SS2 First Term Computer Studies Lesson Note – Computer Data Conversion

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WEEK 9                                            

TOPIC: COMPUTER DATA CONVERSION

CONTENTS

• Definition – Register, Address, Bus
• Types of register
• Function of each register
• Differences between register and main memory

Sub-Topic 1: Definition

Data conversion is the conversion of computer data from one format to another. Throughout a computer environment, data is encoded in a variety of ways. For example, computer hardware is built on the basis of certain standards, which requires that data contains, for example, parity bit checks. Similarly, the operating system is predicated on certain standards for data and file handling. Data conversions may as simple as the conversion of a text file from one character encoding system to another; or more complex, such as the conversion of office file formats, or the conversion of image and audio file formats.

There are many ways in which data is converted within the computer environment. This may be seamless, as in the case of upgrading to a newer version of a computer program.

REGISTER

These are temporary storage areas for instructions or data. They are not part of memory; rather they are special additional storage locations that offer the advantage of speed. Register work under the direction of the control unit to accept, hold and transfer instruction or data and perform arithmetic or logical comparisons at high speed.

Most operations are done on registers; the processor can’t directly perform arithmetic in memory for example. If you want to add 1 to a memory location, the processor will normally do this by loading the initial value from memory into a register, adding 1 to the register, and then saving the value back to memory.

MEMORY ADDRESS

This is an identifier for a memory location, at which a computer program or a hardware device can store data and later retrieve it. Each memory location, in both ROM and RAM, holds a binary number and only depends on the context of the instructions which retrieve and manipulate it.

BUS

The buses are media that connect the microprocessor (CPU) to each of the RAM, ROM, and input/output (I/0). Through the buses, information transfer takes place between the CPU and the I/O devices.

TYPES OF REGISTERS

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