Paper-I

“Theory of Computer Science”

Compiled by:
Farhan Rahmat
 Index

Computer Science 2210

S.No Title Topic Page#

Introduction to computer and computer

science
Range of computer systems:
Computer Hardware:
-Definition
-Major categories of hardware
Input Devices:
-Manual input devices
-Devices for disabled people,
-Devices for interfacing with virtual reality
systems
Monitoring & Control System
-Role of sensors
Introduction to computer systems

-Types of sensors
-Role of ADC/DAC
-Role of actuators
-Distinction b/w Monitoring and Control
system
Unit -1
Output devices:
-Monitors
-Printers
-2D/3D cutters
-Speakers/Headphones
-Actuators
-LCD/DLP Projectors
Intro. to Computer memory
-Primary Memory
-Difference b/w RAM & ROM
-Different media and storages
-Secondary Storage
-Offline Storage
-Difference b/w Secondary & Offline
Storage
-Measuring the size of memory
Past Paper Questions
 Binary Number System
-Convert denary numbers to and from
binary
-Use of binary numbers in computer
systems
-Concept of Memory Unit

Numbers, processors and operating systems

(Byte/KB/MB/GB/TB)
-Measure memory size
-Use of binary data in computer register
Hexadecimal Number System
-Convert hexadecimal integers to and
from binary and denary
-Significance of hexadecimal in
computer systems
Unit-2 Von Neumann Architecture
-Von Neumann model for a computer
system
-Stages of the fetch-execute cycle
-Use of binary in computer registers
-Uses of hexadecimal e.g. assembly
languages and machine code,
debugging
Operating system
-Tasks and facilities of an operating
system
-Role of the operating system (OS) in file
management
-Role of the operating system (OS) in
peripheral devices control
 Intro. to Computer network
- local area network (LAN)
- wide area network (WAN)
- Internet
o Introduction
o Hardware requirement
o IP addressing
o Role of DNS server
o Role of MAC address
o Role of cookies
o Role of hypertext transfer protocol
o Importance of HTML
Data Transmission
- Serial data transmission
- Parallel data transmission
Mode of Transmission
- Simplex mode
- Duplex mode
- Half duplex mode
Error detection and correction:
- Methods of error detection and
Data communications and networking

correction:
o Parity Check
o Check digit
o Checksum
o Automatic Repeat reQuest
Common file standard associate with the
internet
Unit-3
- JPG
- GIF
- PDF
- MP3
- MPEG
- MIDI
Data Compression
- lossless compression algorithms
- Lossy compression algorithms
Web page designing:
- Role of browser and internet server
- Comparison of browsers
- HTML structure
Internet security and safety
- Risk associate with:
o Virus
o Spy-ware
o Hacking
o Phishing
o Pharming
- Method to minimize the risk and to
secure the data:
o Use of password
o Use of antivirus software
o Use of firewall
o Use of proxy server
o Use of secure socket layer (SSL)
o Encryption of data
 Data integrity and security

Data integrity and security

Reason
Preventing methods
Validation
Unit-4 Verification
Ethical issue in Computer
Copyright issues
Plagiarism
Software licenses
Freeware
Shareware
Introduction to logic gates:
- AND Gate
- OR Gate
- XOR Gate
- NOT Gate
Binary logic

- NAND Gate
Unit-5 - NOR Gate

Define function
Draw MIL symbol
Produce truth table for given logic circuit
Produce logic circuit from a given
problem/statement
Unit-1:
Introduction to computer systems
Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Computer System:

A computer is an electronic machine that accepts data, stores and processes data into
information. The computer is able to work because there are instructions in its memory
directing it, instructions that direct the computer are called software or computer program.
The physical parts of the computer that you can see and touch, such as the keyboard,
monitor and the mouse are called hardware. There are four major categories of computer
hardware:

Input devices: used to enter data into the computer

Processing devices: manipulate the data.

Storage devices: store data and program.

Output device: show results of the process.

Computers are usually categories into three general categories:

1.Supercomputer – The fastest, largest, most powerful and most expensive computer.

2.Mainframe Computer – This is a little smaller and less powerful than the supercomputer,
but, like the supercomputer it is also expensive.

3.Personal Computer (PC)- This is the computer that most people use in their daily lives. This
computer is much smaller, less powerful and less expensive than the supercomputer and
the mainframe computer. This category of computer has two additional types of
computers. These are mobile computer and handheld computer. The most popular type of
mobile computer is the notebook or laptop computer, and the handheld computer is a
very small PC (tablet/smartphone) that you can hold in your hand.

A BRIEF COMPUTER HISTORY

The computer as we know it today had its beginning with a 19th century English
mathematics professor name Charles Babbage.
He designed the Analytical Engine and it was this design that the basic framework of the
computers of today are based on.

Generally speaking, computers can be classified into three generations. Each generation
lasted for a certain period of time, and each gave us either a new and improved
computer or an improvement to the existing computer.

First generation: 1937 – 1946 - In 1937 the first electronic digital computer was built by Dr.
John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry. It was called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). In

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1943 an electronic computer name the Colossus was built for the military. Other
developments continued until in 1946 the first general– purpose digital computer, the
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was built. It is said that this
computer weighed 30 tons, and had 18,000 vacuum tubes which was used for processing.
When this computer was turned on for the first time lights dim in sections of Philadelphia.
Computers of this generation could only perform single task, and they had no operating
system.

Second generation: 1947 – 1962 - This generation of computers used transistors instead of
vacuum tubes which were more reliable. In 1951 the first computer for commercial use was
introduced to the public; the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC 1). In 1953 the
International Business Machine (IBM) 650 and 700 series computers made their mark in the
computer world. During this generation of computers over 100 computer programming
languages were developed, computers had memory and operating systems. Storage
media such as tape and disk were in use also were printers for output.

Third generation: 1963 - present - The invention of integrated circuit brought us the third
generation of computers. With this invention computers became smaller, more powerful
more reliable and they are able to run many different programs at the same time. In1980
Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-Dos) was born and in 1981 IBM introduced the
personal computer (PC) for home and office use. Three years later Apple gave us the
Macintosh computer with its icon driven interface and the 90s gave us Windows operating
system.

As a result of the various improvements to the development of the computer we have seen
the computer being used in all areas of life. It is a very useful tool that will continue to
experience new development as time passes.

Input devices

An input device is any hardware component that allows you the user to enter data into the
computer. There are many manual/automatic input devices. Most widely used input
devices are:

 2D/3D Scanners
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Pointing devices
 Digital Cameras
 Microphone
 Touch Screen
 Barcode readers

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Scanner

A scanner creates a digital photograph of a paper document. It scans the illuminated

surface of the document with a single row of hundreds of light sensors. Each sensor
produces an analogue signal that depends on the intensity of the light it receives. The
scanner‘s embedded computer repeatedly scans the signals from the sensors as they
move across the document. The embedded computer then digitizes, processes them and
sends them to the computer.

2d scanners:

A 2D Scanner can interpret two-dimensional barcodes, which store data in two dimensions,
rather than in just a series of black and white bars. 2D Scanner use both CCD and Imaging
technology to read barcodes.

Quick Response Code

QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix
barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan.
A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to
which it is attached. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric,
alphanumeric, byte / binary, and kanji) to efficiently store data; extensions may also be
used.

You can encode any type of textual information in a QR Code, for example your website's
address, a Facebook page, a coupon, a contact.

Once published on paper, any other physical support (or even on the web), people with a
QR App can scan your QR Code. By scanning they decode the information and the app
then renders the website, the Facebook page, the coupon or the contact.

3d scanners:

A 3D scanner is a device that analyzes a real-world object to collect data on its shape and
possibly its appearance (i.e. color). The collected data can then be used to construct
digital, three dimensional models.

Collected 3D data is useful for a wide variety of applications. These devices are used
extensively by the entertainment industry in the production of movies and video games.
Other common applications of this technology include industrial design, orthotics and
prosthetics, reverse engineering and prototyping, quality control/inspection and
documentation of cultural artifacts.

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

The 3D Scanner Process

When a part is placed on the auto-indexing table of an automated 3D scanner, the laser
automatically scans and rotates the part to produce a"point clouds". A point cloud consists
of hundreds of thousands of closely packed 3D data points that capture the entire three-
dimensional shape. Each data point consists of x, y and z co-ordinates of the surface.

The scan process requires only a matter of minutes for even the most complex-shaped part.

Keyboard:

A very common, general purpose, input device that allows user to enter values and
command into a computer by pressing buttons (keys) on a keyboard. Each key on
keyboard represent a letter, numeral or symbol. When the user presses the key it generates
a signal corresponding to the value on the key.

Mice:

A mouse allows the user to point by moving the cursor in graphical user interface on a PC‘s
screen.

There are two types of mouse:

1. Mechanical mouse
2. Optical mouse

A mechanical mouse has small ball underneath. As the mouse moved around, the mouse
convert the rotation of the ball in two dimensions into digital signals that is sends to the
computer.

Optical Mouse:

A mouse allows the user to point by moving the cursor in graphical user interface on a PC‘s
screen. The optical mouse actually uses a tiny camera to take 1,500 pictures every second.
Able to work on almost any surface, the mouse has a small, red light-emitting diode (LED)
that bounces light off that surface onto a complementary metal-oxide
semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.

The CMOS sensor sends each image to a digital signal processor (DSP) for analysis. The DSP,
operating at 18 MIPS (million instructions per second), is able to detect patterns in the
images and see how those patterns have moved since the previous image. Based on the
change in patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the mouse has
moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer. The computer moves

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the cursor on the screen based on the coordinates received from the mouse. This happens
hundreds of times each second, making the cursor appear to move very smoothly.

Touchscreen:

A touchscreen is a screen that is sensitive to the touch of stylus or finger. A touchscreen is

very instinctive to use as a pointing device, the user literally points to the relevant part of
the display, then touches an icon, menu option or button to select a command or to input
data.

How does it work?

1. Each of the four corners of a screen emits a uniform electric field which covers the
screen
2. When you place your finger on or near the screen it disrupts this field and draws
current
3. measuring the amount of current pulled from each corner you can triangulate the
position of the finger

Digital Camera:

A digital camera has grid of light sensors that pickup an optical image. The cameras
embedded computer scans the analogue signals from the grid of sensors. It then digitizes
these data and displays them on built in monitor screen.

Barcode reader:

A barcode reader is a combination of scanner hardware and software. Scanner captures

the printed barcode and software decoded them and sends the data to the computer as
if the character were being sent from a keyboard.

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

How does it work?

1. A laser is directed towards the barcode, scanning across it and the reflected light is
captured by the reader
2. The intensity of light reflected back is read by a sensor in the bar code reader
 High intensity = white bar
Low intensity = black bar
3. The pattern received is translated into a code which gives the identity of the
barcode being scanned
4. This code is checked against a product database and the product details displayed

Interactive whiteboard:

An interactive whiteboard is an instructional tool that allows computer images to be

displayed onto a board using a digital projector. The instructor can then manipulate the
elements on the board by using his finger as a mouse, directly on the screen. Items can be
dragged, clicked and copied and the lecturer can handwrite notes, which can be
transformed into text and saved.

Microphone:

A microphone converts sound vibration into an analogue signal. These signal then
converted into a stream of digitized sound samples by ADC on sound card.

Sensor:

A sensor measures a specific property data and sends a signal to the computer. They can
produce a stream of input data automatically without any human intervention. Usually this
is an analogue signal so it needs to be converted into digital data for the computer to
process. This is done using by an Analogue-to-Digital Converter (ADC).

Sensors are used extensively in monitoring / measuring / data logging systems, and also in
computer control systems. Following is the list of commonly used sensors:

 Temperature
 Magnetic Field
 Gas
 Pressure
 Moisture
 Humidity
 Ph/Acidity/Alkalinity
 Motion/ Infra-Red

Advantage of using sensors to collect data are:

They can collect data far more frequently than a person.
They are more reliable than a person, who may forget to take readings.
They are more accurate than a person who may misread the signal.
They can collect data from places where it is not possible for a person to go such as inside
a chemical or nuclear reaction vessel.

Disadvantage of using sensors are that they may need a power source to work and may
need regular calibration to check their accuracy.

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Monitoring and Control system:

In such system, computer acquired data at frequent intervals from suitable combinations of
sensors and where necessary from analogue to digital converters. Software processes the
input data and usually provide user with information for monitoring physical or chemical
quantities (such as temperature, flow rate or oxygen concentration) and warning signals if
limits are exceeded. Input data may also be used as feedback from a system being
controlled so that software can make decisions about the output required to actuators
such as heaters or motorized valves. The output to an actuator may need to be converted
to analogue form by a digital-to-analogue convertor.

Temperature Sensor:

A temperature sensor produces a signal that depends on the temperature of its

surroundings. The computer process the digitize signal to display a measurement or to
control an appliance.

We can use temperature sensor in many appliance such:

 Automatic washing machine
 Digital thermometer
 Controlling heating system in buildings, including greenhouses and chemical
reaction vessels.

Light Sensor

Light Sensor generates an output signal indicating the intensity of light by measuring the
radiant energy that exists in a very narrow range of frequencies basically called ―light‖.

There are many different types of light sensors, each of which works in a slightly different
way. A photocell orphotoresistor, for example, is a small sensor that changes its resistance
when light shines on it; they are used in many consumer products to determine the intensity
of light. A charged coupled device (CCD) transports electrically charged signals, and is
used as a light sensor in digital cameras and night-vision devices. Photomultipliers detect
light and multiply it.

Pressure sensor:

A pressure sensor produces a signal that depends on the pressure to which it is exposed.
Pressure sensor can be used in many appliances such as automatic blood pressure
monitor. Pressure sensor can also control the pressure of gases or liquids in chemical
reaction vessel.

Magnetic Field:

The Magnetic Field Sensor can be used to study the field around permanent magnets,
coils, and electrical devices. This sensor uses a Hall effect transducer, and measures a
vector component of the magnetic field near the sensor tip. It has two ranges, allowing for
measurement of relatively strong magnetic fields around permanent magnets and
electromagnets, as well as measurement of weak fields such as the Earth‘s magnetic field.
The articulated sensor tip allows you to measure both transverse and longitudinal magnetic
fields.

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Gas:

A gas sensor produces a signal depending on the concentration of a particular gas or

vapor. We can use gas sensor for an inflammable gas to monitor the atmosphere and
sound an alarm if there is a leakage. We can use gas sensor in other applications such as:
 Breathalyser, which measure the concentration of alcohol vapour in a sample of
breath and estimate the concentration of alcohol in blood.
 Process control in chemical industry.
 Environment monitoring of air pollution.

Moisture/ Humidity sensor

A moisture sensor produces a signal that depends on the concentration of water vapors in
the atmosphere. A moisture sensor can control an irrigation system more efficiently only
allow water when soil is dry. We can use moisture sensor in many other application
including:
 Controlling a heating system and air conditioning system.
 Maintaining sufficient humidity in the air in a greenhouse.
 Measuring humidity for meteorological record and forecasting in a weather station.

pH sensor:

pH Sensor measures the pH of aqueous solutions in industrial and municipal process

applications. It is designed to perform in the harshest of environments, including
applications that poison conventional pH sensors.

Typical activities using our pH sensor include:

 Acid-base titrations
 Studies of household acids and bases
 Monitoring pH change during chemical reactions or in an aquarium as a result of
photosynthesis
 Investigations of acid rain and buffering
 Analysis of water quality in streams and lakes

Output devices

An output device is a piece of hardware that is used to display or output data which has
been processed or has been stored on the computer.

There are many different kind of output devices such as inkjet, laser and 3D printers; 2D and
3D cutters; speakers and head phones; actuators; flat panel display screens including
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light-Emitting Diodes (LED); LCD projectors and Digital Light
Projectors (DLP)

Monitor:

A monitor is an output device that displays information from a computer on a screen. There
are two main types of monitor screen:
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Monitor:

LCD monitor has ‗backlight‘ behind a grid of tiny liquid crystal pixels. A computer graphic
card supply a stream of digital data to the LCD monitor. The digital to analogue converter
(DAC) in the monitors control circuitry converts the digital data from the graphics card into
a stream of analogue signals. The monitors control program electronically scans all the
pixels. As it does so, row-by-row it delivers an individual analogue signal to each pixel. The
analogue signal controls how much light of a certain colour the pixel allows through from
the backlight. The screen display is formed by the light shining through the grid of
thousands or even millions of pixels.
Advantage Disadvantage
They are small and easy to fit on desk/mount The image can only be viewed from a
on a wall. relatively narrow range of angles.

They are compact enough to fit to laptops, They can display a relatively limited range of
PDAs, media players and mobile phone. colour and brightness.

There is relatively little reflection of ambient Manufacturing defect can cause

light from the screen. permanently lit or unlit pixels.

The stability of the display and absence of

flicker make for more comfortable viewing.

Light Emitting Diodes (LED) Monitor:

An LED display is a flat panel display, which uses an array of light-emitting diodes to portray
different colored pixels. It has better contrast and is more efficient than the Liquid Crystal
Displays (which constantly has a flash lamp that is turned on) and the Plasma and the old
tube monitors. LED screens can be much thinner than any other screen out since the pixels
produce their own light and do not need to pass through filters like a LCD would.. Actually,
this is the most promising technology for the near future.

LCD monitor LED monitor

Traditional LCD monitors use CCFL (cold In "LED monitors" LED lights are used to
compact florescent light) to light the entire provide the backlight and they are more
backside of the LCD panel. This is known as energy efficient than CCFLs. All consumer
a "full array". The number of CCFL bulbs can level "LED monitors" do not have a full array
vary from as few as 2 (inexpensive backlight. Instead they are edge lit which
monitors)to as many as 7 (more expensive means the LED lights runs around the edge
monitors). The more bulbs used, the better of the LCD panel. This allows for a thinner
the uniformity of the backlight can be. Also design and helps reduce power
uses more electricity. consumption. The draw back it that you are
likely to see more "backlight bleeding"
around the edges of the monitor and the
center of the screen might not be as bright
as the other parts of the screen.

Multimedia Projector
A multimedia projector is an output device similar to an LCD monitor. However, it uses
lenses to project intense light through its grid of LCD pixels to form an image on a distance
surface. The projector is described as multimedia because it contains low-power
loudspeaker to cater for the audio output from the computer.

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Advantage Disadvantage
It can be used with a much larger audience It is relatively expensive and has a fragile
than a monitor. bulb, which can easily be damaged.

LCD Projectors (Liquid Crystal Display)

LCD Projectors operate by shining light through transparent LCD cells. Most LCD projectors
us advanced polysillicon LCDs, which use three separate color panels (red, green, and
blue) to produce the desired color.
Projected images are produced by the combination of light shinning through the LCD cells.

DLP Projector (Digital Light Processing)

DLP projectors were developed by Texas Instruments and project images by reflecting
lights against hundreds of tiny mirrors called digital micro devices (DMD). Each mirror
represents one pixel, is powered by electronics that adjust the angle of the mirror
according to the color begin displayed. DLP projectors are lighter in weight than their
LCD counterparts.
They are all digital technology and typically have higher contrast ratios, meaning that
they project video images better than LCDs. They are portable, tend to be smaller and
lighter than LCDs and connect easily to other digital devices.
LCD Projectors DLP Projectors
Tend to produce more saturated colors Typically offer deeper blacks and
and sharper images higher contrast

Depending on the resolution and size , images may May not project very detailed
become pixilated images well

Little difference in price Little difference in price

Printer:

Printer is an output device that prints character and graphics on paper or other materials.

Laser Printer:
Laser printer uses a laser scanning a drum to print with powdered ink, known as toner. The
printer places an even, negative, static charge on a photoconductive drum. It scans a
very narrow laser beam across the surface of the rotating drum. The laser beam causes the
negative charge to leak away wherever it shines on the drum. The drum revolves past a
supply of toner which is also charged negatively. The toner is attracted onto those regions
of the drums surface where no charge remains. Toner particles are repelled by those
regions that remain charged because they were not lit by the laser‘s beam. The printer
rapidly switches the beam on and off to draw the required pattern of output. A roller
presses a sheet of paper against the rotating drum and the toner particles transfer to the
paper. Another roller presses the paper against a heated ‗fuser‘ roller. The heated toner
melts and bonds to the paper, producing a printed copy. If there are four drums with four
different colours of toner the printer can print in colour.

Advantage Disadvantage
High quality printouts. Expensive to buy.
Printouts are not water-soluble. Toxic toner.
High speed printing.

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Inkjet printer
An inkjet printer uses a print head to propel differently sized droplets of ink, measuring just
picolitres, from a number of fine nozzles onto a sheet of paper. The print head scans from
side to side on stabilizer bar and rollers feed the paper forward.

Advantage Disadvantage
Relatively high resolution. Slow rate of printing.

Good reproduction of colour. High cost of printing.

Low purchase cost. Printouts are water-soluble.

3D Printers:

3D printers 'print' tangible three dimensional objects that you can touch and hold in your
hand. The digital plans that are used to programme 3D printers can be created using 3D
CAD design programmes such as Autocad, downloaded via the internet, or by scanning
an existing object.

How does 3D printing work?

Although there are a handful of different 3D printing methods, the basic procedure is
relatively consistent from one to the next. In additive manufacturing, three-dimensional
objects are created from a raw material in either liquid or particle form.
Using the digital model as a guide, a 3D printer deposits microscopically thin layers of the
raw material, and the print gradually materializes as the layers are built up step by step by
step. The amount of detail possible in a 3D print is determined by the thinness of the layers,
and the raw material can be anything from synthetic resin, to ceramic powder, metal, or
even glass.

What are the applications for 3D Printing?

The standard application for 3D printing has traditionally been rapid prototyping in
mechanical and automotive design settings. 3D printing could literally have applications in
hundreds of niches, but here are some current outlets for the technology:

 Fine art: Jewelry making, sculpture, etc.

 Retail/Entertainment: Figurines, toys, etc.
 Architectural visualization: Pre-viz models can be produced quickly and
inexpensively.
 Healthcare: Custom implants, prosthetics, educational models. Although it's far off,
the possibility of organ printing is being actively explored.
 Geospatial: Geographic or topological models can be produced directly from raw
GIS data.

Advantage Disadvantage
Manufacture of Customized Products As with all new technologies, manufacturing
jobs will decrease.
Print prototypes in hours, obtain feedback,
refine designs and repeat the cycle until 3D printers can create dangerous items,
designs are perfect such as guns and knives

Cut traditional prototyping and tooling costs One of the dangers of 3D printers is that they
will be used to create more useless stuff that
One of the innovative products that 3D is bad for the environment and wallets
printing may provide is the manufacturing of

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customizable human body parts or organs. With 3D printing becoming more common,
the printing of copyrighted products to
create counterfeit items will become more
common and nearly impossible to
determine.

Speakers:

Speakers are one of the most common output devices used with computer systems. The
purpose of speakers is to produce audio output that can be heard by the listener.
Speakers are transducers that convert electromagnetic waves into sound waves.

Advantage Disadvantage
They help blind people who would otherwise They can take up a fair amount of desk-
have difficulty using a computer. space, compared to headphones.

They can be useful for alerting computer They can distract people around you
users, even when they're busy, such as in therefore disrupting a communal work area.
pop-ups.

Headphones:

Headphone/Earphone consists of a pair of small loudspeakers which are worn over or in the
ear.
Advantage Disadvantage
Allow the player to turn the volume up It may be very easy for a gamer to damage
without disturbing others. his or her hearing using in-ear headsets if
careless
In-ear headsets are sleek, compact, and
easy to store and transport. All ears are different and all ear buds have
different shapes. An in-ear headset may not
be comfortable for all wearers.

Actuators:
An actuator is an output device but it does not always provide output directly to the user. It
can change some physical value in response to a signal from an automated system or
control system.
Actuators naturally pair up with sensors, which can provide feedback to the control
program about the effects of its actuators.

Specialized Input and Output devices.

Facilities for the disabled:

There are many input/output devices to help disabled people. Some of these are
summarised below:
Device Application
Touch screens + head wand For people who can‘t use a keyboard allowing
input; also helps people with learning difficulties
since icons are easier to understand
On-screen keyboards For people who can‘t use keyboards (use head
wand to select letters)
Voice recognition Blind and partially-sighted people can
communicate with a computer using microphone
and software (keyboard and touch screens can‘t

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be used)
Trackerball Easier to use than a mouse if people have
problems using their arms and hands or if they
have a coordination problem
Large font size/use of colour Helps people who are partially-sighted since the
larger icons and/or colour full outputs on large
screens are much easier to see
Braille printers Dot matrix printers can be modified to produce
raised dots (i.e. Braille) – this helps blind and
partially-sighted people to read the output
Voice synthesis Loud speakers and special software are used to
output information in the form of sound to help
blind and partially-sighted people; it also helps
people who have difficulty
reading/understanding text
Large/concept keyboards These help people who have difficulty using
normal keyboards (either because of difficulty
using hands/ arms or coordination problems)
Prediction software To help dyslexic people when typing
Foot activated controls To allow people with restricted hand/arm
movement to communicate

I/O device for virtual reality:

Number of devices are used to interface with virtual reality systems. These can be
summarised below:
Data goggles/helmets – these use display screens and optical systems that send 3D images
to the eyes. Motion sensors measure the position and orientation of the head; this
information is sent back to a computer which enables it to adjust the image being sent to
the user.
Data gloves, suits containing sensors and joysticks are all used to interface with a virtual
reality system depending on the application.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 14 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Memory, storage devices and media

A computer need device to keep the data that it process. It holds the data that it is
processing in rapid access internal memory. After processing it stores the data for future use
in slower-access backing-storage. We can divide our memory, storage devices & media
into three major categories:

Primary Secondary Offline Storage

RAM, ROM Hard disk, Solid state drives DVDs, CDs, Blu-ray, USB
memory, removable disks

RAM (Random Access Memory)

RAM the workspace for processor is made of integrated circuits or chips provide direct
access of data to the processor. The processor uses internal memory to hold:

 The program instructions that it is executing

 That data in use
 The results of processing the data.
Data in RAM is volatile means will be lost if power goes off.

ROM (Read Only Memory)

ROM shares the rapid, direct and random access characteristics of RAM. However, ROM
differ from RAM because the data it stores are non-volatile. Once data have been written
into a ROM during manufacturing they cannot be changed. ROM store small program that
is required to start the computer. In some cases, ROM holds the whole of a simple
operating system or control program for an automated system. Such software stored in
ROM is known as firmware. Never mixed up ROM with CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

Difference between RAM & ROM:

RAM ROM
RAM is volatile. ROM is not volatile.
RAM loses contents when power is switched ROM does not lose contents when power is
off. switched off.
RAM is usually larger than ROM ROM used to store bootstrap/boot/start up
RAM used to store data/OS/software program.
currently in use.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 15 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Backing storage:

Backing storage (also called auxiliary storage) stores programs and data for future use. In
order to store data while the electricity is switched off or unavailable storage must be non-
volatile. Access to backing storage is slower than internal memory. Operating systems and
program files are loaded into RAM form backing storage when required for execution.

It is important to distinguish between a storage device and storage medium. The storage
device is the machine that stores data; the storage medium is the material on which the
device stores data. There are three different types of backing storage device:

 Magnetic storage device

 Optical storage device
 Solid state storage device.

Magnetic Storage device:

Magnetic storage media and devices store data in the form of tiny magnetised dots. These
dots are created, read and erased using magnetic fields created by very
tiny electromagnets.

In the case of magnetic discs (e.g. hard-drive), the dots are arranged in circles on the
surface of a plastic, metal or glass disc that has a magnetisable coating.

Magnetic storage media:

A hard disk is the main storage medium on most computers from laptop and PCs upwards.
The HDD is usually mounted internally in a PC and store three types of data:

 The Computer Operating system files.

 Application program files.
 The user‘s data files, including the user‘s own work and files that they have
downloaded from internet servers.

A hard disk is a direct access medium, because the read/write head can travel straight to
the correct track on the surface of the medium. Data is stored inside a hard-drive on
rotating metal or glass discs (called ‗platters‘).

Fixed Hard Drive

A hard-drive built into the case of a computer is known as ‗fixed‘. Almost every computer
has a fixed hard-drive.

Fixed hard-drives act as the main backing storage device for almost all computers since
they provide almost instant access to files (random access and high access speeds).

Portable Hard Drive

A portable hard-drive is one that is placed into a small case along with some electronics
that allow the hard-drive to be accessed using a USB or similar connection.

Portable hard-drives allow very large amounts of data to be transported from computer to
computer.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 16 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE
It can store large amount of data Vulnerable to mechanical shock.
Access to the data is faster than for optical
discs.
There is no limit to the number of times it can
rewrite data.

Optical Storage device.

Optical storage devices save data as patterns of dots that can be read using light. A laser
beam is the usual light source.

The data on the storage medium is read by bouncing the laser beam off the surface of the
medium. If the beam hits a dot it is reflected back differently to how it would be if there
were no dot. This difference can be detected, so the data can be read.

Dots can be created using the laser beam (for media that is writable such as CD-Rs). The
beam is used in a high-power mode to actually mark the surface of the medium, making a
dot. This process is known as ‗burning‘ data onto a disc.

Optical Storage Media

Read-Only Optical Discs

Read-only optical discs have data written onto them when they are manufactured. This
data cannot be changed.

CD-ROM
Compact Disc - Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) discs can hold around800MB of data. The
data cannot be altered (non-volatile), so cannot be accidently deleted. CD-ROMs
are random-access devices.

CD-ROMs are used to distribute all sorts of data: software (e.g. office applications or
games), music, electronic books (e.g. an encyclopaedia with sound and video.)

DVD-ROM
Digital Versatile Disc - Read-Only Memory (DVD-ROM) discs can hold around 4.7GB of data
(a dual-layer DVD can hold twice that). DVD-ROMs are random-access devices.

