Computer Systems: Module Introduction - NCC Education

Computer Systems Topic 1: Module Introduction © NCC Education Limited  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.3 Qualification Pathways: Level 4 Diploma in Computing (L4DC)​ Level...

Computer Systems Topic 1: Module Introduction © NCC Education Limited  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.3 Qualification Pathways: Level 4 Diploma in Computing (L4DC)​ Level 4 Diploma in Computing (with Business Management) Core Units 1. Algorithms and Mathematical 1. Computer Networks Concepts for Computing 2. Computer Systems 2. Computer Networks 3. Databases 3. Computer Systems 4. Front End Web Development 4. Databases 5. Front End Web Development Specialist Units 1. Object-Oriented System Analysis 1. eBusiness (Mandatory) and Design 2. Essentials of Management 2. Software Engineering 3. Understanding Business 3. Designing and Developing Object- Organisation Oriented Computer Programme Elective Units 1. Algorithms and Mathematical (choose 1) Concepts for Computing 2. Software Engineering  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.4 Unit Summary - core: Core Units Credits Assessment Changes to Unit Method Algorithms and 15 60% Global New Unit. Mathematical Assignment + Concepts for 40% Exam Computing Computer Networks 15 60% Global Updated T&L materials to incorporate Digital Mobile Assignment + Telephony and update on the network topology topic 40% Exam Computer Systems 15 60% Global Updated T&L materials and emphasise on mobile OS, Assignment + embedded systems, web servers, Cloud, Mobile/Tablet. 40% Exam Databases 15 60% Global Updated T&L materials to incorporate NoSQL, Big Data, Assignment + etc and include some topics from DDD such as 40% Exam normalisation. Front End Web 15 100% Global Updated T&L materials Development Assignment New Unit. A replacement unit for DDW which cover HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, responsive framework, Web development framework and GitHub.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.5 Unit Summary – specialist: Specialist Units Credits Assessment Method Changes to Unit Object-Oriented System 15 60% Global New Unit to introduce system analysis and Analysis and Design Assignment + 40% design in OO method. UML Use Case diagram, Exam Class diagram, Sequence diagram, Activity diagram and State diagram are covered in the T&L material. Software Engineering 15 100% Global New Unit focuses on software engineering Assignment techniques. Designing and Developing 15 100% Global Updated T&L materials Object-Oriented Computer Assignment Programs eBusiness 15 100% Global Existing unit Assignment Essentials of Management 15 100% Global Existing unit Assignment Understanding Business 15 100% Global Existing unit Organisation Assignment  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.8 What this unit is about ❖ In a computer system, efficiency, simply put, equates to the time in which it completes running given tasks. ❖ That is the number of operations, usually instructions, it executes per unit time, usually per second. ❖ The time it takes to complete tasks is dependent on the speed of processing instructions, ❖ i.e. higher speed, shorter time, the number of instructions it is effectively capable of executing per second, ❖ i.e. more instructions per second, shorter time, and the size and speed of memory accesses.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.10 Why study computer systems There are many reasons why students of computers should study computer systems, some of which are listed below: Learn the secrets that companies are spending big dollars to develop Learn what to look for when buying computers To understand the buzzwords banded about with new computers You have pride of understanding what others do not You will be a more knowledgeable IT professional  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.11 Why study computer systems ❖ To better understand the structure and functions of computers and how these impact on performance and program design ❖ To understand the trade-offs among various digital components ❖ To make more informed computer system design, infrastructure development, and purchasing decisions  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.12 Why study computer systems ❖ To understand hardware for software tuning and vice, versa ❖ Get a well-paid and satisfying job! ❖ Gain a better and deeper understanding of software; e.g., how high-level language programs are translated and executed, performance issues, etc ❖ Aspects of computer organization are crucial to the understanding of other areas of computer science, such as operating systems, compilers, and networks  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.14 The Unit Roadmap List of topics covered in this unit: Computer systems hardware. Operating systems. Numbers and logic. Computer programs. Computer systems software. Digital logic. Embedded systems. Computer networks. Advanced topics.