Computers in Depth

The modern computer you see today has changed tremendously since the beginning, so much in fact if you purchase a computer from the store it is already outdated when you walk out.  The latest and greatest computer, only lasts for a split second, as that is how quickly the technological world changes.  Each and every piece of hardware components inside of a computer work together in harmony to show and provide to you what is seen on the monitor computer screen.  I will briefly discuss a few of these inner working components from the CPU, memory, bus, memory allocation, L cache and possibly much more.

During the creation of the first Central Processing Unit (CPU) there was not a concept of dual or multi-core technology, yet, as there was only single core.  With only a single core per CPU a computer could only process one simple task at a time.  This in turn caused companies like AMD to build computers with extra CPU's each with its own core, which required a stronger motherboard to contain more than one CPU socket; this was not only hard to find but very expensive.  The extra CPU slot also caused latency from the increased communication that was required between the two different processors. 

Once they realized how difficult it was for the motherboard to split the data between the two locations and even the distance it had to travel, they thought of combining the two CPUs.  The first dual core processor was created to put less stress on one CPU over the other and allow them to share the resources to perform heavier tasks.  Of course, this started a revolution of combining multiple CPUs together until they reached the multi-core processor which can now contain upwards of four or more cores. 

In basic system architectures, we have the Central Processing Unit (CPU) to start off with.  Then we have the I/O peripheral devices, which is the input and output devices such as, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, etc.  Next in line is the memory which temporarily stores information from each I/O device for use by programs later on.  Flash memory can be useful in larger systems and it utilizes memory allocation which helps distribute operations over the entire space to extend the overall lifetime of the memory.  As Joel Hruska states in his article, "CPU caches are small pools of memory that store information the CPU is most likely to need next (Hruska, 2016)."  There can be a multiple levels of cache that help catch and contain the instructions or information needed.  Next up is our I/O modules which provide an interface for the communication between the memory, CPU, and I/O device.  Between all of the above is our system bus, which connects every portion using computer signals to allow communication between all the components. 

To place this system in layman's terms, think of the CPU as the brain and each I/O an arm or leg.  The memory is our short and long term memory depending upon the action or reason.  The system bus is the spinal cord and surrounding the spinal cord is our backbone which is the I/O modules.  Now that we have our layman references we will discuss how they communicate.  While the brain tells each arm and leg what to do the system bus is our body's way of communicating that information to each extremity with the help of our backbone.  Once the brain (CPU) sends a signal through the spinal cord (bus) and back bone (I/O modules) it can reach the extremities (I/O devices) to perform actions.  The memory will give us an idea as to how many times or how long and far the extremity should move.

Registers are used within a CPU for a specific reason, to temporarily hold binary values whether it is used for operation, storage, or simple computations.  Each register within a CPU has its own specific purpose and function; whereas, address registers within memory do not have a specific purpose and can be used as needed.  A few other registers are the program counter, instruction, memory address, and memory data register.  We will discuss a few of these in a bit more detail.  As the author, Irv Englander in The Architecture of Computer Hardware, Systems Software, and Networking state, "Two registers, the memory address register and the memory data register, act as an interface between the CPU and memory (Englander, 2014)."  The memory address register is specifically how it sounds; it can withhold the address of a specific memory location; whereas the memory data register is specifically connected to each cell in the unit.

Overall, the computer you see at work, home, school, or even at the store is much more than the box you see on the outside.  Even after opening a computer up to take a look at the inside there is much more coming into play when you press that wonderful power button.  When the power button turns on the computer magic happens and viola you see something appear on the screen.  Depending on the manufacturer and the operating system installed you may see something different on each and every computer.  Honestly my favorite part about a computer is the initial setup as I enjoy every last minute of it.

 

References

Englander, I. (2014). The Architecture of Computer Hardware, Systems Software, & Networking An information technology approach. Don FowleY.

Gowing, T. (2009, June 30). Techware Labs. Retrieved February 15, 2017, from http://www.techwarelabs.com/changing-the-game-a-brief-history-of-cpus

Hruska, J. (2016, February 17). Extreme Tech. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188776-how-l1-and-l2-cpu-caches-work-and-why-theyre-an-essential-part-of-modern-chips

Looper, C. d. (2015, October 2). All About Multi-Core Processors: What they are, how they work, and where they came from. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from PCMech: https://www.pcmech.com/article/all-about-multi-core-processors-what-they-are-how-they-work-and-where-they-came-from/