DVD-ROMs are used in the same way as CD-ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold
more data, they are also used to store high-quality video.

Recordable Optical Discs

Recordable optical discs can have data written onto them (‗burnt‘) by a computer user
using a special disc drive (a disc ‗burner‘).

CD-R and DVD-R

CD-Recordable (CD-R) and DVD-recordable (DVD-R) discs can have data burnt onto
them, but not erased. You can keep adding data until the disc is full, but you cannot
remove any data or re-use a full disc.

CD-RW and DVD-RW

CD-ReWritable (CD-RW) and DVD-ReWritable (DVD-RW) discs, unlike CD-Rs and DVD-Rs,
can have data burnt onto them and also erased so that the discs can be re-used.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 17 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

When CD-Rs and DVD-Rs are burnt, the laser makes permanent marks on the silver-
coloured metal layer. This is why these discs cannot be erased.

When CD-RWs and DVD-RWs are burnt the laser makes marks on the metal layer, but in a
way that can be undone. So these discs can be erased.

High Capacity Optical Discs

Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray disks are a recent replacement for DVDs. A Blu-Ray disc can hold25 - 50GB of data
(a dual-layer Blu-Ray disc can hold twice that). Blu-Ray discs are random-access devices.

Blu-Ray discs are used in the same way as DVD-ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold
more data, they are also used to store very high-quality, high-definition (HD)video.

The 'Blu' part of Blu-Ray refers to the fact that the laser used to read the disc uses blue light
instead of red light. Blue light has a shorter wave-length than red light (used with CDs and
DVDs).

Using a blue laser allows more data to be placed closer together on a Blu-Ray disc, than on
a DVD or CD, so Blu-Ray has a much higher storage capacity than these older discs.

DVD-RAM
DVD-Random Access Memory (DVD-RAM) discs are a type of re-writable DVD. They often
come in a floppy-disc style case (to protect the disc).

DVD-RAM discs have a similar capacity to a normal DVD, holding 4.7GB of data. DVD-RAM
discs are random-access devices.

DVD-RAM discs are used in many camcorders (video recording cameras).

The discs are much higher quality than normal DVD-RWs and can reliably store data for up
to 30 years. This means that they are often used for video and data back-up and archiving.

Solid State Storage Media:

Solid state storage devices are electronic and made as integrated circuits or chip. The
currently predominant technology is flash memory, which like ROM holds data that are
non-volatile but can be erased and rewritten in large blocks. We often refer to this as non-
volatile memory.

ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE
Solid state storage devices have a number Expensive than other forms of backing
of general advantages. They are extremely storage.
small and portable.
High data transfer rate. Limited number of write cycle.
They have no moving parts.
Consume lower power consumption.

Memory Cards
Many of our digital devices (cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, etc.)
require compact, non-volatile data storage. Flash memory cards provide this and come in
a variety of shapes and sizes.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 18 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

One of the most common formats used by digital cameras is the SD Card. The cards store
the digital images taken by the camera.

Mobile phones contain a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card that contains the phone‘s
number, the phonebook numbers, text messages, etc.

Many phones also have extra memory cards to store music, video, photos, etc. (e.g Tiny
Micro-SD cards).

Measuring the size of memory:

Computer do not directly process and store data such as ‗B‘, hello‘ or the number 23.
Almost all digital computers work with electronic circuitry that has only two states, which we
often represent as 0 and 1. This means that a computer stores and processes all data using
binary number equivalents.

Binary numbers consist of digits. A binary digit is called a bit. Each bit can only take the
values ‗0‘ and ‗1‘. Group of eight bits called a byte, is the unit of data held in an internal
memory location. The size of internal memory and backing storage is usually measured in
kilobytes (KB). Megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB) or terabytes(TB). However, internal
memory/USB flash drive is manufactured with numbers of bytes that are power of two.

8bits=1byte
1024byets = 1 KB
1023kb = 1 MB
1024MB=1GB
1024GB=1TB

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 19 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Past Paper Questions

Input/output devices:

Oct/Nov 2006 P1 (7010)

2 Name two devices used for direct data capture. Give one application for each device
named. [4]

12 An airport has multimedia kiosks linked to a central computer.

(a) State two input devices, other than a keyboard, which might be used at the multimedia
kiosks.
(b) Give two items of information that might be accessed from multimedia kiosks. [2]
(c) State one advantage and one disadvantage for the airport of providing multimedia
kiosks. [2]

15 In a school, students can use laptop computers which link to the school‘s wireless
network.
(a) State two advantages to students of using this system rather than desktop computers
located in specialist computer laboratories. [2]
(b) Give two disadvantages of using laptop computers rather than using desktop
computers. [2]

May/June 2007 P1 (7010)

3 Describe the difference between speech recognition and speech synthesis. [2]

12 Describe three ways you could modify a typical input/output environment to enable
people with disabilities to use the computer system. [3]

13 Items sold in supermarkets are all marked with bar codes.

(a) Customers are given an itemised bill at the checkout. Give two advantages to the
customer. [2]
(b) Give two ways the information on the bar code can be input at the checkout. [2]
(c) Describe how bar codes are used in automatic stock control. [3]

Oct/Nov 2007 P1 (7010)

12 A company checks its electrical equipment every three years. To help make sure that
every item is checked at the correct time, the company has decided to put barcodes on
the equipment. The barcode contains:
• type of equipment (e.g. monitor)
• location (e.g. Room 507)
Every time equipment is checked, the barcode is scanned and the data stored on a file.
(a) Give one other piece of information that should be on the barcodes. [1]
(b) Give one example of other information that should be stored on the file itself. [1]
(c) Give two advantages of this system rather than using sticky labels on the equipment
marked, for example, ―Do not use after May 2007‖. [2]
(d) Describe another application where barcodes could be used. [1]

May/June 2008(7010)

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(d) laptop computer [2]
(e) trackerball [2]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 20 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

4 Name two types of automatic data capture and give one application for each type
named. [4]

Oct/Nov 2008 P1 (7010)

6 A supermarket uses a computer system to control and order stock. All products sold are
identified with a bar code which can be read at a Point Of Sale (POS) terminal.
(a) Apart from stock control, give one advantage to the supermarket of having bar codes
on the products. [1]
(b) Give one advantage to the customer of using POS technology. [1]
(c) Describe how a computerised stock control system works. [3]

Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(a) mouse [2]
(d) RAM [2]

May/June 2009 (7010)

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(a) batch processing [2]
(b) data logging [2]

2 Name three devices used for automatic data capture. [3]

Oct/Nov 2009 P1 (7010)

1. Explain, with examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms.
• ROM

8 (a) How could a computer simulation be used by a supermarket to reduce queuing at

checkouts? [2]
(b) The supermarket has decided to fit sensors at the shop entrance to count people
coming in and leaving.
i) What type of sensor would be suitable to detect people? [1]
(ii) How could the supermarket use the information obtained from these sensors? [2]
(c) The supermarket has decided to fit information screens at various locations for customer
use. These information screens do not use keyboards.
(i) Give one example of a suitable input device. [1]
(ii) What information could be made available to supermarket customers? [1]
(iii) Give one advantage of using this system rather than displaying signs and notices
around the supermarket. [1]

May/June 2010 P11 (7010)

6 (a) Give three different types of device that allow human beings to interface with
computer systems. [3]
(b) Give three automatic data capture devices and give a suitable application for each
device. [6]

7 Describe how a supermarket would use computer technology to carry out automatic
stock control. [3]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 21 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2010 P12 (7010)

8 A supermarket makes use of barcodes on all its goods as part of its automatic stock
control system.
(a) Describe how the price is found for each item sold. [2]
(b) The following are steps in the automatic stock control system.
Number the steps in the correct order.

[4]

9 A factory uses a computer system to store information about customers, spare parts and
general administration.
(a) Spare parts can be identified by selecting from diagrams on a computer screen.
Describe what hardware would be needed to allow the parts to be selected in this way.[2]

(b) The factory needs to buy a new printer. It has decided to buy either a dot matrix printer
or an inkjet printer. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using both types of
printer in this application. [3]

Oct/Nov 2010 P13 (7010)

6 Complete the following table by writing down the most appropriate data collection
method for the given application.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 22 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2011 P12 (7010)

The following table shows FOUR applications which require specialist INPUT devices.
For EACH application, suggest ONE possible INPUT device and give a reason for your
choice.

May/June 2011. P12 (9691)

1. (a) Define the terms:
(i) hardware
(ii) software [2]
May/June 2011. P13 (9691)
1. (a) Define the terms:
(i) input device
(ii) storage device [2]

Oct/NOV 2011. P13 (9691)

1 (a) Describe the purpose of the following:
(i) Input devices;
(ii) Output devices. [2]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 23 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/Nov 2011 P13 (7010)

The following table shows three applications which require specialist output devices.
For each application, suggest one possible output device and give a reason for your
choice.

3 (b) (i) What is meant by automatic data capture?

(ii) Name a device used in automatic data capture and describe an application that uses
it. [3]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 24 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2012. P12 (7010)

4 A list of four printers and four different applications which use printers is shown below.
(a) Using arrows, link each printer to the most appropriate application.

(b) Give one feature of each printer which makes it appropriate for the application.
3D printer
Dot matrix printer
Colour inkjet printer
Colour laser printer [4]

May/June 2012. P11/12 (9691)

1 (c) A local hockey league is run by a secretary from home. The secretary is
Responsible for all fixtures and league tables.
The secretary is blind and uses her home computer for carrying out the
necessary tasks.
State a suitable hardware peripheral for each of input, output and storage,
which the secretary could use. Justify your choices. [4]

May/June 2012. P13 (9691)

4 When data is to be entered into a computer system it is sometimes entered using
manual methods and sometimes it is captured and entered automatically.
Describe the following methods of entering data into a computer system
automatically. In each case give an example of where it would be used.
(i) Barcode reading [3]
(ii) Magnetic stripe card reading

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 25 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2012. P11 (9691)

8 An interactive information system is being designed for use in the terminal building of
an airport.
(a) (i) State an input device which would be suitable for use in this
application.
Justify your choice. [2]
(ii) State an output device which would be suitable for use in this
application.
Justify your choice. [2]

Oct/NOV 2012. P12 (7010)

3 For each of the following five groups of hardware items, write down a computer
application that would need those items.

Oct/NOV 2012. P12 (9691)

1 (a) (i) Define what is meant by hardware. [1]
(ii) Define an input device and state why it is needed. [3]
8 A pocket sized game system is based around a microprocessor.
(a) (i) State an input device which would be suitable for use in this
application. Justify your choice. [2]
(ii) State an output device which would be suitable for use in this
application. Justify your choice. [2]

Oct/NOV 2012. P13 (9691)

1 (a) (i) Define what is meant by hardware. [1]

(ii) Define an output device and state why it is needed. [3]
(c) The barcodes of goods are read at the checkouts.
Describe barcodes and explain how they are read at the checkouts and
used by the
computer system. [6]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 26 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

8 An interactive information system is being designed for use by the air-traffic

controllers at an airport. Information about all planes must be available to the
controllers who then ensure that the planes stay far enough apart not to be a
danger to each other.
(a) (i) State an input device which would be suitable for use in this
application.
Justify your choice. [2]
(ii) State an output device which would be suitable for use in this
application.
Justify your choice. [2]

Oct/Nov 2012 P13 (7010)

You have just been appointed as the IT representative of a small engineering company.
The company needs to buy:
• external backing storage
• printers
• input devices
Choose a suitable example for each and give a reason for your choice.

13 A large hotel uses eight lifts (elevators) to carry passengers between its sixty floors.
A computer is used to control and monitor the lifts. Each lift has three registers to represent
its state.

May/June 2013. P11/P12 (9691)

4 (a) An airport uses electronic devices as part of its security systems.
One system matches the face of a passenger with the photograph in their
passport.
What two input devices would be needed to do this? Give reasons for your
choice of
device. [4]
(b) When the passenger goes to the check-in desk, their luggage is weighed.
(i) How does the computer system capture the luggage weight? How
does it Then check that it does not exceed the airline‘s weight limit?[3]
(ii) The computer also prints out a label identifying passenger ID, flight
number and destination. This label, which is tied onto the luggage, is
computer readable.
Describe a suitable data capture system which could be used to read
these labels so that the luggage can be tracked. [2]

6 A large company has four separate departments. The following table describes
each department and shows tasks that involve a computer system.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 27 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(a) Describe, with a reason, a suitable output device which could be used in
each of the four departments. Your devices should be different.
(i) Production
(ii) Design Office
(iii) Marketing
(iv) Finance [8]

May/June 2013. P11 (7010)

5 Name a suitable hardware device to enable automatic data capture in each of the
following applications. Each device must be different.

May/June 2013. P12 (7010)

9 Thin film technology is becoming increasingly common. This uses material as thin as a
sheet of paper but which acts just like an LCD monitor. A microprocessor is used to control
the device and solid state memories are used to supply the data.
(a) Describe two advantages of thin film technology. [2]
(b) Describe two applications that could use thin film technology. [2]

13 A company requests new customers who register online to give the following details:
• name
• address
• type of credit/debit card
• payment card number
All details must be entered.

(b) Other data required:

• date of birth
• male or female
• accept/decline company conditions
Describe suitable input methods for this data.
date of birth
male or female
accept/decline company conditions [3]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 28 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2013. P13 (9691)

3 A computer system is being developed to monitor seismic (earthquake) activity in

the Antarctic. Sensors are being used to detect ground tremors.
(a) Describe how the sensors and a computer would be used to gather data
which is processed to warn scientists of any abnormal seismic readings. [4]
(b) The information received is processed and then displayed on large output
screens in a control room.
(i) Scientists must be able to quickly assess the incoming data.
Describe a suitable interface. Include use of colour, content and
layout in your description. [3]
(ii) Describe the input devices you would expect to see in the control
room.
Justify your choice of devices.

9 A supermarket uses barcodes as part of its item price retrieval and automatic stock
controls ystem.
A customer takes items to the point-of-sale (POS) checkout. The barcodes are
scanned.
(a) Describe what happens next regarding data retrieval and stock control. [5]
(b) Name two devices needed at the POS checkout.
Give a reason for your choice of device. [4]

Oct/Nov 2013 P12 (7010)

4 (a) Seven hardware items are shown on the right hand side in the diagram below. Three
applications are shown on the left in the diagram.
By drawing arrows, link each application to the appropriate hardware items (each
hardware item must be used once only):

(b) Name one additional item of hardware used in each of the three applications named
in the above diagram.
CAD
video conferencing
virtual reality [3]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 29 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

12 A shop uses an information screen linked to a computer to allow customers to order

goods directly.
The first screen shows three options:

(a) What is the best input device to allow customers to choose one of the three options?[1]

Oct/Nov 2013 P13 (7010)

5 A website has been set up allowing users to access the Periodic Table. Part of the table is
shown below.

A user selects an element from the table and is then directed to another web page where
details of the chosen element can be found.
(a) (i) What would be the most suitable input device for this application? [1]
(ii) Describe how your chosen input device would interact with the table. [1]
(b) Give two advantages of this system when compared to finding the same information
from books. [2]
(c) Apart from security issues, give two disadvantages of this system compared to using
books. [2]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 30 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2014 P12 (7010)

The following diagram shows six descriptions of automatic data capture methods and six
terms.
Draw lines to connect each description to the correct term.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 31 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Storage Devices

May/June 2002 (9691)

4. (a) Describe one difference between read-only memory (ROM) and random
access memory(RAM) in the memory of a computer. [2]
(b) State one use for each of ROM and RAM in the primary memory of a
computer. Make clear why the type of memory is appropriate for that use.[4]

Oct/NOV 2004 (9691)

1. (b) A supermarket has a number of point of sale (POS) terminals.
State two input devices and one output device that would be found at each POS
terminal, describing what they are used for. [6]

May/June 2005 (9691)

2. (a) State two differences between random access memory (RAM) and read only
memory(ROM). [2]
(b) Describe what is stored on
(i) RAM,
(ii) ROM
explaining why that type of memory is appropriate. [4]

4. (b) Cashcard machines (ATMs) provide keyboards to allow users to input data.
Computers are often supplied with QWERTY keyboards to allow users to input data.
Discuss the differences between these different types of keyboard, explaining why
the differences are necessary. [6]

Oct/NOV 2005 (9691)

1. An office worker is responsible for communicating with other businesses and
managing thecomputer systems in the office.
(c) State a sensible use that the office worker could make of
(i) a hard disk,
(ii) a rewritable CD (CD-RW),
(iii) a CD-ROM. [3]

May/June 2006 (9691)

1. (a) Explain the differences between RAM and ROM, stating a use for each. [4]
(b) A shopkeeper uses a stand-alone computer for producing
• order forms for sending to suppliers
• records of sales and purchases as evidence for the taxation authorities
• leaflets advertising special offers.
(ii) The computer has a hard drive, a CD-RW drive and a DVD drive.
State a different use, by the shopkeeper, for each of these three storage
media. In each case say why it is appropriate for that use. [6]

May/June 2006 (7010)

Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
Read Only Memory (ROM)

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 32 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2007 (9691)

1. A student uses her home computer to:
• play games which she gets from a library;
• finish work that she brings home after starting it at school;
• produce a finished copy of the work to hand in to her teacher;
• communicate with her friends.
State the peripheral devices, apart from keyboard, mouse and monitor, which she
would need.
Explain why each would be necessary. [8]

Oct/NOV 2007 (9691)

3. (a) State one difference between random access memory (RAM) and read only
memory (ROM). [1]
(b) State three types of data stored in RAM. [3]
(c) An embedded processor contains all the software needed to control an
automatic washing machine.
(i) State why the software is stored on ROM. [1]
(ii) Explain why it is important that ROM has some of the characteristics of
RAM. [2]

8. Data collected at the survey site is sent, electronically, to the head office of the
company for processing.
(a) Describe the hardware necessary to enable this communication. [3]
(b) (i) The results of the analysis of the data are often output on a plotter.
Give two advantages of outputting this data to a plotter. [2]

Oct/NOV 2007 (7010)

1 Explain, with examples, the following five computer terms:

(a) byte [2]
(b) CD-ROM [2]

May/June 2008 (7010)

A computer system comes equipped with DVD writer/reader, hard disk drive and RAM.
(a) Give a different use for each of these forms of memory.
DVD
Hard Disk
RAM
(b) Give another example of a memory device and give one advantage of the named
device.

May/June 2008 (9691)

3. (a) (i) State two types of data stored in RAM when a computer is running. [2]
(ii) State one piece of software which is entirely contained in ROM and
say why it is stored in ROM rather than RAM. [2]
Oct/NOV 2008 (9691)
1. A computer system is used to monitor and control the temperature of the water in a
fish tank.
(b) State an example of each of the following types of device which would be
necessary in the computer system and state what they would be used for.
(i) An input device
(ii) An output device
(iii) A storage device [6]

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

8. The workers in the office use three different types of storage medium.
For each of the three types, state a use to which the medium could be put and
justify your answer.
(i) Hard Disk
(ii) DVD-RW
(iii) CD-ROM [6]

May/June 2009 (9691)

1. (b) A printer is a hard copy output device.
State three different types of printer.
For each of your choices give an example of an application where it would be
used, justifying your choice. [9]

Oct/NOV 2009. P12 (9691)

1. A student has a stand-alone computer at home and also uses the computers at
school. She uses a USB stick, a DVD-RW drive and a CD-ROM drive on her home
computer.
(a) State a use that the student could make of each of the following, justifying
your choices.
(i) USB stick [2]
(ii) DVD-RW drive [2]
(iii) CD-ROM drive. [2]

(b) State one other storage device that the student would need at home and
say why it would be needed. [2]

May/June 2009 (7010)

A company produces animation effects using computers rather than producing them
manually.
(b) Each image takes about 400 kilobytes of storage. 25 images per second are produced.
How much memory would be needed to store a 30-minute animation?

May/June 2010. P11 (9691)

1. (a) (i) State two differences between ROM and RAM. [2]
(ii) State one piece of software which must be stored in a computer's
ROM, justifying your answer. [2]
(b) State two pieces of hardware, apart from the PCs, which would be needed in
order to enable two computers to communicate. Justify your answers. [4]

2. Goods in a shop are labeled with barcodes. These barcodes are used when goods
are sold at the checkout. The shop uses a computer system, attached to the
checkout, to store a file of records relating to the goods on sale.
(a) State appropriate peripheral hardware for this system, justifying your choices.
[8]
3. A computer system is used in a tourist souvenir shop.
Customers can have their pictures taken. The picture is stored on the system. After the
customer approves the image it is printed onto a T-shirt.
Explain how this system works, by describing the hardware, software and data storage.
[6]
May/June 2010. P12 (9691)
1. (a) (i) State two differences between ROM and RAM. [2]
(ii) State one piece of software which must be stored in a computer's
ROM, justifying your answer. [2]

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2010. P13 (9691)

1. (a) (i) State two features of RAM which would not be true of ROM. [2]
(ii) State two pieces of software found in RAM when a computer is
processing data. [2]

Oct/Nov 2010 P11 (7010)

Explain, using examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms:
 USB flash memory
 RAM

Oct/Nov 2010 P13 (7010)

1. Explain, with examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms.
(b) Optical media

3 A typical computer system contains the following four components:

_ RAM
_ ROM
_ hard disk
_ modem
Describe the function of each of these components. [4]

May/June 2011 P12 (7010)

Name THREE different types of storage media andgive an example of each.

May/June 2011. P12 (9691)

A supermarket has a number of point-of-sale terminals.
Data is read from goods at the terminals and information is produced.
1. (b) State two output devices which would be used at the point-of-sale, giving a
reason for their use. [4]

May/June 2011. P13 (9691)

A cinema has a number of places where customers can buy their tickets.
Data is input by the cashiers at the terminals and information is produced.
1. (b) State two input devices which would be used at the terminals, justifying their
use. [4]

5. (a) (i) Explain two differences between ROM and RAM as types of primary
memory. [2]
(ii) State an example of what would be stored in ROM and justify your
answer. [2]
(iii) State an example of what would be stored in RAM and justify your
answer.
Example
Justification [2]
(b) (i) Explain the problem of speed mismatch between peripheral and
processor.
(ii) Describe how this speed mismatch can be overcome. [5]
Oct/NOV 2011. P11 (9691)

1 (a) Describe the purpose of storage devices.

(b) A student has a computer at home as well as using computers at school. [2]
State two different storage devices that the student would use on her
computer and explain what she would use each for. [4]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 35 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

6 An air conditioning system is used to control the temperature in a room.

State an example of each of the following types of peripheral which would be used
on the system giving a use for each.
(i) An input device [2]
(ii) An output device [2]

Oct/NOV 2011. P12 (9691)

6 State an example of each of the following types of storage medium and give a use
for each.
(i) Magnetic [2]
(ii) Solid state [2]

Oct/NOV 2011. P13 (9691)

6 State two different types of optical storage medium.
Give a use that a school student could make of each with their computer at home.
[4]
May/June 2012 P12 (7010)
7 The electronic equipment contains RAM and ROM. Give one use of each type of
memory. [2]

12 (a) John has bought a 4 Gbyte MP3 player.

(You may assume: 1 byte = 8 bits, 1 Mbyte = 1024 kbytes and 1Gbyte = 1024 Mbytes)
(i) We can assume that each song lasts 3 minutes and is recorded at 128 kbps (kilobits per
second).
How much memory is required per song? [2]
(ii) Using your answer in (i), how many songs can be stored on John‘s MP3 player? [2]
(b) John also bought a device for recording television programmes. It allows him to record
a programme at the same time as he is watching an earlier recording.
Describe how such a system would work.

May/June 2012. P11 (9691)

1 (a) (i) Give two differences between ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM
(Random Access Memory) [2]
(ii) State a program stored in ROM, giving a reason why it must be stored in
ROM. [2]
(iii) State the purpose of this program. [1]

May/June 2012. P13 (9691)

1 (a) (i) Give two differences between ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM
(Random Access Memory). [2]
(ii) State why user files currently being used are stored in RAM. [1]
(iii) State two types of software which would be found in RAM. [2]

Oct/Nov 2012 P12 (7010)

The following statistics refer to a music track being recorded on a CD:
• music is sampled at 44 100 times per second
• each sample is 16 bits
• each track requires separate sampling for left and right speakers of a stereo recording
(8 bits = 1 byte, 1 megabyte = 1 048 576 bytes)
(a) (i) How many bytes are required to represent one second of sampled music?
[2]
(ii) If a typical music track is 3 minutes long, how much memory is used on the CD to
store one track? (Give your answer in megabytes.)

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 36 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2013 P12 (7010)

Four types of data storage media and four descriptions are shown in the table below.
Tick the appropriate boxes in the table to match each data storage medium to its most
suitable description.

Three common devices are listed below:

• MP3 player
• digital camera
• mobile phone
(a) Choose one of the above devices.
Describe the type of internal memory the device uses.
Describe how data is transferred from the device to a computer.

May/June 2013. P11/P12 (9691)

2 (a) State three different types of secondary storage media.
Explain how digital data is stored on each. [6]
(b) A remote-controlled toy car contains both RAM and ROM. The car can be
programmed to carry out a number of maneuvers.
(i) Describe the main differences between RAM and ROM. [2]
(ii) How are the two types of memory used in the car? [2]

May/June 2013 P12 (7010)

The speed at which a CD spins in a portable music CD player is controlled by sensors and a
small microprocessor.
(a) Describe how the sensors and microprocessor are used to control the speed of the
spinning CD. [4]
(b) Sudden movements can make the CD ―skip‖.
How can the microprocessor deal with this so that the CD operates correctly? [2]
(c) Why would an MP3 player not suffer from the same problem? [1]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 37 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Memory Size Calculation:

1. A company produces animation effects using computers rather than producing

them manually.
(b) Each image takes about 400 kilobytes of storage. 25 images per second are
produced.
How much memory would be needed to store a 30-minute animation?

2. Juan uses a company which offers the following

Internet broadband transfer rates:
• 56 megabits per second DOWNLOAD
• 16 megabits per second UPLOAD
(b) If each music track is 3.5 megabytes in size, how long would it take Juan to
download his 40 tracks?
(Show your working.)
(c) He has decided to upload 36 photographs onto his social networking website.
Each photograph is 1.8 megabytes in size.
How long would it take to upload his photographs?

3. John has bought a 4 Gbyte MP3 player.

(You may assume: 1 byte = 8 bits, 1 Mbyte = 1024 kbytes and 1Gbyte = 1024 Mbytes)
(i) We can assume that each song lasts 3 minutes and is recorded at 128 kbps
(kilobits per second).
How much memory is required per song?

4. A digital security camera was set up as shown in the diagram.

The digital CCTV camera is connected to a computer. The computer can make the
camera move in any direction by sending out digital signals. The computer system
has a 400 gigabyte hard disk.
Each image size is 400 kilobytes (0.4 gigabytes).
(i) How many images can be stored before the hard disk is full?

5. Computer memories are measured in terms of the number of bytes.

(i) What is meant by the term byte?
(ii) What is meant by a Gigabyte?
(b) Flash memories and CD-RWs are used as backing media for computers.
Give two differences between these two media.

6. The following statistics refer to a music track being recorded on a CD:

• music is sampled at 44 100 times per second
• each sample is 16 bits
• each track requires separate sampling for left and right speakers of a stereo
recording
(8 bits = 1 byte, 1 megabyte = 1 048 576 bytes)
(a) (i) How many bytes are required to represent one second of sampled music?

(ii) If a typical music track is 3 minutes long, how much memory is used on the CD to
store one track? (Give your answer in megabytes.)

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 38 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Monitoring & Control System

May/June 2006 P1 (7010)

8 Data-logging is used for monitoring the level of oxygen in a river.
(a) State one item of hardware that is used to collect the oxygen data. [1]
(b) Explain how the oxygen data is processed by the computer. [2]
(c) State two ways that the oxygen data could be displayed for a user to understand. [2]
(d) Explain what the computer would do if the amount of oxygen in the water is too high[1]
(e) Give two advantages of using data-logging for monitoring the oxygen data in a river[2]

Oct/Nov 2006 P1 (7010)

A computer is used to control the traffic lights at each end of a narrow bridge.

(a) State one type of sensor that could be used to detect a vehicle approaching the
bridge. [1]
(b) Give one reason why an analogue to digital converter (ADC) may be needed.
[1]
(c) Describe how the data received from the sensors is used to control the timing of the
traffic lights.
[3]
(d) If the computer controlling the traffic light system detects an error in the system, or fails
completely, what should the lights on the bridge do? [1]

May/June 2007 P1 (7010)

Modern car engines use fuel injection systems which are controlled by microprocessors
called Engine Control Units (ECUs). The fuel injection system controls the amount of fuel
that goes into the engine. Sensors monitor engine conditions and feed the data back to
theECUs.

