Computers overview

Английский язык

COMPUTER review

Москва 2013

Авторы: Н.И. Чернова,

Н.В. Катахова

Редактор: И.Е. Торбан

Методические указания предназначены для бакалавров и студентов первого курса дневного отделения факультетов кибернетики и ИТ в рамках изучения языка специальности. Представленный аутентичный языковой материал снабжен комментариями, облегчающими понимание сущности описываемых явлений, структур и процессов; краткий словарь терминов обеспечивает адекватность перевода при работе с оригинальной литературой по направлению или специальности обучающегося, тем самым облегчая восприятие иноязычной информации и ее интерпретацию.

Рецензенты: М.В. Рыбакова, Ф.А. Нанай

© МГТУ МИРЭА, 2013

Методические указания напечатаны в авторской редакции

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Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное

учреждение высшего профессионального образования
“Московский государственный технический университет

радиотехники, электроники и автоматики”

119454, Москва, пр. Вернадского, 78

Unit I

COMPUTERS OVERVIEW

The main function of a digital computer is to process input data and produce results that can be used in a specific application environment. The physical devices used to implement a computer system and manage the storage and flow of data and instructions along its internal communication lines constitute the hardware component of the system. The processing hardware is programmed to perform computations according to some set of rules, the algorithm (a logical sequence of steps) used to solve the particular problem. The algorithm is translated into a program —a set of instructions— that the hardware follows in solving the problem. The collection of programs constitute the software component of the system.

The study of software is concerned with programming languages, data repre­sentations, creation of efficient programs, software evaluation, and compiler devel­opment. Hardware involves the understanding of computer organization and the study of the physical components used for the design of a computer system. Hardware and software are intimately related, and software cannot be fully understood without some understanding of hardware, since a substantial part of software is hardware dependent.

Among the components (resources) are these:

Processors

Input/output controllers

Memory units

Buses (communication paths, data highways)

Registers, adders, shifters, and multipliers

Data representations

Addressing modes

Machine language instructions

Instruction fetching, executing, and decoding

The terms computer architecture and computer organization are often used interchangeably at this level. However, they do not mean the same thing. Computer architecture refers to the characteristics of a computer as seen by the programmer. Computer organization relates to the physical resources of a computer and is con­cerned with their organization, their integration into a functional system, and the control of communication and data flow among them.

A computer is assumed to be a system having one or more processors capable of interpreting and executing instructions. The instructions to be executed, as well as the data to be operated on, are held in memory. Interfacing both processors and memory with external data sources or with peripheral hardware, such as terminals and printers, is done through input/output (I/O) subsystems. Communication among the various units is accomplished by means of one or more system buses.

The basic principles of computer organization involve the structure and organ­ization of the various computer units and their interfaces to other subsystems. The computer designer makes decisions regarding the form in which programs are rep­resented to and interpreted by the underlying computer, the methods by which these programs address or name their data, and data representations. These decisions include aspects such as the size of storage, types and formats of data, instruction sets, storage addressing and protection, and I/O and interface considerations.

Vocabulary

Terms:

Device	Processor	mode	bus
Hardware	Controller	interface	storage
Computation	Memory	source	data
Algorithm	Register	peripheral	integration
Program	Adder	terminal	compiler
Software	Shifter	input	multiplier
Output

Phrases:

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30