COMPUTER SYSTEM

A computer system is an electronic machine that accepts data, stores data, processes
data and produces information.

A computer system is a set of integrated devices that input, output, process, and store
data and information.

Historical Development
In accordance with the methodology for assessing the development of computer
technology, the first generation was considered to be vacuum tube computers, the
second – transistor computers, the third – computers on integrated circuits, the fourth
– using microprocessors, and the fifth generation computers is based on the artificial
intelligence.

FIRST GENERATION: VACUUM TUBES (1940–1956)

The first computer systems used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for
main memory, and they were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. These
computers were very expensive to operate, and in addition to using a great deal of
electricity, the first computers generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of
malfunctions. First-generation computers relied on machine language, the lowest-
level programming language understood by computers, to perform operations, and
they could only solve one problem at a time. Relied on punched cards for input and
printouts for output. Example UNIVAC and ENIAC computers,

SECOND GENERATION: TRANSISTORS (1956–1963)

The second generation computers used transistors for circuitry. The transistor was far
superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper,
more energy-efficient, and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. This
generation of computers also included hardware advances like magnetic core
memory, magnetic tape, and the magnetic disk. These were also the first computers
that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to
magnetic core technology. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat. A
second-generation computer still relied on punched cards for input and printouts
for output. Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary language to
symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions
in words. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time,
such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. Examples CDC-3600, IBM -7094

THIRD GENERATION: INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (1964–1971)

The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of
computers. Transistors were placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which
drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers. Instead of punched cards
and printouts, users would interact with a third-generation computer
through keyboards, monitors, and interfaces with an operating system. Higher level
languages were used such as COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN and PASCAL. Examples
IBM 360, PDP-8
FOURTH GENERATION: MICROPROCESSORS (1971–PRESENT)
The microprocessor ushered in the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of
integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. Microprocessors are also
based on LSI (Large Scale Integration) and VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)
technologies. The technology in the first generation that filled an entire room could
now fit in the palm of the hand. In 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer
for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. High level
programming languages were used such as C, C++ and Dbase. As these small
computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks,
which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Examples PDP 11, IBM
4341, CRAY-1.

FIFTH GENERATION: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (PRESENT AND

BEYOND)
Fifth-generation computer technology, based on artificial intelligence. Artificial
intelligence (AI), the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to
perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. AI is still in
development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are
being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to
make artificial intelligence a reality. This is also so far the prime generation for
packing a large amount of storage into a compact and portable device.

COMPUTER HARDWARE
The computer system is made up of two basic subsystems, namely COMPUTER
HARDWARE AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Computer hardware is the physical part of the computer system plus all the peripheral
equipment connected to the CPU for input, output and storage.

Computer Software are the set of programs that makes the computer system active. In
essence, the software are the programs that run on the computer.

COMPUTER HARDWARE
A Computer System comprises of several hardware components. It is comprised of
four key components. Input devices, Output devices, Central Processing Unit and
Storage devices.

Input Devices: Facilitate the introduction of data and information into the system.

Output Devices: Facilitate the extraction of processed information from the system.

Central Processing Unit: This is the brain of the computer system that takes the input,
processes them and then output the result .It is made up of 6 components, Control unit
(manages instruction), Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) (performs arithmetic and logic
calculations), Registers (stores data to be processed), cache (temporary memory), bus(
wires through which data from one part of the computer to another on the mother
board, clocks (sends out pulses regularly)
Storage devices: Devices used in saving data for future use.

Classification of Computers
Classification based on signal type
- Digital computer
- Analog computer
- Hybrid computer
Classification by purpose
- Special purpose
- General purpose
Classification by capacity
- Super Computers
- Main frame computers
- Mini computers
- Micro computers

Classification Based On Signal Type

There are basically three types of electronic computers. These are the Digital, Analog
and Hybrid computers.

Digital Computer
Represent its variable in the form of digits. It counts the data it deals with, whether
representing numbers, letters or other symbols, are converted into binary form on
input to the computer. The data undergoes a processing after which the binary digits
are converted back to alpha numeric form for output for human use.

Analog Computer
Analog computers provide continuous information. It measures rather than counts. e.g
pressure, voltage, temperature. Analog computers are mostly mechanical or
electrical machines that can perform tasks like addition, multiplication, subtraction,
and division. The output of analog devices can be expressed in the form of graphs
drawn on the screen or on paper, or an electrical signal used to control the operation
of a mechanism.