(a) Name two types of sensors used to monitor engine conditions. [2]
(b) Describe how information from the sensors is used to control the fuel injection system [3]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 39 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(c) Give an advantage of using automatic fuel injection systems rather than simpler
mechanical fuel devices. [1]
(d) The fuel injection system operates in real time.
Why would batch processing not be appropriate in this application? [1]

Oct/Nov 2007 P1 (7010)

Monitoring of patients‘ vital signs (e.g. heartbeat) in a hospital is done automatically using
sensors and computer hardware. Readings are shown on a screen both as a graph and as
numbers.
(a) Why are readings shown in both graphical and numerical form? [2]
(b) When the heartbeat is being monitored, how does the system decide if the
doctor/nurse needs to be warned of an abnormal reading? [1]
(c) Give two advantages of using this type of automatic monitoring. [2]
(d) How does this monitoring system differ from a control system? [1]

May/June 2008 P1 (7010)

16 The washroom in a hotel uses lights controlled by a computer system. If the washroom is
unoccupied for 10 minutes, the lights go out automatically. As soon as someone enters, the
lights come on.
(a) How can the system determine if anyone is in the washroom? [2]
(b) Write down a set of instructions which would enable the computer to decide when to
turn out the lights. [3]
(c) Give one advantage of this automatic system. [1]

Oct/Nov 2008 P1 (7010)

A large city has decided to computerise totally its traffic management system. Traffic lights
and electronic road signs are now under automatic computer control.
(a) Sensors are placed around the city to gather information about traffic. Describe what
information would need to be gathered. [2]
(b) Describe two ways the information from the sensors could be sent to the central
computer which is located several miles away. [2]
(c) Give two advantages of having the traffic in the city controlled in this way. [2]

May/June 2009 P1 (7010)

15 Airplanes use on-board computer power to allow them to operate more efficiently and
safely.
(a) How is data during a flight collected and fed back to on-board computers? [2]
(b) Why are computer systems thought to be safer than human pilots? [2]
(c) However, pilots are still used on all flights. Why is this? [2]
(d) What recent developments have led to more use of computer control in newly
designed airplanes? [1]
(e) Describe how the computer would know when to make course corrections during a
flight. [2]
(f) At the airport, baggage check-ins use bar codes which are read by computers.
(i) What information would be stored on the bar code? [1]
(ii) Why do airports use the bar codes on baggage? [1]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 40 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/Nov 2009 P1 (7010)

How could a computer simulation be used by a supermarket to reduce queuing at
checkouts? [2]
(b) The supermarket has decided to fit sensors at the shop entrance to count people
coming in and leaving.
(i) What type of sensor would be suitable to detect people? [1]
(ii) How could the supermarket use the information obtained from these sensors? [2]
(c) The supermarket has decided to fit information screens at various locations for customer
use. These information screens do not use keyboards.
(i) Give one example of a suitable input device. [1]
(ii) What information could be made available to supermarket customers? [1]
(iii) Give one advantage of using this system rather than displaying signs and notices
around the supermarket. [1]

12 A digital security camera was set up as shown in the diagram.

The digital CCTV camera is connected to a computer. The computer can make the
camera move in any direction by sending out digital signals. The computer system has a
400 gigabyte hard disk.
(a) What hardware is needed to inform the computer that the camera needs to ove to
capture an image? [1]
(b) Why is the DAC needed? [1]
(c) How could the computer use the camera to detect an intruder? [1]
(d) Give two advantages of using digital cameras. [2]

Oct/Nov 2010 P12 (7010)

A road system is to be operated using computer-controlled traffic lights. Sensors are used
as part of the control system.
(a) The movement of traffic throughout the road system was first simulated on a computer.
Describe what data would need to be collected and how it would be used in the
simulation. [3]
(b) Give two advantages of carrying out a simulation first before introducing a new system.
[2]
(c) Describe how the sensors, traffic lights and computer interact to control the traffic flow
in the new system. [2]

May/June 2011 P11 (7010)

8 Many computer-controlled systems use sensors to gather physical data. For example,
temperature sensors are used in the control of central heating systems.
(a) Name three other sensors and give a different application for each named sensor. [6]
(b) Describe how temperature sensors are used in computer-controlled central heating
systems. [3]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 41 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/Nov 2011 P12 (7010)

The conditions in a fish tank are being controlled using sensors and a microprocessor. To
keep the fish healthy, the temperature must be at 25°C and the oxygen content needs to
be20 ppm (parts per million). The tank contains a heater and an oxygen inlet controlled by
a valve.

(a) Name the two sensors used in this application. [2]

(b) Describe how the sensors and the microprocessor are used to maintain the correct
conditions in the fish tank. [4]
(c) What safeguards would be needed to stop the fish tank temperature rising too high?[1]

Oct/Nov 2011 P13 (7010)

A computer system is being used to monitor and control a chemical process.

(a) Data are collected from sensors at regular intervals and compared with stored values.
(i) Describe how the computer uses this data when monitoring the chemical process. [1]
(ii) Describe how the computer uses this data when controlling the chemical process. [1]
(b) What steps are necessary for the computer to control the temperature of the chemical
process? [3]
(c) Name two other sensors and give a different application where they are used.

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 42 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2010 P11 (7010)

A shower unit is controlled by sensors and a microprocessor.

(a) Describe how the sensors and microprocessor are used to ensure the correct water flow
and water temperature are maintained. [4]
(b) Give one safety feature that could be built into the shower unit in case the sensor
sand/or microprocessor fail. [1]
(c) What is the advantage of having microprocessor control rather than manual control of
water flow and temperature? [1]

May/June 2010 P12 (7010)

A safety system has been developed to stop vehicles getting too close to each other on
the road.

If vehicle A gets too close to vehicle B, the brakes are automatically applied by a
computer system in vehicle A.
(a) What type of sensors could be used on the vehicles? [1]
(b) Describe what the safety system does to constantly monitor how close the vehicle is
tothe vehicles in front and decide when to take action. [4]
(c) Describe two potential problems with this safety system. [2]

May/June 2011 P11 (7010)

Many computer-controlled systems use sensors to gather physical data. For example,
temperature sensors are used in the control of central heating systems.
(a) Name three other sensors and give a different application for each named sensor. [6]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 43 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2012 P11 (7010)

Vehicles passing over a bridge are detected automatically using sensors and a computer.
(a) What sensors could be used? [1]
(b) The graph below shows the number of vehicles counted during certain periods of the
day.
This graph is produced automatically at the end of each day.

A record is created each time a vehicle is detected. These records are processed to
generate the graph and for other purposes.
What data need to be stored in each record? [2]
(c) State two other methods of automatic data capture. In each case, name an
application which would use this method. [4]

May/June 2012 P12 (7010)

A room in a house is fitted with a computerised intruder alarm system:

(a) (i) Describe how the sensors and computer would be used to detect intruders.
(ii) Describe how the system warns that an intruder has been detected. [4]
(b) It is decided to automatically close door and window shutters if an intruder is detected.
What additional processing and hardware would be needed? [2]
(c) Name another sensor that could have been used in this intruder alarm system. [1]
(d) What measures could be taken to stop or minimise the number of false alarms? [2]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 44 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/Nov 2012. P12 (7010)

13 A chemical company uses pipes to transfer hazardous liquids. To protect the workforce,
each pipe is inside a protective pipe.

Sensors are used to detect the sound of any liquid dripping into the protective pipe.
Actuators operate the valves that regulate the flow of liquid through the inner pipe.
This system is controlled by a computer.
(a) Describe how the sensors, actuators, valves and computer are used to monitor and
control the liquid in the pipe. [5]

(b) Give two advantages of using this computer-controlled system rather than visual
checks by the workforce. [2]

May/June 2013 P11 (7010)

1 Name a suitable sensor for each of the following applications.

Choose a different sensor in each application.
(i) control of a central heating system
(ii) operation of automatic doors
(iii) detection of intruders
(iv) monitoring of a greenhouse environment [4]

An aeroplane uses three separate computer systems to monitor and control the flight
process while in auto pilot mode.
(a) Explain the advantages of using three computers rather than just one. [2]
(b) Sensors are used to measure air speed. The readings are sent to the three computers.
Describe how the sensors and computers are used to control the aeroplane‘s speed in
auto pilot mode. [4]

Oct/Nov 2013. P13 (7010)

6 Patients in a hospital are monitored for vital signs (for example, heart beat and
temperature) by sensors and a computer system. Results are displayed on a monitor in the
form of numbers and graphs.
(a) Describe how the sensors and computer system are used to monitor the patients and
to alert doctors and nurses of a possible problem. [3]
(b) Give two advantages of using this system rather than 24 hour monitoring by nurses. [2]
(c) Why is the output shown in both graphical and numerical form? [2]

Unit 1- Introduction to computer systems 45 | P a g e

Unit-2:
Numbers, processors and operating
systems
Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Number Systems

Binary Number System & its use in computer systems:

The binary number system is a method of storing ordinary numbers such as 42 or 365 as
patterns of 1's and 0's. Because of their digital nature, a computer's electronics can easily
manipulate numbers stored in binary by treating 1 as "on" and 0 as "off."

Most computer electronics use voltage levels to indicate their present state. For example, a
transistor with five volts would be considered "on", while a transistor with no voltage would
be considered "off." Not all computer hardware uses voltage, however. CD-ROM's, for
example, use microscopic dark spots on the surface of the disk to indicate "off," while the
ordinary shiny surface is considered "on." Hard disks use magnetism, while computer
memory uses electric charges stored in tiny capacitors to indicate "on" or "off."

These patterns of "on" and "off" stored inside the computer are used to encode numbers
using the binary number system.

How Binary Works

The easiest way to understand bits is to compare them to something you know: digits. A
digit is a single place that can hold numerical values between 0 and 9. Digits are normally
combined together in groups to create larger numbers. For example, 6,357 has four digits. It
is understood that in the number 6,357, the 7 is filling the "1s place," while the 5 is filling the
10s place, the 3 is filling the 100s place and the 6 is filling the 1,000s place. So you could
express things this way if you wanted to be explicit:

(6 * 1000) + (3 * 100) + (5 * 10) + (7 * 1) = 6000 + 300 + 50 + 7 = 6357

Another way to express it would be to use powers of 10. Assuming that we are going to
represent the concept of "raised to the power of" with the "^" symbol (so "10 squared" is
written as "10^2"), another way to express it is like this:

(6 * 10^3) + (3 * 10^2) + (5 * 10^1) + (7 * 10^0) = 6000 + 300 + 50 + 7 = 6357

What you can see from this expression is that each digit is a placeholder for the next higher
power of 10, starting in the first digit with 10 raised to the power of zero.

The binary number system works in the exact same way as the decimal system, except that
it contains only two digits, 0 and 1. like this: 1011. How do you figure out what the value of
the binary number 1011 is? You do it in the same way we did it above for 6357, but you use
a base of 2 instead of a base of 10. So:

Unit 2- Numbers, processors and operating systems 47 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(1 * 2^3) + (0 * 2^2) + (1 * 2^1) + (1 * 2^0) = 8 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 11

You can see that in binary numbers, each bit holds the value of increasing powers of 2.

How to convert (decimal -> binary)

In the decimal system the number 34567 could be represented as

10^4 10^3 10^2 10^1 10^0

3 4 5 6 7

In binary the number 11001 could be written as:

2^4 2^3 2^2 2^1 2^0

1 1 0 0 1

OR

16 8 4 2 1

1 1 0 0 1

To convert binary numbers to decimal (1 byte):

The term bit is short for binary digit.
so 8 bits make up 1 byte.
The byte is 10010111

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1

To work this out, you multiply the numbers which are a 1 by 1 and add them together to
give you the decimal number

= (128×1) + (16×1) + (4×1) + (2×1) +(1×1)

= 128 + 16 + 4 + 2 + 1

= 151
How to convert (decimal -> binary)
Convert the number 98 into binary:
To do this, does the number go into 128? no. so this becomes a 0.

Does it go into 64? yes, so this becomes a 1.

Does the remaining 34 go into 32? Yes so this is also a 1

Does the remaining 2 go in 16, 8, 4, or 1? No so these are all 0′s.

Unit 2- Numbers, processors and operating systems 48 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Does the remaining 2 go into 2? Yes, so this is a 1.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0

98 in binary = 01100010

The largest number we can make with 1 byte is 255. so if we wanted to make a number
which is larger, we‘d just add another byte on.

Units of Measurement:

A byte is a sequence of 8 bits (enough to represent one alphanumeric character)

processed as a single unit of information. A single letter or character would use one byte of
memory (8 bits), two characters would use two bytes (16 bits).

When you start talking about lots of bytes, you get into prefixes like kilo, mega and giga, as
in kilobyte, megabyte and gigabyte (also shortened to K, M and G, as in Kbytes, Mbytes
and Gbytes or KB, MB and GB). The following table shows the binary multipliers:

Kilo (K)
2^10 = 1,024
1024 bytes = 1 KB KB = Kilobyte
Mega (M)
2^20 = 1,048,576 1024 KB = 1 MB MB = Megabyte

Giga (G) 1024 MB = 1 GB GB = Gigabyte

2^30 = 1,073,741,824
1024 GB = 1 TB TB = Terabyte
Tera (T)
2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776 1024 TB = 1 PB PB = Petabyte

Peta (P)
2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624

Exa (E)
2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976

Zetta (Z)
2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424

Yotta (Y)
2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

Unit 2- Numbers, processors and operating systems 49 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Binary Data
Controlled devices usually contain registers which are made up of binary digits (bits). The
following example shows how these registers can be used to control a device.

Example

The device on the left is a mobile trolley with 3

wheels. All three wheels can turn left or right and
each wheel has its own electric driving motor.
Sensors at the front and rear of the trolley detect
an object in its path which would subsequently
stop all movement. An 8-bit register is used to
control the device.

Therefore, 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
means: front wheel turns left
back wheels turn left
the direction is forward
the motors are on

therefore the trolley is moving forward and turning left.

(i) What does this register mean?

00010111?

(ii) How would the following be represented using the above register?
- front wheel turning right
- back wheels turning left
- moving in a forward direction
- motors on
- no object in its path

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Answers
(i) - front wheel not turning left or right
- rear wheels turning right
- going in backward direction
- motors on
- error – object in path
So the vehicle is going nowhere.
(ii) 01101010

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Hexadecimal
The main reason why we use hexadecimal numbers is because it is much easier to express
binary number representations in hex than it is in any other base number system.
Computers do not actually work in hex (don‘t laugh, beginning students do ask that
question). Lets look at an example, using a byte. Bytes are typically 8 bits, and can store the
values 0 – 255 (0000 0000 – 1111 1111 in binary). For people, expressing numbers in binary is
not convenient. I am not going to turn around to my co-worker and tell him that my phone
number is 101 101 101 001 010 001 010 for obvious reasons. Imaging having to try and work
with that on a daily basis. So a more convenient expression is needed for the human side.

Since a byte is 8 bits, it makes sense to divide that up into two groups, the top 4 bits and the
low 4 bits. Since 4 bits gives you the possible range from 0 – 15, a base 16 system is easier to
work with, especially if you are only familiar with alphanumeric characters (I don‘t know of
any languages have 255 letters in their alphabet, but I am naive and not worldly). It‘s easier
to express a binary value to another person as ―A‖ then it is to express it as ―1010‖. This way I
can simple use 2 hex values to represent a byte and have it work cleanly. This way if I am
piss poor at math, I only need to memorize the multiplication tables up to 15. So if I have a
hex value of CE, I can easily determine that 12 * 14 = 206 in decimal, and can easily write it
out in binary as 1100 1110. Trying to convert from binary would require me to know what
each place holder represents, and add all the values together (128 + 64 + 8 + 4 + 2 = 206).
It‘s much easier to work with binary through hex than any other base system.

Conversion:

From Binary to Hexadecimal:

Binary: 01010111

Hexadecimal:??

8 4 2 1 8 4 2 1
0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
0x8 1x4 0x2 1x1 0x8 1x4 1x2 1x1
0 4 0 1 0 4 2 1
0+4+0+1=5 0+4+2+1=7
5 7
57

From Denary to Hexadecimal:

117 (in denary) is 7 lots of 16 (112) plus an extra 5. Fitting this in the columns gives

256 16 1
0 7 5
Notice that 7 in binary is 0111 and that 5 is 0101, put them together and we get 01110101
which is the binary value of 117 again. So binary and hexadecimal are all related in some
way.

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From Hexadecimal to Binary and Denary:

Hexadecimal number BD stands for 11 lots of 16 and 13 units

= 176 + 13

= 189 ( in denary)

Note: B = 11, which in binary = 1011

D = 13, which in binary = 1101

Put them together to get 10111101 = the binary value of 189.

Use of hexadecimal number in computer registers and main memory:

Computers are comprised of chips, registers, transistors, resistors, processors, traces, and all
kinds of things. To get the binary bits from one place to the next, software programmers
convert binary to hex and move hex values around. In reality, the computer is still shoving
1's and 0's along the traces to the chips.

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Von Neumann Architecture

The earliest computing machines had fixed programs. For example, a desk calculator (in
principle) is a fixed program computer. It can do basic mathematics, but it cannot be used
as a word processor or a gaming console. Changing the program of a fixed-program
machine requires re-wiring, re-structuring, or re-designing the machine. The earliest
computers were not so much "programmed" as they were "designed". "Reprogramming",
when it was possible at all, was a laborious process, starting with flowcharts and paper
notes, followed by detailed engineering designs, and then the often-arduous process of
physically re-wiring and re-building the machine. It could take three weeks to set up a
program on ENIAC (a computer of 1940s) and get it working.

The phrase Von Neumann architecture derives from a paper written by computer scientist
John von Neumann in1945. This describes a design architecture for an electronic digital
computer with subdivisions of a central arithmetic part, a central control part, a memory to
store both data and instructions, external storage, and input and output mechanisms. The
meaning of the phrase has evolved to mean a stored-program computer. A stored-
program digital computer is one that keeps its programmed instructions, as well as its data,
in read-write, random-access memory (RAM). So John Von Neumann introduced the idea
of the stored program. Previously data and programs were stored in separate memories.
Von Neumann realised that data and programs are indistinguishable and can, therefore,
use the same memory. On a large scale, the ability to treat instructions as data is what
makes assemblers, compilers and other automated programming tools possible. One can
"write programs which write programs". This led to the introduction of compilers which
accepted high level language source code as input and produced binary code as output.

The Von Neumann architecture uses a single processor which follows a linear sequence of
fetch-decode-execute. In order to do this, the processor has to use some special registers,
which are discrete memory locations with special purposes attached. These are

Register Meaning

PC Program Counter

CIR Current Instruction Register

MAR Memory Address Register

MDR Memory Data Register

IR Index Register

Accumulator Holds results

The program counter keeps track of where to find the next instruction so that a copy of the
instruction can be placed in the current instruction register. Sometimes the program
counter is called the Sequence Control Register (SCR) as it controls the sequence in which
instructions are executed.

The current instruction register holds the instruction that is to be executed.

The memory address register is used to hold the memory address that contains either the
next piece of data or an instruction that is to be used.

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The memory data register acts like a buffer and holds anything that is copied from the
memory ready for the processor to use it.

The central processor contains the arithmetic-logic unit (also known as the arithmetic unit)
and the control unit. The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) is where data is processed. This
involves arithmetic and logical operations. Arithmetic operations are those that add and
subtract numbers, and so on. Logical operations involve comparing binary patterns and
making decisions.

The control unit fetches instructions from memory, decodes them and synchronises the
operations before sending signals to other parts of the computer.

The accumulator is in the arithmetic unit, the program counter and the instruction registers
are in the control unit and the memory data register and memory address register are in
the processor.

An index register is a microprocessor register used for modifying operand addresses during
the run of a program, typically for doing vector/array operations. Index registers are used
for a special kind of indirect addressing (covered in 3.5 (i) ) where an immediate constant
(i.e. which is part of the instruction itself) is added to the contents of the index register to
form the address to the actual operand or data.

A typical layout is shown in Fig. 3.3.a.1 which also shows the data paths.

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The Fetch-Decode-Execute-Reset Cycle

The following is an algorithm that shows the steps in the cycle. At the end the cycle is reset
and the algorithm repeated.

1. Load the address that is in the program counter (PC) into the memory address
register (MAR).
2. Increment the PC by 1.
3. Load the instruction that is in the memory address given by the MAR into the
memory data register (MDR).
4. Load the instruction that is now in the MDR into the current instruction register (CIR).
5. Decode the instruction that is in the CIR.
6. If the instruction is a jump instruction then
a. Load the address part of the instruction into the PC
b. Reset by going to step 1.
7. Execute the instruction.
8. Reset by going to step 1.

Steps 1 to 4 are the fetch part of the cycle. Steps 5, 6a and 7 are the execute part of the
cycle and steps 6b and 8 are the reset part.

Step 1 simply places the address of the next instruction into the memory address register so
that the control unit can fetch the instruction from the right part of the memory. The
program counter is then incremented by 1 so that it contains the address of the next
instruction, assuming that the instructions are in consecutive locations.

The memory data register is used whenever anything is to go from the central processing
unit to main memory, or vice versa. Thus the next instruction is copied from memory into
the MDR and is then copied into the current instruction register.

Now that the instruction has been fetched the control unit can decode it and decide what
has to be done. This is the execute part of the cycle. If it is an arithmetic instruction, this
can be executed and the cycle restarted as the PC contains the address of the next
instruction in order. However, if the instruction involves jumping to an instruction that is not
the next one in order, the PC has to be loaded with the address of the instruction that is to
be executed next. This address is in the address part of the current instruction, hence the
address part is loaded into the PC before the cycle is reset and starts all over again.

A CPU cannot do math on data registers, although it can do it indirectly with an index
register. The index register works with the data registers, allowing a program to process
strings of data efficiently. To process your first name, for example, a program move 300 to
MAR and zero to the index register. An indexed operation adds the index value to the MDR,
retrieving the letter at location 300. Next, the program increments the index by one and
gets the next letter. It repeats this process until it has moved the whole name. By itself, the
index register does little; its value is that it gives greater speed and convenience to address
registers.

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Operating System:

Operating system is a software program which controls the operations of the computer
system & manages all of the computer‘s hardware and programs. It acts as a layer of
software between applications programs and hardware and provides an interface through
which a user can run an application. It controls how the computer responds to user‘s
requests and how the hardware communicates with each other.

Without an operating system, no matter how many programs you have, the computer is
useless. However, not all computers need an operating system. An automated system such
as household appliances that is microprocessor-controlled, like a washing machine or a
digital camera, has a single control program performing a single task with a fixed set of
input and output hardware.

Loading an operating system:

When a user switches on a laptop, desktop it usually has no operating system in internal
memory ready to run and manage the computer. Computer then automatically run a
small firmware program to start the process of loading the operating system into RAM,
ready to take control. In a PC or laptop this firmware is stored in flash memory. The first
firmware program performs a power-on selftest (POST). The purpose of POSTing is to prevent
the computer from starting to run in an unusable state. It checks the integrity of the
firmware what external devices are connected and the size of internal memory.

Then it identifies the most promising disk drive from which to load an operating system. The
second firmware program, called the ‗boot loader‘ then loads the first, tiny portion of the
operating system into RAM from a hard disk. This portion of the operating system software
can in turn load the rest of the operating system software and associated data into RAM.
This process, in which the operating system loads itself and then takes control of the
computer is known as ‗bootstrapping‘.

Function of operating system:

1. Manage user accounts and security using one or more usernames and password.
2. Provide an interface for the user that allows the user to:
a. Run application programs.
b. Manage files in backing storage.
c. Read and respond to error messages.
3. Manage the processors time
4. Manage the allocation of internal memory.
5. Control peripheral devices-input devices such as keyboards, output devices such as
printers and backing storage such as hard disk drive.
6. Provide spooling (temporary storage of input or output data in a queue on hard
disk)
7. Manage interrupt signals to the processor.
8. Perform ‗house keeping tasks‘, such as defragmenting a drive or file indexing.

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Types of Interfaces:

The means of communication between the user and the machine is known as the user
interface and consists of both hardware and software. It consist al hardware and software
through which a user provide input to a computer or receives information from it. There are
different types of interface, which are useful in different situations and for different types of
user.
 Command line interface
 Graphical user interface

Graphical user interface

Graphical interfaces are called GUI (graphical user interface) or WIMP (windows, icons,
menus, pointer) because it displays graphics as well as text.

A GUI is very user friendly. The user will expect to be able to select options by use of menus
of choices and by using small pictures which represent the different options available.
Choices are selected by the user by using some sort of pointing device to indicate choice,
typically this would be a mouse.

Command line interface

Or command based interface is one where the user types a series of commands at the
keyboard which tell the computer what their intentions are. The user needs to know what
the possible commands are, and also needs to understand the way files are stored on the
system. The characteristics of a command based interface are
• the user needs to know what commands are available
• the user needs to understand the commands
• the user needs to understand the way that material is stored in the computer system

Because of the above points there are two very important characteristics about a
command based interface. First, the system is very much more open than in the other types
of interface. Other interfaces restrict the options that the user has available to them. This
can be particularly important for the system manager because different users can only be
allowed to have access to specific parts of the system. The second characteristic is that
command based interfaces can only be used by computer literate people because you
not only have to understand the commands and their uses but you also need to
understand something about how the computer operates, particular how information is
stored.

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Utility software

Utility programs are part of the operating system of a computer and are routines which
carry out important tasks which are necessary from time to time on the system. They do not
produce a pretty picture, or a letter which can be sent to someone so they are not
application programs, but the types of job that they do are so important that the system
could not run without them. There are many examples of utility software but we shall limit
ourselves to just a few:
1. The surface of a disk can store so much data that the computer cannot handle it all at
once so it needs to be split up so that data stored on it can be found again. When it is new
a disk surface is blank so the computer ―draws lines‖ on the surface to split it into small
areas. The process is called formatting and it is carried out by a utility program called a disk
formatter.
2. When files are to be stored on a disk they need to be managed. This includes arranging
for them to be stored in a certain place, finding files again after they have been stored,
moving them around to get them in a sensible order and deleting them when they are not
needed any more. All of these actions are carried out by utility programs called file
handlers.
3. A computer system is made up of lots of different sorts of hardware, each piece of which
needs instructions about how to work. These programs are called hardware drivers.
4. Some files are very large. In most files it is possible to find simple ways of reducing the size
of the file while keeping all its meaning. This can be very important when files are being
sent from one computer to another as the communication is speeded up. The programs
that reduce the size of files are called file compressors.
5. When files are being sent from one computer to another it is possible that they may
contain a virus which will infect the receiving computer. A virus checker (scanner, killer,..) is
a utility program which keeps a constant check on files searching for viruses which it will
delete if it finds any.

Buffer

An operating system is often able to pass input data to an application program far faster
than an input device can supply it. Similarly, it can often supply the application programs
output data far faster than an output device can accept it. To compensate for the
difference in rates of data processing and allow the processor to perform other tasks while
waiting to receive or send data, system software uses an area of memory to hold data
temporarily. Such an area in memory is called a buffer.

Polling

Method in which operating system periodically checks each peripheral device for
communication is called polling.

Interrupts

An interrupt is a signal sent from a peripheral device (hardware) or program (software) to

the processor to indicate that the sender needs attention. This leaves the operating system
entirely free to process other task until its attention is needed.

A processor usually has relatively few hardware interrupt inputs with different priorities.
Before fetching each machine code instruction from internal memory, the processor
checks an area of memory within the processor called its ‗interrupt register‘ to see whether
any interrupts are waiting to be serviced.
Programs can also generate interrupts. An application program can use a software
interrupt request a service from the operating system.

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Handshaking

Term used to describe the process of one computer establishing a connection with another
computer or device. The handshake is often the steps of verifying the connection, the
speed, or the authorization of the computer trying to connect to it.

Checksum.

A checksum is a way of summarizing a block of data such as a USB or network data

packet. At its simplest, it consists of the arithmetical sum of all the numerical values of all the
elements of the block. The sum reduced to a standard number of digits and transmitted
with the block. When the block of data get to its destination, the same mathematical
calculation is performed on the data by the received device and the result is compared
with the received checksum. If two checksum match, the integrity of the data has been
maintained. If the two checksums do not match then an error has been made in
transmitting the data and the receiving device requests the sending device to re-transmit
the data. Even if one binary digit has changed in the data, the recalculated check sum
does not match the received checksum and the data are rejected.

File Management:

Another part of the operating system is the file manager. While the memory manager is
responsible for the maintenance of primary memory, the file manager is responsible for the
maintenance of secondary storage (e.g., hard disks)

The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connections with file
management:
• File creation and deletion.
• Directory creation and deletion.
• Support for manipulating files and directories.
• Mapping files onto secondary storage.
• File backup on stable (nonvolatile) storage media.
• Identify and locate a selected file
• Use a directory to describe the location of all files plus their attributes
• On a shared system describe user access control
• Blocking for access to files
• provide simple and fast algorithms to read and write files
• give and deny access rights on files to users and programs
• allocate and de allocate files to processes
• provide users and programs with simple commands for file handling

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Example Questions.

Conversion:

1. Express the denary value 109 as

(i) a binary number using an 8-bit byte;
(iii) a hexadecimal number.

2. Express the denary number 78 as

(i) a binary number stored in an 8 bit byte,
(ii) a hexadecimal number,

3. 01011101 and 11010010 are two numbers stored in the computer.

(i) Write down the decimal equivalent of 11010010.

4. Convert the following binary numbers into decimal number & hexadecimal number:
(i) (00001100)2
(ii) (01011001)2
(iii) (00000111)2

5. Is there a short cut to working out a binary number that is made of solid ones, such
as: (01111111)2?

6. Convert the following Hexadecimal numbers into denary system and binary system:
(i) A1
(ii) 37
(iii) FF
(iv) 0D
(v) ABC

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Binary Data:

May/June 2007
9 .A 7-segment display is used to indicate which floor a lift is on. Each segment is numbered
as shown:

A byte is used to hold the data needed to light the correct segments. Bit 0 is always zero.
For example, 3 is represented by

(a) If the lift is to stop at more than one floor, the data is held in successive bytes. For
example:

Which floor numbers are stored in each byte?

First byte floor
number………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Second byte floor number
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

(b) What bit pattern is used to indicate Floor 2?

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Oct/Nov 2009:

15 Electric guitars consist of strings and frets.

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Oct/Nov 2011. P13

11 A digital alarm clock is controlled by a microprocessor. It uses the 24-hour clock system
(i.e. 6 pm is 18:00).
Each digit in a typical display is represented by a 4-digit binary code:

What time is shown on the clock display if the 4-digit binary codes are:

(b) What would be stored in the 4-digit binary codes if the clock display time was:

(c) The clock alarm has been set at 08:00.

