Input / output unit

In the concept of the Von Neumann computer (VNR), input / output unit stands for the logic that connects the computer with "outside". “Outside” does not mean “outside the housing”, but “no longer part of the actual, universal VNR concept”. In a modern PC , the processor forms the arithmetic unit and the control unit , the northbridge with the RAM forms the storage unit and the rest from the southbridge forms the input / output unit.

A graphics card , a necessary component for communication with the user for most computers, is already “out there” - and nowadays it is a specialized computer in itself. The input / output unit includes, for example, the PCI bus for plug-in cards as well as a SCSI interface for connecting peripheral devices and also “classic” parallel (e.g. printer) and serial (e.g. mouse) interfaces .