Hybrid Computer
In some cases, the user may wish to obtain the output from an analog computer as
processed by a digital computer or vice versa. To achieve this, he set up a hybrid
machine where the two are connected and the analog computer may be regarded as a
peripheral of the digital computer. In such a situation, a hybrid system attempts to
gain the advantage of both the digital and the analog elements. They are mainly used
in aerospace and process control applications.

Classification By Purpose
Depending on their flexibility in operation, computers are classified as either special
purpose or general purpose.

Special Purpose Computers

A special purpose computer is one that is designed to solve a restricted class of
problems. Such computers may even be designed and built to handle only one job. In
such machines, the steps or operations that the computer follows may be built into the
hardware. Most of the computers used for military purposes fall into this class. Other
example of special purpose computers include computers designed specifically to
solve navigational problems.

General Attributes of Special Purpose Computers

 Special purpose computer are usually very efficient for the tasks for which
they are specially designed.
 They are very much less complex than the General-Purpose Computers. The
simplicity of the circuiting stems from the fact that provision is made only for
limited facilities.
 They are very much cheaper than the General-Purpose type since they involve
less components and are less complex.

General-Purpose Computers
General-Purpose computers are computers designed to handle wide range of
problems. Theoretically, a general-purpose computer can be adequate by means of
some easily alterable instructions to handle any problems that can be solved by
computation. In practice however, there are limitations imposed by memory size,
speed and the type of input/output devices. Examples of areas where the general
purpose are employed include the following:
• Payroll
• Banking
• Billing
• Sales analysis
• Cost accounting
• Manufacturing scheduling
• Inventory control

Classification of Computers According to Capacity

In the past, the capacity of computers was measured in terms of physical size. Today,
however, the physical size is not a good measure of capacity because the modern
technology has made it possible to achieve compactness. A better measure of capacity
today is the volume of work that computer can handle. Memory size and cost shall
be used to rank (classify) computer into four main categories as follows:
(a) Supercomputers
(b) Main Frames/Large Computer.
(b) Mini/ Medium/Small Computers
(c) Microcomputers

Supercomputers
Supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance. Used only in the
very largest systems e.g national defence e.g Cray-1 and aerospace

Mainframe
Mainframe computers are large and expensive but powerful, so they can handle
hundreds and thousands of connected users at the same time. It is used for very large
commercial, scientific or military applications where a computer must handle massive
amounts of data or many complicated processes. The first mainframe computer was
the Harvard Mark I. Developed starting in the 1930s, the machine was not ready for
use until 1943. It weighed five tons, filled an entire room and cost about $200,000 to
build. Largest category of computer, classified as having 50 megabytes to over 1
gigabytes of RAM. E.g IBM zSeries,

Mini Computers
A minicomputer is a middle-range computer, about the size of an office desk, often
used in universities, factories or research laboratories. Minicomputer middle range
with about 10 megabytes to over 1 gigabytes of RAM. are also not expensive but
reliable and smaller in size compare to mainframe. It was first introduced in 1965;
when DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) built the PDP – 8. Other Mini Computer
includes WANG VS.

Micro Computers
Microcomputers, also known as single board computers, are the cheapest class of
computers. In the microcomputer, we do not have a Central Processing Unit (CPU) as
we have in the larger computers rather we have a microprocessor chip as the main
data processing unit. They are the cheapest smallest and can operate under normal
office condition. It came into being in 1971. Examples are IBM, APPLE, COMPAQ,
Hewlett Packard (HP), Dell Toshiba,e.t.c.

Different Types of Personal Computers (Micro Computers)

Normally, personal computers are placed on table desk hence they are referred to as
desktop personal computers. Still other types are available under the categories of
personal computers. They are:

Laptop Computers are small size types that are battery-operated. The screen is
used to cover the system while the keyboard is installed flatly on the system unit.
They could be carried about like a box when closed after operation and can be
operated in vehicles while on a journey.

Notebook Computer
This is like laptop computers but smaller in size. Though small, it comprises all the
components of a full system.
Tablet A wireless touchscreen PC that is slightly smaller and weighs less than the
average laptop.

