focus_on_informatics
.pdf1)What is considered to be the foundation of the modern processing industry?
2)Where was large-scale automated data processing of punched cards performed?
3)What drawbacks did the first analog computers possess?
4)How did the prototype of the modern digital computer appear?
5)What technology is implemented by practically all modern computers?
6)What importantchanges did computers undergo in 1950s – 1980s?
Section II(HowDoes a Computer Operate?)
Text 5. Data Storage Device
A data storage device is a device for recording (storing) information (data). Recording can be done using virtually any form of energy, spanning from manual muscle power in handwriting, to acoustic vibrations in phonographic recording, to electromagnetic energy modulating magnetic tape and optical discs.
A storage device may hold information, process information, or both. A device that only holds information is a recording medium. Devices that process information (data storage equipment) may either access a separate portable (removable) recording medium or a permanent component to store and retrieve information.
Electronic data storage is storage which requires electrical power to store and retrieve that data. Most storage devices that do not require vision and a brain to read data fall into this category. Electromagnetic data may be stored in either an analog or digital format on a variety of media. This type of data is considered to be electronically encoded data, whether or not it is electronically stored in a semiconductor device, for it is certain that a semiconductor device was used to record it on its medium. Most electronically processed data storage media (including some forms of computer data storage) are considered permanent (non-volatile) storage, that is, the data will remain stored when power is removed from the device. In contrast, most electronically stored information within most types of semiconductor (computer chips) microcircuits are volatile memory, for it vanishes if power is removed.
With the exception of barcodes and OCR data, electronic data storage is easier to revise and may be more cost effective than alternative methods due to smaller physical space requirements and the ease of replacing (rewriting) data on the same medium. However, the durability of methods such as printed data
is still superior to that of most electronic storage media. The durability limitations may be overcome with the ease of duplicating (backing-up) electronic data.
Many data storage devices are also media players. Any device that can store and playback multimedia may also be considered a media player such as in the case with the HDD media player.
Any input/output equipment may be considered data storage equipment if it writes to and reads from a data storage medium. Data storage equipment uses either:
portable methods (easily replaced),
semi-portable methods requiring mechanical disassembly tools and/or opening a chassis, or
inseparable methods meaning loss of memory if disconnected from
the unit.
A recording medium is a physical material that holds data expressed in any of the existing recording formats. With electronic media, the data and the recording medium is sometimes referred to as "software" despite the more common use of the word to describe computer software.
Glossary
back up – выполнять резервное копирование
bar code reader – устройство считывания штрихового кода charcoal – угольный карандаш; древесный уголь
chassis – (аппаратный) блок, шасси
computer software –программное обеспечение для компьютеров crafting tools – орудия ремесла
crayon – цветноймелок
DNA (Digital Network Architecture)– архитектура цифровых сетей electronic media– электронные средства (массовой) информации
electronically encoded – зашифрованный при помощи электронных устройств, компьютера, компьютерных сетей
HDD (hard disk drive) – накопитель нажестком диске input – входное устройство, устройство ввода magnetic tape – лента для магнитной записи
microcircuit – микросхема
OCR (optical character reader) – оптическое устройство считыва-
ния знаков
optical disc – диск зрительного нерва
output – выходное устройство, устройство выхода phonographic – 1) фонографический; 2) фонетический recording format – структура записи;формат записи
RNA (remote network access) – удаленный доступ к сети semiconductor device – полупроводниковый прибор
skywriting – надпись, вычерчиваемая самолетом при помощи дымового следа; воздушная реклама
storage device – запоминающее устройство
storage medium – запоминающая среда, среда для хранения (информации); носитель информации
volatile memory – энергозависимая память, энергозависимое запоминающее устройство
volatile organic compound – летучие органические соединения
Exercises:
1.Match each of the words in the first column with the word from the secondcolumntomakefivewordpartnershipsfromthearticle:
a. storage |
medium |
b. recording |
device |
c. digital |
device |
d. volatile |
format |
e. semiconductor |
memory |
2. Answer thequestions: |
|
1)What consumer electronic device uses a portable medium (tape reel) to store the data?
2)What is a recording medium?
3)What type of data storage requires electrical power to store and retrieve data?
