1.

Overview of ICT
1.1 Definition of Basic Terms
ICT at present is influencing every aspect of human life. It is playing significant roles in
workplaces, business, education, and entertainment. Moreover, many people recognize
ICTs as promoters for change; change in working conditions, handling and exchanging of
information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research, and in
accessing information.

ICT/IT:
ICT is acronym that stands for Information and Communication Technologies. ICT can
be defined as a “diverse set of technological tools and resources used to create,
disseminate, store, and manage information electronically in digital form”. These
technological tools include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio
and television), telephony (fixed line & mobile), services associated with these
technologies, such as videoconferencing and electronic mail and blogs etc.

ICT could also be defined as a marriage of three components referred as: Computer,
Communications networks, and Know-how (knowledge of how to use technology).

Computer:

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Computer is an electronic machine that can be instructed to accept, process, store and
present data and information. It is an electronic and programmable data processing
machine.
The tern ‘computer’ is derived from the word ‘compute’, which means to calculate. A
computer can be defined as a machine (composed of electronic and electric circuits),
which can perform arithmetic operations and logical decisions with defined pattern of
instructions called soft ware.

Communication networks:
A communications network is the connection of stations (computers, printers, etc) at
different locations through a medium so as to enable sender/receiver to send and
receive data. Such technologies includes telephone lines, network cables and wireless
technologies
Data:
Data is a set of symbols telling “something given” or fact. It is a piece of unorganized
features or details about people, objects, places or events etc … Example: Abebe,
Manager, red, 24 . Data may exist in different forms such as text, picture, audio/sound
and video
Information:
Information is a processed data that is more meaningful and used for decision making.
The data processing might involve some calculation (arithmetic or logical computation) ,
sorting, summarizing, merging etc… Example: A semester CGP or grade report of a
student, Average temperature of Addis Ababa.

Data Processing
Data [input] Information [Output]
[using Computers]

1.2 Characteristics of Computers

Man developed computers so that he could perform intricate operations such as
calculation and data processing or simply for entertainment. Today, computers are
everywhere – in our offices, homes, appliances, automobiles – the list is endless. Much
of the world runs on computers, and computers have profoundly changed our lives,
mostly for the better. Let us discuss some of the characteristics of a computer, which
make them an essential part of every emerging technology and such a desirable tool in
human development.
 Speed: The computers process data at an extremely fast rate, that is, to the tone of
million instructions per second. In a few seconds, computers can perform such a

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 huge task that a normal human being may take days or even years to complete. The
speed of a computer is measured in MHz (Megahertz), that is, one million
instructions per second. At present, a powerful computer can perform billions of
operations in just on second GHZ(Giga Hertz).
 Accuracy: -Besides the efficiency, the computers are also very accurate. The level of
accuracy depends on the instructions and the type of machines being used. Since we
know that the computer is capable of doing only what it is instructed to do, faulty
instructions for processing the data automatically lead to faulty results. This is
known as GIGO, that is, Garbage In Garbage Out. Errors may occur in the results, but
due to increased efficiency of error-detecting techniques, they can be minimized.
Thus, the probability of errors in a computer is negligible.
 Reliability: Generally, reliability is the measure of the trustfulness of a computers
capability in doing its task against some predetermined standard for operating
without any failure. The major reason behind the reliability of the computers is that,
at hardware level, it does not require any human intention between its processing
operations. Moreover, computers have the built-in diagnostic capabilities, which
help in continuous monitoring of the system.
 Storage Capability: Computers can store large amounts of data and it can recall the
required information almost instantaneously. Anyone can store data in a computer
for several years and you will find it the same whenever you came back your data.
Different computers have different memory and storage capacity. The memory of
the computer is relatively small and it can hold only a certain amount of information,
therefore, the data is stored on external storage devices such as CD-ROM and a hard
disk. A single CD-ROM can store up the 700 MB of data while a hard disk can have a
capacity of 500 GB, 1 TB etc….
- Storage capacity of a computer is measured by bite, bytes, kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes.
- Bit: is the smallest unit of data which refers to either 0 or 1 (off or on).
- Gigabytes and Terabytes: are the largest measurement units of data. A
group of bites is called byte.
- 8 bites = 1 byte = 1 character ,1KB = 1024 byte , 1MB = 1024 KB , 1GB =
1024 MB , 1TB = 1024 GB
 Versatility: Computers are quite versatile in nature. They can perform multiple tasks
flexibly almost with equal ease. For example, at one moment it can be used to
prepare a letter, the other moment it can be used to play music and in between you
can print a document as well. All this work is possible by changing the program
(sequence of instructions for computers). In brief, we can say that a computer can
perform various tasks by reducing the task to a series of logical steps.

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 Diligence: Computer, being a machine, does not suffer from the human traits of
tiredness and lack of concentration. If four million calculations have to be performed,
then the computer will perform the last four-millionth calculation with the same
accuracy and speed as the first calculation.
 Automatic: A computer can work without human involvement after starting the
programming.
Computers have certain limitations too. As a machine, a computer can only perform
what it is programmed to do, nothing more and nothing less. It can only operate on the
user provided data, that is, it can accept data, process it, and communicate the results
to the user. In addition, a computer needs well-defined instructions to perform any
operation. Therefore, computers are unable to give anywhere qualitative considerations
are important.

1.3 Applications of Computers

Why we use Computers?
For the last few decades, computer technology has revolutionized the businesses and
other aspects of human life all over the world. Practically, every company, large or small,
is now directly or indirectly dependent on computers for information processing.
Computer systems also help in the efficient operations of railway and airway reservation,
hospital records, accounts, electronic banking, and so on computers not only save paper
work.
The following are some of the capability of Computers, which are reasons to use
Computers.
 Store and process large amount of information with high speed and accuracy;
 Transmit information across continents via communication channels;
 Simulate events;
 Perform complex mathematical computations and make comparisons;
 Monitor ongoing industrial operations;
 Perform repetitive processes with great ease, speed, and reliability;
Therefore, computers are applicable for any functions or process that requires these
abilities. Some of the areas where computers are being used are listed below.
Education:
Computers have also revolutionized the whole process of education currently, the
classrooms, libraries, and museums are efficiently utilizing computers to make the
education much more interesting. Unlike recorded television shows, computer-aided
education (CAE) and Computer Based Training (CBT) packages are making learning much
more interactive.
Medicine and Health Care:

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 There has been an increasing use of computers in the field of medicine. Now, doctors
are using computers right from diagnosing the illness to monitoring patient’s status
during complex surgery. By suing automated imaging techniques, doctors are able to
look inside a person’s body and can study each organ in detail (such as CAT scans or MRI
scans), which was not possible few years ago. There are several examples of special
purpose computers that can operate within the human body such as a cochlear implant,
a special kind of hearing aid that makes it possible for deaf people to hear.
Entertainment:
Computers are finding greater use in entertainment industry. Computers are used to
control the images and sounds. The special effects, which mesmerize the audience,
would not have been possible without the computers. In addition, computerized
animation and colorful graphics have modernized the film industry. Present day
computer games and videos are the main meanses of communication.
Communication:
E-Mail or Electronic Mail is one of the communication media in which computer is used.
Through e-mail the messages and reports are passed from one person to one or more
persons by the aid of computer and the telephone line. The advantage of this service is
that while transferring the messages it saves time, avoids wastage of paper, and so on.
Moreover, the person who is receiving the messages can read the messages whenever
he is free and can save it, reply it, forward it or delete it from the computer. The social
medias are also serving as a communication means.
Commercial or business applications
Computers are needed to perform business operations that require handling large
amounts of data. Several computer applications are available to assist business in
working with large volumes of data.
Examples are:
 Text processing
 Accounting and Finance management
 Inventory control
 Database management
 Statistical analysis
Scientific-engineering and research application
Computers are using for scientific research, complex mathematical calculations, design
work, and analysis and control of physical system.
Examples are:
o Space technology
o Meteorological observatory system
o Astronomical investigations

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 o Design of machines and
o Control of manufacturing process
Weather and Environment
Computer equipment may show temperature ranges, precipitation levels and wind flow
and can used in weather forecasting. Computer can also help in overcoming
environmental hazards.
Transportation
Computers have affected almost every kind of transportation. Many aircraft can fly
under the control of the computer; in this situation, the captain simply serves as a
manger by telling the computer what to do. In Cars, computers have provided functional
controls such as spark and fuel control
Household Control
A growing number of the newer houses hold devices are computers controlled. For
example: Security systems, refrigerators, microwave ovens, washers, stereos, and
televisions. This computer controlled home security system monitors movements,
broken glass, unlawful entry without a security code, and so on, and alerts the local
police department.
Banking:
In the field of banking and finance, computers are extensively used. People can use the
ATM (Automated Teller Machine) services 24 hours of the day in order to deposit and
withdraw cash. When the different branches of the bank are connected through the
computer networks, then the inter branch transaction such as cheque and draft can be
done by the computers without any delay

1.4 Application/Benefits of ICT(IT) in education

ICT can be used in education for various purposes ranging from planning, to delivery
and assessment of lessons. It benefits students, teachers, administrators and
families. A range of ICT tools such as computers and devices, networks (including the
Internet and social networks), applications/tools, and digital content can be used for
educational purposes.

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In Ethiopia’s context, “plasma” and “Timhrt Be-radio” are also widely used examples of
the use of ICT in education: teaching and learning with ICT.

Benefits for teachers

Some of the benefits of integrating ICT in education for teachers include:

Benefits for students/learners

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Many of the benefits that teachers experience from integrating ICT into their teaching
practice can also apply to students. But it can be worthwhile to look specifically at the
benefits of using ICT for learners, including:

1.5 Data Processing Cycle

At the heart of ICT is the computer technology. The main and general purpose of
computer is data processing, computer being an electronic and programmable data
processing machine. Regardless of where computers are used, the phase of data
processing remains the same. It begins by accepting input from users, process it,
displays it as output for users and may store it for some other time in secondary
storages.

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 2. Evolution and Types of Computers

2.1. Brief History of Computers

In ancient times, people used fingers to perform the calculations such as addition and
subtraction. Even today, simple calculations are done on fingers. Soon, mankind realized
that it would be easier to do calculation with pebbles as compared to fingers.
Consequently, pebbles were used to represent numbers, which led to the development
of sand table.
Sand table: consists of three grooves in the sand with a maximum of 10 pebbles in each
groove. To increase the count by one, a pebble has to add in the right hand groove.
When 10 pebbles were collected in the right groove, they were removed and one
pebble was added to the adjacent left groove. Afterward, sand tables were modified to
abacus.
Abacus: it emerged around 5000 years ago in Asia and in some parts of the world. It is
still in use. The word ‘abacus’ was derived from Arabic word ‘abaq’ which means ‘dust’.
It was simply a portable sand table.
 Invented by Chinese and Egyptians some 500 years back
 Assumed to be the first adding machine. It consisted of rows of beads in
rectangular frame
 Beads represent place holders and performs arithmetic operations
 It worked on the principle of place value notation

Napier bones: designed by John Napier in 1614. It is the same as abacus, but Napier
bones include multiplication and it was the best known for the invention of logarithms.
Pascal adding machine: The first mechanical adding machine (automatic calculator)
developed by French mathematician known as Blaise Pascal in 1642. It can only add
and subtract numbers. It had a complex arrangement of wheels, gears and windows to
display of numbers.

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Later, the machine was improved by a Germany mathematician called Leibinz to
perform two additional operations such as multiplication and division and find square
root.
In 1801, the French textile weaver Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a power loom with
an automatic car reader known as punch card machine. The idea of Jacquard to use
punched cards was to provide an effective means of communication with machines.
In 1822, the British Mathematician Charles Babbage invented the difference engine.
The difference engine was intended to solve differential equations as well. However,
Babbage never quite made a fully functional difference engine and in 1833, Babbage
upgraded his machine and called it the analytical machine. Analytical machine is
considered to be the first general-purpose programmable computer. Babbage never
built an analytical engine, which was to have a memory unit or arithmetic unit to
perform computation.
Mark- I computer: It was essentially a serial collection of electromechanical calculator
and had many similarities to Babbage’s analytical machine. It was capable of performing
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and table reference. However, it was
extremely slow, noise and bulky (approximately 50 feet long, 8 feet high and weighed 5
tones).
ABC computer: designed by John Vincent Atansoft and Clifford Berry in 1939.It was the
first electronic computer which introduce the idea of binary arithmetic, regenerative
memory, and logical circuit.
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator): designed by John Mauchly and
Eckert in 1946.It used vacuum tubes to store data and instruction internally, and it is
accepted as the first successful high speed electronic digital computer. The size of
ENIAC’s numerical word was 10 decimal digits, and it could multiply two of these
numbers at a rate of 300 per second, by finding the value of each product from a
multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was a big machine that:-
- use 18,000 vacuum tubes
- required around 160kw of electricity.
- weighed about 30 tons.
- It took about 140 square meters of space.

2.2. Generation of Computers

The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different
generations of computing devices. In computer terminology, the word ‘generation’ is
described as a stage of technological development or innovation. A major technological
development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in
increasingly smaller, more powerful and more efficient and reliable devices characterize

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each generation of computer. According to the kind of ‘processor’ installed in a machine,
there are five generations of computers, which are discussed in the next few sections.
First Generation (1940-56): Vacuum Tubes
First generation computers used vacuum tubes as principle electronic components.
These computes used magnetic drums for storage. A magnetic drum is a metal
cylinder coated with magnetic iron-oxide material on which data and programs can be
stored. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed
on printouts.
First generation computers relied on binary-coded language (language of 0s and 1s)
to perform operations and were able to solve only one problem at time. Each machine
was fed with different binary codes and hence they were difficult to program. This
resulted in lack of versatility and speed. In addition, to run on different types of
computers, instructions must be rewritten or recompiled. They were extremely large,
expensive and operates with a speed of milliseconds, one thousands of a second (10-
3
).
Second Generation (1956-63): Transistors
Second generation computers used transistors instead of vacuum tubes, which were
superior to vacuum tubes. A transistor is made up of semiconductor material like
germanium and silicon. It usually had three leads and performed electrical functions
such as voltage, current or power amplification with low power requirements. Since
transistor is a small device, the physical size of computers was greatly reduced.
Computers became smaller, faster, cheaper, energy-efficient and more reliable than
their predecessors. In second-generation computers, magnetic cores were used as
primary memory and magnetic disks as secondary storage devices. However, they still
relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.
One of the major developments of this generation includes the progress of machine
language to assembly language. Assembly language used mnemonics (abbreviations)
for instructions rather than numbers, for example, ADD for addition and MULT for
multiplication. As a result, programming became less cumbersome. Early high-level
programming languages such as COBOL and FORTRAN also came into existence in this
period.

Third Generation (1964-Early 1970s): Integrated Circuits

The development of the integrated circuit was the trait of the third generation
computers. Also called an IC, an integrated circuit consists of a single chip (usually silicon)
with many components such as transistors and resistors fabricated on it. Integrated
circuits replaced several individually wired transistors. This development made
computers smaller in size, reliable and efficient.

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Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation
computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system.
This allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central
program that monitored the memory. For the first time, computers became accessible
to mass audience they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

Fourth Generation (Early 1970s-Till Date): Microprocessors

The fourth generation is an extension of third generation technology. Although, the
technology of this generation was still based on the integrated circuit, these have been
made readily available to us because of the development of the microprocessor (circuits
containing millions of transistors). A microprocessor is built onto a single piece of silicon,
known as chip. It is about 0.5 cm along one side and no more than 0.25 cm thick.
The fourth generation computers led to an era of large-scale integration (LSI) and very
large scale integration (VLSI) technology. LSI technology allowed thousands of
transistors to be constructed on one small slice of silicon material whereas VLSI
squeezed hundreds of thousands of components on to a single chip. Ultra-large scale
integration (ULSI) increased that number into the millions. This way computers became
smaller and cheaper than ever before.
Fourth generation computers became more powerful, compact, reliable, and affordable.
As a result, it gave rise to personal computer (PC) revolution. During this period,
semiconductor substituted magnetic core memories were substituted by semiconductor
memories, which resulted in faster random access main memories. Moreover,
secondary memories such as hard disks became economical, smaller, and bigger in
capacity. The other significant development of this era was that these computers could
be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the
Internet. This generation also saw the development of the GUIs (Graphical User
Interfaces) mouse and handheld devices.
Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond): Artificial Intelligence
The fifth generation computers are still in the development stage. These computers will
use ‘Super Large Scale Integrated’ chips, which will result in production of
microprocessor having millions of electronic components on a single chip. The goal of
fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input,
and will have the capability of learning and self-organization. These computers will use
intelligent programming (artificial intelligence or AI) and knowledge-based problem
solving techniques. The intelligent program will tell the computer what to do and not
how to do. The conventional data processing is based on processing information
whereas artificial intelligence deals with processing ideas and knowledge. Moreover,
they will be capable of performing multiple, simultaneous instructions using more than
one micro-processing chip. The input and output of these machines will be in the form

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of graphic images or speeches. Such machines will be able to interpret natural Language
processing).
Summary

Gener Period Electronic Input / Output Storage Programming Speed

ation Circuitry Languages
1st 1940 – Vacuum Tubes Punched cards, Magnetic Machine Mili-seconds
1956 printouts tapes Language (10-3)
(Binary code)
2nd 1956 – Transistors Punched cards, Magnetic Assembly Micro
1963 print outs cores & language second (10-6)
disks
3rd 1964 - Integrated Keyboards, Magnetic High level Nano Second
1971 Circuits(IC) Monitor disks languages (10-9)
4th 1971 – Very Large Scale Mouse, Magnetic High level Pico Second
present Integration (VLSI) Scanners, disks languages (10-12)
/ microprocessor Monitors
5th Present Super Large Scale >> Solid Artificial In progress
– Future Integration (SLSI) State Intelligence
Disk(SSD)

2.3. Types of Computers

Classification of computers based on Data-handling Technique :
Different types of computers process the data in a different manner. According to the
basic data handling principle, computers can be classified into three categories: analog,
digital, and hybrid.
Analog Computers
A computing machine that works on the principle of measuring, in which the
measurements obtained are translated into desired data is known as analog computer.
Modern analog computers usually employ electrical parameters, such as voltages,
resistances or currents, to represent the quantities being manipulated. Such computers
do not deal directly with the numbers. They measure continuous physical magnitudes
(such as temperature, pressure, and voltage), which are analogous to the numbers
under consideration. For example, the petrol pump may have an analog computer that
converts the flow of pumped petrol into two measurements-the quantity of petrol and
the price for that quantity.
Analog computers are used for scientific and engineering purposes. One of the
characteristics of the computers is that they give approximate results since they deal

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with quantities that vary continuously. The main feature of analog computers is that
they are very fast in operation as all the calculations are done in ‘parallel mode’. It is
very easy to get graphical results directly using analog computers however; the accuracy
of analog computers is less.
Digital Computers:
A computer that operates with information, numerical or otherwise, represented in a
digital form is known as digital computer. Such computers process data (including text,
sound, graphics, and video) into a digital value (in 0s and 1s). In digital computes, analog
quantities must be converted into digital quantity before processing. In this case, the
output will also be digital. If analog output is desired, the digital output has to be
converted in to analog quantity. The components, which are performing these
conversions, are the essential parts or peripherals of the digital computer.
Digital computers can give the results with more accuracy and at a faster rate. The
accuracy of such computers is limited only by the size of their registers and memory.
The desktop PC at your home is a classic example of digital computer.
Hybrid computers:
Hybrid computer incorporated the measuring feature of an analog computer and
counting feature of a digital compute. For computational purposes, these computers
use the analog components and for the storage of intermediate results, digital
memories are used. In order to bind the powers of analog and digital techniques, analog
to digital and digital to analog, the hybrid computers comprehensively use converters.
Such computers are broadly used for scientific applications, various fields of engineering
and in industrial control processes.
Classification According to Functionality:
Based on physical size, performance and application areas, we can divide computers
generally into four major categories: micro, mini, mainframe, and super computers.
Micro Computers:
A microcomputer is a small, low cast digital computer, which usually consists of a
microprocessor, a storage unit, an input channel, and an output channel, all of which
may be on one chip inserted into one or several PC boards. The addition of a power
supply and connecting cables, appropriate peripherals (keyboard, monitor, printer, disk
drives, et.) an operating system and the software programs can provide a complete
micro computer system. The microcomputer is generally the smallest of the computer
family. Originally, they were designed for individual users only, but nowadays they have
become powerful tools for many businesses that, when networked together, can serve
more than one user. Microcomputers include desktop, laptop and hand-held models
such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants.)
Mini computers:

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A minicomputer is a small digital computer, which normally is able to process and store
less data than a mainframe but more than a micro-computer, while doing so less rapidly
than a mainframe but more rapidly than a micro computer. They are about the size of a
two-drawer filing cabinet. Minicomputer (sometimes called a mid-range computer) is
designed to meet the computing needs for several people simultaneously in a small to
medium size business environment. It is capable of supporting form 4 to about 200
simultaneous users. It serves as a centralized storehouse for a cluster of workstations or
as a network server. Mini computers are usually multi-user system so these are used in
interactive applications in industries, research organizations, colleges, and universities.
These are also used for real-time controls and engineering design work, High-
performance workstations with graphics I/O capability use minicomputer.
Mainframe Computers:
A mainframe is an ultra-high performance computer made for high-volume, processor-
intensive computing. It consists of a high-end computer processor, with related
peripheral devices, capable of supporting large volumes of data processing, high
performance on-line transaction processing systems, and extensive data storage and
retrieval. Normally, it is able to process and store more data than a mini computer and
far more than a microcomputer. Mainframes are the second largest (in mainframe can
usually execute many programs simultaneously at a high speed, whereas super
computers are designed for single processes.
Mainframe allows its user to maintain large information storage at a centralized location
and be able to access and process this data from different computers located at
different locations. They are typically used by large businesses and for scientific
purposes.
To give some examples, mainframes can handle the processing of thousands of
customer inquiries, employee paychecks, student registrations, sales transactions, and
inventory changes. They are also used as the center of computer networking. These
computers are used by organizations that have enormous and complex data processing
assignments.
Super Computers:
Super computers are the special purpose machines, which has the highest processing
speed at a given time for solving scientific and engineering problems. It basically
contains a number of CPUs that operate in parallel to make it faster.
A super computer can process a great deal of information and make extensive
calculations very, very quickly. They can resolve complex mathematical equations in a
few hours, which would have taken a scientist with paper and pencil a lifetime, or years,
using a hand calculator. They are the fastest, costliest and most powerful computers
available today. Typically, super computers are used to solve multi-variant mathematical

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problems of existent physical processes, such as aerodynamics, metrology, and plasma
physics. These are also required by the military strategists to simulate defense scenarios.