Handheld/Palmtop Computer
Palmtop computer is far smaller in size. All the components are complete as any of
the above but made smaller so that it can be held on the palm. E.g Smart phones

INPUT DEVICES

1. Keyboards
Features
 The most common input devices and are part of virtually all computer
systems.
 They can be stand alone ( connected by cable or wireless connection) or
integrated into the computer.
 Computer keyboard is a typewriter-style device which uses an arrangement of
buttons or keys
  Keyboard keys (buttons) typically have characters engraved or printed on
them

Benefits
 Common, simple and cheap
Limitations
 Labour intensive
 Prone to key-in error
2. Touch-sensitive screens and Touch pads
 A recent trend of integrating the keyboard into touch-sensitive screens.
 It involves user touching an area of a screen e.g keyboard.
 Touch pads are connected to computer via cable or wireless communication
 Touch-screen are built-in to the display unit

Benefits
 Saves space
Limitations
 Labour intensive
 Slow, expensive, difficult to grasp.

3. Magnetic Ink Character Recognition

 MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) reader is a technology used to
verify the legitimacy or originality of paper documents, especially checks.
 Special ink, which is sensitive to magnetic fields, is used in the printing of
certain characters on the original documents.
Benefits
 Speed and Accuracy
Limitations
 Expensive to produce MICR documents
4. Optical Mark Reading (OMR)
 Optical mark recognition (also called optical mark reading and OMR) is the
process of capturing human-marked data from document forms such as
surveys and tests.
 They are used to read questionnaires, multiple choice examination paper in the
form of lines or shaded areas.
Benefits
 Speed and Accuracy
Limitations
 Expensive to produce OCR documents
 Risk of making marks outside the allotted boxes

5. Scanners and Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

 Read text or illustrations printed on paper and translate the information into a
format the computer can use
 Some scanners incorporate OCR software which translate the image into text

Benefits
 Excellent for inputting graphics and text quickly
Limitations
 Slow to scan multiple images
  OCR may be inaccurate if image quality is low

6. . Mouse, Joystick and Trackball devices

 Hand operating devices with internal sensors used to control the cursor
 Optical mouse are easy to use.
 Mouse has 2 or 3 bottons and frequently has a wheel used for scrolling
 A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and
reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling
 .A trackball is a pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket
containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball about two axes like an
upside-down mouse with an exposed protruding ball
Benefits
 Easy to use and common
 Cheap and simple
Limitations
 Slow and can be prone to error

7 Voice Data Entry

 Many computers can now accept voice input via a microphone or voice data
entry
Benefits
 Convenient and Simple
Limitations
 Can be inaccurate
 Can be affected by noise

8. Bar codes QR codes and EPOS

 Bar codes are Group of black and white marks with variable spacing and
thickness
 QR are quick response codes they are matrix or 2 dimensional barcodes
 EPOS are electronic point of sales with is normally integrated with bar code
readers. Allows credit or debit cards to be read for payment. EPOS now
supports mobile phone.
Benefits
 Very common, accurate and Quick Accuracy
Limitations
 Damaged ones cannot be read
 Incompatibility issues if different types are used

9 Digital Cameras
 Can be stand alone or integrated into smart phones, laptops and tablet
computers.
 Captures images and videos in digital form
Benefits
 Versatile, quick, accurate
Limitations
 Higher quality require larger film size which can be expensive

OUTPUT DEVICES
An output device is the part of a computer system that receives the processed data
from the computer and presents it in some way.
Types
1. Monitor
 Looks like a television screen.
 It provides visual output from the computer
 Can be external or integrated into the computer.
 Types include Cathode ray tubes, LCD (Liquid Crystal display) and LED
(Light emitting diode), OLED stands for “Organic Light Emitting Diode“,
Plasma monitor
 The screen resolution is the number of pixels (dots) used to build a picture.
More pixels- means high image quality.
CRT monitors are much heavier in size as compared to LCD and LED
monitors. Due to being heavy, they have much trouble while moving and
transporting from one place to another. Also, they need more space for
installation.
LCD is made of liquid crystals. It is the most used monitor worldwide, as it
requires less space, consumes less electricity, and produces relatively less heat
than an old CRT monitor.
LED’s is the latest innovation in the market today’s market competing with
LCDs and Plasma Monitors. These types of monitors are slightly curved or
flat panel displays that use light-emitting diodes for backlighting on the
screen instead of cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) for back-lighting. LED
displays are more bright with 4k resolution than other displays, due to which
the user can be read or seen easily in daylight time. LED monitors use less
power than LCDs as well as LEDs are widely used by gamers for playing
high graphics and HD games.
OLED is made of organic material (such as carbon, plastic, wood, and
polymers), that is used to convert electric current into light.
The Plasma monitor panel (PDP) is made of Plasma technology is another
latest type of computer monitor technology. Display of plasma made with
cells. These cells are filled with ‘electrically charged Ionized Gas‘. Such
cells are called Plasma. A plasma display offers a good response, superior
performance, time, and a much wide viewing angle as compared to LCDs.