4)In what formatcan electromagnetic data be stored?
5)What datastorage media are considered permanent storage?
6)Why can electronic data storage be more cost effective than alternative methods?
7)Can media players be called data storage devices?
8)What methods of recording are usedby datastorage equipment?
9)What is a recording medium?
3. Expand the statements:
1)Recording can be done using virtually any form of energy, spanning from manual muscle power in handwriting to acoustic vibrations in phonographic recording.
2)A storage device may hold information.
3)Any device that can store and playback multimedia may also be considered a media player.
4)Any input/output equipment may be considered data storage equipment.
5)A recording medium is a physical material.
6)With electronic media, the data and the recording medium is sometimes referred to as "software".
7)With (traditional art) static media, art materials such as crayons may be considered both equipment and medium.
8)Volatile organic compounds may be used to preserve the environment.
Text 6. Computer Data Storage
A computer's memory can be viewed as a list of cells into which numbers can be placed or read. Each cell has a numbered "address" and can store a single number. The computer can be instructed to "put the number 123 into the cell numbered 1357" or to "add the number that is in cell 1357 to the number that is in cell 2468 and put the answer into cell 1595". The information stored in memory may represent practically anything. Letters, numbers, even computer instructions can be placed into memory with equal ease. Since the CPU does not differentiate between different types of information, it is the software's responsibility to give significance to what the memory sees as nothing but a series of numbers.
In almost all modern computers, each memory cell is set up to store binary numbers in groups of eight bits (called a byte). Each byte is able to represent 256 different numbers (2^8 = 256); either from 0 to 255 or -128 to +127. To store larger numbers, several consecutive bytes may be used (typically, two, four or eight). When negative numbers are required, they are usually stored in two's complement notation. Other arrangements are possible, but are usually not seen outside of specialized applications or historical contexts. A computer can store any kind of information in memory if it can be represented numerically. Modern computers have billions or even trillions of bytes of memory.
The CPU contains a special set of memory cells called registers that can be read and written to much more rapidly than the main memory area. There are typically between two and one hundred registers depending on the type of CPU. Registers are used for the most frequently needed data items to avoid having to access main memory every time data is needed. As data is constantly being worked on, reducing the need to access main memory (which is often slow compared to the ALU and control units) greatly increases the computer's speed.
Computer main memory comes in two principal varieties: random-access memory or RAM and read-only memory or ROM. RAM can be read and written to anytime the CPU commands it, but ROM is pre-loaded with data and software that never changes, so the CPU can only read from it. ROM is typically used to store the computer's initial start-up instructions. In general, the contents of RAM are erased when the power to the computer is turned off, but ROM retains its data indefinitely. In a PC, the ROM contains a specialized pro-
gram called the BIOS that orchestrates loading the computer's operating system from the hard disk drive into RAM whenever the computer is turned on or reset. In embedded computers, which frequently do not have disk drives, all of the required software may be stored in ROM. Software stored in ROM is often called firmware, because it is notionally more like hardware than software. Flash memory blurs the distinction between ROM and RAM, as it retains its data when turned off but is also rewritable. It is typically much slower than conventional ROM and RAM however, so its use is restricted to applications where high speed is unnecessary.
In more sophisticated computers there may be one or more RAM cache memories which are slower than registers but faster than main memory. Generally computers with this sort of cache are designed to move frequently needed data into the cache automatically, often without the need for any intervention on the programmer's part.
Glossary
ALU (arithmetic logic unit) – арифметико-логическое устройство
BIOS (basic input/output system)– базовая система ввода/вывода
binary number – двоичноечисло
blur the distinction– стирать различие
cache memory – кэш (быстродействующая буферная память небольшой емкости)
CPU (central processing unit) – центральный процессор
consecutive – последовательный, непрерывно следующий друг за другом
conventional– зд. обычный
erase – стирать, уничтожать
firmware – встроенное программноеобеспечение
flash memory – флеш-память (память с групповой перезаписью)
notionally – теоретически
RAM (random-access memory) – оперативная память, оперативное запоминающее устройство
ROM (read-only memory) – постоянное запоминающее устройство
retain – сохранять, удерживать
two’s complement notation – запись (система обозначений), пред-
ставленная в дополнительном коде
Exercises:
1.What do the following abbreviations stand for? They are all used in the article:
PC CPU ALU RAM ROM BIOS
2.Find the words in the article which mean the following. The first and the last letters are given:
1)describes events, numbers, etc. that follow one after another without an interruption (paragraph 2) c…e
2)to remove something (paragraph 4) e … e
3)to arrangesomething carefully (paragraph 4) o … e
4)a set of instructions which form part of an electronic device and which allow it to communicate with a computer or with other electronic devices (paragraph 4) f… e
5)to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order to improve it or prevent it from getting worse(paragraph 5) i … n
3. Answer the followingquestions:
1)How cancomputer datastorage be defined?