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.15 Module delivery - Lectures ❖ The lecturer will present information with the aid of PowerPoint slides - just like this one. ❖ The information on the slides will cover only the main points but your lecturer will elaborate and expand on these points whenever appropriate. ❖ You will need to take notes during the lectures, so, make sure you bring a pen and paper for your notes. ❖ This unit will be assessed partly in the examination and partly in the coursework. Module delivery – Practical work & Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.16 private study Practical work: During practical sessions you will work with relevant computer equipment and software. May also involve some demonstrations by lecturers and/or presentations by students. The work covered in lab sessions will be assessed in your coursework assignment. Private study: There will be additional work that you do on your own Completing and writing up work started in labs Researching topics covered in previous lectures Preparing for future classes  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.17 Module delivery - Assignments Exam: 40% of your final grade Coursework: 60% of your final grade Practical work to be completed in laboratory sessions Written-up as lab reports Details of the tasks and what to put in the reports are covered on each lab sheet There are deadlines that you will be required to conform to  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.18 A historical perspective Let’s have a brief look at the (brief) history of computers: If we rule out ‘calculating machines’, the first true computers appeared during World War 2. Driven by urgent need for military calculations and decoding secret messages: Bletchley Park (UK) – ‘Colossus’ https://www.tnmoc.org/colossus University of Pennsylvania (America) – ‘ENIAC’ https://www.britannica.com/technology/ENIAC  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.19 Example ENIAC Colossus computer  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.20 A historical perspective Even then, they were not ‘stored program’ computers – they were fed data and instructions in by punched card or paper tape that often snapped while being fed in! World’s first ‘stored program’ computer was the ‘Manchester Baby’ in 1948. By this time large hard drives and fast magnetic tapes were becoming available where programs were stored. Also, magnetic core memories were being invented as random- access memories. Here, the polarity of magnets acting as binary numbers. http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/6013/the-manchester-baby-the-world-s- first-stored-program-computer-ran-its-first-program  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.21 Example  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.22 A historical perspective Since the late 1940s up to 1970s computers gradually got more powerful, had more memory and storage and were more common. This meant that they could run programs faster and could store more programs. They were still too expensive to own. Started out for secret intelligence and military work, then used by large corporations and universities, then finally smaller organizations. By this time, they started to shrink into smaller sizes. Still not meant for private or home use yet; they were simply physically too big and too expensive and often needed large specialised clean-rooms!  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.23 A historical perspective http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/cgi/computing-timeline.pl During 1970s, many huge developments in miniaturising components & getting costs down. This was the result of smaller electronic components as logic chips. Integrated circuits were on their way. Start of the ‘personal computing’ revolution arrived where computers were small enough to place on or under work desks. However, they were not nearly as powerful as their larger cousins. Commodore, Apple, Acorn Computers are examples of such computers.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.24 Example Commodore Acorn Computers Apple  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.25 A historical perspective A massive step was IBM ‘PC’ in 1981. It had its own operating system called DOS (Disk Operating System or may be Dirty Operating System?) DOS could not multi-task. This spawned a new generation of ‘PC clones’ such as Dell, Compaq, etc. https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html From the mid-1980s onwards, the ‘desktop’ PC starts to appear everywhere as IBM PC or IBM PC clone. Now used professionally in the office for word processing, spreadsheets, databases & email, etc, and used at home for playing games, budgets etc.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.26 A historical perspective By the 1990s, the ‘laptop’ computer arrives – offering portability and decreased size and weight but at a substantial price-hike over the desktop. Once the computer was freed from the desktop, mobility was further enhanced by the ‘netbook’ and ‘PDA’. This trend continues today with ‘smart’ phones and tablets which offer high-performance, low-cost computing and communications on-the-go. Computing also makes huge in-roads on the gaming scene with specialized games consoles that fast became very popular amongst the young generation.