2. Printers
A printer is a device that prints output on a page. It can be in colour or black.
The characteristics that determine the choice of a printer include:
 Speed of producing output;
 Quality of output;
 Cost of purchase of printer;
 Graphics abilities;
 Associated noise levels;
 Multiple color output;
 Maintenance and cost of supplies like ink, paper e.t.c;
 Availability of supplies
 Volume of job
 Nature of job

ii. The two classifications of printers are:

 Impact printers – make contact with paper and sound (noise) is produced during
printing, Impact printers have mechanism that causes the character to be printed by
impact such as an hammer hitting a letter through a ribbon as a conventional type
writer e,g Character printer ( Daisy-wheel and dot matrix) and line printers (drum and
chain),
 Non-impact printers do not make contact with paper and are relatively noiseless
during printing. Non-impact printers produces character by using optical techniques
e,g laser printer, inkjet printers, Thermal printers
3. Speakers
Speakers are attached to computers for the output of sound. This is produced
by sound card.
Headsets are a combination of speakers and microphones and are commonly
used by gamers.
4. Projector
This is a variation of monitor in that it translates the digital output into a visual
display directed unto a screen.

STORAGE DEVICES

Primary Storage ( internal memory)

Alternatively referred to as internal memory, main memory, main storage, and
primary memory, a primary storage device is a medium that holds memory for short
periods of time while a computer is running. Although it has a much lower access
time and faster performance, it is also about two orders of magnitude more costly than
secondary storage. They are directly accessible by the CPU.
Examples include RAM, ROM and CPU Cache memory

RAM is Random Access memory. The content of RAM can be modified, added to
or deleted from. Current data and programming instructions are usually stored in
RAM. RAM is also called VOLATILE or DYNAMIC memory. The contents of this
area is lost when there is interruption of power.
ROM Read only Memory do not allow alterations. The content of ROM can be read
but not modified. ROM is also called NON VOLATILE or STATIC memory. The
programs are stored by the manufacturers. E;g program that automatically starts the
computer. The contents of this area is not lost when there is interruption of power.

CPU Cache memory

CPU cache] is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a
computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main
memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, closer to a processor core, which stores
copies of the data from frequently used main memory location

Secondary Storage (external memory)

This differ from primary storage in that it is not directly accessible by the CPU.
Secondary storage is used for data not currently processed but needs to be accessed in
a later date. Non-volatile even when power is off it remains intact.

External Hard drive

A computer’s largest secondary storage location is its hard drive the capacity between
40GB and 2TB.
Others
Flash Memory : kind of memory that retains data in the absence of a power supply.
Floppy Disks: floppy disk, also called a floppy, diskette, or just disk, is a type of disk
storage composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a
rectangular plastic enclosure.
CD: Compact Disk CDs are small plastic discs on which sound, especially music, can
be recorded. CDs can also be used to store information which can be read by a
computer
DVD: Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc, a DVD or DVD-ROM is a disc
capable of storing large amounts of data on one disc the size of a standard Compact
Disc.
Blu-ray drive: Blu-ray or Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a digital optical disc data storage
format. It was designed to supersede the DVD format, and is capable of storing
several hours of video
Magnetic tape: tape used in recording sound, pictures, or computer data.
Cloud drive or Cloud Storage: Cloud drive is a Web-based service that provides
storage space on a remote server. Cloud drives, which are accessed over the Internet
with client-side software, are useful for backing up files.

-
Tertiary Storage
Involves a robotic mechanism that mounts (inserts) and dismounts removable mass
storage media into a storage device. Often used for archiving rarely accessed
information. Primarily used for extremely large data stores accessed without human
operators.

Offline Storage ( Not controlled by or directly connected to a computer or the

Internet.
Describes any type of data storage that is not under the control of a processing unit. It
is usually physically removed or disconnected. It requires human intervention. It is
not built into the system e.g CDs, DVDs, USB flash drives, SanDisk Cards