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3. Computer System
A Computer system is an organized relationship among functioning units or components
of a computer. Generally computer systems have two components, i.e. Hardware and
Software.

3.1. Computer Hard ware

Hard ware refers to the physical part of a computer that you can see and touch with our
hand. A hard ware composed of four categories of devices/ units. These are:
 Input device
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 Output device
 Storage device

3.1.1. Input Devices

An input device can be defined as an electromechanical device that allows the user to
feed information (data) in to the computer for analysis, storage, and to give commands
to the computer. Data and instruction are entered in to the computer’s main memory
through an input device. Input device captures information and translates it in to a form
that can be processed and used by other parts of the computer. After processing the
input data, the computer provides the result with the help of output devices.

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Input devices play a major role in the processing of any data via the computer system
because the output of the computer is always based on the given input.
The most common used input devices are:
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Scanner
 Digital camera
 Microphone
Key board: - is the most common data entry device, and has different shapes and size.
The keys on the keyboard are often classified as follows
Functional key: assigned specific commands by the current application. E.g. F1 –help, F2
–setup
Alphanumeric keys (typing keys) - Letters and numbers
Punctuation keys - comma, period, semicolon, etc.
Special keys- caps lock, spacebar, shift, enter etc.
Control keys- these keys provide cursor and screen control. Eg arrow keys, home, page
down etc.
Mouse: is a small hand-held pointing device, which is rectangular-shaped with a rubber
ball embedded at its lower side and buttons on the top. The rubber ball used to move
the cursor and the button used to initiate to do some action, and it has two main
buttons: the right button and left button and sometimes with a middle scroll button.
Right click – used to produce a ‘pop-up’ menu.
Left click – carries out an action, such as starting an application.
Types of mouse :
Mechanical - has a rubber or metal ball on its underside that can roll in all
directions. Mechanical sensors within the mouse detect the direction the ball is
rolling and move the screen pointer accordingly.
Opto -mechanical - same as mechanical mouse, but uses optical sensors to
detect motion of the ball.
Optical: it doesn’t have mechanical moving part and uses a laser to detect the
mouse’s movement.
Scanner: is a device that used to convert hard copy in to soft copy form. It is used to
scan or read text and picture and converted them to computer usable form. It save the
scanned image as a graphic file in the computer.
Digital Camera: - Stores images digitally rather than recording them on a film. Once a
picture has been taken, it can be downloaded to a computer system and then
manipulated with an image editing software.

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 3.1.2. Central Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU or the microprocessor (or simply processor) is referred as the brain of
computer system. It controls all internal and external devices, and performs arithmetic
and logical operations. The processor operates only on binary data that is composed of
1’s and 0’s corresponding to electrical switches ON or OFF. It performs, supervises, and
controls the arithmetic operations (Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and
logical functions (such as ‘is A greater than B’?), primary storage, or main memory,
provides the temporary locations inside the computer where the data and instructions
are stored while processed.
The functions of the processor can be summarizing as:
 Carrying out arithmetic and logical functions
 Controlling the use of main storage (memory) to store data and
instructions.
 Controlling the sequence of operations
 Controlling all the parts of the computer system.
The CPU consists of three main subsystems. These are:
 Control unit
 Arithmetic and Logical unit
 Registers
These three sub systems work together to provide the operational capabilities of the
computer & collaborates via system buses. As buses carry people from one place to
another place, the system bus carries information from one unit to another.
System bus is a collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one unit to
another in computer system (CPU, memory, and I/O devices). It is further divided in to
three logical units, namely the address bus, data bus, and control bus.
Data Bus: it transfers the actual data between the processor, memory, and the I/O
devices.
Address Bus: It informs the CPU about the location of the data residing in the memory.
Control Bus: It is responsible for making CPU, memory, and I/O devices work together as
a functional system, carrying signals that report the status (ready, not ready) of various
units.
Control Unit
The control unit can be thought of as the heart of the CPU. It controls the I/O devices
and transfer of data to and from the primary storage. It reads and interprets instructions
that retrieve from the main memory. It controls the flow of instructions from memory
to CPU or from ALU to registers. It serves as the computer’s traffic cope. The control unit
repeats a set of four basic operations: fetching, decoding, executing, and storing.
Fetching: is the process of obtaining a program instruction or data item from memory.

19
Decoding: is the process of translating the instruction in to commands the computer can
execute.
Executing: is the process of carrying out the commands.
Storing: is the process of writing the result to memory.
Arithmetic Logical Unit
As the name suggests, the arithmetic logical unit carries out arithmetic and logical
operations on the data made available to it. For simple understanding, the ALU can be
divided in to arithmetic unit and logical unit.
Arithmetic Unit: - contains the circuitry that is responsible for performing the actual
computing and carrying out the arithmetic calculations, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. It can perform these operations at a very high speed.
Logical Unit: - The importance of the logical unit is the ability it provides to the CPU to
make logical operations based on the instructions provided to it. Logical unit uses
statements such as AND, OR, and NOT. This is useful when you have a set of instructions
to execute only if certain conditions are true.
Registers
The registers are special purpose, high speed temporary memory unit. They hold varies
types of information such as data, instructions, addresses, and the intermediate results
of calculations. Essentially, they hold the information that the CPU is currently working
on. Registers can be thought of as CPU’s working memory. As the size of the registers
increase, the computer processing activities also increase. To execute an instruction, the
control unit receives it from the main memory and places in to the register.
Registers are paths or conduits that connect the Arithmetic Logical Unit to the main
memory. When an instruction loaded from main memory, it is placed first in the register
to wait instructions from the control unit. Data are also stored in registers prior to
execution in the ALU.