Describe the actions of the microprocessor which enable the alarm to sound at 08:00 [2]

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May/June 2012. P11

2. A vending machine has the choices shown below.

A customer uses a keypad to make their choice. Each number entered is represented in a
6-bit binary register.
For example, key press 33 (hot chocolate with extra milk and extra sugar) is represented by:

(a) (i) If a customer chooses coffee with milk and sugar what is the key press?

(ii) How is it represented in the 6-bit register?

(b) If the 6-bit register shows

what drink has the customer chosen?

(c) A customer using the vending machine gets an error message after keying in their
selection.
What could have caused this error message?

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(d) It was decided to split the register so that each digit was represented by its own 3-bit
register:
For example, 42 would now be represented as:

(i) What drink has been chosen if the 3-bit registers contain:

(ii) How would the lemon option be shown on both types of register?

(iii) What is the advantage of using two 3-bit registers rather than one 6-bit register?

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Oct/Nov 201. P13

13 A large hotel uses eight lifts (elevators) to carry passengers between its sixty floors.
A computer is used to control and monitor the lifts. Each lift has three registers to represent
its state.

what information about the lift is shown? [2]

(b) How would the following information be shown in the three registers:
lift 6 presently on the 45th floor and going down

(c) (i) A customer is on the 14th floor and wants to go to the 50th floor. She presses the
button to call the lift.
What two pieces of information would the computer check to identify which of the
eight lifts should be made available? [2]
(ii) Using your answers to part (i), which of the following lifts would be made available
to the customer?

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(d) An engineer wishes to test that this computer system detects incorrect data.
Describe what input the engineer might use to check that the computer can correctly
identify a fault condition. [2]

May/June 2013. P11

11 Letters from the Greek alphabet are to be transferred to a computer system. Each letter
can be represented on an 8 by 8 grid. Each column has a value from 1 to 128.
The value of each row is stored in a table. The values in the column headings are used to
work out the value for each row (e.g. in our example, row 8 has the value 64 + 32 + 4 + 2 =
102).
Thus, in the example below, the letter (π) is stored as:

(a) What values would be stored in the table for the Greek character (Σ)? [4]

(b) Draw the character formed from the following value table: [4]

May/June 2013. P12

14 Some decorative lights are made up from a cluster of red, blue, green, yellow and white
LEDs.

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Each colour is represented by a binary code:

A 6-bit register, R1, stores the 1-values to represent a sequence of colours.

Thus, if R1 contains:

this means the blue, yellow and black colour sequence is stored and displayed in that
order.
The length of time each light is on is set by a binary value in another register, R2:
Thus

means each colour is on for 2 seconds.

(a) The two registers contain the following values.
What is the sequence of coloured lights and the timing for each colour?

sequence of colours
timing [2]
(b) What will the two registers contain if the coloured light sequence is red, green and
black and the timing is 5 seconds?

(c) What is the problem with trying to display green, blue, red in that order? [2]

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Oct/Nov 2013. P12

11 A denary number can be represented as an 8-bit binary number. For example:

27 would be represented as:

All the bits in the binary number have now been shifted (moved) one place to the left.
(a) What denary number does this now represent? [1]
(b) What effect did the shift have on the original denary number? [1]
(c) If the above binary number was shifted another one place to the left, what denary
number would it be equivalent to? [1]
(d) (i) Represent the denary number 46 as an 8-bit binary number. [1]

(ii) Shift this 8-bit binary number 2 places to the left.

What is the denary equivalent? [1]
(iii) What problem would arise if you tried to shift this 8-bit binary number 3 places to
the left? [1]
(e) If any 8-bit binary number was shifted one place to the right, what would this be
equivalent to? [1]

Oct/Nov 2013. P13

13. A touch screen is divided up into a number of locations:

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Each x-position is shown in a 6-bit register:

and each y-position is shown in a 5-bit register:

Thus,

refers to screen position: (30, 21)

(a) Give the screen position referred to if the two registers contain:

(b) Three options (A, B, C) are shown on the touch screen below:

If the two registers contain:

what option (A, B or C) has been chosen?

(c) Each box A, B, C is made up of 128 x 64 pixels.

(i) What is meant by the term pixel?

(ii) The value of each pixel is stored in 1 byte of memory.

How much memory is needed to store one of these boxes?
Give your answer in kilobytes.

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May/June 2014. P11

12 A digital light meter has a 3-digit LCD. The value of each digit on the instrument display is
stored as a 4-bit binary number in a register.
For example:

(a) What value is shown on the display if the 4-bit binary registers contain:

(b) What would be stored in the 4-bit binary registers if the display shows:

(c) If any of the 4-bit binary registers X, Y or Z contain the value 1 1 1 1 this indicates an
error.
(i) How could this error be shown on the instrument display? [1]
(ii) What could cause an error to occur? [1]

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May/June 2014. P12

16 An encryption system gives each letter of the alphabet a value:
A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, ……… , Y = 25, Z = 26.
Each letter is stored in a 12-bit binary register. The letter ―S‖ (19th letter) is stored as:

A 4-bit register is used to store the encryption key. This register shows how many places the
bits are shifted to the left in the 12-bit register when it is encrypted. So,

means each bit in the 12-bit register is shifted 5 places to the left and the register now
becomes:

Therefore, the letter ―S‖ would be transmitted with the 4-bit register and the 12-bit register
as follows:

(a) ―W‖ is the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

(i) Show how this letter would be stored in the 12-bit register before encryption:

(ii) The 4-bit register contains the following value:

Show how the letter ―W‖ is now stored in the 12-bit register in encrypted form:

(b) Find which letter of the alphabet has been encrypted here. (Show all your working.)

(c) (i) What is the largest encryption key that can be stored in the 4-bit register?

(ii) Convert this into denary (base 10).

(iii) If this encryption key were used, what problem would it cause? [3]

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Von Neumann Architecture:

1. (a) Describe what is meant by Von Neumann architecture. [3]

(b) Explain the purpose of each of the following special registers in a processor.
(i) Program Counter (Sequence Control Register). [2]
(ii) Current Instruction Register. [2]
(iii) Memory Address Register. [2]
(iv) Memory Data Register. [2]
(v) Accumulator

2. (a) Describe the purpose of the following registers in a processor:

(i) Current instruction register (CIR), [2]
(ii) Memory address register (MAR), [2]
(iii) Program counter (PC), [2]
(iv) Index register (IR). [2]
3. (a) Describe what is meant by Von Neumann architecture. [2]

4. (a) State the purpose of the Memory Address Register (MAR) in a computer. [1]
(b) Describe two stages of the fetch/execute cycle which would change the
contents of the MAR. State clearly, in each case, what the MAR contains. [4]

5. (a) (i) State what is held in the Program Counter (PC) during the fetch
/execute cycle. [1]
(ii) Explain how the contents of the PC change during the fetch/execute
cycle. [4]
(b) Describe the contents of the memory address register (MAR) during the
fetch/execute cycle. [4]

9. (a) Describe basic Von Neumann processor architecture. [3]

(b) At a particular point in a program, the program counter (PC) contains the value
200.
(i) State the expected value contained in the PC after the instruction held at
location 200 has been fetched.
Explain your answer. [2]
(ii) After the instruction is processed, the value in the PC is 180.
Explain why the value has changed to 180. [2]

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10. State what is stored in each of the following special purpose registers in a computer
and explain how the contents are altered during the fetch/execute cycle.
(i) MAR [3]
(ii) MDR (or MBR) [3]
(ii) CIR [3]

11. (a) Explain what is meant by Von Neumann architecture. [3]

(b) (i) Explain what the accumulator holds and how the contents change
during the fetch-execute cycle. [2]
(ii) Explain what the program counter (PC) holds and how the contents
change during the fetch-execute cycle. [3]

Operating System:

May/June 2006

14 Batch processing is used for producing electricity bills.

(a) Give two reasons why batch processing is used rather than real-time processing for
producing electricity bills.

Oct/Nov 2006

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the following computer terms:

(e) batch processing [2]

May/June 2007
4 State three tasks done by the operating system. [3]

16 Modern car engines use fuel injection systems which are controlled by microprocessors
called Engine Control Units (ECUs). The fuel injection system controls the amount of fuel that
goes into the engine. Sensors monitor engine conditions and feed the data back to the
ECUs.

(d) The fuel injection system operates in real time.

Why would batch processing not be appropriate in this application? [1]

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Oct/Nov 2007

8 Give three tasks carried out by systems software. [3]

May/June 2008

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(a) batch processing [2]
(b) interrupt [2]

2 List two tasks carried out by an operating system. [2]

May/June 2009
1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(a) batch processing [2]

3 (a) Give three features of a typical operating system. [3]

(b) Some microprocessor-controlled devices do not need an operating system.
(i) Give one example of such a device. [1]
(ii) Give one reason why it does not need an operating system. [1]

May/June 2010 P11

1 Explain, with examples, the following five computer terms:
(c) Interrupt [2]
(d) Batch processing [2]

Oct/Nov 2010 P11

5 A large cinema uses a computer system to control the air conditioning and also the day
to day running of the business (such as booking seats).
(a) Using examples from the cinema application, explain the difference between real time
transaction processing and real time process control. [4]
(b) State two tasks carried out by an operating system. [2]

Oct/Nov 2010 P13

4 (a) Describe two differences between batch processing and real-time transaction
processing. [2]
(b) Give one example of the use of each type of processing.
batch:
real-time transaction: [2]

May/June 2011 P11

1 Give three tasks carried out by an operating system. [3]

May/June 2014 P11

2 (a) (i) A student wrote: ―batch processing can be used when making airline bookings‖.
Why is this statement incorrect? [1]
(ii) The same student also wrote: ―to launch an application, a graphical user interface (GUI)
requires typing the name of the application using a keyboard‖.
Why is this statement incorrect? [1]
(b) A user interface is a function of a typical operating system.
Write down four other functions of a typical operating system. [4]

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May/June 2014 P12

(b) Describe the main differences between batch processing and real time transaction
processing. [2]

Other questions:

1. Define what is meant by the term operating system. (2)

2. (a) Define the following types of software:
(i) operating system [1]
(ii) applications software

3. Many household appliances contain embedded microprocessors.

Explain why most of these microprocessors don‘t need operating systems. [2]

Some microprocessor-controlled devices do not need an operating system.

(i) Give one example of such a device. [1]

(ii) Give one reason why it does not need an operating system.

4. Describe four features/functions/purposes/task of an operating system. [8]

5. Give two reasons why an operating system is likely to be stored on backing storage
rather than in the memory of the computer. (2)

6. Give three file management tasks that are done by a computer operating system.

7. (a) Give three features of a typical operating system. [3]

(b) Some microprocessor-controlled devices do not need an operating system.
(i) Give one example of such a device. [1]
(ii) Give one reason why it does not need an operating system. [1]
[3]
User Interface:

May/June 2011 P12 (7010)

3. Most operating systems provide a user interface.
(a) User interfaces can be either command line interfaces (CLI) or graphical user interfaces
(GUI).
Give ONE advantage and ONE disadvantage of both types of interface.

Oct/Nov 2011 P13 (7010)

3 A user wishes to use a word processing application. They can either use a command line
interface (CLI) or a graphical user interface (GUI) to open this application.
(a) Describe how both methods could be used to select the application including any
input hardware needed.
(i) CLI
(ii) GUI [4]

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May/June 2014 P11 (7010)

2(b) A user interface is a function of a typical operating system.

Write down four other functions of a typical operating system.

Other questions:

1. A computer operator takes phone calls from the public who ring up asking whether
a particular item in a catalogue is available. The operator needs to type in a series
of responses to questions put to the caller, so that the computer can check the file
and determine whether there are any of that item available. Describe a screen
interface that would be suitable for the operator to use. (4)

2. The technician responsible for maintaining the system in question 5, uses a

command line interface.
a) Explain what is meant by a command line interface. (2)
b) Give two advantages and one disadvantage to the technician of using a
command line interface rather than a menu based interface. (3)

3. Describe the following types of user interface. For each type of interface give a
suitable use, justifying your answer in each case.
(ii) Graphical User Interface (GUI).
(iii) Command line.

Utility Software:
9. State three different types of utility software and explain why they are necessary in a
computer system.

10. State the example/purpose of each of the following pieces of utility software and
say how each would be used by the copy editors.
(i) Disk formatting. [2]
(ii) File handling. [2]
(iii) Hardware drivers. [2]
(iv) File compression. [2]
(v) Virus checker. [2]

11. (a) Define the following types of software:

(i) Operating system software,
(ii) Generic applications software,
(iii) Translator software,
(iv) Utility software. [4]

12. (a) Explain the meaning of the term utility software.

(b) Describe two examples of utility software. [4]

13. (a) State three utility programs associated with the use of a hard drive. Explain
the purpose of each of the programs.

14. Give three file management tasks that are done by a computer operating system.

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Buffer/Interrupt/Handshaking:

Oct/Nov 2006

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the following computer terms:

(c) handshaking [2]

May/June 2007

1 Explain, with examples, the following five computer terms:

• interrupt

Oct/Nov 2007
1 Explain, with examples, the following five computer terms:
(c) interrupt [2]
(d) buffer [2]

Oct/Nov 2008 P1 (7010)

Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(c) buffer [2]

May/June 2009
4 What is an interrupt? [1]
(b) How can an interrupt be generated? [1]
(c) An exchange of signals between two devices to allow communication to take place.
What is this computer function?

Oct/Nov 2009 P1 (7010)

1. Explain, with examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms.
• buffer
• interrupt

Oct/Nov 2010 P1 (7010)

1. Explain, with examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms.
• Printer buffer

Oct/Nov 2010 P13 (7010)

1. Explain, with examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms.
(a) interrupt

Oct/Nov 2011 P13 (7010)

15 A student gave the following three computer definitions.

Give the name of the term being described in each case.
(i) ―a signal from a device sent to a computer causing the CPU to stop its current
operation temporarily‖
(ii) ―an exchange of signals between two devices when communicating to ensure
synchronisation‖
(iii) ―a temporary memory to store data waiting to be sent to a device‖ [3]

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May/June 2012. P11

13 Andrew is sending a large document to a printer.

(a) State the name for the area of memory used to store temporarily the data being sent to
the printer. [1]
(b) The printer runs out of paper during the printing job. A signal is sent back to the
computer to temporarily stop its current task.
Name this type of signal. [1]
(c) When trying to save this document after it was printed, the computer stops responding.
Give two reasons why the computer might stop responding. [2]
(d) Andrew ended up losing his electronic document.
How could that have been prevented? [1]

May/June 2013. P11

7 Which five computer terms are being described below?

(ii) signal sent from a printer requesting attention from the processor; this causes a
temporary break in the execution of whatever the processor is doing
(iii) exchange of signals between two devices to ensure synchronisation when
communication starts
(iv) temporary storage area in a printer that holds data waiting to be printed [5]

Other questions:

1. State why the process known as handshaking is necessary between a computer

and the file server before use.

2. Describe how buffers and interrupts are used in the transfer of data from primary
memory to secondary storage.

3. Describe the stages of the process of transferring data from memory to backing
store. Your answer should include references to buffers and interrupts.

4. (i) Explain the role of the buffer and interrupts when a large document of over
200pages is sent to a laser printer. [3]
(ii) The use of two buffers would speed up the printing process.
Explain why.
5. At the end of a word processing session the document is saved to the hard disk.
Describe how a buffer and interrupts are used during this data transfer.

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Unit 3- Data communications and
networking
Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Network:
A computer network is a collection of computers and other devices connected together
using common network protocol to share resources with each other over a network
medium.

Using a computer connected to a network allows us to…

 Easily share files and data
 Share resources such as printers and Internet connections
 Communicate with other network users (e-mail, instant messaging, video-
conferencing, etc.)
 Store data centrally (using a file server) for ease of access and back-up
 Keep all of our settings centrally so we can use any workstation

The networks can be classified as shown below

1. Local Area Network (LAN)

2. Wide Area Network (WAN)

Local Area Network (LAN)

A Local Area Network is a network confined to one building or site. Often a LAN is a private
network belonging to an organisation or business.

Because LANs are geographically small, they usually use cables or low-power radio
(wireless) for the connections.

LANs give lot of flexibility, speed, reliability, adaptability, security, private ownership. Printer‘s
scanners and machines can be shared. LAN may be connected to other LANs and WANs.

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Wide Area Network (WAN)

A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large area.

A WAN is often created by joining several LANs together, such as when a business that has
offices in different countries links the office LANs together.

Because WANs are often geographically spread over large areas and links between
computers are over long distances, they often use quite exotic connections
technologies: optical fiber (glass) cables, satellite radio links, microwave radio links, etc

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Data Transmission

Data transmission refers to the movement of data in form of bits between two or more
digital devices.
This transfer of data takes place via some form of transmission media (for example, coaxial
cable, fiber optics etc.)

Types of Data Transmission

1. Serial transmission of data
2. Parallel transmission of data

Serial transmission of data

Data needs to be transmitted between devices in a computer system. The easy way to do
this is by using a single wire that links the two devices. Data is transmitted in the form of bits
down the wire, so an 8 bit byte, which stands for a single character, will be transmitted in 8
parts, one signal for each bit.

The diagram shows the data byte 01100011 being transmitted. As there is only one wire,
only one bit can be transmitted at a time. This is known as SERIAL transmission of data.

Serial transmission has the advantages of being simple and reliable because the next bit is
not transmitted until the current one has arrived at its destination. However, because only
one bit can be transmitted at a time, the speed of transmission is slow.

Parallel transmission of data

If the devices are connected by more than one wire, then more bits can be sent at once.
A sensible number of wires would be 8, because then a whole byte can be sent at once
instead of having to send one bit at a time.

This type of data transfer is called PARALLEL transmission. Parallel transmission of data is
obviously faster than serial because all the bits are travelling at the same time, but because
of the fine tolerances in the transmission, it is less reliable as the bits can become muddled
up.

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Modes of Transmission.

If data is to be transmitted between devices, there are three different modes of

transmission possible.

a) Simplex mode. If data can only travel in one direction then it is known as a SIMPLEX
transmission. A good example of a simplex transmission of data is teletext information which
is passed to a television receiver, but there is no way to send data in the other direction.

Transmitter Receiver

b) Duplex mode. When data can pass in both directions at the same time it is known as
DUPLEX transmission of data. An example of duplex transmission would be a telephone
conversation as both users can speak and be heard at the same time.

Device 1 Device 2

c) Half duplex mode. When data can pass in both directions, but only in one direction at a
time, the transmission is called HALF DUPLEX. An example of half duplex is a CB radio system
in which each handset can either be set to receive mode or send mode.

Device 1 Device 2

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Error detection and correction or error control are techniques that enable reliable delivery
of digital data over unreliable communication channels. Many communication channels
are subject to channel noise, and thus errors may be introduced during transmission from
the source to a receiver. Error detection techniques allow detecting such errors, while error
correction enables reconstruction of the original data.

Error Detection Methods:

Parity Check

One extra bit is sent along with the original bits to make number of 1s either even, in case of
even parity or odd, in case of odd parity.

The sender while creating a frame counts the number of 1s in it, for example, if even parity
is used and number of 1s is even then one bit with value 0 is added. This way number of 1s
remain even. Or if the number of 1s is odd, to make it even a bit with value 1 is added.

[Image: Even Parity]

The receiver simply counts the number of 1s in a frame. If the count of 1s is even and even
parity is used, the frame is considered to be not-corrupted and is accepted. If the count of
1s is odd and odd parity is used, the frame is still not corrupted.

If a single bit flips in transit, the receiver can detect it by counting the number of 1s. But
when more than one bits are in error it is very hard for the receiver to detect the error

Check Sum

Checksum - Probably one of the oldest methods of ensuring that data is correct,
checksums also provide a form of authentication because an invalid checksum suggests
that the data has been compromised in some fashion. A checksum is determined in one of
two ways. Let's say the checksum of a packet is 1 byte long. A byte is made up of 8 bits,
and each bit can be in one of two states, leading to a total of 256 (28 ) possible
combinations. Since the first combination equals zero, a byte can have a maximum value
of 255.

 If the sum of the other bytes in the packet is 255 or less, then the checksum contains
that exact value.
 If the sum of the other bytes is more than 255, then the checksum is the remainder of
the total value after it has been divided by 256.

Let's look at a checksum example:

 Bytes total 1,151

 1,151 / 256 = 4.496 (round to 4)
 4 x 256 = 1,024
 1,151 - 1,024 = 127 checksum

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Check Digit

This is an extra digit added to a number which is calculated from the digits; the computer
re-calculates and validates the check digit following input of the number (see next page).
(NOTE: check digits can identify 3 types of error:
(1) if 2 digits have been inverted e.g. 23459 instead of 23549
(2) an incorrect digit entered e.g. 23559 instead of 23549
(3) a digit missed out altogether e.g. 2359 instead of 23549)

This section shows how check digits are calculated. The ISBN-10 (used on books) has been
chosen as the example; this uses a modulo 11 system which includes the letter X to
represent the number 10.
Example 1
To calculate the check digit for the ISBN 0 - 2 0 1 - 5 3 0 8 2 - ?
(i) the position of each digit is considered:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ← digit position
0 - 2 0 1- 5 3 0 8 2 - ? ← number
(ii) each digit is then multiplied by its digit position and the totals added together
0 x 10 + 2 x 9 + 0 x 8 + 1 x 7 + 5 x 6 + 3 x 5 + 0 x 4 +8 x 3 + 2 x 2
= 0 + 18 + 0 + 7 + 30 + 15 + 0 + 24 + 4
= 98
(iii) the total is then divided by 11 (modulo – 11) and the remainder, if any, is subtracted
from 11 to give the check digit.
98 ÷ 11 = 8 remainder 10
11 – 10 = 1
this gives a check digit of 1
final ISBN becomes 0 -2 0 1 - 5 3 0 8 2 - 1

Example 2

To check the correctness of a check digit the computer re-calculates it as follows:

The ISBN to check is: 0 - 1 3 1 5 - 2 4 4 7 - X

(i) the position of each digit is considered:

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ← digit position
0 - 1 3 1- 5 2 4 4 7 -X ← number

(ii) each digit is then multiplied by its digit position and the totals added together
0 x 10 + 1 x 9 + 3 x 8 + 1 x 7 + 5 x 6 + 2 x 5 + 4 x 4 + 4 x 3 + 7 x 2 + X x 1
= 0 + 9 + 24 + 7 + 30 + 10 + 16 + 12 + 14 + 10 (recall that X = 10)
= 132
(iii) the total is then divided by 11; if there is no remainder then the check digit is correct:
132 ÷ 11 = 12 remainder 0
hence the check digit is correct

Error correction may generally be realized in two different ways:

 Automatic repeat request (ARQ) (sometimes also referred to as backward error

correction): This is an error control technique whereby an error detection scheme is
combined with requests for retransmission of erroneous data. Every block of data
received is checked using the error detection code used, and if the check fails,
retransmission of the data is requested – this may be done repeatedly, until the data
can be verified.
 Forward error correction (FEC): The sender encodes the data using an error-
correcting code (ECC) prior to transmission. The additional information

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(redundancy) added by the code is used by the receiver to recover the original
data. In general, the reconstructed data is what is deemed the "most likely" original
data.

ARQ and FEC may be combined, such that minor errors are corrected without
retransmission, and major errors are corrected via a request for retransmission: this is
called hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ).

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Internet

The Internet is named for "interconnection of computer networks". It is a massive hardware

combination of millions of personal, business, and governmental computers, all connected
like roads and highways. The Internet started in the 1960's under the original name
"ARPAnet". ARPAnet was originally an experiment in how the US military could maintain
communications in case of a possible nuclear strike. With time, ARPAnet became a civilian
experiment, connecting university mainframe computers for academic purposes. As
personal computers became more mainstream in the 1980's and 1990's, the Internet grew
exponentially as more users plugged their computers into the massive network. Today, the
Internet has grown into a public spider web of millions of personal, government, and
commercial computers, all connected by cables and by wireless signals.

No single person owns the Internet. No single government has authority over its operations.
Some technical rules and hardware/software standards enforce how people plug into the
Internet, but for the most part, the Internet is a free and open broadcast medium of
hardware networking.

Connecting to the Internet

To connect to the Internet the following are needed:

 a computer
 telephone line (cable being the exception)
 modem and/or router
 an ISP (Internet Service Provider)
 Web browser, eg Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera etc.

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How internet works:

When you want to send a message or retrieve information from another computer, the
TCP/IP protocols are what make the transmission possible. Your request goes out over the
network, hitting domain name servers (DNS) along the way to find the target server. The
DNS points the request in the right direction. Once the target server receives the request, it
can send a response back to your computer. The data might travel a completely different
path to get back to you. This flexible approach to data transfer is part of what makes the
Internet such a powerful tool.

Browser:

Browser, short for web browser, is a software application used to enable computers users to
locate and access web pages. Browsers translates the basic HTML (Hypertext Mark Up
Language) code that allows us to see images, text videos and listen to audios on websites,
along with hyperlinks that let us travel to different web pages. The browser gets in contact
with the web server and requests for information. The web server receives the information
and displays it on the computer.

There are several types of browsers but the one thing they have in common is that they
carry out the same function; they transfer hypertext. Here are some familiar common web
browsers:

 Google Chrome
 Mozilla FireFox
 Microsoft Internet Explorer

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Every browser features a toolbar that allows you to perform various functions like:

 Go back to the first page you started on the internet which is called Home.
 Book your favorite websites
 Print content you find interesting on web pages
 Check your web history, like the websites you visited in the past
 You can go forward and backwards to see the previous sites you viewed

There are two basic ways that you can navigate through the browser:

 You can click on links on different web pages. Those links will lead you to other
web pages.
 If you know the URL or the address of the website you can type it in write in the
browser's box all the way at the top. There's no need to type in the: http:// part
when inserting the address because the browser automatically places it in. Then
you have to click enter.

So every time you click or a link or enter a URL your browser will request the information from
the web server. If your browser returns to the page with a error message the address you
typed in could be wrong on you may not be connected to the internet.

Web Servers:

In general, all of the machines on the Internet can be categorized as two types: servers
and clients. Those machines that provide services (like Web servers or FTP servers) to other
machines are servers. And the machines that are used to connect to those services are
clients. When you connect to Yahoo! at www.yahoo.com to read a page, Yahoo! is
providing a machine (probably a cluster of very large machines), for use on the Internet, to
service your request. Yahoo! is providing a server. Your machine, on the other hand, is
probably providing no services to anyone else on the Internet. Therefore, it is a user
machine, also known as a client. It is possible and common for a machine to be both a
server and a client, but for our purposes here you can think of most machines as one or the
other.

A server machine may provide one or more services on the Internet. For example, a server
machine might have software running on it that allows it to act as a Web server, an e-mail
server and an FTP server. Clients that come to a server machine do so with a specific intent,
so clients direct their requests to a specific software server running on the overall server
machine. For example, if you are running a Web browser on your machine, it will most likely
want to talk to the Web server on the server machine. Your Telnet application will want to
talk to the Telnet server, your e-mail application will talk to the e-mail server, and so on...

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DNS:

It's like your computer's GPS for the Internet. Its basic job is to turn a user-friendly domain
name like "google.com" into an Internet Protocol (IP) address like 64.233.167.104 that
computers use to identify each other on the network.

Computers and other network devices on the Internet use an IP address to route your
request to the site you're trying to reach. This is similar to dialing a phone number to
connect to the person you're trying to call. Thanks to DNS, though, you don't have to keep
your own address book of IP addresses. Instead, you just connect through a domain name
server, also called a DNS server or name server, which manages a massive database that
maps domain names to IP addresses.

Internet Protocol (IP) address

Every machine on a network has a unique identifier. Just as you would address a letter to
send in the mail, computers use the unique identifier to send data to specific computers on
a network. Most networks today, including all computers on the Internet, use the TCP/IP
protocol as the standard for how to communicate on the network. In the TCP/IP protocol,
the unique identifier for a computer is called its IP address.

There are two standards for IP addresses: IP Version 4 (IPv4) and IP Version 6 (IPv6). All
computers with IP addresses have an IPv4 address, and many are starting to use the new
IPv6 address system as well. Here's what these two address types mean:
 IPv4 uses 32 binary bits to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv4
address is expressed by four numbers separated by dots. Each number is the
decimal (base-10) representation for an eight-digit binary (base-2) number, also
called an octet. For example: 216.27.61.137
 IPv6 uses 128 binary bits to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv6
address is expressed by eight groups of hexadecimal (base-16) numbers separated
by colons, as in 2001:cdba:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652. Groups of numbers that
contain all zeros are often omitted to save space, leaving a colon separator to mark
the gap (as in 2001:cdba::3257:9652).

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Media Access Control (MAC) address:

The MAC address is a unique value associated with a network adapter. MAC addresses are
also known as hardware addresses or physical addresses. They uniquely identify an adapter
on a LAN.

MAC addresses are 12-digit hexadecimal numbers (48 bits in length). By convention, MAC
addresses are usually written in one of the following two formats:

MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS

MM-MM-MM-SS-SS-SS

The first half of a MAC address contains the ID number of the adapter manufacturer. These
IDs are regulated by an Internet standards body. The second half of a MAC address
represents the serial number assigned to the adapter by the manufacturer. In the example,

00:A0:C9:14:C8:29

The prefix

00A0C9

indicates the manufacturer is Intel Corporation.

Why MAC Addresses?

Recall that TCP/IP and other mainstream networking architectures generally adopt the OSI
model. In this model, network functionality is subdivided into layers. MAC addresses
function at the data link layer (layer 2 in the OSI model). They allow computers to uniquely
identify themselves on a network at this relatively low level.

