Computer_Engineering_print_new2

12 Computer Engineering

SPECIALIST READING A: What is a computer?

9. Before starting, answer the following questions. This kind of information is well known and you will deal easily with the quiz.

COMPUTER-quiz

10. These phrases and sentences have been removed from the text.

1.There are two different types of computers – analog and digital.

2.People are the most important component of the computer system…

3.The most common form of computer in use today is the embedded computer.

4.In addition, hardware devices can include external components...

5.An incredible important contribution in computer technology development …

6.IBM made punch-card office machinery…

7.…Hardware, Software, People, Procedures, and Data.

8.This process is called digitization.

Read the text quickly and fill in the gaps with the suitable phrases or sentences to form a logically correct text. Mind that one extra sentence you don’t have to use is given.

The term computer is used to describe a device made up of a combination of electronic and electromechanical

components. Computer has no intelligence by itself and

is referred to as hardware which is the computer's physical electronic and mechanical parts. A computer system can be viewed as consisting of five most vital elements: _____________________________________

______________. When one computer system is set up to communicate with another computer system, connectivity becomes the sixth system element of the total computer system.

______________________________________________

_________________: they create the computer software instructions and respond to the procedures that those instructions present.

The basic job of the computer is the processing of information. Computers accept information in the form of instruction called a program and characters called

data to perform mathematical and logical operations,

and then give the results. The data is raw material while

information is organized, processed, refined and useful for decision making. Computer is used to convert data into information. Computer is also used to store information in the digital form.

______________________________________________

________________________. Analog computers solve

problems by using continuously changing data

(temperature, pressure, voltage) rather than by

manipulating discrete binary digits (1s and 0s) as digital

computers do. In current usage, the term computer

usually refers to digital computers. Hybrid computers

combine elements of both types. Digital computers are generally more effective than analog computers for three principal reasons: they are not as susceptible to signal interference; they can convey data with more

precision; and their coded binary data are easier to store

and transfer than are analog signals.

Such computers can represent any type of data, from

numbers and letters to musical notes._________

__________________________________________.

A vague image of modern computer was first outlined in 1833 by British mathematician Charles Babbage. His design of an “analytical engine” contained all the necessary elements of a modern computer: input devices, a store (memory), a mill (computing unit), a control unit, and output devices.

The design called for more than 50,000 moving parts in a steam-driven machine as large as a locomotive. Most of its actions were executed through the use of perforated cards: a method that was already used to control automatic silk-weaving machines called Jacquard looms by the name of the inventor. It was one of the first programmable devices.

In the 1880s Herman Hollerith developed a calculating machine able to count, collate, and sort information stored on punch cards. His “tabulator” quickly demonstrated the efficiency of mechanical data manipulation. In 1896 Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company to produce similar machines. In 1924 the company changed its name to IBM. The most popular of operating systems – which are used to run mainframes, built by the industry leader IBM – include MVS1, DOS/VSE2, and VM3.______________________

___________________________ the dominant business information system until the late 1960s.

From 1939 to 1942, American physicists John V.

Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built a computer based on the binary numbering system. Their ABC (Atanasoff-Berry

Computer) is often credited as the first electronic digital

computer. Furthermore, George Boole, a British

mathematician, had already devised a complete system of binary algebra that could be applied to computer circuits. Boolean algebra, developed in 1848, bridged the gap between mathematics and logic by symbolizing all information as being either true or false.

_______________________________________________

______________ is made by Steven Jobs and Stephen

Wozniak, the founders of the Apple II computer. It is also

worth mentioning William Henry Gates III, (known as Bill

Gates), the father of Microsoft Company. The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century (1940–1945). Early electronic computers were the size of a large room. Modern computers are based on tiny integrated circuits and are millions to billions of times more capable while occupying a fraction of the space. _________________________________________

__________________. Embedded computers are small, simple devices that are used to control other devices - for example; they may be found in machines ranging from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and children's toys.

The dominant operating system is the disk operating

system (DOS) developed by Microsoft Corporation. Also popular is Microsoft's Windows NT, an adjunct to DOS that provides enhanced computer graphics.

Comments:

1IBM MVS (Multiple Virtual Storage) - множественное виртуальное хранилище, операционная система, разработанная IBM (1974).

2DOS/VSE (Virtual Storage Extended) – дисковая операционная система с расширенной виртуальной памятью.

3VM (Virtual Machine) — операционная система для мэйнфреймов фирмы IBM. Первая версия была выпущена в 1972 году для семейства компьютеров

IBM System/370.

VOCABULARY IN USE

11. Replace the italicized words with the equivalents from the box:

1.Software consists of the programs that instruct the hardware to perform tasks.

2.Varieties of types of integrated circuitry are used in contemporary supercomputers.

3.Embedded computers are small, simple devices, which are used to control other device.

4.Herman Hollerith, an American inventor, fabricated a calculating machine able to count, and collate information stored on punch card.

5.A device called “tabulator” quickly demonstrated the efficiency of mechanical data manipulating.

6.IBM introduced its Personal Computer in 1981.

A personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed an operating system and a multitude of software to perform the operator's desired functions. Typical personal computers consist of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop) and the following parts:

1) Motherboard is the "body" or mainframe of the computer. The term “motherboard” is the point of argument in the USA even at Court level. It was even proposed to use the term “mainboard” not to give any privileges to male or female belonging of the word.

2)Central processing unit (CPU) performs most of the calculations which enable a computer to function; sometimes it is referred to as the "brain" of the computer.

3)Computer fan is used to lower the temperature of the computer; a fan is almost always attached to the CPU, and the computer case will generally have several fans to maintain a constant airflow.

4)Random Access Memory (RAM1) is also known as the physical memory of the computer. Fast-access memory that is cleared when the computer is powered down. RAM attaches directly to the motherboard, and

is used to store programs that are currently running. Firmware is loaded from the Read only memory ROM2

run from the Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) or in newer systems Extensible Firmware Inter-face (EFI) compliant.

5)Internal Buses are connections to various internal components: PCI, PCI-E, USB, Hyper Transport, CSI3, and AGP (being phased out).

6)External Bus Controllers are used to connect to external peripherals, such as printers and input devices. These ports may also be based upon expansion cards, attached to the internal buses.

7)Controllers for hard disk, CD-ROM and other drives for a PC are IDE/ATA; the controllers sit directly on the motherboard or on expansion cards, such as a Disk array controller. IDE is usually integrated, unlike SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) which can be found in some servers. The floppy drive interface is a legacy MFM4 interface, which is now slowly disappearing. All these interfaces are gradually being phased out to be replaced by SATA and SAS5.

8)Video display controller produces the output for the visual display unit. This will either be built into the motherboard or attached in its own separate slot (PCI,

PCI-E, PCI-E 2.0, or AGP), in the form of a Graphics Card.

9)Internal storage encompasses hardware that keeps data inside the computer for later use and remains persistent even when the computer has no power (hard disk – medium-term storage of data; solidstate drive – a device similar to hard disk, but containing no moving parts; disk array controller – a device to manage several hard disks to achieve performance or reliability improvement).

10)Sound card enables the computer to output sound to audio devices, as well as accept input from a microphone. Most modern computers have sound cards built-in to the motherboard, though it is common for a user to install a separate sound card as an upgrade.

11)Networking connects the computer to the Internet and/or other computers (modem is used for dial-up connections, network card – for DSL/Cable internet, and/or connecting to other computers, direct cable connection – use of a null modem, connecting two computers together using their serial ports or a Lap link cable, connecting two computers together with their parallel ports).

12)Hardware devices can include external components of a computer system. The following are either standard or very common including various input and output devices, usually external to the computer system.

Keyboard is used to input text and characters by depressing buttons (referred to as keys), similar to a typewriter. The most common English-language key layout is the QWERTY layout. Mouse is a pointing device that detects two dimensional motions relative to its supporting surface. Webcam is a low resolution video camera used to provide visual input that can be easily transferred over the internet. Microphone - an acoustic sensor that provides input by converting sound into electrical signals. Printer is a machine that can be connected to a computer in order to make copies on paper of documents or other information held by the computer. Monitor is a screen which displays an image generated by a computer. Computer speakers, or multimedia speakers, are external speakers, commonly equipped with a low-power internal amplifier. The standard audio connection is a 3.5mm (1/8 inch) stereo jack plugs often colour-coded lime green (following the PC 99 standard) for computer sound cards.