3.1.3. Output devices(Units):

Peripheral devices are used to convert machine readable information in to human
readable form. Display the processed data in hard copy form/soft copy form. Hard copy
is the physical form of output (paper form), while soft copy is the electronic version of
an output, which usually resides in computer memory or on disk. Soft copy is not
tangible (cannot be touched).
The most common used output devices are:
 Printers
 Plotters
 Monitors
 Projectors

20
  Speakers
Printer: prints information and data from the computer on to paper. Printers are
divided in to impact printers and non impact printers.
 Impact printers: use some sort of physical contact with the paper to
produce an image. E.g. dot matrix printers, daisy wheel printers, drum
printers
 Non impact printers: forms characters and images without making direct
physical contact b/n printing mechanism and paper. E.g. ink-jet printer,
laser jet printer.
Plotters: is a pen based output device that is attached to a computer for making vector
graphics.
 It is used to draw high –resolution charts, graphs, maps, circuit diagrams.
 They are mainly used for computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided
manufacturing (CAM) applications such as printing out plans of houses or car
parts.
 These are also used with programs like AUTO CAD (Computer Assisted Drafting)
to give graphic out puts.
Monitor: is the most frequently used soft copy output device. It used to display the
processed data.
Projectors: are output devices, which are used to project information from a computer
on to a large screen. There are two types of projectors, LCD( Liquid crystal display) and
DLP(digital light processing)
Speaker: is an output device, which is used to magnify sound
3.1.4. Storage device
Devices used to store data or program files. There are two types of storage devices.
 Primary storage devices
 Secondary storage devices.
A. Primary storage devices:
are used to store data that are process and execute for immediately. An example of
primary storage device is a Memory. Memory is the electronic holding place for
instructions and data where the computer’s microprocessor can reach quickly. CPU
requires memory to handle the intermediately results and to store the final output.
The primary memory (storage device) also implemented by two types of memory
technologies. Random access memory (RAM) and Read only memory (ROM).
Random Access Memory (RAM):- directly provides the required information to the
processor. RAM can be defined as a block of sequential memory locations, each of
which has a unique address determining the location and those locations contain a data
element. It stores programs and data that are in active use. It is volatile in nature, which
means the information stored in it remains as long as the power is switched ON. As soon

21
as the power is switched OFF, the information contained in it vanishes (lost). In RAM we
can write data on it and read data from it. RAM also divides further in to two.
Dynamic Random Access Memory: It holds the data in dynamic (keeping on refreshing)
manner with the help of a refresh circuitry.
Static Random Access Memory: Along with DRAM is essential for a system to run
optimally, because it is very fast as compared to DRAM. It retains the data as long as
power is provided to the memory chips. It does not need to be ‘refreshed’ periodically.
Features of RAM :
 We can write data on it and read data from it.
 It is volatile in nature, means the information stored in it lost, if a power
suddenly failure.
 It stores data and instruction temporarily.
 Read Only Memory (ROM):- This type of primary memory can only be
read, not written. In other words, CPU can only read from any location in
the ROM but cannot write.
Features of ROM :
 The contents of ROM are not loose even in case of a sudden power failure,
making it non-volatile in nature.
 It is also random access in nature.
 It reads only, but cannot write.
 It contains permanent recorded instruction.
Cache Memory: is a piece of very fast memory, made from high speed static RAM that
reduces the access time of the data. It is very expensive and generally incorporated in
the processor, where valuable data and program segments are kept. This enables the
processor to access data quickly whenever it is needed. The cache facilitates the system
to catch up with the processors speed.
B. Secondary storage device:
Are devices used to store data file and program files permanently.
Secondary storage devices are designed as a backup to the main storage, and they store
data on a long-term basis.
Benefits of secondary storage devices are:
 Non-volatile- it does not lose its content even when its power is turn of.
 Capacity – they can store large amount of data.
 Cost- it is less expensive than Primary storage device.
 Portability – they can be easily ported from one computer to another.
 Example:
 Hard disk- a snooze metal plate coated on both sides with a thin film of
magnetic material. Permanently fixed within a system unit. It has high
storage capacity than floppy disk, and it is a random access storage media.

22
  CD/DVD: these types of storage media are removable optical disks used
to store data. The first one (CD) is that in which the data once written
cannot be erased. It is stored permanently over it. While the second type
of the CD’s or the DVD’s are called as the rewritable; where in the data
that is once written can be erased completely and the same storage
device can be used again for storing the different data.
 Flash disk: is a secondary storage device used to read and write on it like
floppy disk. It has higher storage capacity, and more reliable than floppy,
but it is more expensive.

3.2. Computer Soft ware

Computer Software is set of instructions that used to control, integrating, and managing
the hard ware components and to accomplish specific tasks.
There are two components of software. These are
 System software and
 Application software.
A. System software:
Is software that coordinates the activities of users, hard ware, data files and other
software called application software. System software is also categorize in to three,
namely,
 Operating system
 Language translator
 Utility Program
Operating system: is a program or set of programs that manage the computer systems
resource and control its overall functioning.
Operating system carried out the following activities
 It control the overall activities of a computer
 It direct all processing activities within a computer
 It decided where a program stored or retrieved
 Calling other system software when needed
 Schedule the jobs
 Handle communication between the components of the computer for
instance application software and user.
 Allocating storage facilities activating input/output devices. It means that
it decided where data should be stored.
 It process command from user entered through input device and
interpret the commands and cause the necessary action to be taken.
The most common operating system software are: Disk operating system(DOS),
UNIX, Microsoft window 2000 professional , Microsoft window XP.

23
Language translator: are programs or systems software that translates application
programs written in a high-level language and assembly language in to machine
language (the CPU can understand).
Language translators divided in to three main categories.
o Assembler: is a program that translates assembly language to machine
language.
o Compiler: is a program that translates high-level language to machine
language.
o Interpreter: A program that executes instructions written in a high-level
language. There are two ways to run programs written in a high-level
language. The most common is to compile the program; the other
method is to pass the program through an interpreter. An interpreter
translates high-level instructions into an intermediate form, which it then
executes. In contrast, a compiler translates high-level instructions directly
into machine language.
Utility Program: is a program used to support, enhance, expand, and secure existing
programs and data in the computer system. Most common functions of system utilities
include: back up, data recovery, disk defragment, virus protection.
Back up: sometimes data files can get corrupt, or get accidentally deleted. In such a case,
data backups become very useful. A back up system utility is essential for those
organizations that want to keep their data intact.
Data recovery: used to recover data. Since, disk drives or other hardware may fail, these
utilities are essential to recover data.
Virus protection: Antivirus scans for the hard disk for any kind of virus.
Disk management: includes defragmenting disks, data compression software, and
formatting disk tools.
B. Application software:
The most often seen software by a general user is the application software. It is used to
accomplish specific tasks rather than just managing a computer system. It is software
specially designed to satisfy a particular need. It does real tasks for user.
 Easy to use and understand
 Easily accessible from market
 Each designed for specific task
Application software may be used for a variety of reasons:-
 Word processors: a word processor is a software package which is mainly
used to process text. It has different facilities such as check grammar and
spelling to apply different formatting to text
E.g. Ms-word, word perfect and word star

24
 Spread sheet: a spread sheet is a big electronic paper divided into
columns and rows which is designed to enter data into the rows and
columns of the spread sheet and make statistical analysis, calculation and
so on. E.g. Ms Excel
 Database management system: a DBMS is software package used to
store, manipulate and manage large amount of data (records).
E.g. SQL & Ms Access
 Graphics soft ware: those are software used for drawing and painting
picture, draw charts and graphs to produce architectural and engineering
design.
E.g. CAD & Draw perfect

25
CHAPTER 3
ata representation
Data representatis the method used to encode information into a format that can be
used and understood by computer systems. It involves the conversion of real-world data,
such as text, images, sounds, and numbers, into forms that computers understands and
process which is binary data (on/1 or off/0 state of electric signals). Data
representation is all about how computer systems interpret and manipulate data.
An illustrative example of the importance of data representation is when you write a
text document. The characters you type are represented in ASCII code (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange) - a set of binary numbers. Each number is
sent to the memory, represented as electrical signals; everything you see on your screen
is a representation of the underlying binary data.
It is also referred as ASCII-8 or Extended ASCII. It is the most widely used type of coding
scheme for Micro Computer system. ASCII uses 8-bits to represent alphanumeric
characters (letters, digits and special symbols). With the 8-bits, ASCII can represent 28
or 256 different characters (00000000-11111111).