MAC vs. IP Addressing

Whereas MAC addressing works at the data link layer, IP addressing functions at the
network layer (layer 3). It's a slight oversimplification, but one can think of IP addressing as
supporting the software implementation and MAC addresses as supporting the hardware
implementation of the network stack. The MAC address generally remains fixed and follows
the network device, but the IP address changes as the network device moves from one
network to another.

IP networks maintain a mapping between the IP address of a device and its MAC address.
This mapping is known as the ARP cache or ARP table. ARP, the Address Resolution
Protocol, supports the logic for obtaining this mapping and keeping the cache up to date.
DHCP also usually relies on MAC addresses to manage the unique assignment of IP
addresses to devices.

URL:

URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator and is a reference (an address) to a
resource on the Internet.
Some examples of URLs are http://www.cnet.com/, http://web.mit.edu/, and
ftp://info.apple.com/. As you can see, not all URLs begin with "http". The first part of a URL

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indicates what kind of resource it is addressing. Here is a list of the different resource
prefixes:

 http - a hypertext directory or document (such as a Web page)

 ftp - a directory of files or an actual file available to download
 gopher - a gopher document or menu
 telnet - a Unix-based computer system that you can log into
 news - a newsgroup
 WAIS - a database or document on a Wide Area Information Search database
 file - a file located on your hard drive or some other local drive

The second part of a URL (after the "://") contains the address of the computer being
located as well as the path to the file. For example, in
"http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reports/index.html," "www.cnet.com" is the address or
domain name of the host computer and "/Content/Reports/index.html" is the path to the
file.

Cookies:

Cookies are very small text files placed on your computer by a Web server when you view
some sites online (not all Web sites place cookies). They're used to store data about you
and your preferences so that the Web server doesn't have to repeatedly request this
information, potentially slowing down load time.

Cookies are commonly used to store personal registration data like your name, your
address, the contents of a shopping cart, your preferred layout for a Web page, what map
you might be looking at, and so on. Cookies make it easy for Web servers to personalize
information to fit your specific needs and preferences when you're visiting a Web site.

Are cookies dangerous?:

The easiest answer is that cookies, in and of themselves, are completely harmless. However,
some Web sites use them to track users as they browse the Web, collecting highly personal
information and often surreptitiously transferring that information to other Web sites without
permission or warning. This is why we often hear about Web cookies in the news.

Protocols

Nowadays the use of devices like Computers, smart cellphones and smart gaming consoles
to communicate is very common. There are many reasons to communicate and
increasing; like to play games, sharing documents, online chatting etc

When data is being transferred from one place to another in a computer system or from
one computer/device to another computer/device there must be rules set up as to how
the transfer is going to be done. Every single computer follows these agreed rules within the
network.

This set of agreed rules is known as a protocol or network protocol.

There are a number of protocols that you may have heard of e.g. http, tcp(ip) but don‘t
worry about them, you do not need to know specific examples of protocols, but you should

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be able to discuss some of the rules that go to make up a particular protocol. Some of
these common rules are:

 Common error checks of the data packets when they arrive

 Speed across the network
 Agreed method to tell the data receiving machine that the sending machine has
finished sending all of the data
 Method or signal to tell the other machine that the data has arrived correctly e.g.
echo back
 Agreed error correction of the data packets on both ends
 If the data is compressed before sending it to other computer then does the
protocol allow this to take place and if so then what method does it use?

Physical and Logical protocols

Computer nowadays are very popular gadgets with masses. Many manufacturers are
coming up with different brands of the computers. With the passage of time these
computers are getting cheaper and that is one more reason for their popularity.

Availability of computers and their proliferation gives increase to the idea to network them
together for information and resource sharing. To make these computers talk to each other
and share the resources and information many organizations have made standards.
Without such standards computers cannot be networked to communicate with each
other.

A protocol is a set of rules that defines how data are sent over a connection. Without
protocols, devices wouldn‘t know what format to expect data in.

Protocols include rules such as:

 Bit rate
 Transmission medium
 Error correction method
 Mode of transmission such as Serial/parallel, simplex/half duplex/duplex

Physical protocols

These are protocols concerned with how a device connects to a medium. For example
how a printer connects with the cable. They ensure that devices can transmit through the
medium. These are the protocols that make sure that the layout of pins on the connectors is
the same and hubs and switches are correctly connected and configured. Few examples
of physical protocols are 802.11a/b/g/n for WiFi connections and DSL for broadband.

Logical protocols

Logical protocols are concerned with data handling before it actually reaches the
transmission medium and after it has been received from the transmission medium. Logical
protocols ensure that data are in the right format for the application, the bit rates match at
both ends, and both ends are using the same mode, e.g. simplex and the same error
detection is used at both ends, etc. Few examples of logical protocols are HTTP, POP,
TCP/IP, FTP etc.

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Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http)

Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, the underlying protocol used by theWorld Wide Web.
HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web
servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. For example, when you
enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an HTTP command to the Web server
directing it to fetch and transmit the requested Web page. There is much more to HTTP
than simply sending the message that an end user wants to see a web page. HTTP actually
identifies eight different methods which indicate what the desired action is and what
action should be performed. These eight different methods are:
HEAD – Asks for the material in a GET request, but without the response body.
GET – Requests the representation of a specified source with a response body.
POST – Submits the data to be processed from an HTML form to the identified source.
PUT – Uploads a representation of the source that has been specified.
DELETE – Deletes a specific source.
TRACE – This echoes back a specific request so that the user can see what servers are
adding or changing the request.
OPTIONS – Used the check the functionality of a web server by returning the HTTP methods
that the server supports for a specified URL.
CONNECT – Facilitates SSL-encrypted communication through an unencrypted HTTP proxy
by converting the request connection to a transparent TCP/IP tunnel.
Important to communication and the way the entire Internet works, the hypertext transfer
protocol or HTTP is a necessary protocol.

HTTPS

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, All communications
sent over regular HTTP connections are in 'plain text' and can be read by any hacker that
manages to break into the connection between your browser and the website. This
presents a clear danger if the 'communication' is on an order form and includes your credit
card details or social security number. With a HTTPS connection, all communications are
securely encrypted. This means that even if somebody managed to break into the
connection, they would not be able decrypt any of the data which passes between you
and the website. HTTPS is often used to protect highly confidential online transactions like
online banking and online shopping order forms.

Web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome also display a padlock icon in
the address bar to visually indicate that a HTTPS connection is in effect.

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How Does HTTPS Work?

HTTPS pages typically use one of two secure protocols to encrypt communications - SSL
(Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security). Both the TLS and SSL protocols use
what is known as an 'asymmetric' Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system. An asymmetric
system uses two 'keys' to encrypt communications, a 'public' key and a 'private' key.
Anything encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted by the private key and
vice-versa.

HTML

HTML is an abbreviation that stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is the language of
web pages—the markup language that browsers read to render web pages.
HTML refers to a markup language that has several versions and web browsers and other
user agents have varying levels of support for these versions. In general, the earlier a version
is, the more browser support there is for that version.

What is HTML?

To publish information for global distribution, one needs a universally understood language,
a kind of publishing mother tongue that all computers may potentially understand. The
publishing language used by the World Wide Web is HTML (from Hyper Text Markup
Language).

HTML gives authors the means to:

 Publish online documents with headings, text, tables, lists, photos, etc.
 Retrieve online information via hypertext links, at the click of a button.
 Design forms for conducting transactions with remote services, for use in searching
for information, making reservations, ordering products, etc.
 Include spread-sheets, video clips, sound clips, and other applications directly in
their documents.

HTML Examples

HTML is made up of elements with attributes, some of the most common ones you would
see include:

 <p> for paragraphs

 <a> for links
 <div> for dividing up sections of a page

HTML Versions

There are a number of versions of HTML that have been supported by web browsers:
 HTML 2.0
This was published as an IETF RFC in 1995. It was supported by some browsers like Mosaic.
 HTML 3.2
This version was the first W3C recommendation. It had wider browser support (partially
because there were a lot more browsers). It became a recommendation in January
1997.

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 HTML 4.0 and HTML 4.01

In December 1997, the W3C released this upgrade to HTML 3.2 as a recommendation. It
added more features and tags and provided three versions: transitional, strict, and
frameset. This was updated to 4.01 in December 1999 with a few changes to the
specification.
 XHTML 1.0
XHTML 1.0 is a reformulation of HTML 4.01 under XML rules, and it was published as a
recommendation by the W3C in January 2000. It has much stricter syntax and requires
that any XHTML be valid and well-formed in order to display correctly. Most web
browsers render XHTML 1.0 documents the same as they render HTML 4.01 documents.
 HTML5
HTML5 began being developed in 2004, when the W3C HTML working group decided to
merge the HTML and XHTML tree to make HTML a purely XML-based language. This left
designers and browser manufacturers who wanted a more flexible solution with the
choice to give up or create their own new specification. They created a new group
called the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group or WHATWG. HTML5
became a W3C working draft in 2008.

Web pages comprise of five basic layers:

1. Content
2. Semantics
3. Structure
4. Presentation
5. Behavior

Content refers to the text, images and multimedia components of web pages. Behavior
refers mainly to JavaScript. Here we will discuss rest of the three layers.

Semantics
With regards to theme development, semantics refers to use of markup (HTML) to convey
meaning rather than presentation. For example, we can use list code (ol, ul, li, dl, dt, dd) to
say "this is a list" or heading tags such as h1, h2, h3 to say "these are headings and
subheadings."

Structure
Structure refers to the practice of using semantic HTML to describe how blocks of
information relate to one another.

The relations between data are primary built using proximity and correct use of semantic
elements. You can think of proximity as simply content source order—that is, the order in
which the content appears in the HTML. With the correct use of semantic HTML we can
describe what content items mean in terms of the content around it.
Source Order and Linearised Content
Source order is the order in which the content appears in the markup. Correctly linearised
content makes sense when there is no layout applied to the page, such as viewing a text
only version of the page, for example in the Lynx browser or some mobile phone browsers.

Tool: RightLynx browser addon for Firefox and Internet Explorer (emulates Lynx).
Web page structure is vitally important to accessibility because the content must make
sense when linearized.

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Many web pages use tables for page layout. This is frowned upon because its difficult to
linearize the content. It is strongly advised to use CSS for layout rather than tables.
Please note that in this context we are just talking about the deprecated practice of using
tables for layout design. Of course you should use tables to mark up tabular data (such as
spreadsheets) and there are special considerations for building accessible tables.
By using CSS for layout, it is possible to structure the source order so that it makes logical
sense when linearized, yet the visual layout can be different.

Structural Markup to Provide Meaning

Primarily this pertains to the use of heading tags, such as <h1>, <h2> and <h3>, to break
pages into logical sections and subsections.
There are a few simple rules to follow when using headings:

1. Only one h1 tag is allowed per page.

2. Every page should have an h1 heading.
3. Headings must be properly nested.
Learn more about Headings. Related topic: Headings for navigation.
Presentation
HTML should never be used for presentation. Use of the font tag and many other HTML 4
elements are now deprecated in favor of their more semantic replacements. In order to
style web page content you should use CSS, preferably in an external stylesheet.

By using CSS to separate the content from the presentation you can improve the
accessibility of web pages in a number of ways:

 Provide meaning to your documents without worrying about what it looks like (CSS will take
care of the style).
 Structure the main content to be first in the markup, but display it anywhere you want (CSS
will provide the layout).

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Multimedia File Formats

Multimedia formats, however, are much more complex than most other file formats
because of the wide variety of data they must store. Such data includes text, image data,
audio and video data, computer animations, and other forms of binary data, such as
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), control information, and graphical fonts. Typical
multimedia formats do not define new methods for storing these types of data. Instead,
they offer the ability to store data in one or more existing data formats that are already in
general use.

For example, a multimedia format may allow text to be stored as PostScript or Rich Text
Format (RTF) data rather than in conventional ASCII plain-text format. Still-image bitmap
data may be stored as BMP or TIFF files rather than as raw bitmaps. Similarly, audio, video,
and animation data can be stored using industry-recognized formats specified as being
supported by that multimedia file format.

MIDI Standard
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is an industry standard for representing sound in a
binary format. MIDI is not an audio format, however. It does not store actual digitally
sampled sounds. Instead, MIDI stores a description of sounds, in much the same way that a
vector image format stores a description of an image and not image data itself.

Sound in MIDI data is stored as a series of control messages. Each message describes a
sound event using terms such as pitch, duration, and volume. When these control
messages are sent to a MIDI-compatible device (the MIDI standard also defines the
interconnecting hardware used by MIDI devices and the communications protocol used to
interchange the control information) the information in the message is interpreted and
reproduced by the device.

MIDI data may be compressed, just like any other binary data, and does not require
special compression algorithms in the way that audio data does.
MP3
MP3 is short for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. It is used for audio and uses a compression
algorithm that introduces loss, meaning it is a ―lossy‖ compression format. It is one of the
most commonly used audio formats available and has been the standard for quite some
time.

Uncompressed audio files are rather large, just look at any WAV file. This is because sound
is very complex and the translation of it into a digital format that a computer can
understand takes a lot of data.

MP3 works to make file sizes smaller by using what is called psychoacoustic models. They
get rid of data that most people would not hear because it is too low or high. By doing this,
files sizes can be greatly reduced. A 128 kbit/s MP3 file is about 1/11th the size of the
corresponding file on an uncompressed CD.

MP4

MP4 is short for MPEG-4 Part 14. MP4 is based on MPEG-4 Part 12 which was in turn based
on Apple‘s MOV file type. MP4 is a container format, meaning it is used to store audio

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and/or video data, rather than to code the information. MP4 video and audio can also be
streamed over the internet. This is also true of most other modern container formats.

Because MP4 is a container format, it does not have a standard method of coding the
audio or video information. Instead, codecs dictate how the audio or video will be coded
and possibly compressed. For audio, Advanced Audio Coding, or AAC, is the most popular
codec for compressing audio for transfer on the internet.

So What’s the Difference Then?

From these two descriptions, we can note a few major differences. First, MP3 is an audio
compression format used to compress and store audio on a computer. MP4 is a media
container format used to store media of many possible types on a computer.

Therefore, an MP3 file is limited with regard to the method of compression and can only
store audio. MP4 on the other hand, can store video as well as audio. It can even store
subtitles for a video file. Also, since MP4 is a container, it can store audio and video that
have been compressed in different fashions. In fact, an MP4 file could be audio that has
been compressed as an MP3.

These differences make it so that a program that plays an MP3 cannot necessarily play an
MP4 and vice versa. The same goes for portable music players, though there are plenty of
software options and portable players out there that can play both, for example Winamp.

GIF:

The letters "GIF" actually stand for "Graphics Interchange Format. GIF is a compressed
image file format. GIF images use a compression formula originally developed by
CompuServe. GIFs are based on indexed colors, which is a palette of at most 256 colors.
This helps greatly reduce their file size. These compressed image files can be quickly
transmitted over a network or the Internet, which is why you often see them on Web pages.
GIF files are great for small icons and animated images, but they lack the color range to be
used for high-quality photos.

File extension: .GIF

JPEG:

JPG files, also known as JPEG files, are a common file format for digital photos and other
digital graphics. When JPG files are saved, they use "lossy" compression, meaning image
quality is lost as file size decreases. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the
committee that created the file type.

JPG files have the file extension .jpg or .jpeg. They are the most common file type for
images taken with digital cameras, and widely used for photos and other graphics used on
websites.

Unlike GIF files, which show significant loss in photo image quality, JPGs allow for some
degree of file size reduction without losing too much image quality. However, as file sizes
get very low, JPG images will become "muddy." When saving photos and other images as
JPG files for the web, email and other uses, you must decide on this tradeoff between
quality and file size.

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Data Compression:

Compression is the process used to reduce the physical size of a block of information. In
computer graphics, we're interested in reducing the size of a block of graphics data so we
can fit more information in a given physical storage space. We also might use compression
to fit larger images in a block of memory of a given size.
A compressor, naturally enough, performs compression, and a decompressor reconstructs
the original data. Although this may seem obvious, a decompressor can operate only by
using knowledge of the compression algorithm used to convert the original data into its
compressed form.

Lossy and Lossless Compression

It is often necessary to compress a file to make it small enough to be used - for example
making a music file small enough so that enough can be stored on an iPod. There are two
main possibilities:

 Lossless
o These are used to make a file a smaller size but without losing any of the
information. Using this method you can always get back to the original file
 Lossy
o Sometimes some loss of quality is acceptable. For example the human ear
cannot hear all frequencies, so a file format that throws away parts that
people can't hear may end up with a smaller file, but it is not possible to get
back to how exactly the original music sounded.

The terms lossy and lossless are sometimes erroneously used to describe the quality of a
compressed image. Some people assume that if any image data is lost, this could only
degrade the image. The assumption is that we would never want to lose any data at all.
This is certainly true if our data consists of text or numerical data that is associated with a
file, such as a spreadsheet or a chapter of our great American novel. In graphics
applications, however, under certain circumstances data loss may be acceptable, and
even recommended.

In practice, a small change in the value of a pixel may well be invisible, especially in high-
resolution images where a single pixel is barely visible anyway. Images containing 256 or
more colors may have selective pixel values changed with no noticeable effect on the
image.

The file types

TIFF is, in principle, a very flexible format that can be lossless or lossy. The details of the
image storage algorithm are included as part of the file. In practice, TIFF is used almost
exclusively as a lossless image storage format that uses no compression at all. Most
graphics programs that use TIFF do not compression. Consequently, file sizes are quite big.
(Sometimes a lossless compression algorithm called LZW is used, but it is not universally
supported.)

PNG is also a lossless storage format. However, in contrast with common TIFF usage, it looks
for patterns in the image that it can use to compress file size. The compression is exactly
reversible, so the image is recovered exactly.

GIF creates a table of up to 256 colors from a pool of 16 million. If the image has fewer than
256 colors, GIF can render the image exactly. When the image contains many colors,

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software that creates the GIF uses any of several algorithms to approximate the colors in
the image with the limited palette of 256 colors available. Better algorithms search the
image to find an optimum set of 256 colors. Sometimes GIF uses the nearest color to
represent each pixel, and sometimes it uses "error diffusion" to adjust the color of nearby
pixels to correct for the error in each pixel.

GIF achieves compression in two ways. First, it reduces the number of colors of color-rich
images, thereby reducing the number of bits needed per pixel, as just described. Second, it
replaces commonly occurring patterns (especially large areas of uniform color) with a short
abbreviation: instead of storing "white, white, white, white, white," it stores "5 white."

Thus, GIF is "lossless" only for images with 256 colors or less. For a rich, true color image, GIF
may "lose" 99.998% of the colors.

JPG is optimized for photographs and similar continuous tone images that contain many,
many colors. It can achieve astounding compression ratios even while maintaining very
high image quality. GIF compression is unkind to such images. JPG works by analyzing
images and discarding kinds of information that the eye is least likely to notice. It stores
information as 24 bit color. Important: the degree of compression of JPG is adjustable. At
moderate compression levels of photographic images, it is very difficult for the eye to
discern any difference from the original, even at extreme magnification. Compression
factors of more than 20 are often quite acceptable. Better graphics programs, such as
Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, allow you to view the image quality and file size as a
function of compression level, so that you can conveniently choose the balance between
quality and file size.

RAW is an image output option available on some digital cameras. Though lossless, it is a
factor of three of four smaller than TIFF files of the same image. The disadvantage is that
there is a different RAW format for each manufacturer, and so you may have to use the
manufacturer's software to view the images. (Some graphics applications can read some
manufacturer's RAW formats.)

BMP is an uncompressed proprietary format invented by Microsoft. There is really no reason

to ever use this format.

PSD, PSP, etc. , are proprietary formats used by graphics programs. Photoshop's files have
the PSD extension, while Paint Shop Pro files use PSP. These are the preferred working
formats as you edit images in the software, because only the proprietary formats retain all
the editing power of the programs. These packages use layers, for example, to build
complex images, and layer information may be lost in the nonproprietary formats such as
TIFF and JPG. However, be sure to save your end result as a standard TIFF or JPG, or you
may not be able to view it in a few years when your software has changed.

Currently, GIF and JPG are the formats used for nearly all web images. PNG is supported by
most of the latest generation browsers. TIFF is not widely supported by web browsers, and
should be avoided for web use. PNG does everything GIF does, and better, so expect to
see PNG replace GIF in the future. PNG will not replace JPG, since JPG is capable of much
greater compression of photographic images, even when set for quite minimal loss of
quality.

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Internet risks associated with viruses, spy-ware and hacking

It is great to have access to so many great things in the Internet. Important information,
useful services and wonderful entertainment. Unfortunately by accessing the Internet you
take the risk of opening a door to some uninvited guests who are looking for an opportunity
to harm you and your computer. Yes, we‘re talking about computer viruses,
spyware/adware and hackers.

What are computer viruses, spyware and adware?

Computer viruses are software programs designed to access your computer without your
consent, interfere with computer‘s operation, and record, corrupt, or delete your personal
data.

Adware are software programs designed for advertising and changing your computer's
configuration. Spyware is software designed to collect personal information like what
websites you visit or even surreptitiously transmit your personal information, such as your
credit card number from your computer without your knowledge.

Another threat over the internet is of ―Hackers‖. The term hacker is used in popular media
to describe someone who attempts to break into computer systems. Typically, this kind of
hacker would be a proficient programmer or engineer with sufficient technical knowledge
to understand the weak points in a security system.

Why are they so bad?

While viruses can be intentionally destructive, for example, by destroying data, many
viruses are fairly benign or merely annoying. Adware is mainly annoying but spyware can
be downright dangerous if it manages to get hold of important information like your
passwords or credit card information. Hackers can breaks into someone else's computer
system, often on a network; bypasses passwords or licenses in computer programs; or in
other ways intentionally breaches computer security.

How do I know if my computer is infected?

The scary thing with viruses, adware/spyware and hackers are that they covertly operate
for a relatively long period of time in your computer without being detected. Therefore it‘s
very important to follow the preventive methods described later in this guide.

The common symptoms of a virus infection are that your computer runs more slowly than
normally, stops responding and locks up often, crashes and restarts frequently or fails to run
normally. Other possible symptoms are that the applications don‘t work properly and you
can‘t print correctly, the discs and disc drives on your computer are inaccessible and you
see unusual error messages.

The signs of spyware or adware infection are similar to the signs of a computer virus
infection, but in addition to those you might get unwanted pop-up windows on your screen
even if you‘re not browsing in the Internet, your web browser‘s start up page can be
different than it should be or you might notice an unwanted toolbar on your web browser.

It can be difficult to detect a hacker on a computer because nothing changes to help

disguise the hack. Below are the most common things that change after a computer is
hacked.

 New programs installed

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 Computer passwords have changed

 Increased network activity
 Unknown programs wanting access
 Security programs uninstalled
 Computer doing things by itself

How do I protect my computer from intruders?

Even though the idea of having unwanted software running on your computer is scary, by
following few easy steps you can keep your computer free of viruses, adware, spyware and
other uninvited guests.

Install a firewall.

An Internet firewall is a computer program or hardware appliance designed to prevent

unauthorised access to private computers or networks. Firewall screens out viruses, worms,
malware and hackers that try to access your computer over the Internet. Installing a
firewall is the most effective and the most important first step you can take to protect your
computer. Install the firewall before you access the Internet for the first time and keep it
running at all times.

You can purchase a firewall for your computer from a local computer store or from the
Internet. Some operating systems like Windows XP (with service pack 2) and MacOS X have
a built-in firewall.

How does a firewall work?

A firewall enforces a policy or set of rules governing the flow of data to and from the
outside world. Firewalls that are used to protect home computers are usually based on
packet filtering, ie. Data packets (small units of information) are admitted or rejected
according to the way these rules are configured. For the typical home user their primary
function is to block uninvited incoming connections. Most firewall tools will come with a
sensible set of rules by default.

Install anti-virus software

In addition to a firewall you should install some kind of anti-virus software before connecting
the first time to the Internet. A typical anti-virus software scans for the new viruses entering
your computer, cleans up any viruses it finds and makes sure they can't do any more harm.

Just like firewall, your anti-virus software should be turned on at all the times so that when
you start up your computer the virus scanner will also open. This ensures that viruses are
caught as soon as possible. An anti-virus software will also check disks inserted in your
computer, emails you receive and programs you download from the Internet for viruses.

If you receive a virus, your anti-virus software will usually notify you then will try to repair the
file the virus has infected. It also isolates any files that can‘t be repaired and tries to rescue
any files it can. Some software asks you to send the virus to the anti-virus company. If it is a
new one the company will add it to their database.

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Password

Passwords are very important in keeping your online information safe. What is very
important is the strength of the password that you choose. Your password meet the
following criteria:

 Be at least 6 - 8 characters

 Contain at least one character from ALL of the following four classes:
Uppercase letters (eg. A, B, C), Lower case letters (eg. a, b, c), Numbers (eg. 1, 2, 3),
Punctuation symbols (eg. ~!@#$%^&*()+-=)

 Doesn't contain your first name, your last name, your user ID, the word Optus, Singtel, a
day of the week, month of the year or the word password

 Is not a common word or keyboard sequence (eg. 123, qwerty, asdf, zxcv, poiuy)
You should change your password regularly and never give your password to others.

Keep your software and computer updated.

As the viruses change constantly, it is very important that you keep your computer‘s
operating system, firewall software and the anti-virus software up to date. The anti-virus
software will automatically ask to be updated so make sure you do that. Many virus
scanners can be obtained bundled with one year of free "updates" included. After this
subscription runs out, the program will usually recommend that you re-subscribe in order to
keep up-to-date with the needed protection.

Don’t open suspicious email

Most viruses arrive on your computer via email. Do not open an email attachment you
haven‘t expected or if you don‘t recognize, even if you use an anti-virus software. Note
that it is possible to get virus infected email also from your friends‘ and colleagues‘ email-
addresses. A virus is not dangerous until the infected attachment is opened. Check that the
contents of the message make sense before you open any attachments. Don't forward
any attachment without being sure it is safe. Delete any email you think is infected and
empty your deleted items folder regularly.

Be careful when closing the pop up windows.

Pop up windows are windows that ―pop up‖ on your computer screen when you go to the
certain websites. Some websites try to fool you to accidentally download spyware or
adware to your computer by clicking OK or Accept button on the pop up window. The
safest way to close a pop up window is to close it from the little box with ―x‖ on it on the top
of the window.

Think twice before downloading files from Internet.

You can also get viruses, adware and spyware to your computer by downloading software
and other files from the Internet. If the software is free and provided by an unknown
software developer, or is an illegal "cracked" or "hacked" version of commercial software it
is more likely to contain an additional and unwanted software virus than if you download or
buy it from a respected and well-known software developer.

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Back up your files

To avoid losing your work in case your computer gets infected by a virus make sure you
have a recent backup of your most important work. If you usually back up the contents of
your disk to an external hard drive or other writable media like floppy disks, don't place
backup disks in your computer if you think you have a virus, as the virus could spread to
your backups

Encryption:

The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve
data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a
secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain
text ; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text.
There are two main types of encryption: asymmetric encryption (also called public-key
encryption) and symmetric encryption.

A type of encryption where the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt the message. This
differs from asymmetric (or public-key) encryption, which uses one key to encrypt a
message and another to decrypt the message.

A cryptographic system that uses two keys -- a public key known to everyone and
a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message. When John wants to
send a secure message to Jane, he uses Jane's public key to encrypt the message. Jane
then uses her private key to decrypt it.
An important element to the public key system is that the public and private keys are
related in such a way that only the public key can be used to encrypt messages and only
the corresponding private key can be used to decrypt them. Moreover, it is virtually
impossible to deduce the private key if you know the public key.
Public-key systems, such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), are becoming popular for
transmitting information via the Internet. They are extremely secure and relatively simple to
use. The only difficulty with public-key systems is that you need to know the recipient's
public key to encrypt a message for him or her. What's needed, therefore, is a global
registry of public keys, which is one of the promises of the new LDAP technology.
Public key cryptography was invented in 1976 by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman. For
this reason, it is sometime called Diffie-Hellman encryption. It is also called asymmetric
encryption because it uses two keys instead of one key (symmetric encryption).

SSL:

Organizations that use the Web to collect and transmit sensitive data to customers or other
organizations need to secure their Web site. The general standard is the use ofsecure
socket layers (SSL), which encrypts data transmitted via a Web site. Upon opening an
Internet browser, an open or closed lock appears in the lower right hand corner of the Web
site. If the lock is closed, it means the data transmitted over the Web site is secure, generally
by SSL. This allows the transmission and collection of private data over a Web site, without
worrying about a hacker accessing it. There is no such thing as security without risks, but the
use of SSL and secure Web sites when transmitting data significantly reduces the risk of it
being inappropriately intercepted. Secure Web sites can be established by using internal
Web analysts/programmers or working with a vendor who has expertise in creating an
appealing and secure Web presence.

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TLS

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a protocol that ensures privacy between

communicating application s and their users on the Internet. When
a server and client communicate, TLS ensures that no third party may eavesdrop or tamper
with any message. TLS is the successor to the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

TLS is composed of two layers: the TLS Record Protocol and the TLS Handshake Protocol. The
TLS Record Protocol provides connection security with some encryption method such as
the Data Encryption Standard (DES). The TLS Record Protocol can also be used without
encryption. The TLS Handshake Protocol allows the server and client to authenticate each
other and to negotiate an encryption algorithm and cryptographic keys before data is
exchanged.

TLS and SSL are most widely recognized as the protocols that provide secure HTTP (HTTPS)
for Internet transactions between Web browsers and Web servers. TLS/SSL can also be used
for other application level protocols, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). TLS/SSL enables
server authentication, client authentication, data encryption, and data integrity over
networks such as the World Wide Web.

