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5.5. Information Coding Systems - Concise

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10 views

5.5. Information Coding Systems - Concise

Information

Uploaded by

Ahmed Bajwa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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AQA Computer Science A-Level

4.5.5 Information Coding Systems


Concise Notes

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Specification:

4.5.5.1 Character form of a decimal digit:


Differentiate between the character code representation of a decimal
digit and its pure binary representation.

4.5.5.2 ASCII and Unicode:


Describe ASCII and Unicode coding systems for coding character data
and explain why Unicode was introduced.

4.5.5.3 Error checking and correction:


Describe and explain the use of:
● parity bits
● majority voting
● checksums
● check digits

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Character form of a decimal digit

● When computers represent ​characters​, an ​information coding system​ is used


● A character code is a ​decimal digit​ used to represent a character

ASCII and Unicode

● ASCII stands for ​American Standard Code for Information Interchange


● ASCII and Unicode are two ​widely used ​information coding systems
● ASCII uses ​7 bits​ and can represent ​128​ (= 2​7​) different characters
● With the advent of ​the Internet​, there was a requirement for an information coding
system that could represent character sets ​other than the Latin alphabet
● Unicode allows the representation of a ​wide variety of alphabets​ by computers
● Unicode uses ​anywhere from 8 to 48 bits ​(1 to 6 bytes) per character
● Unicode can represent a ​much wider range of different characters​ than ASCII

Error checking and correction


Parity bits
● A ​single bit​ added to a transmission
● This bit can be used to​ check for errors​ in the transmitted data
● The bit’s value is calculated ​based on the transmitted data itself
● There are two types: ​even ​parity and ​odd ​parity
● In ​even ​parity, the parity bit makes ​the total number of 1s​ in the transmitted data
even
● In ​odd ​parity, the parity bit makes ​the total number of 1s​ in the transmitted data ​odd
● When data is received, a ​parity check ​is carried out
● If an error is detected, the computer asks the sender to ​retransmit​ the data
● If an ​even number of bits are changed​ during transmission, the error ​is not detected

Majority voting
● Each bit of the data is ​transmitted multiple times
● When received, the ​most commonly occurring value​ is taken to be correct
● Majority voting doesn’t just ​detect ​the error but also ​corrects​ the error
● Therefore there’s ​no need for retransmission​ like when using a parity bit
● Majority voting can correct errors when ​multiple bits​ change
● The ​volume of data ​being transmitted is increased, ​increasing​ the time taken to
transmit data

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Checksums
● A value is ​appended ​to the transmitted data
● This value is ​determined by the data itself
● Once received, the recipient ​removes the checksum
● A check is carried out​ to ensure that the checksum ​matches ​the transmitted data
● If the two do not match, the recipient ​cannot correct the error itself
● In this situation, the recipient asks the sender to ​retransmit​ the data

Check digits
● A check digit is a​ type of checksum
● A ​single digit​ is added to the transmitted data
● This ​reduces the number of different algorithms​ that could be used to calculate the
value of the check digit
● Hence ​the variety of errors ​that the method can detect is ​limited

Can ​detect ​errors Can ​correct ​errors Efficiency


in transmission in transmission

Parity bit Yes


- but only if an odd No Very efficient
number of bits are
changed

Majority vote Yes Inefficient


Yes - as long as the majority - each bit is sent
of bits remain multiple times
unchanged

Checksum Mostly efficient


Yes No - a complex algorithm
could make the process
less efficient

Check digit Efficient


Yes No - the algorithms used to
calculate the check digit
are limited in complexity

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