4.1. Data representation Units

When data is stored, processed or communicated within the computer system, it is
packed in units; Arranged from the smallest to the largest, the units are called bit, byte
and word;
These units are based on the binary number system;
Bit
 Bits are the smallest units and can convey only two possible states 0 or 1;
 Bit stands for binary digits;
 A bit is a single element in the computer, on a disk that stands for either “ON”
indicating 1 or “OFF” indicating 0;

In the computer “ON” is represented by the existence of current and “OFF” is

represented by the non-existence of current . On a magnetic disk, the same information
is stored by changing the polarity or magnetized particles on the disk’s surface .

Byte
Bits can be organized into large units to make them represent more and meaningful
information. This large unit is called a byte and is the basic “unit of data representation”
in a computer system. The commonly used byte contains 8 bits.

Since each bit has two states and there are 8 bits in a byte, the total amount of data
that can be represented is 28 or 256 possible combinations. Each byte can represent a

26
character (a character is either a letter, a number or a special symbol such as +,-,?,*, $,
etc.

A byte is then used as a unit of measurement in the computer memory, processing unit,
external storage and during communication. If the computer memory is 524288 byte,
this is expressed in short by saying 512KB, where KB stands for kilobyte.
1 Kilobyte (1KB) is 210 or 1024 bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) is 220 bytes or 210 kilobytes (1024 kb)
1 Gigabyte (GB) is 230 bytes or 220 kilobytes or 210 megabytes (1024 mb)
Word
Word refers the number of bits that a computer process at a time or a transmission
media transmits at a time. Although bytes can store or transmit information, the
process can even be faster if more than one byte is processed at a once . A combination
of bytes, then form a “word”. A word can contain one, two, three or four bytes based
on the capacity of the computer. Word length is usually given in bits. We say that a
computer is 8-bits, a 16 bit, a 32 bit or a 64 bit computer to indicate that the amount of
data it can process at a time. The large the word length a computer has the more
powerful and faster it is.

4.2. Number System & number system conversion

A number system is a set of symbols used for counting. There are various number
systems. Example: Decimal, Binary, Octal, Decimal, Hexadecimal etc.

The Decimal Number System

The Decimal number system is based on the ten different digits (or symbols) 0,
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.We call this as a base ten number system. Though it is widely used, it is
inconvenient for computer to represent data. So we need another number system.

The Binary number system

Binary number system is based on the two different digits; 0 and 1. It is important to
note that every decimal number system has its equivalent binary number. Conversion
from binary to its equivalent decimal and from decimal to its equivalent binary is
possible.

Binary Decimal
0 0
1 1

27
10 2
11 3
100 4
101 5
110 6
111 7
1000 8
1001 9

The most elementary form to organize data within a computer (an electronic device) is
in the form of a code which utilizes the “ON” and “OFF” states of electric switches or
there is “current” and “no current” condition of the electronic components.
We see that the nature of the electronic devices has similarity with the binary number
system in that both represent only two elementary states. It is therefore convenient to
use binary number system to represent data in a computer: An “ON” corresponds to a 1;
an “OFF” corresponds to a 0. In the computer “ON” is represented by the existence of a
current and “OFF” is represented by nonexistence of current. On a magnetic disk, the
same information is stored by changing the polarity of magnetized particles on the disk’s
surface.
Octal number System (base 8) (Oct)
 It uses 8 symbols 0-7 to represent numbers.
 Like binary number system it is complete number system.
Example 77 in octal equals 49 in decimal and 111111 in binary.
When we compare the octal with the decimal, 0-7 in octal is the same as 0-7 in decimal
but 10 in octal is not the same as 10 in decimal because 10 in octal holds the position of
8 in decimal, off course 10 in octal is the same as 8 in decimal.

Hexadecimal number system (16) (hex)

 It uses 16 symbols to represent numbers. But for the numbers greater than 15 they
represented in terms of the 16 symbols. for example the decimal number 16
represented as 10, 20 as 14, 30 as 1E and so on. These symbols are
0,1,…9,A,B,C,D,E,F
 When we compare the hexadecimal with decimal, 0-9 in hexadecimal is the same as
0-9 in decimal but 10 in hexadecimal is not the same as 10 in decimal, off course 10

28
 in hexadecimal is equal to 16 in decimal because it holds the position of 16 in
decimal.

Example
DECIMAL OCTAL BINARY HEXADECIMAL
0 0 0 0
3 3 11 3
8 10 1000 8
10 12 1010 A
16 20 10000 10

Conversion from one Base to Another

The values that numbers have with a given number systems are largely determined by
their positional notation. Positional notation means that the position of one symbol
relative to other symbols in a given number system determines the value of that symbol.
For example, the symbols 1 & 7 can represent either 17 or 71 depending upon their
relative position to one another.
The decimal number 135 may be expanded as: (135) 10 = 1*102+3*101+5*100
 The subscript 10 is used to indicate 135 is in base 10 number system.
 The number 10 in binary is not the same as 10 in decimal because the value of 1 in
the binary is not the same as the value of the 1 in the decimal.
 The binary number 1101 may be expanded as
(1101)2 = 8+4+0+1
3 2 1 0
=1*2 +1*2 +0*2 +1*2 = 1310
= (1*8)+(1*4)+(0*2)+(1*1)
*A number X1 X2 X3 …Xn in base M can be expanded as
(X0 X1 X2 X3 …..Xn)M=X0*mn-1+X1*mn-2X2*mn-3+ …Xd-1*m1+Xnm0 in base 10

Conversion from decimal (base 10) to other base (base M)

(Base 10……….Base M)

To convert a decimal number X to a number in base m, divide X by m, store the

remainder, again divide the quotient by M, store the remainder, and continue until the
quotient is 0. And concatenate (collect) the remainders starting from the last up to the
first.

29
 Ex.1 Convert 5610 to base EX. 3. Convert 3010 to base
two (binary) X=56 M=2 sixteen (hexadecimal)
5610 =1110002 3010=1E16
EX.2 Convert 7810 to base EX. 4. Convert 1610 to base
eight (Octal) sixteen (hexadecimal)
7810=1168 1610=A016

Conversion from base M to base 10 (decimal)

To convert a number X consists of digits X1 X2 X3 …Xn in base m to decimal; simply
expand the number with base M. That is

(X1X2X3…Xn) m =X1*mn-1+X2*mn-2 +X3*mn-3+...+ Xi*mn-i+… Xn-1m1+Xn*m0

=Y10
Example 1. Convert 3. convert (101)8 to decimal
(1001001)2 to decimal =65
=73 4. convert (A1B) 16 to decimal
2. convert (234)8 to decimal = 2587
=156 5. covert (101)16 to decimal
=257
Conversion from binary (base2) to Octal (base 8) or hexadecimal (base16) and vice
versa

To convert a number in binary to octal group three binary digits together starting from
the last digit (right) and if there are no enough digits add zeros to the front end (left)
and find the corresponding Octal of each group.

Example. Convert 1001001 Convert 101101001 to octal

to octal 101101001
1001001=001,001,001 =101,101,001
= 1118 =5518

To convert binary to hexadecimal group four binary digits together starting from right
and if there are no enough digits add zeros at the left.

EX. Convert 111100100 to =1 14 4

hexadecimal =1 E 4
111100100 =0001 1110 = 1E416
0100

30
 Convert 111001111 to =1 12 15
Hexadecimal =1 B F
111001111 =0001 1100 =(1BF)16
1111
To convert from Octal to binary, convert each octal digit to its equivalent 3 bit binary
starting from right.

EX. Convert (675) eight to Convert 231eight to binary

binary 231eight = 010 011 001
675eight =110 111 101 =10011001two
=110111101two

To convert from Hexadecimal to binary convert each hex. Digit to its equivalent 4-bit
binary starting from right.

Ex. Convert 23416 to binary Convert 2AC to binary

23416 =0010 0011 0100 2AC16 =0010 1010 1100
= 10001101002 =10101011002

Conversion from Octal to hexadecimal and Vise versa

To convert from octal to hexadecimal, first we have to convert to binary and the binary
to hexadecimal. To convert from hexadecimal to Octal, first we have to convert to
binary and then the binary to Octal.

EX.1. Convert 2358 to

hexadecimal
2388=010 011 101
=0000 1001 1101
= 0 9 13
=9D16
Convert 1A to Octal
1A=0001 1010
=000 011 010
=0 3 2
=328

31
 ICT for Education (ITEd1302) Course Short Note

Summary of conversion from One base to another base

From base To base Method

2 10 Expand binary number in powers of 2

10 2 Factor the decimal number by 2
2 8 Group 3 binary digits together
8 2 Each Octal digit is converted to 3 binary digits
2 16 Group 4 binary digits together
16 2 Each hexadecimal digit is converted to 4 binary digits
8 10 Go from 8……..2…….10
10 8 Go from 10 … ..2……..8
16 10 Go from 16 …….2…….10
10 16 Go from 10 …….2…….16
8 16 Go from 8 ……..2…….16
16 8 Go from 16 …….2……..8

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 ICT for Education (ITEd1302) Course Short Note

5. Computer Networks and Communication

5.1. Data Communication
A Communication system can be defined as the collection of hardware and software that
facilitates intersystem exchange of information between different devices. When we
communicate, we are sharing information. This sharing can be local (face to face
communication) or it may be remote (communication over distance, telecommunication).
Data communication is the exchange of date between two devices via some form of wired or
wireless transmission medium. It includes the transfer of data, the method of transfer and the
preservation of the data during the transfer process. To initiate data communication, the
communicating devices should be a part of an existing communications system. For data
communication to be effective, the following three fundamental characteristics should be
considered:
- Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct or the interned destination.
- Accuracy: The system must deliver data accurately (error free).
- Timeliness: The system must deliver data in a timely manner without enough time
lags.
5.1.1. Data Communication Components
There are five basic components in data communication system:
 Message: it is the information that is to be communicated.
 Sender: The sender is the device that sends the message.
 Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the message
 Medium: The transmission medium is the physical path that communicates the message from
sender to receiver.
 Protocol: Protocol refers to a set of rules that coordinates the exchange of information. Both
the sender and receiver should follow the same protocol to communicate data. Without the
protocol, the sender and receiver cannot communicate with each other; just as a person
speaking English cannot be understood by a person who speaks only Amharic.

Sender Receiver
----------------- Fig: data communication component

Medium Message

5.1.2. Data Transmission Mode

Data transmission mode refers to the direction of signal flow between two linked devices.
There are three types of transmission modes: simplex, half-duplex, and full–duplex.

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 ICT for Education (ITEd1302) Course Short Note

Simplex, transmission is unidirectional. The information flows in one direction across the circuit,
with no capability to support response in the other direction. Only one of the communicating
devices transmits information, the other can only receive it. Television transmission can be
considered as an example of simplex mode of transmission where the satellite only transmits
the data to the television, vice versa is not possible.

Receiver
Sender
Fig: Simplex
Half-duplex, in half-duplex mode, each communicating device can receive and transmit
information, but not at the same time. When one device is sending the other can only receive
at that point of time. In half-duplex transmission mode, the entire capacity of the transmission
medium is taken over by the device, which is transmitting at that moment. The most common
example of half-duplex transmission is the wireless handsets (generally used by military
personnel) where one user talks at a time and another listens.

Sender Receiver
Fig: Half - duplex
Full-duplex: Full-duplex transmission mode, also known as the duplex mode, allows both
communicating devices to transmit and receive data simultaneously. A full-duplex mode can be
compared to a two-way road with traffic flowing in both directions. A common example of full-
duplex transmitting mode is the telephone network, where two people communicate over a
telephone line; both can talk as well as listen at the same time.

Sender Receiver
Fig: Full - duplex

5.1.3. Transmission Media

Transmission media refers to the physical media through which communication signals (data
and information are transmitted. Transmission media can be divided in to two broad categories:
guided media and unguided media.

A. Guided media

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 ICT for Education (ITEd1302) Course Short Note

Guided transmission media use a cabling system that guide the data signals along a specific
path. The data signals are bound by the cabling system. Cabling refers to transmission medium
that consists of cables.
There are three basic types of guided media. These are
 Twisted pair
 Coaxial cable
 Optical fiber

 Twisted Pair:
o In this kind of cabling, pairs of wires are twisted together which are surrounded by an
insulating material and an outer layer called Jacket.
o Each pair consists of a wire, used for receiving data signal, and for transmission data
signal.
o The wires are twisted in order to reduce noise(unwanted signal) and interface for
external sources.
o Used in short distance communication (<=100 meters).
Forms of Twisted Pair: There are two forms of Twisted Pair. These are
 Unshielded Twisted Pair, and
 Shielded Twisted Pair
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP):
 It is the most common type of telecommunication medium in use today.
 It is most suited for both data and voice transmission, and hence is commonly use in
telephone system.
 Have a maximum transmission speed of up to 9600 bps.

Fig: UTP

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP):

 Has a metal foil or braided-mesh covering that covers each pair of insulated
conductor.
 The metal foil is used to prevent infiltration of electromagnetic noise.
 Helps to eliminate cross talk.

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 ICT for Education (ITEd1302) Course Short Note

Fig: STP

Coaxial cable:

 Has a single central conductor, which is made up of solid wire (usually copper). This
conductor is surrounded by an insulator.
 It is very robust and is commonly used in cable TV network.
 As compared to twisted pair, it offers higher band width.
 Transmitting data at a rate of 10mbps.

Types of Coaxial cable:

 Thin net: - it goes up to 185m

- Its speed is 10mbps
 Thick net: - it covers a distance of 500m
 its speed is 10mbps
 commonly used in cable TV network

Copper
core
Insulation Metal connector

Braided outer conductor

Protective plastic
covering
Fig: Coaxial cable

Optical fiber:

 Both twisted pair and coaxial cable transmit data in the form of current, but optical fiber
carry information in the form of visible light.
 Has three parts, i.e. Core, cladding , and jacket

Fig: Optical fiber

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 ICT for Education (ITEd1302) Course Short Note

Advantages of Optical fiber

 Since transmission is light based rather than electricity, it is immune to noise interface.
 Transmission distance is greater than other guided media, because of less signal
attenuation.
 It is more secure because cable cannot be tapped.
 They are smaller and lighter than copper wire and are free from corrosion as well.
Disadvantages of Optical fiber
 It is expensive
 They are more fragile.
B. Unguided media
Unguided transmission media is data signals that flow through air. They are not bounded to a
fixed channel to follow. One of the common unguided media is radio frequency propagation.
Microwave and Satellite

5.2. Computer Network

Consider a situation in which many employees in an organization need to work with the same data. A
copy of the data can be loaded on each computer so that the employees can access the data
individually. However, a more efficient method is to load the data on one computer and provide the
other computers access to the data from this computer remotely. This option saves disk space on the
computers and provides a central location for storing and managing the data that multiple users need
to access.