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Internet Threats

Denial Of Service Attacks (DoS)

DoS stands for Denial of Service. A malicious hacker uses a DoS attack to make a computer
resource (i.e. – website, application, e-mail, voicemail, network) stop responding to
legitimate users. The malicious hacker does this by commanding a fleet of remotely-
controlled computers to send a flood of network traffic to the target. The target becomes
so busy dealing with the attacker‘s requests that it doesn‘t have time to respond to
legitimate users‘ requests. That can cause the target system to stop responding, resulting in
long delays and outages.

What is a pharming scam?

Phishing scams involve emails that trick you into clicking on a link to a scam website where
you are asked to enter your personal, password or financial information. Pharming scams
however automatically redirect you to these scam websites, often without your knowledge.

Pharming is when you are redirected to a fake/scam version of a website which may look
identical to the website you were trying to view. This is sometimes referred to as page-
hijacking or page-jacking. In this scam, the legitimate url you typed into your browser or the
bookmarked link you followed automatically changes and redirects you to a fake address,
often which looks very similar to the legitimate address.

There are two main methods of committing pharming scams, both leading to potential
identity fraud. In the first, a victim‘s computer is infected with a virus or malware which then
causes technical changes on the computer which redirect you to the fake website, even if
you type in the correct internet address or clicked on a bookmark/favourite entry. This style
of pharming may be identified by some antivirus/antispyware software programs.

The second type of pharming is more sophisticated and generally undetectable by

antivirus/antispyware programs making it very hard to protect yourself. In this case, an
external DNS server, rather than your computer, is attacked resulting in you being
unknowingly redirected to a fake/scam copy of a legitimate site. As your computer is not
infected, antivirus software cannot help you.

The scam websites which you are redirected to are set up by scammers and may look
identical to legitimate websites which request your personal details such as online banking
websites. The fake site will ask you to enter sensitive personal details such as:

 usernames
 passwords
 bank account and credit card numbers
 email addresses.
If successful, a pharming scam will most likely lead to identity theft using the personal details
you enter into the fake website.

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Warning signs
 Legitimate websites which ask you to enter sensitive personal details are commonly
encrypted to protect your details. This is usually identified by the use of ―https:‖ rather
than ―http:‖ at the start of the internet address or a closed padlock or unbroken key
icon at the bottom right corner of your browser window. If these are missing or there
is an open padlock or broken key icon present, the website is not secure and could
be a scam site.
 The pharming website will often have a striking resemblance to a legitimate site,
however the internet address will be slightly different, as may some elements of the
visual appearance of the site.
 The site may ask you for personal information which the original site didn‘t, for
example an online banking website will usually ask you to enter your username and
password, however a pharming site may also request your bank account or credit
card number.

Protect yourself from pharming websites

 Never provide your personal, credit card or account details online unless you have
verified the website is authentic.
 You can verify a website‘s authenticity by looking for ―https:‖ at the beginning of the
internet address, the locked padlock icon or the unbroken key icon.
 If you know what the correct internet address should be, check the address of the
site you are viewing matches and ensure it hasn‘t changed from what you entered
or expected.
 Check if the website has a digital certificate. If it has one it will generally appear as a
padlock icon alongside the web address. You can click on the icon to ensure that
the certificate has been verified, is official and has not expired.
 Keep your computer programs updated - many programs give you the option to
receive updates automatically. Install and regularly update antivirus, antispyware
and firewall software.
 Remain cautious when downloading free software from the web as these often
carry viruses or malware.
 If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact the
organisation you hold your account with immediately, such as your bank or email
provider.

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What is phishing?
‗Phishing‘ refers to emails that trick people into giving out their personal and banking
information; they can also be sent by SMS. These messages seem to come from legitimate
businesses, normally banks or other financial institutions or telecommunications providers.
The scammers are generally trying to get information like your bank account numbers,
passwords and credit card numbers, which they will then use to steal your money.

Phishing emails often look genuine and use what look to be genuine internet addresses—in
fact, they often copy an institution's logo and message format, which is very easy to do. It is
also common for phishing messages to contain links to websites that are convincing fakes
of real companies' home pages.

The website that the scammer‘s email links to will have an address (URL) that is similar to but
not the same as a real bank's or financial institution‘s site. For example, if the genuine site is
at 'www.realbank.com.au', the scammer may use an address like
'www.realbank.com.au.log107.biz' or 'www.phoneybank.com/realbank.com.au/login'.

Warning signs
 You receive an email or SMS claiming to be from a financial institution or
telecommunication provider. This message may seem to be from your bank, service
provider or a business you don‘t have an account with. The email contains a link
that leads you to a website where you are prompted to enter your bank account
details.
 The email does not address you by your proper name.
 The email might contain typing errors and grammatical mistakes.
 The email might claim that your details are needed for a security and maintenance
upgrade, to ‗verify‘ your account or to protect you from a fraud threat. The email
might even state that you are due to receive a refund for a bill or other fee that it
claims you have been charged.
Protect yourself from phishing scams
 NEVER send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do
not know and trust.
 Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone
unless you made the call and know that the phone number came from a trusted
source.
 Do not open suspicious or unsolicited emails (spam)—ignore them. You can report
spam to Australian Communications and Media Authority. If you do not wish to
report the message, delete it.
 Do not click on any links in a spam email or open any files attached to them.
 Never call a telephone number that you see in a spam email or SMS.
 If you want to access an internet account website, use a bookmarked link or type
the address in yourself—NEVER follow a link in an email.
 Check the website address carefully. Scammers often set up fake websites with very
similar addresses.
 Never enter your personal, credit card or online account information on a website if
you are not certain it is genuine.
 Never send your personal, credit card or online account details through an email.

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Past Papers Questions:

Data transmission and networking
(A Level)
May/June 2003 (9691)

2. (c) State two advantages and one disadvantage of having a network of

computers, rather than a series of standalone machines, in a school
classroom. [3]

7. (a) Explain the difference between

(i) Serial and parallel modes of data transmission. [4]
(b) When data is transmitted it is subject to corruption. Explain how a parity check
could be used to determine whether corruption has taken place. [4]

Oct/NOV 2003(9691)

7. A college has a number of stand-alone machines. The decision is taken to turn them
into a LAN.
(a) State two items of hardware and one of software which will be necessary for
the conversion. [3]
(b) Explain why students find that access to text based files does not cause a
problem, while graphics files download very slowly. [2]

(c) State two advantages and two disadvantages of the college converting to a
network system. [4]
(d) (i) Explain why a protocol is needed for this network. [4]

May/June 2004(9691)
5. (b) (i) Describe how buffers and interrupts are used in the transfer of data
from primary memory to secondary storage. [5]
(ii) State which of the modes of data transmission would be most suitable
for the procedure in (i), justifying your answer. [2]

Oct/NOV 2004(9691)
5. (a) State what is meant by a protocol. [2]
(b) Describe two features of a protocol necessary for the successful transmission
of data between two devices. [4]

May/June 2005(9691)
6. (b) A school computer room is to be equipped with a network of machines.
Give three advantages and one disadvantage of installing a network
compared to stand alone machines. [4]

12. (a) State the meaning of

(i) serial,
(ii) parallel,
modes of data transmission. [4]

Oct/NOV 2005(9691)
5. (a) Errors can occur when data is transmitted from one device to another.
Explain how a checksum can be used to monitor a transmission for errors. [3]

Unit 3- Data communications and networking 113 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2006(9691)
4. (a) State two ways in which a local area network (LAN) differs from a wide area
network (WAN). [2]
(c) (i) Explain what is meant by the term protocol. [2]

Oct/NOV 2006(9691)
5. (a) State what is meant by the following types of data transmission.
(iii) Serial.
(iv) Parallel. [4]

(c) State two of the modes of data transmission mentioned in part (a) which
would be used to transfer data from primary memory to a hard drive. Give
reasons for your answers. [4]

6. Authors send books to a publishing company. At this stage books are text
documents with anyillustrations being added at the end of the publishing process.
When a book is sent to the company by an author, it is sent in hard copy form as well as on
adisk. It is read and, if accepted, is then sent electronically to a person called a copy
editor. Thecopy editor reformats the text to make it suitable for publication.
(a) Explain why the original copy of the book is in
(i) hard copy form; [2]
(ii) electronic form on a disk. [2]

(c) All copy editors are expected to have a stand-alone computer.

Copy editors need to communicate with head office. State what extra
hardware and software the company would have to supply to each copy
editor to allow this communication. Give reasons for your answers. [4]

7. (b) (ii) During transmission data can be corrupted. Check sums and parity
checks can be carried out on the data.
Explain how check sums and parity checks are used to detect transmission
errors. [4]

May/June 2007 (9691)

A garage sells cars and also has servicing and parts departments. Details of customers who
purchase cars are stored in a file. Details of cars for sale are stored in another file. Some
computers are used in the offices for clerical tasks like word processing and accounting.
Some are in the showroom so that customers can see details of cars and videos of them
being driven. The computers used at the garage are networked and all data is stored on a
central server.
10. (a) State a difference between a local area network (LAN) and a wide area
network (WAN). [1]

Oct/NOV 2007(9691)
11. The data which is transmitted between survey sites and head office is liable to errors.
Data which is received is checked for errors.
(a) One method of checking for errors is to use parity checks.
The following four bytes have been received:
01101001 10111100 10101010 00100100
(i) One of the bytes contains an error. State which byte. [1]
(ii) Explain your choice of answer in (i). [2]
(iii) Explain why a byte may still be in error even if it passes the parity test.[1]

Unit 3- Data communications and networking 114 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(b) A second method of checking for errors is to use check sums.

Explain how check sums are used to check data for transmission errors. [4]

Oct/NOV 2008(9691)
6. (a) State two extra pieces of hardware and one piece of software which would
be necessary to create the network. [3]
(b) A protocol will be required.
Explain what is meant by a protocol. [2]
(c) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of networking the computers. [5]

May/June 2009(9691)
6. (a) State what is meant by the following types of data transfer:
(i) serial, [1]
(ii) parallel, [1]

(b) In a certain computer system parity checking is used to check that data has
been transferred correctly. The type of parity checking used is even parity.
Using the byte 01101001 as an example:
(i) explain what is meant by an even parity check, [2]
(ii) give an example of an error which would not be detected. [1]

Oct/NOV 2009. P11(9691)

8. (a) The machines in the tax office are networked.
State two differences between a local area network (LAN) and a wide area
network (WAN). [2]
(c) (i) State why the process known as handshaking is necessary between a
computer and the file server before use.

Oct/NOV 2009. P12(9691)

4. (a) A medical centre has a number of stand-alone computers. It is decided that

these should be linked in a LAN.
(i) State three advantages and one disadvantage of networking the
computers. [4]
(b) Describe the additional hardware required when a LAN is connected to a
WAN. [4]

May/June 2010. P11(9691)

4. (a) Define the term protocol. [2]

May/June 2010. P12(9691)

4. (a) Define the term protocol. [2]

May/June 2010. P13(9691)

1. (b) (i) Explain why a NIC is used when a computer is to communicate with
Other computers. [2]
(ii) State one other piece of hardware which is needed for successful
communication to take place. Justify your answer. [2]

4. (a) Define the term protocol. [2]

(b) (i) Explain what features of a protocol need to be established before
communication can take place. [5]

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Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2010. P11(9691)

6. (a) State two items of hardware and one item of software used to create a
local area network (LAN) with a number of computers. [3]
(c) When data is transmitted around a network it is possible that the data
becomes corrupted.
Explain how parity checking can be used to detect such transmission errors. [4]

Oct/NOV 2010. P12(9691)

6. (a) State two items of hardware and one item of software used to create a
local area network (LAN) with a number of computers. [3]
(c) When data is transmitted around a network it is possible that the data
becomes corrupted.
Explain how parity checking can be used to detect such transmission errors.[4]

Oct/NOV 2010. P13(9691)

6. (a) State two items of hardware and one item of software used to create a
local area network (LAN) with a number of computers. [3]
(c) When data is transmitted around a network it is possible that the data
becomes corrupted.
Explain how check sums can be used to detect such transmission errors. [4]

May/June 2011. P11/12(9691)

8 (a) State two differences between a local area network (LAN) and a wide area
network(WAN). [2]
(b) State what is meant by each of the following types of data transmission. Give
an advantage of each.
(i) Serial
(ii) Parallel [4]

(c) The following bytes were received during a data transmission.

01101101 10101010 10111101 10110001
Parity is being used as an error check.
State which one of the bytes has been corrupted. Explain why you chose the one
that you did. [3]

May/June 2011. P13(9691)

8. (a) State two differences between a local area network (LAN) and a wide area
network(WAN). [2]
(b) (i) State what is meant by data being transmitted serially using a simplex
mode of data transmission. [2]
(ii) State what is meant by data being transmitted in parallel using a half-
duplex mode of data transmission. [2]
(c) The following bytes were sent during a data transmission.
01101100 10101010 10110001
Explain how a check sum can be used to check whether or not the bytes have
been corrupted during transmission. [3]

Oct/NOV 2011. P11(9691)

8 The computers in a school classroom are networked. It is decided that this network
should be linked to the Internet.
(a) State two items of hardware and one type of software which would be
necessary to connect this network to the Internet. [3]
(b) When a video file is accessed on a network it can be watched as it is
downloading or it can be stored for watching at a later date. [4]
Explain the relationship between the required bit rates and the data being
transmitted.

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(c) When communications are required across a network a protocol is necessary.

(i) Explain the need for a handshake as part of a protocol, giving
examples of what occurs during a handshake. [3]
(ii) Explain why a protocol consists of a number of layers. [2]

Oct/NOV 2011. P12(9691)

8 A building firm has a main office with stand-alone computers for the workers to use.
It is decided to link these stand-alone computers to make a network.
(a) State two items of hardware and one type of software which would be
necessary to create the network. [3]
(b) When data is passed around a network it can be corrupted.
Explain how check sums can be used to detect errors in transmitted data. [4]

Oct/NOV 2011. P13(9691)

8 A factory specialises in making components for cars.
The offices of the factory have a number of stand-alone computers. The decision is
taken to link these machines in a network.
(a) (i) State two items of hardware which would be necessary to network the
computers. [2]
(ii) State one extra item of hardware which would be required if the
network was to be linked to the Internet. [1]
(b) When data is transmitted around a network it can be corrupted.
Explain, giving examples, how parity can be used to detect errors in
transmitted data. [4]

May/June 2012. P11/12(9691)

8 (a) The manager of a firm has been advised to link all the firm‘s computers to
form a Local Area Network (LAN).
(i) Explain to the manager two benefits of connecting the computers in a
LAN. [2]
(ii) One computer is connected to its own printer using parallel data
transmission.
Explain what is meant by parallel data transmission. [2]

May/June 2012. P13(9691)

8 (a) A firm has offices in the three major cities in a country. The manager is
advised that the Local Area Networks (LANs) in each of the cities should be
connected to provide a Wide Area Network (WAN).
(i) Explain to the manager what is meant by a WAN. [2]
(ii) Communication across a LAN is by serial data transmission.
Explain what is meant by serial data transmission. [2]
(b) When data is transmitted it may become corrupted.
(i) Explain how a parity check can be used to detect a possible error in a
transmitted byte. [3]
(ii) Describe how parity can be used to identify and correct the single
error in this transmitted data block:
01101101
10010111
01010100
10001001
01100011
10000110
01101101
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Parity byte [3]

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Oct/NOV 2012. P11 (9691)

9 (a) Describe what is meant by the following types of data transmission:
(i) serial, simplex transmission [2]
(ii) parallel, full duplex transmission [2]
(b) Define the term protocol. [2]
(c) When data is transmitted between devices it can be corrupted. One method
to detect corruption is the use of parity.
Explain how parity can be used to detect the presence of errors in a
transmission. [4]

Oct/NOV 2012. P13(9691)

9 (a) Describe what is meant by the following types of data transmission:
(i) serial, full duplex transmission [2]
(ii) parallel, half duplex transmission [2]
(b) Define the term protocol. [2]
(c) When data is transmitted between devices it can be corrupted. One method
to detect corruption is the use of a checksum.
Explain how a checksum can be used to detect the presence of errors in a
transmission. [4]

May/June 2013. P11/P12(9691)

3 (a) Describe what is meant by:
(i) serial, simplex transmission
(ii) parallel, full duplex transmission [2]
(b) The word C O M P U T I N G is to be transmitted as nine bytes of data. Each
character in the word has an ASCII value.
The system uses even parity and the left most bit is added to make each byte
even parity.
(i) Complete the codes so that they all have even parity.

[2]
(ii) Fill in the parity byte in the final row in the table above. [1]
(iii) The character ‗P‘ is received incorrectly as 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
Describe how horizontal and vertical parity checking would be used to
detect the erroneous bit. [3]

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Past Paper Questions:

Data transmission and networking
(O Level)

May/June 2006 P1 (7010)

3 (a) Give one effect of hacking. [1]

(b) Give two ways of protecting computer systems against hacking. [2]

10 Many bank customers now bank on-line using the Internet.

(a) State two advantages for the bank of on-line banking. [2]
(b) State two disadvantages for a bank customer of on-line banking. [2]

12 A music club keeps its members‘ details on a computer file.

(a) Complete the table below which shows the data type, field length and validation
check used for the club members‘ data.

(b) New members can join the music club by completing an application form on the club
website.
Using the screen below design a web page which shows:
• the form for collecting new members‘ details
• a link to another web page listing events for the year.

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May/June 2007 P1 (7010)

1 Explain, with examples, the following five computer terms:
(a) virus [2]
(b) verification [2]

17 Geography students have access to course materials on their college website. A web
browser is used to access these materials. Describe three features of a web browser which
would be suitable for this application. [3]

18 A company has bought laptop computers for training purposes and for information
retrieval.
These computers will use the Internet and have multimedia capabilities.
(a) State two advantages and one disadvantage of using the Internet to search for
information when compared to using CD-ROMs or paper-based systems. [3]
(b) The company has chosen to use broadband for Internet connections. Why was
broadband chosen rather than dial-up modem connections? [1]
(c) The laptops are linked to the network using wireless connections. Give one advantage
and one disadvantage of using wireless connections. [2]

Oct/Nov 2007 P1 (7010)

4 Online banking using the Internet is now increasing.

(a) Give one advantage to the customer of using online banking. [1]
(b) Give one advantage to the bank of providing online banking. [1]
(c) Online banking has an impact on society as a whole.
(i) Give one positive effect.
(ii) Give one negative effect. [2]
(d) Describe two concerns people might have regarding online banking. [2]

5 (a) (i) Name one method used to protect data against unauthorised access. [1]
(ii) Name one method used to protect data in a file from being understood when an
unauthorised person has gained access to the file. [1]

6 Thular is doing his IGCSE coursework on the school‘s local network. He would like to
continue this work on his computer at home.
Name and describe two methods that he could use to do this. [4]

7 A company has decided to publish its Science books on the Internet rather than produce
a series of paper-based books.
Give three reasons why a company might choose to do this. [3]

May/June 2008 P1 (7010)

5 Computer systems can be affected by viruses.

(a) What is a virus? [1]
(b) Give one effect of a virus. [1]
(c) How can a system be protected from viruses? [1]
(d) Why would backing up data not guard against the effect of a virus? [1]

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6 Students‘ records are kept on a stand-alone computer (no network connections) in the
principal's office.
(a) It is sometimes necessary to alter students‘ records. To do this efficiently, individual
records need to be retrieved quickly.
(i) What type of file access should be used? [1]
(ii) What type of magnetic medium allows this type of access? [1]
(b) Give two examples of when a student‘s record would need to be altered. [2]
(c) Students are concerned that their personal data could be misused. Name two methods
that could be used to ensure personal data is kept secure. [2]
(d) Examination results are stored in students‘ records as marks out of 100. Give twodifferent
validation checks that could be performed on students‘ marks. [2]

8 A student decides to use an Internet search engine at home to help her work on her
Geography project. She types in:
COUNTRIES EXPORTS 2007
and gets over 11 million results.
(a) She wanted to know which South American countries exported coffee in 2007. How
could her search be refined to reduce the number of results? [1]
(b) Give one advantage of searching for information on the Internet rather than using
books. [1]
(c) Many people have fears about searching for information on the Internet. Give two
reasons for these fears. [2]
(d) The student wishes to use files stored on her home computer when she is back in class
using one of the school‘s computers. How could she do this? [1]

13 A media retail company has decided to sell CDs and DVDs using an Internet only shop.
(a) Describe three features you might expect to see on the shop‘s website. [3]
(b) Give two advantages to customers of shopping using the Internet. [2]

Oct/Nov 2008 P1 (7010)

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(b) search engine [2]
(e) download [2]

7 Many people now bank through the Internet rather than using banks located in towns.
(a) Give one advantage to a bank that offers Internet banking. [1]
(b) Give one disadvantage to a bank that offers Internet banking. [1]
(c) Give two advantages to customers of using Internet banking. [2]
(d) Give two disadvantages to customers of using Internet banking. [2]

May/June 2009 P1 (7010)

7 Jon decides to buy a notebook (laptop) computer which he connects to the internet
using a WiFi (wireless) broadband connection. Describe four security issues. [4]

8 An electronics company employs five people to answer technical queries over the
telephone. The company has decided to develop a new system so customer queries are
answered using a website rather than by telephone.
(a) Describe two ways this change would affect the five employees. [2]
(b) Describe one advantage to the company of introducing this system. [1]
(c) Describe two advantages to the customer of using this system. [2]

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Oct/Nov 2009 P1 (7010)

A school decides to allow internet access on all its networked computers.

(a) Describe two problems this could create and how the system could be protected
against these problems. [4]

(b) Student records are stored on a computer. This is linked to the network to allow
teachers to access information from anywhere on the school site.
(i) How is it possible to prevent unauthorised access to student records? [1]

May/June 2010 P11 (7010)

16 A company has set up an Internet website to sell their electrical goods online.
(a) Give two features you would expect to see on the website. [2]
(b) Payments for goods can be made by credit/debit cards. Data from the cards is
encrypted.
(i) What is encryption?
(ii) Why is data encrypted? [2]
(c) Apart from credit card fraud, people have other fears about buying from the Internet.
Describe one of these fears. [1]

17 (a) Two methods of connecting to the Internet are dial-up and broadband.
Give two advantages of using broadband. [2]
(b) Computers often use wireless (WiFi) technology to connect to the Internet. Give one
advantage and one disadvantage of using WiFi. [2]
(c) Apart from computers, name another device that uses WiFi technology. [1]

Oct/Nov 2010 P11/12 (7010)

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms:
(a) Check digit [2]

2 (a) Give one benefit of storing music files in MP3 format. [1]
(b) Describe the type of memory used in MP3 players. [2]

3 (b) Give one advantage of having computers connected on a network. [1]

(c) Give one disadvantage of having computers connected on a network. [1]

4 (a) To log on to a computer, a user needs to type in a user id followed by a password;

these should match up.
(b) Sometimes it is necessary to key in the password twice.
Name this type of data check. [1]

6 A telephone company produces paper-based directories. It has decided to offer

directory information to customers via a website.
(a) Give one advantage to the telephone company in doing this. [1]
(b) What two advantages does this new system offer the customer? [2]
(c) Give one disadvantage to the customer of having their details available on the
Internet. [1]
(d) Describe one problem with the existing paper-based system that would not bear solved
using the electronic version. [1]

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Oct/Nov 2010 P11/13 (7010)

5 Most laptop computers have networking capability.

(a) Describe two other desirable features you would look for when choosing a laptop
computer. [2]
(b) Describe two advantages of using broadband to connect to the Internet rather than
using dial-up. [4]

10 (a) What is meant by a virus? [2]

(b) What is meant by encryption? [2]
(c) (i) A student wrote ―I would make backup copies of my data to guard against viruses‖.
Why is the student‘s statement not necessarily true? [1]
(ii) The same student also wrote ―Encryption would stop a hacker accessing the data in my
computer files‖.
Why is the student‘s statement incorrect? [1]

12 (a) A student is trying to find out information about cloud computers.

How could he use the Internet to find this information? [2]
(b) Give two advantages of using the Internet to find information. [2]
(c) Give two disadvantages of using the Internet to find information. [2]

May/June 2011 P11 (7010)

2 A user decides to use an Internet search engine to help locate a hotel.

(a) What is a search engine? [1]
(b) Give two possible problems the user might encounter when using a search engine. [2]
(c) The search engine found the website of a suitable hotel.
Give three features you would expect to see on a hotel website. [3]

3 A worker at a company has to go through a logon procedure to gain access to her

computer system.
(a) The first thing she has to do is type in a user name and a password.
Why is this done? [1]
(b) The password is typed in twice.
Why is this done? [1]
A menu then appears on her screen. She chooses to connect to the Internet.
(c) Describe two ways her computer system is protected against loss or corruption of files
once the computer system is connected to the Internet. [2]
(d) The worker leaves her computer system for a 10-minute break.
(i) From a health and safety aspect, why does she need to take a regular break?
(ii) Apart from switching off her machine, how could she ensure her computer system was
secure whilst taking her regular break? [2]

May/June 2011 P12 (7010)

4 A company has decided to introduce an intranet and remove Internet access for its staff.
(a) Describe TWO reasons why the company will not allow its staff Internet access. [2]
(b) Apart from removing Internet access, give TWO advantages to the company of using
an intranet. [2]

6 FIVE security or data loss issues are shown on the left hand side.
FIVE possible methods of data recovery or protection are shown on the right.
Match the definitions/descriptions on the left to the most appropriate method on the right
by drawing connecting arrows.

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13 Describe THREE ADVANTAGES and TWODISADVANTAGES to the general public of using

the Internet to do online shopping. [5]

Oct/Nov 2011 P11/12 (7010)

2 Give one benefit of storing music files in MP3 format.

(b) Describe the type of memory used in MP3 players.

9 Juan decided to buy 40 tracks online from a music distribution company.

The tracks are all in MP3 format.
(a) What is the benefit of downloading tracks in MP3format rather than in the normal CD
format? [1]
Juan uses a company which offers the following Internet broadband transfer rates:
• 56 megabits per second DOWNLOAD
• 16 megabits per second UPLOAD
(b) If each music track is 3.5 megabytes in size, how long would it take Juan to download
his 40 tracks?(Show your working.) [2]
(c) He has decided to upload 36 photographs onto his social networking website. Each
photograph is1.8 megabytes in size.
How long would it take to upload his photographs? [2]

10 A company‘s technical services are now available on the Internet as well as using call
centres.
(a) Give two advantages to the customer of using call centres. [2]
(b) Give two advantages to the customer of using technical services on the Internet. [2]
(c) Describe two effects on company staff of replacing the call centres with Internet
services. [2]

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15 A company selling CDs uses a unique 6-digit identification number for each CD title. The
right-most digit (position 1) is a check digit.
For example,

The validity of the number and check digit is calculated as follows:

• multiply each digit by its digit position
• add up the results of the multiplications
• divide the answer by 11
• if the remainder is 0, the identification number and check digit are valid
(a) Show whether the following identification numbers are valid or not. You must show how
you arrived at your answer.
(i) 4 2 1 9 2 3
working:
valid or not valid?
(ii) 8 2 0 1 5 6
working:
valid or not valid? [3]
(b) Find the check digit for the following identification number:
5 0 2 4 1 __
working:
check digit: [2]
(c) Describe, with examples, two different types of data entry errors that a check digit
would detect. [2]

16 A company has bought some computers which can be used as stand-alone or

networked.
(a) When used as stand-alone, there is a risk of information being stolen.
Give two ways this risk could be removed or minimised. [2]
(b) There are additional, different security risks when using the computers on a network.
Describe two of these risks and how the system can be protected against them. [4]

Oct/Nov 2011 P13 (7010)

1 (a) Give two benefits of networking a set of computers. [2]

(b) A college decides to use network computers with wireless capability.
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using wireless systems. [2]

6 (a) What is meant by the term web browser? [1]

(b) Rock-ICT has set up a website as shown below:

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Give the names of the three parts that have been labelled: [3]
(c) How does the website recognise the user‘s buying preferences as soon as they visit the
website? [1]
(d) Hacking is one security issue associated with the Internet and emails.
State two other security issues. [2]

Oct/Nov 2011 P13(7010)

Give the names of the three parts that have been labelled: [3]
(c) How does the website recognise the user‘s buying preferences as soon as they visit the
website? [1]
(d) Hacking is one security issue associated with the Internet and emails.
State two other security issues. [2]

May/June 2012 P11 (7010)

7 A large hotel has a website. The website offers the following facilities:
• a virtual tour of the hotel
• an interactive map
• the ability to book rooms online
(a) Give two features you would expect to find in each facility.
virtual tour
interactive map
room booking online [6]
(b) Describe one other feature you would expect to see on the hotel‘s website. [1]

3 A computer system is to have wireless access (Wi-Fi) to the Internet.

State five potential security issues. [5]

May/June 2012 P12 (7010)

12 (a) John has bought a 4 Gbyte MP3 player.

