Chapter 6 - System Unit

by CHOY WAN LING
Tags: TIS

Computers conduct the data and instructions electronically. They only recognize the digital signals. Computer use a system called binary system which only have two states, 0 (off - state) and 1 (on - state). In binary system, 0 and 1 is a bit and eight bits grouped together to form bytes. Binary system encodes the data and information which is character encoding into computer and use the binary coding schemes for computer to understand.

  • ASCII - American Standard  Code for Information Exchange
  • EBCDIC - Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
  • Unicode - handles languages with large numbers of characters

 

system unit.jpg

We have the system unit as below.

  • System Chassis - covers all of the electronic components which built up a computer system
  • System board - also known as motherboard which control the communication in computer system
  • Microprocessor
  • Memory
  • Socket
  • Bus lines
  • Expansion slots
  • Cables
  • Power supply

 

System Board (Motherboard)

Microprocessor

Memory

Socket

-        Connection point for chips

 

CPU on microprocessor chip (Brain of computer)

 

1.      RAM

-        Volatile

-        Temporary storage

-        Can be updated

-        Example: DDR, SDRAM, DRAM

 

Chips

-        mounted on carrier packages

-        Silicon chip, semiconductor, or integrated circuit

 

1.      Central Unit

  • Program instructions
  • Directs flow between memory and Arithmetic-Logic Unit
  • Directs flow between CPU and I/O devices

 

 

2.      ROM

-        Non-volatile

-        Cannot be change

-        Start the computer

-        Access memory

-        Handle keyboard input

 

Slots

-        Provide a connection point for specialized cards or circuit boards

 

2.     Arithmetic-logic Unit

a.      Arithmetic operation

b.      Logical operation

 

3.      Flash memory

-        Combination of RAM and ROM

-        Non-volatile like ROM

-        Can be updated like RAM

 

 

Bus lines

-        Provide pathways that support communication among the various electronic components

  • Universal Serial Bus (USB)
  • FireWire - Audio and video equipment
  • PCI Express (PCIe)

 

 

3.       Multicore chip 

-        Run two or more operations at the same time

-        Example: Intel core i7

 4.       Virtual memory

-      the large programs are divided into parts and the parts are stored on a secondary device, usually a hard disk

 

Ports

a.     Standard Ports

  • VGA and DVI -Analog and digital monitors
  • USB
  • FireWire
  • Ethernet - High speed networking

 

b.     Specialized Ports

  • Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format (S/PDIF)
  • High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
  • Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)

 

c.     Legacy Ports

  • Parallel port
  • Serial port

 

4.      Specialty processor (coprocessor)

-        Example: GPU

-        Smart card with embedded chip

-        RFID tags (information tag) which useful in tracking process

 

  
Updated on 16 December 2018, 12:35 PM; 1609 page visits from 5 December 2018 to 27 April 2024