fast device. It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data. The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond, and even the picosecond. It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man who will spend many months for doing the same task. Accuracy In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate. The calculations are 100% error free. Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that correct input has been given. Storage Capability Memory is a very important characteristic of computers. A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings. It can store large amount of data. It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio and many others. Diligence Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness and ...

Software is a set of programs, which is designed to perform a well-defined function. A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a particular problem. There are two types of software System Software Application Software System Software The system software is collection of programs designed to operate, control, and extend the processing capabilities of the computer itself. System software are generally prepared by computer manufactures. These software products comprise of programs written in low-level languages which interact with the hardware at a very basic level. System software serves as the interface between hardware and the end users. Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers, Interpreter, Assemblers etc. Features of system software are as follows: Close to system Fast in speed Difficult to design Difficult to understand Less interactive Smaller in size Difficult to manipulate Generally written in low-level language ...