2)How does computer memory work (operate)?
3)What cansignificantly increase the computer’s speed?
4)What is the difference between RAM and ROM?
5)When is flash memory used?
4.In pairs, spend 5 minutes preparing a set of questions about the article to ask other pairs. Use the “question starters” below:
1)What exactly … ?
2)In what way … ?
3)What’s the main reasonwhy … ?
4)According to the article… ?
5)How might… ?
Text 7. Computer Architecture
In computer engineering, computer architecture is the conceptual design and fundamental operational structure of a computer system. It is a blueprint and functional description of requirements and design implementations for the various parts of a computer, focusing largely on the way by which the central processing unit (CPU) performs internally and accesses addresses in memory.
It may also be defined as the science and art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance andcostgoals.
Computer architecture comprises at least three main subcategories:
Instruction set architecture, or ISA, is the abstract image of a computing system that is seen by a machine language (or assembly language) programmer, including the instruction set, word size, memory address modes, processor registers, and address and data formats.
Microarchitecture, also known as Computer organization is a lower level, more concrete and detailed, description of the system that involves how
the constituent parts of the system are interconnected and how they interoperate in order to implement the ISA.The size of a computer's cache for instance, is an organizational issue that generally has nothing to do with the ISA.
System Design which includes all of the other hardware components within a computing system such as:
1.system interconnects such as computerbuses and switches
2.memory controllers and hierarchies
3.CPU off-load mechanisms such as directmemory access
4.issues like multi-processing.
Once both ISA and microarchitecture have been specified, the actual device needs to be designed into hardware. This design process is called implementation. Implementation is usually not considered architectural definition, but rather hardware design engineering.
Implementation can be further broken down into three (not fully distinct) pieces:
Logic Implementation – design of blocks defined in the microarchitecture at (primarily) the register-transfer and gate levels.
Circuit Implementation – transistor-level design of basic elements (gates, multiplexers, latches etc) as well as of some larger blocks (ALUs, caches etc) that may be implemented at this level, or even (partly) at the physical level, for performance reasons.
Physical Implementation – physical circuits are drawn out, the different circuit components are placed in a chip floor-plan or on a board and the wires connecting them are routed.
For CPUs, the entire implementation process is often calledCPU design.
More specific usages of the term include more general wider-scale hardware architectures, such as cluster computing and Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) architectures.
Glossary
ALU(ArithmeticandLogicUnit)–арифметико-логическоеустройство
blueprint – детальный план, программа; шаблон, образец
cache – кэш, сверхоперативная память
cluster computing – объединение (группа) компьютеров
computer architecture – архитектура компьютера [вычислительной системы], организационная структура компьютера [вычислительной системы], включающая потоки и представление данных, интерфейсы, набор команд, способы адресации, регистры, аппаратное и программное обеспечение. Термин введён корпорацией IBM при создании семейства совместимых ЭВМ System/360
computer buses – компьютерные шины
computer engineering– компьютерная инженерия
conceptual – понятийный, концептуальный, абстрактный
CPU (central processing unit)– центральный процессор
design engineering– инженерное проектирование
direct memory access – прямой доступ к памяти
gate level – на вентильном уровне
implementation – реализация, внедрение
ISA (instruction set architecture)– архитектура набора команд
latch – задвижка
machine (assembly) language– машинный язык (ассемблер)
memory address modes – адрес ячейкипамяти
memory controllers – контроллеры памяти
multiplexer – многоканальныймодулятор
Multiprocessing – многопроцессорная обработка; параллельная об-
работка