(You may assume: 1 byte = 8 bits, 1 Mbyte = 1024 kbytes and 1Gbyte = 1024 Mbytes)
(i) We can assume that each song lasts 3 minutes and is recorded at 128 kbps(kilobits per
second).
How much memory is required per song? [2]
(ii) Using your answer in (i), how many songs can be stored on John‘s MP3 player? [2]
(b) John also bought a device for recording television programmes. It allows him to record
a programme at the same time as he is watching an earlier recording. Describe how such
a system would work. [3]

Oct/Nov 2012 P12 (7010)

6 State three different methods that allow people to communicate using the Internet.
In each case, give a different benefit for the stated method. [6]

10 A computer system is to have access to the Internet.

Name and describe three potential security issues. [6]

12 (a) What is meant by the term bit streaming? [2]

(b) John uses bit streaming to watch films from websites.
(i) Give two advantages of using bit streaming for this purpose. [2]
(ii) Give two potential problems of using bit streaming for this purpose. [2]
(c) Describe another application of bit streaming. [1]

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16 The following statistics refer to a music track being recorded on a CD:

• music is sampled at 44 100 times per second
• each sample is 16 bits
• each track requires separate sampling for left and right speakers of a stereo recording
(8 bits = 1 byte, 1 megabyte = 1 048 576 bytes)
(a) (i) How many bytes are required to represent one second of sampled music? [2]
(ii) If a typical music track is 3 minutes long, how much memory is used on the CD to store
one track? (Give your answer in megabytes.) [2]
(b) When using MP3 format, the size of the above music track will be reduced by a factor
of 10 (i.e. the size is reduced by 90%).
How is the music quality retained? [2]

Oct/Nov 2012 P12 (7010)

1 For advertising at a trade fair, a company has a choice of computer facilities. One option
is a stand-alone computer with multimedia facilities. The other option is a computer with
Internet access to the company‘s website.
Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each method. [4]

4 (a) Describe four different communication methods that use the Internet. [4]
(b) Give two drawbacks of using the Internet for communications. [2]
(c) Mobile phones are a common method of communication.
Describe four types of application, other than the Internet, that may be available on a
mobile phone. [4]

May/June 2013 P11 (7010)

3 (a) Which of the following activities should always be regarded as security risks to
computer systems?
Indicate by ticking (_) the Yes or No column.

[2]

(b) State what is meant by the five computer terms in the table.
chat rooms
cookies
pharming
virus
VoIP [5]

4 (b) Give one benefit and one drawback of networking computers. [2]
(c) Many networks are known as LAN or WAN.
Give one feature of each type of network. [2]

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8 A company has set up a website to advertise and show houses for sale.
A customer can get access to an online interactive map and can also take a tour around
the house.
(a) Describe three features you would expect to see on an interactive map. [3]
(b) (i) Name the type of computer technology that enables a tour of the house to take
place using a website. [1]
(ii) What three features would you expect to see on the website which allows a
customer to take this tour? [3]

May/June 2013 P12 (7010)

5 Five definitions are given on the left hand side of the diagram below. Five computer terms
are shown on the right.
By drawing arrows, connect each definition to the correct computer term.

10 A company uses an intranet which can also communicate with the outside world
through the Internet.
(a) The system uses modems.
What is the purpose of a modem? [1]
(b) Part of the company‘s security strategy is to use a firewall.
Describe two features of a firewall. [2]
(c) Connecting to the Internet can cause potential problems.
State two of these problems. [2]

Oct/Nov 2013 P12 (7010)

13 A company advertises its Internet broadband speeds as follows:
• download speed of 128 megabits per second
• upload speed of 16 megabits per second (8 bits = 1 byte)

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(a) Explain what is meant by the two terms download speed and upload speed.
download speed
upload speed [2]
(b) Give two advantages of using broadband rather than dial-up. [2]
(c) Give two different scenarios when a fast broadband connection is essential. [2]
(d) How many 4-megabyte files could be downloaded per second using this company‘s
broadband? [1]

Oct/Nov 2013 P13 (7010)

7 (a) Describe what is meant by streaming when watching a video on a computer screen.
[2]
(b) What is the difference between true (real time) streaming and on demand streaming?
True on demand [2]
(c) To allow high quality video playback during streaming, computers need special
software and a way of temporarily saving the data.
Describe one piece of software needed and also how the data can be stored
temporarily.
software
temporary storage [2]
(d) Give one benefit and one drawback of using streaming to play videos. [2]

May/June 2014 P11 (7010)

1 (b) Give two benefits of having computers networked together. [2]

(c) Give one drawback of having computers networked together. [1]

6 A company has eight warehouses throughout Europe. It has decided to introduce online
sales and has launched a website.
Customers can now buy online instead of physically going to the warehouse.
(a) Give two benefits to the customer. [2]
(b) Give two benefits to the company. [2]
(c) Give three potential effects on the staff who presently work for the company. [3]
(d) Give two features you would expect to see on the company‘s website. [2]

11 Dima has decided to change his dial-up modem for a broadband modem.
(a) Give two advantages of doing this. [2]
(b) Dima has agreed to send Michaela a 20 megabyte file. They both have a broadband
connection.
Dima has to upload his file to a server and then Michaela needs to download it from the
same server.
The broadband data transfer rates (speeds) are:
1 megabits per second to upload a file
8 megabits per second to download a file
(Note: 8 bits = 1 byte)
(i) How long does it take to upload Dima‘s file? [2]
(ii) How long does it take to download Dima‘s file? [1]
(c) Dima has decided to use wireless LAN (WiFi) connections.
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of doing this.
Advantage
Disadvantage [2]

May/June 2014 P12 (7010)

2 A customer books a flight to Brazil using an online travel agency.

(a) Describe the steps taken by the customer and by the agency when booking the flight
online. [3]

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4 A student used the Internet to help with his Chemistry project. He typed the following into
a search engine:
transition + elements
(a) The first two search results listed were:
Chemistry of the transition elements
The elements of transition during computer animation
Considering these two examples, describe one problem when using search engines. [1]
(b) This search gave the student over 480 000 results (―hits‖).
Many of these results were not relevant.
How could the student obtain more relevant results? [1]
(c) Other than security issues, describe one undesirable feature of using the Internet when
looking for information. [1]
(d) Describe one benefit of using the Internet to find information. [1]

8 In each case below, state which Internet term is being described.

(a) Malicious software installed on a user‘s hard drive or a web server; the software re-
directs the user to a fake website without their consent or knowledge. [1]
(b) Personal Internet journals where a writer enters text about a certain topic; anyone can
comment on the topic. [1]
(c) Websites designed to promote the building of online communities who share the same
interests; usually free of charge; users can add friends, post messages to each other and
update personal profiles. [1]
(d) Legitimate-looking email sent to a user in the hope of gathering personal information; as
soon as the recipient clicks on the link in the email (or email attachment) they are sent to a
fake website. [1]
(e) Software that secretly gathers information by monitoring key presses on a user‘s
keyboard;
this information is relayed back to the person who sent the software originally. [1]

12 Camilo works as a hotel inspector. He travels to hotels in his own country and overseas.
He visits the hotels and then sends back a report to his head office after each hotel visit.
(a) Name three modern electronic devices that Camilo could use to help him with his work.
Give a different reason for your choice of each device. [6]
(b) Most of the hotels offer wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) in the rooms.
Give two disadvantages of using wireless (Wi-Fi) rather than wired Internet access. [2]

16 An encryption system gives each letter of the alphabet a value:

A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, ……… , Y = 25, Z = 26.
Each letter is stored in a 12-bit binary register. The letter ―S‖ (19th letter) is stored as:

A 4-bit register is used to store the encryption key. This register shows how many places the
bits are shifted to the left in the 12-bit register when it is encrypted. So,

means each bit in the 12-bit register is shifted 5 places to the left and the register now
becomes:

Therefore, the letter ―S‖ would be transmitted with the 4-bit register and the 12-bit register
as follows:

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(a) ―W‖ is the 23rd letter of the alphabet.

(i) Show how this letter would be stored in the 12-bit register before encryption:

(ii) The 4-bit register contains the following value:

Show how the letter ―W‖ is now stored in the 12-bit register in encrypted form:

(b) Find which letter of the alphabet has been encrypted here. (Show all your working.)

(c) (i) What is the largest encryption key that can be stored in the 4-bit register?

(ii) Convert this into denary (base 10).

(iii) If this encryption key were used, what problem would it cause? [3]

Unit 3- Data communications and networking 131 | P a g e

Unit 4
Data integrity and security
Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Data security is about keeping data safe. Securing stored data involves preventing
unauthorized people from accessing it as well as preventing accidental or intentional
destruction, infection or corruption of information. If the data on these computer systems is
damaged, lost, or stolen, it can lead to disaster.
Data may get:

 lost or damaged during a system crash - especially one affecting the hard disk
 corrupted as a result of faulty disks, disk drives, or power failures
 lost by accidentally deleting or overwriting files
 lost or become corrupted by computer viruses
 hacked into by unauthorised users and deleted or altered
 destroyed by natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or war
 deleted or altered by employees wishing to make money or take revenge on their
employer

Keeping data secure

Measures that can be taken to keep data secure include:

 making regular backups of files (backup copies should be stored in fireproof safes or in
another building)
 protecting yourself against viruses by running anti-virus software
 using a system of passwords so that access to data is restricted
 safe storage of important files stored on removable disks, eg locked away in a fireproof
and waterproof safe
 allowing only authorised staff into certain computer areas, eg by controlling entry to
these areas by means of ID cards or magnetic swipe cards
 always logging off or turning terminals off and if possible locking them
 avoiding accidental deletion of files by write-protecting disks
 using data encryption techniques to code data so that it makes no apparent sense.

Validation and Verification

When data is input to a computer system it is only valuable data if it is correct. If the data is
in error in any way then no amount of care in the programming will make up for the
erroneous data and the results produced can be expected to be unreliable. There are
three types of error that can occur with the data on entry. The first is that the data, while
reasonable, is wrong. If your birthday is written down on a data capture form as 18th of
November 1983, it will (except in very rare cases) be wrong. It can be typed into the
computer with the utmost care as 181183, it can be checked by the computer to make
sure that is a sensible date, and will then be accepted as your date of birth despite the
fact that it is wrong. There is no reason for the computer to imagine that it may be wrong,
quite simply when you filled out the original form you made a mistake. The second type of
error is when the operator typing in the data hits the wrong key and types in 181193, or the
equivalent. In this case an error has been made that should be able to be spotted if a
suitable check is made on the input. This type of data checking is called a verification
check. The third type of error is when something is typed in which simply is not sensible. If
the computer knows that there are only 12 months in a year then it will know that 181383

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must be wrong because it is not sensible to be born in the thirteenth month. Checks on the
sensibility of the data are called validation checks.

Verification:

Verification means checking the input data with the original data to make sure that there
have been no transcription errors. The standard way to do this is to input the data twice to
the computer system. The computer then checks the two sets of data (which should be the
same) and if there is a difference between the two sets of data the computer knows that
one of the inputs is wrong. It won‘t know which on is wrong but it can now ask the operator
to check that particular input.

Validation:

The first thing is to dispel a common misinterpretation of validation. Specifically, the use of
parity bits to check data. This is NOT validation. Parity bits and echoing back are
techniques that are used to check that data has been transmitted properly within a
computer system (e.g. from the disk drive to the processor), validation checks are used to
check the input of data to the system in the first place.

Validation is a check on DATA INPUT to the system by comparing the data input with a set
of rules that the computer has been told the data must follow. If the data does not match
up with the rules then there must be an error. There are many different types of validation
check that can be used to check input in different applications.

1. Range check. A mathematics exam is out of 100. A simple validation rule that the
computer can apply to any data that is input is that the mark must be between 0 and 100
inclusive. Consequently, a mark of 101 would be rejected by this check as being outside
the acceptable range.

2. Character check. A person‘s name will consist of letters of the alphabet and sometimes
a hyphen or apostrophe. This rule can be applied to input of a person‘s name so that
dav2d will immediately be rejected as unacceptable.

3. Format check. A particular application is set up to accept a national identity number.

Each person has a unique national identity number, but they all have the same format of
characters, 2 letters followed by 6 digits followed by a single letter. If the computer knows
this rule then it knows what the format of a NI number is and would reject ABC12345Z
because it is in the wrong format, it breaks the rule.

4. Length check. A NI number has 9 characters, if more or fewer than 9 characters are
keyed in then the data cannot be accurate.

5. Existence check. There might be an important piece of data that you want to make sure
is always stored. For example, a school will always want to know an emergency contact
number, a video rental store might always want to know a customer's address, a wedding
dress shop might always want a record of the brides wedding date.

A presence check makes sure that a critical field cannot be left blank, it must be filled in. If
someone tries to leave the field blank then an error message will appear and you won't be
able to progress to another record or save any other data which you have entered.

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6. Check digit. When the code is read on the item at the supermarket, it consists of
numbers. One number is special; it is called the check digit. If the other numbers have
some arithmetic done to them using a simple algorithm the answer should be this special
digit. When the code is read at the check out till, if the arithmetic does not give the check
digit it must have been read wrongly, it is at this point that the beeping sound would
normally be heard if everything is alright.

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keep data safe from malicious actions

It is great to have access to so many great things in the Internet. Important information,
useful services and wonderful entertainment. Unfortunately by accessing the Internet you
take the risk of opening a door to some uninvited guests who are looking for an opportunity
to harm you and your computer. Yes, we‘re talking about computer viruses,
spyware/adware and hackers.

What are computer viruses, spyware and adware?

Computer viruses are software programs designed to access your computer without your
consent, interfere with computer‘s operation, and record, corrupt, or delete your personal
data.

Adware are software programs designed for advertising and changing your computer's
configuration. Spyware is software designed to collect personal information like what
websites you visit or even surreptitiously transmit your personal information, such as your
credit card number from your computer without your knowledge.

Another threat over the internet is of ―Hackers‖. The term hacker is used in popular media
to describe someone who attempts to break into computer systems. Typically, this kind of
hacker would be a proficient programmer or engineer with sufficient technical knowledge
to understand the weak points in a security system.

Why are they so bad?

While viruses can be intentionally destructive, for example, by destroying data, many
viruses are fairly benign or merely annoying. Adware is mainly annoying but spyware can
be downright dangerous if it manages to get hold of important information like your
passwords or credit card information. Hackers can breaks into someone else's computer
system, often on a network; bypasses passwords or licenses in computer programs; or in
other ways intentionally breaches computer security.

How do I know if my computer is infected?

The scary thing with viruses, adware/spyware and hackers are that they covertly operate
for a relatively long period of time in your computer without being detected. Therefore it‘s
very important to follow the preventive methods described later in this guide.

The common symptoms of a virus infection are that your computer runs more slowly than
normally, stops responding and locks up often, crashes and restarts frequently or fails to run
normally. Other possible symptoms are that the applications don‘t work properly and you
can‘t print correctly, the discs and disc drives on your computer are inaccessible and you
see unusual error messages.

The signs of spyware or adware infection are similar to the signs of a computer virus
infection, but in addition to those you might get unwanted pop-up windows on your screen
even if you‘re not browsing in the Internet, your web browser‘s start up page can be
different than it should be or you might notice an unwanted toolbar on your web browser.

It can be difficult to detect a hacker on a computer because nothing changes to help

disguise the hack. Below are the most common things that change after a computer is
hacked.

 New programs installed

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 Computer passwords have changed

 Increased network activity
 Unknown programs wanting access
 Security programs uninstalled
 Computer doing things by itself

How do I protect my computer from intruders?

Even though the idea of having unwanted software running on your computer is scary, by
following few easy steps you can keep your computer free of viruses, adware, spyware and
other uninvited guests.

Install a firewall.

An Internet firewall is a computer program or hardware appliance designed to prevent

unauthorised access to private computers or networks. Firewall screens out viruses, worms,
malware and hackers that try to access your computer over the Internet. Installing a
firewall is the most effective and the most important first step you can take to protect your
computer. Install the firewall before you access the Internet for the first time and keep it
running at all times.

You can purchase a firewall for your computer from a local computer store or from the
Internet. Some operating systems like Windows XP (with service pack 2) and MacOS X have
a built-in firewall.

How does a firewall work?

A firewall enforces a policy or set of rules governing the flow of data to and from the
outside world. Firewalls that are used to protect home computers are usually based on
packet filtering, ie.Data packets (small units of information) are admitted or rejected
according to the way these rules are configured. For the typical home user their primary
function is to block uninvited incoming connections. Most firewall tools will come with a
sensible set of rules by default.

Install anti-virus software

In addition to a firewall you should install some kind of anti-virus software before connecting
the first time to the Internet. A typical anti-virus software scans for the new viruses entering
your computer, cleans up any viruses it finds and makes sure they can't do any more harm.

Just like firewall, your anti-virus software should be turned on at all the times so that when
you start up your computer the virus scanner will also open. This ensures that viruses are
caught as soon as possible. An anti-virus software will also check disks inserted in your
computer, emails you receive and programs you download from the Internet for viruses.

If you receive a virus, your anti-virus software will usually notify you then will try to repair the
file the virus has infected. It also isolates any files that can‘t be repaired and tries to rescue
any files it can. Some software asks you to send the virus to the anti-virus company. If it is a
new one the company will add it to their database.

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Password

Passwords are very important in keeping your online information safe. What is very
important is the strength of the password that you choose. Your password meet the
following criteria:

 Be at least 6 - 8 characters

 Contain at least one character from ALL of the following four classes:
Uppercase letters (eg. A, B, C), Lower case letters (eg. a, b, c), Numbers (eg. 1, 2, 3),
Punctuation symbols (eg. ~!@#$%^&*()+-=)

 Doesn't contain your first name, your last name, your user ID, the word Optus, Singtel, a
day of the week, month of the year or the word password

 Is not a common word or keyboard sequence (eg. 123, qwerty, asdf, zxcv, poiuy)
You should change your password regularly and never give your password to others.

Keep your software and computer updated.

As the viruses change constantly, it is very important that you keep your computer‘s
operating system, firewall software and the anti-virus software up to date. The anti-virus
software will automatically ask to be updated so make sure you do that. Many virus
scanners can be obtained bundled with one year of free "updates" included. After this
subscription runs out, the program will usually recommend that you re-subscribe in order to
keep up-to-date with the needed protection.

Encryption:

The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve
data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a
secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain
text ; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text.
There are two main types of encryption: asymmetric encryption (also called public-key
encryption) and symmetric encryption.

A type of encryption where the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt the message. This
differs from asymmetric (or public-key) encryption, which uses one key to encrypt a
message and another to decrypt the message.

A cryptographic system that uses two keys -- a public key known to everyone and
a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message. When John wants to
send a secure message to Jane, he uses Jane's public key to encrypt the message. Jane
then uses her private key to decrypt it.
An important element to the public key system is that the public and private keys are
related in such a way that only the public key can be used to encrypt messages and only
the corresponding private key can be used to decrypt them. Moreover, it is virtually
impossible to deduce the private key if you know the public key.
Public-key systems, such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), are becoming popular for
transmitting information via the Internet. They are extremely secure and relatively simple to
use. The only difficulty with public-key systems is that you need to know the recipient's
public key to encrypt a message for him or her. What's needed, therefore, is a global
registry of public keys, which is one of the promises of the new LDAP technology.

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Public key cryptography was invented in 1976 by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman. For
this reason, it is sometime called Diffie-Hellman encryption. It is also called asymmetric
encryption because it uses two keys instead of one key (symmetric encryption).

SSL:

Organizations that use the Web to collect and transmit sensitive data to customers or other
organizations need to secure their Web site. The general standard is the use of secure
socket layers (SSL), which encrypts data transmitted via a Web site. Upon opening an
Internet browser, an open or closed lock appears in the lower right hand corner of the Web
site. If the lock is closed, it means the data transmitted over the Web site is secure, generally
by SSL. This allows the transmission and collection of private data over a Web site, without
worrying about a hacker accessing it. There is no such thing as security without risks, but the
use of SSL and secure Web sites when transmitting data significantly reduces the risk of it
being inappropriately intercepted. Secure Web sites can be established by using internal
Web analysts/programmers or working with a vendor who has expertise in creating an
appealing and secure Web presence.

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Internet Threats

Denial Of Service Attacks (DoS)

DoS stands for Denial of Service. A malicious hacker uses a DoS attack to make a computer
resource (i.e. – website, application, e-mail, voicemail, network) stop responding to
legitimate users. The malicious hacker does this by commanding a fleet of remotely-
controlled computers to send a flood of network traffic to the target. The target becomes
so busy dealing with the attacker‘s requests that it doesn‘t have time to respond to
legitimate users‘ requests. That can cause the target system to stop responding, resulting in
long delays and outages.

What is a pharming scam?

Phishing scams involve emails that trick you into clicking on a link to a scam website where
you are asked to enter your personal, password or financial information. Pharming scams
however automatically redirect you to these scam websites, often without your knowledge.

Pharming is when you are redirected to a fake/scam version of a website which may look
identical to the website you were trying to view. This is sometimes referred to as page-
hijacking or page-jacking. In this scam, the legitimate url you typed into your browser or the
bookmarked link you followed automatically changes and redirects you to a fake address,
often which looks very similar to the legitimate address.

There are two main methods of committing pharming scams, both leading to potential
identity fraud. In the first, a victim‘s computer is infected with a virus or malware which then
causes technical changes on the computer which redirect you to the fake website, even if
you type in the correct internet address or clicked on a bookmark/favourite entry. This style
of pharming may be identified by some antivirus/antispyware software programs.

The second type of pharming is more sophisticated and generally undetectable by

antivirus/antispyware programs making it very hard to protect yourself. In this case, an
external DNS server, rather than your computer, is attacked resulting in you being
unknowingly redirected to a fake/scam copy of a legitimate site. As your computer is not
infected, antivirus software cannot help you.

The scam websites which you are redirected to are set up by scammers and may look
identical to legitimate websites which request your personal details such as online banking
websites. The fake site will ask you to enter sensitive personal details such as:

 usernames
 passwords
 bank account and credit card numbers
 email addresses.
If successful, a pharming scam will most likely lead to identity theft using the personal details
you enter into the fake website.

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Warning signs
 Legitimate websites which ask you to enter sensitive personal details are commonly
encrypted to protect your details. This is usually identified by the use of ―https:‖ rather
than ―http:‖ at the start of the internet address or a closed padlock or unbroken key
icon at the bottom right corner of your browser window. If these are missing or there
is an open padlock or broken key icon present, the website is not secure and could
be a scam site.
 The pharming website will often have a striking resemblance to a legitimate site,
however the internet address will be slightly different, as may some elements of the
visual appearance of the site.
 The site may ask you for personal information which the original site didn‘t, for
example an online banking website will usually ask you to enter your username and
password, however a pharming site may also request your bank account or credit
card number.

Protect yourself from pharming websites

 Never provide your personal, credit card or account details online unless you have
verified the website is authentic.
 You can verify a website‘s authenticity by looking for ―https:‖ at the beginning of the
internet address, the locked padlock icon or the unbroken key icon.
 If you know what the correct internet address should be, check the address of the
site you are viewing matches and ensure it hasn‘t changed from what you entered
or expected.
 Check if the website has a digital certificate. If it has one it will generally appear as a
padlock icon alongside the web address. You can click on the icon to ensure that
the certificate has been verified, is official and has not expired.
 Keep your computer programs updated - many programs give you the option to
receive updates automatically. Install and regularly update antivirus, antispyware
and firewall software.
 Remain cautious when downloading free software from the web as these often
carry viruses or malware.
 If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact the
organisation you hold your account with immediately, such as your bank or email
provider.

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What is phishing?
‗Phishing‘ refers to emails that trick people into giving out their personal and banking
information; they can also be sent by SMS. These messages seem to come from legitimate
businesses, normally banks or other financial institutions or telecommunications providers.
The scammers are generally trying to get information like your bank account numbers,
passwords and credit card numbers, which they will then use to steal your money.

Phishing emails often look genuine and use what look to be genuine internet addresses—in
fact, they often copy an institution's logo and message format, which is very easy to do. It is
also common for phishing messages to contain links to websites that are convincing fakes
of real companies' home pages.

The website that the scammer‘s email links to will have an address (URL) that is similar to but
not the same as a real bank's or financial institution‘s site. For example, if the genuine site is
at 'www.realbank.com.au', the scammer may use an address like
'www.realbank.com.au.log107.biz' or 'www.phoneybank.com/realbank.com.au/login'.

Warning signs
 You receive an email or SMS claiming to be from a financial institution or
telecommunication provider. This message may seem to be from your bank, service
provider or a business you don‘t have an account with. The email contains a link
that leads you to a website where you are prompted to enter your bank account
details.
 The email does not address you by your proper name.
 The email might contain typing errors and grammatical mistakes.
 The email might claim that your details are needed for a security and maintenance
upgrade, to ‗verify‘ your account or to protect you from a fraud threat. The email
might even state that you are due to receive a refund for a bill or other fee that it
claims you have been charged.
Protect yourself from phishing scams
 NEVER send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do
not know and trust.
 Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone
unless you made the call and know that the phone number came from a trusted
source.
 Do not open suspicious or unsolicited emails (spam)—ignore them. You can report
spam to Australian Communications and Media Authority. If you do not wish to
report the message, delete it.
 Do not click on any links in a spam email or open any files attached to them.
 Never call a telephone number that you see in a spam email or SMS.
 If you want to access an internet account website, use a bookmarked link or type
the address in yourself—NEVER follow a link in an email.
 Check the website address carefully. Scammers often set up fake websites with very
similar addresses.
 Never enter your personal, credit card or online account information on a website if
you are not certain it is genuine.
 Never send your personal, credit card or online account details through an email.

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We may not think about if often, but there are several ethical and legal issues that surround
our computer use. It is our responsibility to ensure that we are using computers in a manner
that will not bring harm to others.

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What Are Ethics?

Ethics can be defined as "moral principals that govern a person's or group's behaviors."
Ethical behavior is not necessarily related to the law. For example, just because something
is not against the law doesn't mean it is okay to do it.

What is Computer Ethics?

Computer ethics is concerned with standards of conduct applying to the use of

computers.

Computer ethics can be understood as that branch of applied ethics which studies and
analyzes social and ethical impact of information technology.

The Computer Ethics Institute has published their "Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics"
to guide responsible computer use. They are as follows:

1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.

2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's computer files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not uses a computer to bear false witness (aka Lie).
6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper
compensation.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or
the system you are designing.
10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for
your fellow humans.

Legal Issues Surrounding Computer Use

There are several issues that deal with the legal use of computers. The two that we will
focus on are plagiarism and piracy.

Copyright and Plagiarism

Read the following very carefully: Plagiarism is a serious crime. Now, repeat it to yourself
again. Why is this so important? Plagiarism is something that students easily fall into,
whether they mean to or not. When you write a report and copy and paste from the
Internet, you are committing plagiarism. So, what exactly is plagiarism and how can you
avoid it?

When someone publishes work, including books, music, photographs, movies, software,
paintings, poetry, articles, etc., they are granted copyright. Copyright is a set of rights
given to the creator of the work allowing them the sole right to copy and distribute the
work. This means that only they can copy, use, or sell the work. For example, a common
myth is that when we buy a CD, we own the music. That is not true! We have purchased
the right to enjoy the music, but it is not ours to copy and then give to a friend. That is a
violation of copyright. The same goes for that example of writing a report. If you copy and
paste or write word for word someone else's work, you are violating copyright laws.

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Let's get back to plagiarism. Put simply, plagiarism is taking credit for work that someone
else did. The Internet makes plagiarism very easy to do. However, the Internet also makes
it very easy for a teacher to check your work for plagiarism. Be smart and avoid plagiarism
at all costs.

Copyright Vs. Plagiarism

Copyright Plagiarism
One who violets copyright breaks laws One who plagiarizes breaks a moral code
that protect the right of the creator of an by claiming credit for the work of
original work. someone els.
Violation of copyright law may results in Plagiarism may result in academic
fines, imprisonment or both. dismissal or loss of job.

Piracy and Illegal Downloading

Another legal issue in computing is software piracy and illegal downloading. Piracy is the
illegal use and/or copying of software. This includes not only software used on the
computer, but video games, DVDs, CDs, and MP3 files. Notice that I said use AND
copying. Even if you aren't the one who makes the copy, you are still breaking the law by
using a "bootlegged" copy.

Think about it this way. Let's say that your friend just illegally downloaded the hottest new
movie and makes a copy for a few of his friends. You think, no big deal....the actors in this
movie are GA zillionaires anyway. However, this is wrong way of thinking. It isn't really the
actors that you hurt when you "steal" this way. Think about the people who produce the
movie. Think about the people who run the cameras. Think about the people who keep
the studio clean. When you steal music, movies, and software, you affect a lot of different
people.

If that doesn't get you to realize how wrong it is to illegally obtain these things, think about it
one more way. If you were a singer or actor, would you want people stealing your movies
or music?

Freeware Software:

Freeware is copyrighted software that is licensed to be copied and distributed without

charges.
Freeware is free because the license says it is, but it‘s still under the owners control.
Example:
Netscape
Internet Explorer

Shareware Software:
The software is licensed for copying and sharing for a trial period, but payment must be
made to the owner for permanent use.

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May/June 2006

10 Many bank customers now bank on-line using the Internet.

(a) State two advantages for the bank of on-line banking. [2]
(b) State two disadvantages for a bank customer of on-line banking. [2]
(c) State three data protection rules that could apply to the customer data stored on a
bank computer system. [3]

12 A music club keeps its members‘ details on a computer file.

(a) Complete the table below which shows the data type, field length and validation
check used for the club members‘ data.

Oct/Nov 2006

1 Explain, using examples where appropriate, the following computer terms:

(a) verification [2]

3 (a) Give two examples of computer crime. [2]

(b) Describe two methods used to prevent computer crime. [2]

4 State three effects on society due to the increase of businesses using e-commerce. [3]

A school keeps a spreadsheet of examination results in four subjects. Part of the

spreadsheet is shown below.

State the validation check that should be carried out on data entered in cells C2 to F8 to
ensure values over 100 are not input.

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May/June 2007
7 A hospital has decided to computerise its administration system.
(a) Give three ways this could affect the hospital workers. [3]
The hospital will be using a database which holds confidential personal data.
(b) State two precautions that the hospital should take to prevent unauthorised access to
the data. [2]
(c) Describe how the database could be recovered if it became corrupted. [1]
(d) Give one example, in each case, of when it would be necessary to amend data,
delete data and insert data into the patient database. [3]

Input data needs to go through a validation process.

