Page 113 - Understanding Automotive Electronics

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4 MICROCOMPUTER INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL

Figure 4.1
Basic Computer
Block Diagram

FPO

the arithmetic and logic decisions are made and is the calculator part of the
computer.
A digital computer con- The memory holds the program and data. The computer can change the
sists of a CPU to process information in memory by writing new information into memory, or it can
information, a memory obtain information contained in memory by reading the information from
to store information, memory. Each memory location has a unique address that the CPU uses to find
and input/output sec- the information it needs.
tions to communicate Information (or data) must be put into the computer in a form that the
with the user. computer can read, and the computer must present an output in a form that
can be read by humans. The input and output devices, called peripherals,
perform these conversions. Peripherals are devices such as keyboards,
monitors, magnetic tape units, magnetic disk units, modems, and printers.
The arrows on the interconnection lines in Figure 4.1 indicate the flow of
data.

100 UNDERSTANDING AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS