The communication pathways between computer components

Observe that: computer components are located apart from each other inside the computer:

To perform the computing task, the different components in the computer need to communicate with each other (using electrical signals)

The communication pathways between computer components

Computer components can transmit electrical signals to each other using the connecting wires on the motherboard:

A commonly used way to connect components in a computer (used in PCs)

CPU, memory, input/output devices are (commonly) connected this way in a PC:

The electrical wires connecting the computer components can be divided into 3 groups:

Wires used to transmit the ID information of a device (= address bus)
Wires used to transmit data between devices (= data bus)
Wires used to transmit command signals to devices (= control bus)

Some computer jargon

Bus (of a computer) = a group of electrical wires that are used to transmit similar information
System bus = all the wires inside a computer that are used to transmit information between components in the computer

Some computer jargon - continued

Address bus = the group of wires that are used to transmit address (= identification) information
Data bus = the group of wires that are used to transmit data information
Control bus = the group of wires that are used to transmit command information

(The system bus consists of the address bus, data bus and the control bus)

How to use the wires in the system bus

A wire in a bus can convey an electrical signal from one component to another component:

How to use the wires in the system bus

Computers use 2 signal levels: (1) a high (voltage) is used to send the (binary) number 1:

How to use the wires in the system bus

Computers use 2 signal levels: (2) a low (voltage) is used to send the (binary) number 0: