Computer Science: What is a BUS?

What a bus means in computer science is not that difficult to understand. There is even a certain resemblance to the bus you know from traffic.

What is a bus in computer science?

A bus is the bundling of a large number of parallel lines. Several function blocks or components are connected to a bus. You can think of a bus as something like an omnibus. It transports passengers from A to B. The passengers get on and off independently at different stops.

• Not only control signals but also data are exchanged via a bus.
• The volume of information that is simultaneously transmitted over a bus is expressed in bits. The number of bits corresponds to the number of lines. 32 bit bus width means 32 lines or wires in one bus.
• You have probably heard the terms serial and parallel bus. They differ in the type of data transmission. While a serial bus transmits the data in succession, this happens in parallel transmission in packets.

The main buses in a computer

Basically, two bus systems are important for the computer.

• The "system bus" is also called "internal bus", "internal bus" or "front-side bus". The system bus is intended to enable communication between the processor and the central memory of a computer.
• There is also the "expansion bus", which is also called the "input / output bus". The components of the motherboard can communicate with each other using the expansion bus. These include cards, hard drives and drives that are connected to PCI connectors. However, it also enables expansion through peripheral devices that are connected to the bus by means of Soll's.

In many practical tips, we deal with interesting terms relating to the computer. So in the next practical tip we will devote ourselves to the mysterious expression "Raid 0" and explain what it is all about.