This need to share data and resources led to the development of networking. A network is a group of
connected computers that allows people to share information. In a network, multiple users can access
the same information and connect to the same resource. For example, instead of linking each
computer to its own printer, all computers can be linked to a common printer for shared access by
multiple users.
5.2.1. Types of computer Networks
Networks may be classified based on a number of parameters:
 Span of Control
 Geographical Span
 According to Span of Control
Based on span of control computer networks can be classified into two major groups:
 Centralized Network
 Distributed Network

Centralized Network

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Centralized network has one main CPU that processes all information requests and handles
communication. The main CPU in a centralized network is usually a mainframe or minicomputer
capable of handling the processing workload of many people simultaneously. People interface
with the host computer by using terminals and other input and output devices.
A terminal is a hardware device consisting of a keyboard and monitor. There are two types of
terminals:
- Dumb Terminals
- Intelligent Terminals
Terminals that have no storage or processing capabilities are called dumb terminals. Because
dumb terminals do not have any processing capabilities, they must be connected to a host
computer that can perform any processing functions necessary.
Intelligent terminals, on the other hand, do have limited storage and processing capabilities.
Distributed Network
Distributed network is a collection of workstations connected to each other, along with various
shared storage and input and output devices (for example, scanners and printers). In a
distributed network each workstation can handle some, if not all, of its own processing.
Workstations in a distributed network also maintain local information and software.
Distributed Network can be either
 Client/Server, or
 Peer-to-Peer
A Client/Server network is a distributed network in which many workstations (called Clients)
are connected to a central host computer (called the Server). The clients are the workstations in
a Client/Server network that maintain local software and information and do as much of the
processing as possible.

Figure. Server-based (client-server) network

Peer-to-Peer network

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In a peer-to-peer network, workstations are connected to each other and do not rely on a
server for global software and data, data processing tasks, or communication within the
network. Basically, a peer-to-peer network consists of many workstations connected together
that can share resources and communicate with each other. Each workstation can be a client at
one time and a server at another time.

Figure Peer-to-peer network computers act as both clients and servers

 According to Geographical Span
Local Area network (LAN)
A LAN, or local Area Network, is a computer network that spans only a small geographical area
(usually within a square mile or less), such as an office, home or building.
Metropolitan Area network (MAN)
A MAN , or Metropolitan Area network, is a network of computers spread over a “Metropolitan”
area such as a city and its suburbs, As the name suggests, this sort of network is usually
reserved fox metropolitan areas where the city bridges its local area networks with a series of
backbones, making one large network for the entire city. It may be a single network such as a
cable television network or it may be a means of connecting a number of LANs, Note that, MAN
may be operated by one organization ( a corporate with several offices in one city), or be
shared resources used by several organization in the same city.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A WAN, or Wide Area Network, is a system of interconnecting many computers over a large
geographical area such as cities, states, countries or even the whole world. These kinds of
networks use telephone lines, satellite links, and other long-rang communications technologies
to connect. Such networks are designed to serve an area of hundreds or thousands of miles
such as public and private packet switching networks and national telephone networks.

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M
AN
L
AN LA
N L
AN

W
AN

Fig: Type of network according geographical span

5.3. Computer Network Topology

A Network Topology is the arrangement with which computer systems or network devices are
connected to each other. Topologies may define both physical and logical aspect of the network.
Both logical and physical topologies could be same or different in a same network. Common
computer network topology includes bus, star, ring, MESH, Tree and Hybrid topologies
Bus Topology
In case of Bus topology, all devices share single communication line or cable. Bus topology may
have problem while multiple hosts sending data at the same time. Therefore, Bus topology
either uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access Collision Detection (CSMA/CD technology) or
recognizes one host as Bus Master to solve the issue. It is one of the simple forms of networking
where a failure of a device does not affect the other devices. But failure of the shared
communication line can make all other devices stop functioning.

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Both ends of the shared channel have line terminator. The data is sent in only one direction and
as soon as it reaches the extreme end, the terminator removes the data from the line.
Star Topology
All hosts in Star topology are connected to a central device, known as hub device, using a point-
to-point connection. That is, there exists a point to point connection between hosts and hub.
The hub device can be a hub, switch or router network devices.

As in Bus topology, hub acts as single point of failure. If hub fails, connectivity of all hosts to all
other hosts fails. Every communication between hosts, takes place through only the hub. Star
topology is not expensive as to connect one more host, only one cable is required and
configuration is simple.
Ring Topology
In ring topology, each host machine connects to exactly two other machines, creating a circular
network structure. When one host tries to communicate or send message to a host which is not
adjacent to it, the data travels through all intermediate hosts. To connect one more host in the
existing structure, the administrator may need only one more extra cable.

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Failure of any host results in failure of the whole ring. Thus, every connection in the ring is a
point of failure. There are methods which employ one more backup ring.
Mesh Topology
In this type of topology, a host is connected to one or multiple hosts. This topology has hosts in
point-to-point connection with every other host or may also have hosts which are in point-to-
point connection to few hosts only.

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Hosts in Mesh topology also work as relay for other hosts which do not have direct point-to-
point links. Mesh technology comes into two types:
Full Mesh: All hosts have a point-to-point connection to every other host in the network. Thus
for every new host n(n-1)/2 connections are required. It provides the most reliable network
structure among all network topologies.
Partially Mesh: Not all hosts have point-to-point connection to every other host. Hosts connect
to each other in some arbitrarily fashion. This topology exists where we need to provide
reliability to some hosts out of all.

Tree Topology
Also known as Hierarchical Topology, this is the most common form of network topology in use
presently. This topology imitates as extended Star topology and inherits properties of bus
topology.
This topology divides the network in to multiple levels/layers of network. Mainly in LANs, a
network is bifurcated into three types of network devices. The lowermost is access-layer where
computers are attached. The middle layer is known as distribution layer, which works as
mediator between upper layer and lower layer. The highest layer is known as core layer, and is
central point of the network, i.e. root of the tree from which all nodes fork.

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All neighboring hosts have point-to-point connection between them. Similar to the Bus
topology, if the root goes down, then the entire network suffers even though it is not the single
point of failure. Every connection serves as point of failure, failing of which divides the network
into unreachable segment.

Hybrid Topology
A network structure whose design contains more than one topology is said to be hybrid
topology. Hybrid topology inherits merits and demerits of all the incorporating topologies.

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The above picture represents an arbitrarily hybrid topology. The combining topologies may
contain attributes of Star, Ring, Bus, and Daisy-chain topologies. Most WANs are connected by
means of Dual-Ring topology and networks connected to them are mostly Star topology
networks. Internet is the best example of largest Hybrid topology

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PART II:
 LAB MANUALS FOR MS-WINDOWS …
 LAB MANUALS FOR MS-WORD …

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