Com-Rad

• Vacuum tube


  An electronic device that controls the flow of electrons in a vacuum
• Magnetic drum


  A cylinder coated with magnetic material, on which data and programs can be stored
• Magnetic core


  Uses arrays of small rings of magnetized material called cores to store information
• Transistor


  An electronic component that can be used as an amplifier or as a switch
• Integrated circuit (CHIP) (ICs)

  A small electronic circuit printed on a chip usually made of Silicon that contains many electronic circuit elements
• Microprocessor


  An electronic component held on an integrated circuit that contains a computer central processing unit and other associated circuits
• CPU (central processing unit)


  It is often referred to as the brain/engine of a computer where most of the processing and operations take place. (Primary Component) (Central) (MAIN)
• Machine language


  Low-level programming language comprised of a collection of binary digits that the computer can read and understand
• Assembly language


  Is like the machine language that a computer can understand except that assembly language uses abbreviated words (ADD, SUBDIV etc.) in place of numbers
• Memory


  A physical device that is used to store data, Information and program in a computer
• Artificial intelligence


  An area of computer science that deals with the stimulation and creation of intelligent machines
• Computer


  A device used for processing, storing, and displaying information
• Charles Babbage


  Father of Computer (1800s)
• He designed a more complex machine called Analytical Engine
• First Generation (1940-56)


  • Used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for main memory
  • Relied on machine language, the lowest level of programming language understood by computers
  • Often enormous, taking up entire rooms
  • Very expensive to operate, and consumes high electricity, thus generating a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions
• Second Generation (1956-63)


  • Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors
  • Allowed computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy efficient, and more reliable than the First generation predecessors
  • Moved from binary language to symbolic, or assembly languages
  • Magnetic cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic tape and disks as secondary storage devices
• Third Generation (1964-71)


  • Development of integrated circuit known as "chip"
  • From small scale integrated circuits which had 10 transistors per chip, it was developed to 100 transistors per chip, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers
• Fourth Generation (1972-1980)


  • Large Scale Integration (LSI) and Very Large Scale integration (VLS) were used
  • Microprocessors came into existence
  • In microprocessor, thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip
  • High capacity hard disk were invented
• Fifth Generation (1980- Present and Beyond)


  • Based on artificial intelligence (which are currently in development)
  • Use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make AI into reality
  • Quantum computations and nanotechnology will change the face of computers in years to come
• Information Processing Theory


  Compute
• CPU


  Central Processing Unit
• Memory Units


  Used to store data for later reference
• Larger units of memory

  • Kilobyte (1024 bytes = 2^10 bytes)
  • Megabyte
  • Gigabyte
  • Terabyte
  • Petabyte
  • Exabyte
• Computer takes data from the user and processes it using a machine language of ones and zeros, known as binary code
• The computer processing is performed by a series of transistors which are switches that are either on or off
• Binary code alphabet reference

  • 1 = 00001
  • 2 = 00010
  • 3 = 00011
  • 4 = 00100
  • 5 = 00101
  • 6 = 00110
  • 7 = 00111
  • 8 = 01000
  • 9 = 01001
  • 10 = 01010
  • 11 = 01011
  • 12 = 01100
  • 13 = 01101
  • 14 = 01110
  • 15 = 01111
  • 16 = 10000
  • 17 = 10001
  • 18 = 10010
  • 19 = 10011
  • 20 = 10100
  • 21 = 10101
  • 22 = 10110
  • 23 = 10111
  • 24 = 11000
  • 25 = 11001
  • 26 = 11010
• Bit


  A single unit of data
• Byte


  8 bits, the amount of memory needed to store one alphanumeric character
• Hardware components


  • Case
  • Motherboard
  • CPU
  • BIOS
• Case


  • To hold all components in a cool, clean, safe environment
  • To shield the outside environment from radio frequencies
• Tower case


  • Provides adequate room for expansion
  • Easily placed out of the way
• CPU


  The brain of the computer, a small chip on the motherboard that consists of a series of transistors to manipulate data
• Motherboard


  The largest circuitry board inside the computer, containing the CPU, BIOS, bus, memory, ports, and CMOS
• BIOS


  Contains a simple set of instructions for the computer, performs start-up diagnostics, and oversees basic functions after boot-up
• Input devices


  • Keyboard
  • Mouse
  • Scanner
  • Joystick/Console
• Keyboard


  • The most common input device, uses an arrangement of buttons or keys
• Mouse


  • A handheld pointing device that detects motion relative to a surface
• Scanner


  • Optical device that scans images, printed text, handwriting, or objects and converts them to digital form
• Joystick/Console


  • Input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it's controlling
• Memory Units


  Used to store data for later reference