REPORT

HARDWARE

The physical components of a computer system, in the form of computer hardware.

CPU

The central processing unit (CPU) interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer.

·      Processor – another name for CPU

CPU impacts overall computing power and manages most of a computer’s operations. That is, most of the devices connected to the computer communicate with the CPU in order to carry out a task.

Two components of the CPU that work together to perform processing operations:

1.     Control unit

2.     Arithmetic/ Logic unit

Control unit

Directs and coordinates most of the operation in the computer.

Four basic operations:

1. Fetching an instruction

2. Decoding the instruction

3. Executing the instruction

4. Storing the result.

Fetching – is the process of obtaining a program instruction or data item from memory.

Decoding – is the process of translating the instruction into commands the computer understands.

Executing- is the process of carrying out the commands.

Storing- is the process of writing the result to memory.

* Instruction Time- the time it takes to fetch also known as I-time.

* Execution Time- the time it takes to decode and execute also known as E-time.

Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU)

The ALU performs the arithmetic, comparison, and logical operations.

Arithmetic operations – include addiction subtraction, multiplication and division.

Comparison operations – involve comparing one data item to another to determine if the first item is greater than, equal to, or less than the other item

Logical operations – work with conditions and logical operators such as AND, OR, and NOT.

PIPELINING – the CPU begins executing a second instruction before the first instruction is completed.

       System Clock – the CPU relies in a small chip called the system clock

-       used to synchronize, or control the timing of, all computer operations

Clock Cycle- Tick

Superscalar- CPU can execute more than one instruction per clock cycle

Clock Speed or Clock Rate- the speed at which a processor executes instructions

Clock speed is measured by megahertz(MHz)

Zero-Insertion Force(ZIF) socket – has a small lever or screw designed to facilitate the installation in removal of processor chip

Three Forms of processor upgrade:

(1)  chip for chip

(2)  piggyback

(3)  daughterboard

Chip For Chip Upgrade- the existing processor chip is replaced with a new one

Piggyback Upgrade- the new processor chip is stacked on top of the old one

Daughterboard Upgrade- the new processor chip is located on a daughterboard

Heat Sink- a small ceramic or metal component with fins on its surface that is designed to absorb and ventilate heat produced by electrical components

Heat Pipe- it cools laptop computers

Coprocessor- another way to increase the performance of a computer

                    -a special processor chip or circuit board designed to assist the processor in performing specific task

Parallel Processing- method that uses multiple processors simultaneously to execute a program

DATA REPRESENTATION

Analog – it uses continues signal to represent data and information

Digital – only understands two discrete states: on & off