Chapter 2 Communication and Internet Technologies

Syllabus sections covered: 1.2 (1.2.1 – 1.2.3)

Teaching resources

Topics Syllabus 40 min. Resources in the Resources on

sections periods coursebook or ebook this CD-ROM
1 Transmission media 1.2.1 2 Exam-style Question 1 Worksheet 2.1
Ebook Question 2.1 Worksheet 2.2
Ebook Question 2.2
2 The Internet 1.2.1 3 Exam-style Question 1
Ebook Question 2.3
Ebook Question 2.4
3 Hardware 1.2.1 1
4 Client-server 1.2.1 1
5 Bit streaming 1.2.1 1 Task 2.01
6 IP addressing 1.2.2 4 Task 2.02 Worksheet 2.1
Extension question 2.01 Worksheet 2.2
Exam-style Question 2
Ebook Question 2.5
7 Domain names 1.2.2 1 Exam-style Question 2 Worksheet 2.1
8 Scripting 1.2.3 3 Exam-style Question 3 Worksheet 2.2

Past exam paper questions

Paper Series Question Topic

9608/11 Nov 2015 11 transmission media
9608/11 June 2015 5 the Internet
9608/11 June 2015 5 hardware
9608/11 Nov 2015 7 client-server
9608/11 Nov 2015 1 bit streaming
9608/11 Nov 2015 3 IP addressing
9608/12 Nov 2015 9 IP addressing
9608/11 Nov 2015 3 domain names
9608/12 Nov 2015 9 domain names
9608/11 Nov 2015 7 scripting
9608/12 Nov 2015 7 scripting

2.01 Topic 1 Transmission media

Coursebook section 2.01 Transmission media

Teaching ideas

This is a straightforward topic. Students need to gain knowledge of the technologies

and their benefits and drawbacks. Presentations and discussions are required.
Hopefully, you will be able to allow students to examine the technologies in use at
your centre.

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 Supporting notes

Because the LAN and network topologies only come into the A2 syllabus the
discussion here must focus on the cable types without reference to uses in a
particular LAN or topology. However, the practicalities of long-distance
communication do need to be considered. This might be postponed until after
discussing the Internet, PSTNs, ISPs and so on. Security concerns are not referenced
in this part of the syllabus.
Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• Copper wire is the norm for twisted pair or coaxial cable.
• Attenuation is generalised loss of signal quality due to distance transmitted.
• Interference is an interaction between the transmitted signal and other signals.
• The altitude of a satellite affects its use.

High achievers

Might be asked to carry out research into standards for cabling.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

Exam-style Question 1
Ebook Question 2.1
Ebook Question 2.2
November 2015 Question Paper 11 Q6
Students could also be asked to create a scale drawing of the earth and the satellite
bands drawn as circles and then to consider the implications of the different satellite
altitudes.

2.02 Topic 2 The Internet

Coursebook sections 2.02 The Internet and 2.03 The World Wide Web (WWW)

Teaching ideas

Knowledge and understanding is the aim for students. Presentations and discussions
are needed. These might include consideration of the ISP used by your centre.

Supporting notes

The main aim must be to ensure understanding of what should be familiar activities.
This should focus on underlying principles and definitions without considering any
details of networking protocols. In addition students need to be familiar with what is
provided by ISPs, PSTNs and Internet content providers.
Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• The Internet is an internetwork that can support applications.
• The World Wide Web is one of many applications supported by the Internet.

Common mistakes

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 The terms ’the Internet‘ and ’the web‘ are often treated as synonyms. Students need
to develop a rigorous approach to language. Another common failing is to mix up a
browser and a search engine. This is particularly likely if a browser home page has
been set to open up a search engine.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

Exam-style Question 1
Ebook Question 2.3
Ebook Question 2.4
June 2015 Question Paper 11 Q5

2.03 Topic 3 Hardware

Coursebook section 2.04 Internet-supporting hardware

Teaching ideas

Again, students need to develop knowledge and understanding. Presentations and

discussions are needed.

Supporting notes

The syllabus mentions specifically the router and the gateway but only a very
superficial account is needed at this stage. The use of the server as a hardware
device should be the focus.
Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• Individual servers are rarely sufficient to handle demand.
• Servers are often arranged in hierarchies or in clusters as in a ‘server farm’.
• A proxy server can be used as an interface to the Internet.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

June 2015 Question Paper 11 Q5

2.04 Topic 4 Client-server

Coursebook section 2.05 Client-server architecture

Teaching ideas

More knowledge and understanding required. This topic could be handled with
screen presentations. Another option would be to set up a demonstration system
with server software installed on a server machine being accessed by a client
computer. A further option would be for students to install server software on a
memory stick and to access from a PC an application installed on the server.

Supporting notes

The focus in the syllabus is on a web server being accessed by a client PC. You
might or might not wish to discuss the fact that the client-server paradigm predates
the advent of the World Wide Web.