(i) Explain the term validation.
(ii) Describe one type of validation check.

Oct/Nov 2007

4 Online banking using the Internet is now increasing.

(a) Give one advantage to the customer of using online banking. [1]
(b) Give one advantage to the bank of providing online banking. [1]
(c) Online banking has an impact on society as a whole.
(i) Give one positive effect.
(ii) Give one negative effect. [2]
(d) Describe two concerns people might have regarding online banking. [2]

5 (a) (i) Name one method used to protect data against unauthorised access. [1]
(ii) Name one method used to protect data in a file from being understood when an
unauthorised person has gained access to the file. [1]

A school Science department is going to use a database to record details about its
equipment.
(b) Part of the database is shown below:

(i) As data is entered it needs to be verified. Describe one way this could be done.[1]
(ii) Data also needs to be validated. Using fields from the database as examples,
describe two different validation checks which could be performed on the data.

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May/June 2008

5 Computer systems can be affected by viruses.

(a) What is a virus? [1]
(b) Give one effect of a virus. [1]
(c) How can a system be protected from viruses? [1]
(d) Why would backing up data not guard against the effect of a virus? [1]

Students‘ records are kept on a stand-alone computer (no network connections) in the
principal's office.
(c) Students are concerned that their personal data could be misused. Name two methods
that could be used to ensure personal data is kept secure. [2]
(d) Examination results are stored in students‘ records as marks out of 100. Give two
different validation checks that could be performed on students‘ marks.

6 Students‘ records are kept on a stand-alone computer (no network connections) in the
principal's office.
(a) It is sometimes necessary to alter students‘ records. To do this efficiently, individual
records need to be retrieved quickly.
(i) What type of file access should be used? [1]
(ii) What type of magnetic medium allows this type of access? [1]
(b) Give two examples of when a student‘s record would need to be altered. [2]
(c) Students are concerned that their personal data could be misused. Name two methods
that could be used to ensure personal data is kept secure. [2]
(d) Examination results are stored in students‘ records as marks out of 100. Give two
different validation checks that could be performed on students‘ marks. [2]

Oct/Nov 2008

4 Computer systems can be affected in various ways which could lead to data corruption.
Give two ways that data might be corrupted and suggest a method of protection for
each. [4]

7 Many people now bank through the Internet rather than using banks located in towns.
(a) Give one advantage to a bank that offers Internet banking. [1]
(b) Give one disadvantage to a bank that offers Internet banking. [1]
(c) Give two advantages to customers of using Internet banking. [2]
(d) Give two disadvantages to customers of using Internet banking. [2]

8 To gain access to a database, a user must first type in a user ID and then a password
which needs to be verified.
(a) How is a password usually verified? [1]
(b) In spite of these safeguards, unauthorised access to the database is still possible.
What could be done:
(i) to prevent data being used by unauthorised people? [1]
(ii) to prevent loss of data once the database has been illegally accessed? [1]
(c) Personal data is protected to some extent by a Data Protection Act. Give two
requirements of a Data Protection Act. [2]

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A database has been produced showing solar system statistics.

Name a different validation check for each of the following fields.

(i) Maximum surface temperature (0C)
(ii) Name of planet

May/June 2009

13 A company has decided to sell concert tickets on the internet rather than using
agencies.
Once the tickets are bought, the ticket confirmation and venue information are sent to the
customer and the customer prints the tickets.
(a) What two features would you expect to see on the company‘s website? [2]
(b) How would the ticket information be sent to the customer? [1]
(c) (i) How is it possible to ensure each ticket printed is unique? [1]
(ii) How is it possible to prevent unauthorised tickets being used? [1]

Oct/Nov 2009

Explain, using examples where appropriate, the meaning of these computer terms.
(e) validation

6 As well as being a valuable source of information, the internet has also enabled users to
save money through a number of online services.
Give two different examples of services that have allowed users to save money and
describe how the internet has made these savings possible. [4]

16 Many airlines now offer electronic tickets (e-tickets) to passengers when booking flights
online. A reference number is emailed to the passenger rather than mailing printed paper
tickets.
(a) Give two advantages of e-tickets compared to paper tickets. [2]
(b) Give two advantages of the paper ticket system compared to e-tickets. [2]
(c) Give two examples of information you would expect to see on the booking website. [2]

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May/June 2010 P11

4 A company is concerned about three aspects of the security of data stored in computer
files:
• data corruption
• data loss
• illegal access to data
For each of the above, give one reason why it could occur and state one method of
prevention. Your reasons must be different in each case. [6]

15 A database has been set up to bring together information about the world‘s tallest
buildings.
A section of the database is shown below.

For each of the following fields give a different validation check.

Year
Ref No.

16 A company has set up an Internet website to sell their electrical goods online.
(a) Give two features you would expect to see on the website. [2]
(b) Payments for goods can be made by credit/debit cards. Data from the cards is
encrypted.
(i) What is encryption?
(ii) Why is data encrypted? [2]
(c) Apart from credit card fraud, people have other fears about buying from the Internet.
Describe one of these fears. [1]

Oct/Nov 2010 P11

2 (a) State three reasons why a computer system failure might occur (malfunction). [3]
(b) One effect of a computer system failure is the loss or corruption of files. State one way
of recovering a file if it has been lost or corrupted. [1]
(c) How is it possible to ensure illegally accessed files are unreadable? [1]

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A college secretary inputs data into fields on a computer screen as shown below:

(a)Choose a suitable different validation check for each of the following:

(i) Student Sex which can be M or F only
(ii) Today‘s Date which must be written as, for example, 15/10/2010
(iii) the Examination Result which can be any number from 0 to 100
(b) Apart from validation, how would it be possible to ensure only certain data could be
input into each of the fields on the computer screen? [1]
(c) The secretary takes a ten minute break every hour.
(i) Apart from switching off, how can the secretary make sure the computer system is
secure whilst she takes a ten minute break?
(ii) From a health and safety aspect, why does the secretary need to take regular breaks?
[2]
Oct/Nov 2010 P12
5 A bank is worried about computer crime.
One of their concerns is online access to customer accounts.
(a) How can a customer’s access details be discovered by criminals? [2]
(b) Why would a customer using a credit card for online shopping be more of a security risk
than a customer using the same card in a shop? [2]
(c) Describe what measures the bank can take to safeguard customer accounts. [2]

7 A screen has been developed to allow the input of data into the following fields:
name, sex, address, date of birth and examination results.
(a) A first attempt at designing the screen is shown below:

This is not a very good input screen. Give four ways in which it could be improved. [4]
(b) (i) What is verification?
(ii) Which fields should be verified? [3]

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Oct/Nov 2010 P13

1. Explain, with examples where appropriate, the following five computer terms.
(b) Verification

Which validation methods are being carried out by the following three pseudocode
statements?
(i) ifage > 10 and age < 20 then print "correct"
(ii) ifgender = "male" and title = "Mr" then print "correct"
(iii) iffield = "" then print "input data is missing" [3]
(b) Name a different validation technique and give an example to show how it works.

16 A customer logs on to a secure website using a code and a password. The first stage is
to key in a code which is his date of birth (DDMMYY) followed by 1234. The second stage is
to type in the first, third, fourth and seventh character of his password.
The customer last logged on to the website on 15th March 2010.
(a) (i) The customer‘s date of birth is 15th November 1985. What is the customer‘s code?

(ii) Why is this code not unique?

(iii) Suggest how this coding system could be improved. [3]
(b) (i) The customer‘s password is PAULO168.
What does the customer need to type at the second stage?

(ii) Why are passwords used? [2]

(c) If the customer gets through the two stages above he is then directed to a new security
page which states:
―You were last logged on to this website on 14th April 2010. Is this correct?‖
What could have happened to make the customer concerned about this statement? [1]

May/June 2011 P11

3 A worker at a company has to go through a logon procedure to gain access to her

computer system.
(a) The first thing she has to do is type in a user name and a password.
Why is this done? [1]
(b) The password is typed in twice.
Why is this done? [1]
A menu then appears on her screen. She chooses to connect to the Internet.
(c) Describe two ways her computer system is protected against loss or corruption of files
once the computer system is connected to the Internet. [2]
(d) The worker leaves her computer system for a 10-minute break.
(i) From a health and safety aspect, why does she need to take a regular break?
(ii) Apart from switching off her machine, how could she ensure her computer system was
secure whilst taking her regular break? [2]
A spreadsheet has been set up to compare the costs of types of fruit juice sold by a shop.

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What validation check could be carried out on the data in cells B2 to B6?

May/June 2011 P12

6 FIVE security or data loss issues are shown on the left hand side.
FIVE possible methods of data recovery or protection are shown on the right.
Match the definitions/descriptions on the left to the most appropriate method on the right
by drawing connecting arrows.

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8 A media sales company has set up a website.

The opening page is:

(i) Name a validation check that could be used on the Customer ID field? [1]
(ii) Describe TWO types of test data, together with examples, that could be used to see
whether the validation check named in (i) works.

16 A book shop uses barcodes for its computerised

stock control.
Each book title has a barcode which identifies it.

The data is stored in a table.

(a) A sample of the data stored in the table is shown below:

(i) Which is the key field?

(ii) Give TWO examples of when the data in the table will need to be changed. [3]
(b) Each barcode has a check digit.
(i) Explain how the check digit is used as a validation check.
(ii) What type of error can the check digit identify? [2]
(c) Name DIFFERENT suitable validation checks for EACH of the following fields:
Book title:
Copies:
Publication date: [3]

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Oct/Nov 2011 P13

Five definitions and descriptions are shown below on the left hand side.
Five computer terms are shown on the right.
Match the definitions/descriptions on the left to the correct term on the right by drawing
connecting arrows.

Oct/Nov 2011 P13

A program requires the user to type in a user ID which must be in the form:
XX999999
where X stands for any letter, and 9 stands for any digit.
(a) Name two possible validation checks that could be applied to this user ID.
(b) Name a validation check that could not be used on this occasion.
Give a reason for your choice.

May/June 2012 P11

2 Describe ways to guard against each of the following Internet security issues. (A different
method should be given in each case.)
1. viruses
2. hacking
3. spyware
4. phishing
5. tapping into wireless networks [5]

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10 Jatinder uses Internet banking.

(a) Give one benefit and one drawback of using Internet banking. [2]
She uses a 5-digit PIN.
(b) Every time she logs on, she is asked to give 3 random digits from the PIN. She was asked
to give her 3rd, 1st and 4th digit. This changes every time she logs on.
Give a reason for this. [1]
(c) A different application needs the whole PIN to be input.
The following code has been written to check the PIN:
c=0
INPUT PIN
x = PIN
REPEAT
x = x/10
c=c+1
UNTIL x < 1
IF c < 5
THEN
PRINT ―error in PIN entered‖
ELSE
PRINT ―PIN OK‖
ENDIF
(i) What value of c and what message would be output if the following PINs were entered?
5 1 0 2 0 Value of c:
Message:
5 1 2 0 Value of c:
Message: [2]
(ii) What type of validation check is being carried out here? [1]

May/June 2012 P12

State two different validation checks and give an example of their use. Each example
should be different.

Oct/Nov 2012 P12

7 (a) Lucy wrote: ―I should validate the input into my database by typing in the same data
twice‖.
Why was her statement incorrect? [2]
(b) She lost all her photographs when her computer crashed.
(i) What is meant by the term crashed?
(ii) How could she have avoided losing all her photographs? [2]
(c) Lucy was sent an important attachment in an email, but couldn‘t open it.
Give a reason why she couldn‘t open the attachment. [1]
(d) She decided to invest in a wireless (Wi-Fi) mouse and keyboard for her computer.
Give one benefit and one drawback of using wireless devices. [2]

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May/June 2013 P11

3 (a) Which of the following activities should always be regarded as security risks to
computer systems?
Indicate by ticking (_) the Yes or No column.

[2]

7 Which five computer terms are being described below?

(i) typing in the same data twice and the computer checks both sets of data to see if
they exactly match
(v) count of the number of bits before transmission which is sent with the transmission
so that the receiver can check to see whether the same number of bits have
arrived [5]

A spreadsheet was set up to allow customers to work out their monthly payments when
borrowing money from a bank. The customer inputs data in column B.
The spreadsheet is as follows:

Give two different validation checks you would use for inputs to cells:
B2
B5

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May/June 2013 P12

A company requests new customers who register online to give the following details:
• name
• address
• type of credit/debit card
• payment card number
All details must be entered.
(a) (i) Describe one suitable different validation check for each field.
name
address
type of credit/debit card
payment card number

Oct/Nov 2013 P12

1 Internet security is a major issue for many people. The following is a list of five typical
security issues:
• hacking
• pharming
• phishing
• spyware
• viruses
Choose three of these security issues.
For each one, describe the security issue and suggest a way of protecting against it. [6]

12 A shop uses an information screen linked to a computer to allow customers to order

goods directly.
The first screen shows three options:

(b) The customer is then sent to another screen where they have to input:
• the goods reference number which is 8 digits long
• today‘s date which must be in the form dd/mm/yyyy
• the customer‘s telephone number
For each input give one validation check that should be performed.
A different type of check must be given in each case.
goods reference number
today‘s date
telephone number [3]

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Oct/Nov 2013 P13

1 (a) Name three features of a typical data protection act. [3]

(b) Data being held is often referred to as Personal or Sensitive Personal data.
Give two examples of each type of data.
Personal Data
Sensitive Personal Data [4]

4 A customer logs on to a bank website so that she can access her account.
(a) The first thing she was asked to do was to give the 3rd, 4th and 7th character of her
password. This was done using drop-down boxes:
Give two reasons why the customer was asked to supply only 3 characters from her
password. [2]
(b) Authentication is a technique used in bank security to check that the customer is who
they say they are. This involves three pieces of information, other than the password,
all related to the customer.
Give three examples of suitable information: [3]

May/June 2014 P11 (7010)

3 A hospital holds records of its patients in a database. Four of the fields are:
• date of visit (dd/mm/yyyy)
• patient‘s height (m)
• 8-digit patient ID
• contact telephone number
The presence check is one possible type of validation check on the data. For each field,
give another validation check that can be performed. Give an example of data which
would fail your named validation check.
A different validation check needs to be given for each field.
Example of data which
Field Name Name of validation check would fail the validation
check

Date of visit

Patient‘s height

Patient ID

Contact telephone
number

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4 The diagram below shows a number of descriptions and terms used in computer security.
By drawing arrows, connect the correct description to the computer security term.
Program installed.

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Past Papers Questions: A Levels

Section 1.8: Handling of data in information systems

May/June 2000
Oct/NOV 2000
May/June 2001
Oct/NOV 2001

May/June 2002
12. When a customer makes a payment, the file is amended by entering the account
number and the amount that has been paid in.
(a) Describe two validation tests that can be carried out on the amount of
money paid in. [4]
(b) State what is meant by a check digit, and explain how it could be used to
validate the account number. [4]

Oct/NOV 2002
May/June 2003
A college stores its student files on paper which is kept in filing cabinets. The decision is
taken to computerise these student files.
A systems analyst is employed to supervise the process.
11. The data stored needs to be as accurate as possible. Twice each year examination
grades are entered (A to G) for each subject. Describe how the techniques of
(i) verification,
(ii) validation
are used to ensure that the stored data is as accurate as possible. [6]

Oct/NOV 2004

9. Customers are identified by a 6 digit code. The first three digits are between 000 and
100 for organisations and between 300 and 600 for individuals. It is important that the
6 digit customer code is correctly entered to the system.
Describe how
(i) verification
(ii) validation
can help to ensure that as few errors as possible occur. [6]

May/June 2006
A small business has one shop. It specialises in taking portrait photographs for customers.
Details of customers are stored on paper.
It is decided to buy a stand-alone computer and use it to store customer records in a file.
8. Data that is entered into the file needs to be verified and validated.
(a) Explain what is meant by the terms
(i) verification;
(ii) validation. [2]

(b) Describe two methods that can be used for validating the date of the original
commission. [4]

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May/June 2007
5. (a) Describe what is meant by verification of data. [2]
(b) Give an example of an application which would require the data input to be
verified and explain why it would be necessary. [2]

May/June 2009

A company specialises in creating websites for customers.

12. The company stores details of customers and their accounts in a database.
The data input to the database must be verified and validated.
One piece of data which will be input to the database is the amount of money
when a customer makes a payment.
(b) (i) State what is meant by verification of data. [1]
(ii) Describe how the customer payment will be verified when it is input to
the database. [2]
The data input to the database must be verified and validated.
One piece of data which will be input to the database is the amount of money
when a customer makes a payment.
(c) (i) State what is meant by validation of data. [1]
(ii) Describe how the customer payment will be validated when it is input
to the database. [2]

Oct/NOV 2009. P11

3. (b) (ii) A shop uses point of sale (POS) terminals. Bar codes are read from
the item labels. The POS terminals produce a number of outputs in
different formats.
State two different output formats for the different information
produced, explaining why each is necessary. [4]

Oct/NOV 2009. P12

3. A library stores details of members on the member file.
(b) When a member's name is input to the system it needs to be validated.
(i) State what is meant by validation. [1]
(ii) Describe two validation checks that can be carried out when a member's
name is input to the system. [4]

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Unit 5:
Binary logic
Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Introduction to Logic
Many electronic circuits operate using binary logic gates. Logic gates basically process
signals which represent true or false or the equivalent i.e. ON or OFF, 1 or 0
Whilst there are a number of logic gates, only the six simplest are covered in this booklet:
NOT gate, AND gate, OR gate, NAND gate, NOR gate and XOR.
The following notes describe the function of all six gates, how to produce truth tables, how
to design networks using logic gates, and how to determine the output from a logic
network.

The six main logic gates

The most common symbols used to represent logic gates are shown below. To avoid
confusion the graphical representations will be used in exam questions but candidates may
use either set of symbols when answering questions.

1 simple graphical representation

AND OR NOT NAND NOR XOR

2 MIL symbols used to represent logic gates

Truth tables are used to show logic gate functions (refer to next section). The NOT gate has
only one input (and one output) but the other five gates have two inputs (but still only one
output).
The next section describes the function of all six logic gates.

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The tables above containing 1s and 0s are known as truth tables and are an integral part of
logic gates functionality. These are used extensively throughout this booklet in the design
and testing of logic networks built up from logic gates.

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Combinations of logic gates

It is possible to combine logic gates together to produce more complex logic networks.
This booklet will only deal with a maximum of three inputs and up to six logic gates. The
output from a logic network is checked by producing the truth table (as shown in the
examples below).
We will deal with two different scenarios here. The first involves drawing the truth table from
a given logic network; the second involves designing a logic network for a given problem
and then testing it by drawing the truth table.

Producing the truth table from a given logic network

Consider the following logic network which contains three inputs and three logic gates:

If we now look at the output in two stages. First let us consider the outputs being produced
at stages S and T. To do this we need to draw a truth table. There are three inputs (A, B and
C) which gives 23 (i.e. 8) possible combinations of 1s and 0s. To work out the outputs at S
and T we need to refer to the truth tables for the NOR gate and for the AND gate. For
example, when A = 1 and B = 1 then we have 1 NOR 1 which gives the value of S = 0.
Continuing doing the same thing for all 8 possible inputs we get the following interim truth
table:

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Designing logic networks to solve a specific problem and testing using truth tables

Consider the following problem:

“If button A or button B are on and button C is off then the alarm X goes on”

We can convert this onto logic gate terminology (ON = 1 and OFF = 0):
If (A = 1 OR B = 1) AND (C = NOT 1) then (X = 1)
(Notice: rather than write 0 we use NOT 1)

To draw the logic network, we do each part in brackets first i.e. A = 1 OR B = 1 is one gate
then C = NOT 1 is the second gate. These are then joined together by the AND gate. Once
the logic network is drawn we can then test it using a truth table. Remember the original
problem – we are looking for the output to be 1 when A or B is 1 and when C is 0. Thus we
get the following logic network and truth table from the network. Looking at the values in
the truth table, we will be able to clearly see that it matches up with the original problem
which then gives us confidence that the logic network is correct.

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Let us now consider a second problem:

A steel rolling mill is to be controlled by a logic network made up of AND, OR and NOT
gates only. The mill receives a stop signal (i.e. S = 1) depending on the following input bits:

A stop signal (S = 1) occurs when:

either Length, L > 100 metres and Velocity, V < 10 m/s
or Temperature, T < 1000 C and Velocity, V > 10 m/s
Draw a logic network and truth table to show all the possible situations when the stop signal
could be received.

The first thing to do is to try and turn the question into a series of logic gates and then the
problem becomes much simplified.

• The first statement can be re-written as: (L = 1 AND V = NOT 1) since Length > 100
metres corresponds to a binary value of 1 and Velocity < 10 m/s corresponds to a
binary value of 0 (i.e. NOT 1).
• The second statement can be re-written as (T = NOT 1 AND V = 1) since Temperature
< 1000C corresponds to a binary value of 0 (i.e. NOT 1) and Velocity > 10 m/s
corresponds to a binary value of 1
• Both these statements are joined together by OR which gives us the logic statement:
if (L = 1 AND V = NOT 1) OR (T = NOT 1 AND V = 1) then S = 1

We can now draw the logic network and truth table to give the solution to the original
problem (input L has been put at the bottom of the diagram just to avoid crossing over of
lines; it merely makes it look neater and less complex and isn‘t essential):

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Other Questions:
In questions 1 to 6, produce truth tables from the given logic networks. Remember that if
there are TWO inputs then there will be four (22) possible outputs and if there are THREE
inputs there will be eight (23) possible outputs.
i.e.

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Questions 7 to 10 require both the logic network to be created and also the truth table. The
truth table can be derived from the logic network, but also from the problem. This is a
check that the logic network actually represents the original problem.

(7) A computer will only operate if three switches P, S and T are correctly set. An output
signal
(X = 1) will occur if P and S are both ON or if P is OFF and S and T are ON. Design a logic
network and draw the truth table for this network.

(8) A traffic signal system will only operate if it receives an output signal (D = 1). This can
only occur if:
either (a) signal A is red (i.e. A = 0)
or (b) signal A is green (i.e. A = 1) and signals B and C are both red (i.e. B and C are
both 0)
Design a logic network and draw a truth table for the above system.

(9) A chemical plant gives out a warning signal (W = 1) when the process goes wrong. A
logic network is used to provide input and to decide whether or not W = 1.

A warning signal (W = 1) will be generated if

either (a) Chemical Rate < 10 m3/s
or (b) Temperature > 87 C and Concentration > 2 moles
or (c) Chemical rate = 10 m3/s and Temperature > 87 C
Draw a logic network and truth table to show all the possible situations when the warning
signal could be received.

(10) A power station has a safety system based on three inputs to a logic network. A
warning signal (S = 1) is produced when certain conditions occur based on these 3 inputs:

A warning signal (S = 1) will be generated if:

either (a) Temperature > 120C and Cooling Water < 100 l/hr
or (b) Temperature < 120C and (Pressure > 10 bar or Cooling Water < 100 l/hr)
Draw a logic network and truth table to show all the possible situations when the warning

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Past Papers Questions:

May/June 2006

Oct/Nov 2006

May/June 2007

Oct/Nov 2007

May/June 2008

Oct/Nov 2008

May/June 2009

Oct/Nov 2009. P11

Oct/Nov 2009. P12

Oct/Nov 2009. P13

May/June 2010. P11

May/June 2010. P12

May/June 2010. P13

Oct/Nov 2010. P11

Oct/Nov 2010. P12

Oct/Nov 2010. P13

May/June 2011. P11

10 (a) Two logic gates are the AND gate and the OR gate. Complete the truth tables for
these two gates:

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(b) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit:

May/June 2011. P12

11 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit:

(ii) Which single logic gate has the SAME function as the above logic circuit? [1]

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Oct/Nov 2011. P11

14 An alarm, X, gives a signal (i.e. X = 1) when a car fuel injection system gives certain fault
conditions. The inputs are:

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Oct/Nov 2011. P13

14 An alarm, Y, sends a signal (Y = 1) when certain fault conditions in a chemical process
are detected. The inputs are:

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May/June 2012. P11

12 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit, which is made up of NAND
gates:

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May/June 2012. P12

10 (a) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit, which is made up of NAND
gates:

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Oct/Nov 2012. P12

11 An alarm sounds when certain conditions occur in a nuclear reactor.
The output, X, of a logic circuit that drives the alarm must have a value of 1 if:
either carbon dioxide pressure too low and temperature < = 300°C
or water pressure > 10 bar and temperature > 300°C
The inputs to the system are:

(a) Draw the required logic circuit using AND, OR and NOT gates only.

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Oct/Nov 2012. P13

15 (a) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit:

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May/June 2013. P11

10 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for the logic circuit which is made up of NAND gates
only.

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May/June 2013. P12

15 (a) Draw the logic circuit represented by the logic statement:

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Oct/Nov 2013. P12

10(a) (i) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit which is made up of NOR
gates only.

[2]

(ii) What single logic gate has the same function as the above circuit? [1]

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Unit 5- Binary logic 184 | P a g e

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Unit 5- Binary logic 185 | P a g e

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Oct/Nov 2013. P13

11 (a) Draw the logic circuit for the following logic statement:
X = 1 if [ A is NOT 1 AND B is 1 ] AND [ B is 1 OR C is 1 ]

(b) Complete the truth table for the above logic circuit.

Unit 5- Binary logic 186 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2014. P11

7 (a) Draw the logic circuit for the logic statement:
X = 1 if (L is NOT 1 AND F = 1) OR (F is NOT 1 AND A is 1)

(b) Complete the truth table for the above system.

Unit 5- Binary logic 187 | P a g e

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May/June 2014. P12

17 (a) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit:

(b) Write the logic statement to describe the following logic circuit:

Unit 5- Binary logic 188 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Past Papers Questions:

A Level

Section 1.10: Logic Gates

May/June 2011. P11
6. Complete the table for this circuit of logic gates.

[6]

May/June 2011. P12

6. Complete the table for this circuit of logic gates.

[6]

Unit 5- Binary logic 189 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2011. P13

6. Complete the table for this circuit of logic gates.

[6]

Oct/NOV 2011. P11

9 (a) Complete the table to show the outputs for the possible inputs to this circuit.

[2]

Unit 5- Binary logic 190 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(b) Complete the table to show the outputs for the possible inputs to this circuit.

[4]

Oct/NOV 2011. P12

9 (a) Complete the table to show the outputs for the possible inputs to this
circuit.

[5]
(b) State a possible use for this circuit in a processor. [1]

Unit 5- Binary logic 191 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2011. P13

9 (a) Complete the table to show the outputs for the possible inputs to this
circuit.

[2]
(b) Complete the table to show the outputs for the possible inputs to this
circuit.

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 192 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2012. P11/12

9 (a) Complete the truth table to show the output from the logic gate
shown.

[2]
(b) Complete the truth table to show the outputs from the logic circuit
shown.

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 193 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2012. P13

9 (a) Complete the truth table to show the output from the logic gate
shown. [2]

(b) Complete the truth table to show the outputs from the logic circuit
shown.

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 194 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2012. P11

10 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for this logic circuit. [1]

(ii) State a single logic gate which would have the same final outcome as
this pair of logic gates. [1]

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 195 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2012. P12

10 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for this logic circuit. [1]

(ii) State a single logic gate which would have the same final outcome as
his pair of logic gates. [1]

(b) Complete the truth table for this logic circuit.

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 196 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2012. P13

10 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for this logic circuit.

[1]
(ii) State a single logic gate which would have the same final outcome as
this pair oflogic gates. [1]
(b) Complete the truth table for this logic circuit.

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 197 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2013. P11/P12

9 (a) Draw the logic circuit corresponding to the following logic statement:
X = 1 IF (A is 1 AND B is 1) OR (B is 1 OR C is NOT 1)

[4]
(b) Complete the truth table for the above logic statement:

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 198 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

May/June 2013. P13

6 (a) Draw the logic circuit corresponding to the following logic statement:
X = 1 IF ( (A is NOT 1 AND B is 1) OR (B is 1 AND C is 1) ) OR (C is 1)

[5]
(b) Complete the truth table for the above logic statement:

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 199 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

Oct/NOV 2013. P12

10 (a) (i) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit which is made up of
NOR gates only.

[2]

(ii) What single logic gate has the same function as the above circuit? [1]

(b) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit.

Unit 5- Binary logic 200 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

[4]

Oct/NOV 2013. P13

11 (a) Draw the logic circuit for the following logic statement:
X = 1 if [ A is NOT 1 AND B is 1 ] AND [ B is 1 OR C is 1 ]

[4]

Unit 5- Binary logic 201 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(b) Complete the truth table for the above logic circuit.

[4]

May/June 2014. P11/12

8 A car has an engine management system (EMS). The EMS outputs the following signals.

Unit 5- Binary logic 202 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(a) (i) Draw a logic circuit for the following fault condition:
All three signals (A = 1, B = 1 and C = 1) indicate a fault. The driver is warned to stop
the engine – output X = 1.

(ii) Draw a logic circuit for the fault condition:

Either (A = 1 and B = 1) or (B = 1 and C = 1) indicate a fault. The driver is warned that
the engine needs a service – output Y = 1.

Unit 5- Binary logic 203 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(iii) Draw a logic circuit for the fault condition:

Either A = 1 or B = 1 or C = 1 indicate a fault. A red warning light shows up on the
dashboard – output Z = 1.

May/June 2014. P13

8 (a) Complete the truth table for the following logic circuit:

Unit 5- Binary logic 204 | P a g e

Notes for O Level Computer Science 2210 By Farhan Rahmat

(b) Draw a logic circuit corresponding to the following logic statement:

Unit 5- Binary logic 205 | P a g e