Download Computer Fundamentals: Information Representation and Primary Components and more Slides Computer Science in PDF only on Docsity! TOPICS • Information Representation • Characters and Images • Fundamentals of Digital Computer Design Docsity.com Information Representation • All information must be rendered into binary in order to be stored on a computer. • Besides numbers, almost all applications must store characters and string information. • Images are pervasive in today’s internet world and must be rendered in binary to be handled by internet browsers. Docsity.com EBCDIC • EBCDIC • Expanded name Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code • Proprietary specification developed by IBM • Characteristics/description A set of national character sets for interchange of documents between IBM mainframes. Most EBCDIC character sets do not contain all of the characters defined in the ASCII code Docsity.com EBCDIC • EBCDIC • Usage Not much used outside of IBM and similar mainframe environments. When transmitting EBCDIC files between systems care needs to be taken to ensure that the systems are set up for the relevant national code set. Docsity.com UNICODE Unicode can represent all of the world's characters in modern computer use, including technical symbols and special characters used in publishing. Because each Unicode code value is 16 bits wide, it is possible to have separate values for up to 65,536 characters. Unicode-enabled functions are often referred to as "wide-character" functions. Docsity.com Printer (output) Monitor (output) Speaker (output) Scanner (input) Mouse (input) Keyboard (input) System unit (processor, memory…) Storage devices (CD-RW, Floppy, Hard disk, zip,…) Devices that comprise a computer system Docsity.com What does a Computer Do? • Computers can perform four general operations, which comprise the information processing cycle. • Input • Process • Output • Storage Docsity.com What are the Primary Components? • Input devices. • Central Processing Unit (containing the control unit and the arithmetic/logic unit). • Memory. • Output devices. • Storage devices. Docsity.com What are the Primary Components? Mouse • Is a pointing device which is used to control the movement of a mouse pointer on the screen to make selections from the screen. A mouse has one to five buttons. The bottom of the mouse is flat and contains a mechanism that detects movement of the mouse. Docsity.com What are the Primary Components? The Central Processing Unit • The central processing unit (CPU) contains electronic circuits that cause processing to occur. The CPU interprets instructions to the computer, performs the logical and arithmetic processing operations, and causes the input and output operations to occur. It is considered the “brain” of the computer. Docsity.com What are the Primary Components? Memory • Memory also called Random Access Memory or RAM (temporary memory) is the main memory of the computer. It consists of electronic components that store data including numbers, letters of the alphabet, graphics and sound. Any information stored in RAM is lost when the computer is turned off. Docsity.com
