Computer Hardware Fundamentals

• Computer hardware consists of the physical components of a computer system
• Can be external or internal
• External components (peripheral components) control a computer's input or output
• Computer case, monitor (output), keyboard, and mouse (input) are external
• Hard drive, motherboard, and video card are internal

Generations and Advancements

• Each generation has a specific technological advancement

1st Generation (Vacuum Tubes)

• The vacuum tube was invented alongside the electric bulb and used a similar concept
• Switching capability was key for early computers
• It can also amplify specific signals to boost specific frequencies

2nd Generation (Transistors)

• Transistors were faster, smaller, reliable, and cheaper than vacuum tubes
• Transistor miniaturization reduced the size of transistors

3rd Generation (Integrated Circuit)

• Integrated circuit (semiconductor chip) is a collection of transistors integrated into a single chip
• Keyboards and mice were used as inputs

4th Generation (Microprocessors)

• Computers saw an increase in the number of transistors integrated into a single chip and the invention of the microprocessor
• The purpose of processors was for developing calculators

5th Generation (Artificial Intelligence [AI])

• VLSI technology became ULSI technology
• Resulting in microchips with ten million electronic components
• Based on parallel processing hardware and AI software
• AI is an emerging computer science field that interprets how to make computers think like humans

What is a Microprocessor?

• Integrated circuits hold thousands of transistors to process instructions and processes
• Designed to execute logical and computational tasks such as arithmetic interprocess, device communication, and input/output management

Microprocessor Components

• Components that made microprocessors more powerful and efficient
• Central Processing Unit (CPU) accepts data from input devices, processes the data, and transfers the information
• Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) performs arithmetic (addition, subtraction, etc.) and logic operations (AND, OR, NOT)
• Control Unit (CU) controls the input and output devices, generates control signals, and performs instruction execution
• Registers is the fastest memory in a computer and holds information
• Main Memory stores information temporarily
• Clock regulates the timing and speed of all computer functions
• Input/Output Devices are used to communicate with a computer
• Input/Output Interfaces are physical devices, ports, or connections that interact with the computer or other hardware devices
• Direct Memory Access is a feature of computer bus architectures that allows data to be sent from a storage device to memory without using the CPU
• Bus is a pathway of data or instruction from one element to another
• Data Bus carries data to and from the memory
• Address Bus defines the number of addressable locations in a memory IC
• Control Bus carries control signals from the control unit to the computer components

Registers

• Processor provides the fastest way for a CPU to access data
• Modern computer architectures move data from the main memory into registers, and vice versa
• Holds a temporary binary value like data, instructions, memory addresses or I/O address, and special binary codes
• Can store, manipulate, and calculate values which vary from 16-bit, 32-bit, up to 64-bit registers sizes.

Kinds of Registers

• Registers assist in a particular transfer of data or an instruction to be processed.
• General-Purpose Registers/Accumulator stores any transient data required by the processor
• Program Counter Register/Instruction Pointer holds the address of the current instruction being executed
• Memory Address Register holds the address of a memory location
• Memory Data Register holds a data value that is being stored to or retrieved from the memory location currently addressed by the memory address register
• Status Registers/Flags keep track of special conditions such as arithmetic carry and overflow, power failure, and internal computer error

CPU Architecture

• Defines how a processor operates through hardware/software and how it is being handled by the user
• Von Neumann Architecture is a program with code (instructions) and data
• It uses a data bus to transfer data and instructions from the memory to the CPU
• The memory holds both programs and data
• It is still the standard architecture for all computers and computer-based devices
• Harvard Architecture uses separate buses for instructions and data
• The instruction address bus and instruction bus are used for reading instructions from memory
• The address bus and data bus are used for writing and reading data to and from the memory

Instruction Set Architecture

• Allows communication between the hardware and software components of a computer, it is a group of commands for a CPU in a machine language
• Commands/Instructions are called Operation Code (Opcode) e.g. ADD, SUB, MULT, DIV, JUMP, CMP, etc.

Two (2) Types of ISA

• Complex Instruction Set Computer is a computer where single instructions can execute several low-level operations or can do multi-step operations or address modes within single instructions
• Reduced Instruction Set Computer only uses simple instructions that can be divided into multiple instructions and perform low-level operations within a clock cycle

Microprocessor Operations

• Fetch is designed to fetch several instructions at a time in parallel
• Decode identifies the opcode and determines the type of instruction
• Execute executes the part/s for each different instruction

Parallel Processing

• Method of simultaneously breaking up and running program tasks on multiple microprocessors and reducing processing time
• Can be accomplished via a computer with two (2) or more processors or via a computer network
• Pipelining is accumulating and executing computer instructions and tasks from the processor via a logical pipeline
• Allows storing, prioritizing, managing, and executing tasks and instructions in an orderly process