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.27 Examples  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.28 A historical perspective The computer power has been relying on the processing speed of CPU. For the past several decades, the speed has been doubling every two years (re: Moore’s Law, http://watson.latech.edu/book/future/futureMoores1.html ) The increase in speed was achieved as integrated circuits become more and more dense. However, this has reached its limitation after reaching several GHz. As a result, today’s computing power relies not only on speed but on multi-core CPUs (more than one CPUs in a single chip) and performance enhancing new technologies. We will touch upon these in future topics. So, that’s where we are today ☺ …and the future? We will look at this near the end of the unit  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.29 Moore’s Law In 1965, Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel, wrote a paper entitled “Cramming more components onto integrated circuits” Computer engineers and chip designers use Moore’s Law to extrapolate future increases in computer performance and to set research goals. Moore’s Law describes an exponentially increasing function  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.30 A historical perspective Introduction – the three views of Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.31 computer systems By way of a gentle introduction, we start with the ways a computer system can be viewed from different points of view of the technology. So, this brief introduction will give a taste of what’s coming: Hardware Engineer’s view Software Engineer’s view User’s view  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.32 Hardware engineer’s view Is concerned with logic gates, counters, adders, shift registers, bus widths, instruction sets, clock cycles, logic levels as voltage levels, timings, state transitions, etc. ROM Comms RAM 16 bits 24 bits BUS 8 bits CPU I/O  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.33 Hardware engineer’s view For example: timing sequences Consider the handling of data input/output by a digital latch. CS Data in WE t0 t1 t2 WE t0: Make the latch active t1: Present data at input Data in Latch Data out t2: Write data to output, data latched WE: Write Enable, CS: Chip Select CS  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.34 Hardware engineer’s view For example: state transition diagrams State transition analysis is a tool that hardware engineers use in order to define a system's states and the conditions under which the state transitions occur. Circles are the send data states, and the ready switch on arrows are the actions for switch transitions from busy one state to off off data sent another state.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.35 Example  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.36 Software engineer’s view Is concerned with programming programmable input, output, register files, memory mapped registers, interrupts, addressing modes, etc. Software usually written in assembler and high-level languages. Interrupt Control Logic Bus Control Register UART RS232 serial IO Status Register controller Data Register universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.37 Software engineer’s view For example: programming device controllers To transmit serial data (e.g. to a serial printer) or receive serial data (e.g. from a modem), the software needs to access the serial controller's registers as shown below. The registers are 'memory mapped', so the software simply writes to or reads from defined memory areas. write - XMIT-format is based on IBM's EBCDIC (op: xmit, speed: 9600 bps) character set and not on the more read universal ASCII character set. check - Control Register UART(or) Serial while do wait Communication Device write  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.38 Software engineer’s view Control Register UART(or) Serial write (op: rcv, speed: 9600 bps) Communication Device read check while do wait read Release, Control, and Validation (RCV) in ITIL; focused on managing changes, releases, and service validations.  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.39 User’s view Is concerned with peripheral devices, cables, user interfaces, applications, configuration of operating systems, installation of software or new hardware, networking, ease-of-use, etc. Input User Interface Devices App App App Backing Storage Output Operating System Devices CPU Memory Computer  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.40 Example  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.41 Discussion Session ❖ Now that we have introduced the unit, at this stage let’s see what your thoughts are about studying computer systems and about this unit in particular: ❖ What are your expectations from this unit? ❖ What computing job would you like to do as a career? ❖ Although early to tell, nevertheless, do you feel studying this unit will help you in your future job?  Module Introduction Topic 1 - 1.43 References Computer engineering - Wikipedia: A good reference describing different aspects of computer systems engineering including software engineering and other related branches. It also provides links to related sites. https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/cgi/computing- timeline.pl: A timeline of ‘computing’ going back several centuries which provides interesting read. It includes information on personalities connected to computers and key dates in their lives. Topic 1 – Module Introduction Any Questions?