Hi everyone! This document here is a well detailed summary of hardware in Information Technology. I touch every aspect about hardware such as input and output devices, sensors, scanners and much more regarding hardware.
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Hardware
● Is categorised into:
-Input
-Storage
Processing
-Output
-Communication
● Essentially a computer follows the principle of Input, Processing and Output (IPO).
3.1 The Motherboard Components
● The motherboard is a large printed circuit board (PCB).
● It houses essential electronic components of a device.
● The Central Processing Unit (CPU), primary storage (RAM), and connectors between
them and other peripherals are all linked on the printed circuit’
3.1.1 The Central processing Unit (CPU)
● Consists of the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), Control Unit (CU) and Registers.
● The CPU is the largest chip on the motherboard.
● The CPU continually interprets and executes the commands that are stored in RAM.
● The CPU is square with pins that can be inserted onto the motherboard into a socket
● In order for a program to run, it must first be loaded into RAM, since the CPU is
directly connected to RAM.
3.1.1.1 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
● Is an electronic circuit, made up of combinations of logic gates, that performs simple
arithmetic on integer binary numbers.
● It can only add numbers but because
-subtraction is addition of negative numbers
-multiplication is repeated addition
-division is repeated subtraction
-exponentiation is repeated multiplication;
It all boils down to addition in a way.
● Performs logical calculations
● Determines whether a condition will be evaluated to be true or false.
● Calculations include relational operators such as >;<;=.
3.1.1.2 Control Unit (CU)
, ● ‘Coordinator’ of program instructions sent to the processor.
● It controls the instructions to be processed by the processor some form of processing
cycle that what the processor does and how the instruction needs to be processed in
terms of the ALU, RAM and input/output devices
3.1.1.3 Registers
● Instructions that are processed by the CPU are stored in a small holding spaces
called Registers
● Each Register may hold an instruction, memory address or data.
● They can also refer other registers as part of their instructions
3.1.2 Primary Memory (BIOS, RAM, ROM)
3.1.2.1 BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
● Non-volatile (retaining data even if there is a break in the power supply) firmware
(software that is programmed on a ROM chip) used to initialise hardware when the
computer starts up so that the operating system can take over and use the hardware
afterwards.
3.1.2.2 RAM (Random Access Memory)
● RAM and other storage on the motherboard is known as primary storage
● Its volatile- the contents or data in the RAM are constantly changing during
processing and is lost when the computer is switched off.
● Non- volatile memory is known as secondary storage (permanent)
● RAM holds the instruction related data the user has loaded, and the processor will
access both when instructed to perform a task
● RAM is DRAM (Dynamic RAM) as it constantly needs to be refreshed otherwise it will
lose its contents.
● Can easily add more RAM to your computer which can also improve the speed of
your computer.
● RAM is part of the computer's primary memory
3.1.2.3 ROM (Read Only Memory)
● Non- volatile memory chip that can be used to permanently store data
● Can sometimes be changed depending on the type of chip and its purpose
● For example, ROM chips would work with robots and in this case an EEPROM
(Electronically Programmable ROM) would be used
● EEPROM can be changed using a software program.
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