Registry

To instil basic knowledge of how computers and their peripherals work
To develop this understanding by focusing on the architecture of a particular microprocessor.
To explain binary data representation
To explain how computers do basic arithmetic.

The student should be able to state the components of a standard computer system (CPU, Motherboard, Memory, Peripheral Bus, etc) and describe their function.
The student should be able to understand computer specifications, and make an informed decision as to what constitutes “value for money”.
Draw labelled diagrams of standard computer systems and summarise the operation of the system.
Understand how various peripherals (e.g. hard disk, DVD drive) work
Understand how the hardware of the Internet works.
Understand binary data representations.
Understand how computers do simple arithmetic.
Understand what is a computer program.

The binary system. Hex, Octal. Conversions between number systems. Bits, bytes and words. The CPU, ALU, Bus and Memory subsystems. Multi-core processors. Elementary logic AND, OR, NOT and XOR and their application. Karnaugh maps and how to build a seven segment display counter from logic gates using Boolean algebra. Simple binary arithmetic circuits. How Logic implements a half adder and a full adder. A Virtual 4-bit computer system. Flip-flops and storage of bits. The computer memory hierarchy – registers, cache, main memory and the hard disk. Introduction to the Intel 8086 and its instruction set. The stack. Representation of whole numbers, floating-point numbers, alphanumerics and special data on a computer. 2’s complement arithmetic. Multiplication and division. Signed and unsigned arithmetic. The status flags. Looking at a motherboard and identifying the subsystems. Hard disks, DVD drives and how they work. Understanding Computer specifications.  Computer programs – what they are and how they work. Input/Output. USB ports – how they work. Connecting to the Internet – elementary data communications. Broad-band communications and its significance.

Core
Inside the Machine: An Illustrated Introduction to Microprocessors and Computer Architecture, Stokes, No Starch Press, 2006

Supplementary

Structured Computer Organisation, Tanenbaum, Prentice-Hall, 5th Edition, 2005

The Definitive Guide to how computers do Math, Maxfield & Brown, Wiley-Blackwell, 2005

• See the module specification for CA103 in 2003 - 2004
• See the module specification for CA103 in 2004 - 2005
• See the module specification for CA103 in 2005 - 2006
• See the module specification for CA103 in 2006 - 2007
• See the module specification for CA103 in 2007 - 2008
• See the module specification for CA103 in 2008 - 2009
• See the module specification for the current year