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 Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• The server is now defined as software which may or may not be installed on
hardware that could be defined as a server.
• To be properly described as client-server some processing must be carried out
both on the server and on the client.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

November 2015 Question Paper 11 Q7

2.05 Topic 5 Bit streaming

Coursebook section 2.06 Bit streaming

Teaching ideas

This is yet another topic requiring knowledge and understanding by students. It

needs a presentation with a possible discussion to follow.

Supporting notes

As before the syllabus content is very limited. There is no reference to protocols nor
to any of the proprietary technologies available. At this stage, students should be
discouraged from research into this topic because this will be counter-productive.
Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• On-demand streaming requires storage because the viewing is taking place after
the initial broadcast. However, it does not require a download to the viewer’s
computer.
• Both on-demand and real-time bit streaming over the Internet require the use
of a buffer on the viewer’s computer.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

Task 2.01
November 2015 Question Paper 11 Q1

2.06 Topic 6 IP addressing

Coursebook section 2.07 IP addressing

Teaching ideas

Knowledge and understanding are required here plus the fundamental skill to create
or interpret binary values. A presentation will be necessary but this will need to be
supplemented by exercises and possibly by research into IP addresses being used
either on personal devices or on your centre’s systems.

Supporting notes

The syllabus again has a narrow focus. There is no need to discuss the TCP/IP
protocol suite at this stage. It may be beneficial to focus solely on the basic concepts
for strugglers. The syllabus has a reference to public and private IP addresses and

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 the implication for security. A light touch is recommended here; potentially this is a
very complex topic.
Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• IP addressing is hierarchical; each address consists of a netID and a hostID.
• The IP address has 32 bits so it occupies four bytes.
• The address can be written in a dotted decimal representation.

High achievers

In addition to studying methods used to overcome the limitations of the original

classful scheme they might be asked to carry out research on how IPv6 might be
introduced. They could be asked to answer Extension Question 2.01. They could be
asked to find an exact algebraic solution for Task 2.02.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

Task 2.02
Extension Question 2.01
Exam-style Question 2
Ebook Question 2.5
November 2015 Question Paper 11 Q3
November 2015 Question Paper 12 Q9

2.07 Topic 7 Domain names

Coursebook section 2.08 Domain names

Teaching ideas

Knowledge and understanding is the aim with presentations required. As with many
subjects relating to networking there are two distinct aspects to learning required.
The first relates to the principle that the user requires a simple method to denote an
IP address when using a URL or an email address. The second relates to how the
scheme can be put into practice in the light of the immensity and complexity of the
Internet. For the first of these, students will be able to reflect on their own
experiences.

Supporting notes

There is no indication that the syllabus is concerned with web hosting services or
with the options available for how a URL is presented.

Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:

• A domain name is constructed in accordance with a hierarchy of domains.

• The Domain Name Service (DNS) uses a distributed hierarchical database
installed on servers attached to the Internet.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

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 Exam-style Question 2
November 2015 Question Paper 11 Q3
November 2015 Question Paper 12 Q9

2.08 Topic 8 Scripting

Coursebook section 2.09 Scripting and HTML in a client-server application

Teaching ideas

Knowledge and understanding required: first, relating to the principles of dividing

processing between a client and a server; second, relating to the details of scripting.
A presentation is needed but this may be supplemented by practical exercises if a
server has been installed (as discussed earlier).

Supporting notes

Your approach will be governed to an extent by your students’ prior experience of

HTML. The syllabus only requires a very limited knowledge of HTML and certainly
excludes aspects of web page design such as CSS or formatting features. You will
need to judge whether or not to introduce the use of a form to collect data in an
HTML document. There is certainly no expectation of more than a superficial
knowledge of PHP and JavaScript. Alternative scripting languages are excluded by
the syllabus.
Some facts relating to a basic understanding are:
• JavaScript is used for client-side scripting.
• PHP is used for server-side scripting and in particular for accessing a database
associated with a server.

High achievers

Might be asked to consider different possible approaches for supplying data to an

application.

Questions or tasks suitable for homework

Exam-style Question 3
November 2015 Question Paper 11 Q7
November 2015 Question Paper 12 Q7
Specimen Paper 1 Q4

2.08 Recommended reading and resources

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-
level_Computing/AQA/Computer_Components,_The_Stored_Program_Concept_and_
the_Internet/Structure_of_the_Internet/Internet,_Intranet_and_World_Wide_Web#
The_Internet
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-
level_Computing/AQA/Computer_Components,_The_Stored_Program_Concept_and_
the_Internet/Structure_of_the_Internet/Client_server_model

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 http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-
level_Computing/AQA/Computer_Components,_The_Stored_Program_Concept_and_
the_Internet/Structure_of_the_Internet/IP_addresses
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A-
level_Computing/AQA/Computer_Components,_The_Stored_Program_Concept_and_
the_Internet/Structure_of_the_Internet/Domain_names
http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp
http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp

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