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Practice Paper 1A Computer

systems
Time allowed: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Maximum number of marks: 100
Answer all questions

1 a Convert the denary number, 112, into an 8-bit binary number.

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b i) Carry out a logical shift three places to the right on your answer to part a.

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ii) Convert the binary number in part bi) into denary.
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iii) Comment on your result to part bii).
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c i) Write down the two’s complement of the binary number in part bi).
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ii) Convert the binary number in part ci) into denary.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

iii) Convert the binary number in part ci) into hexadecimal.

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2 a i) Describe what is meant by a USB.

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ii) Give three differences between USB-A and USB-C.
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b The table below shows ticked boxes relating to types of data transmission. The following five
descriptions have been missed out of the table:
– data sent one bit at a time along a single channel in one direction only
– data sent 8 bits at a time along 8 channels in both directions, but not at the same time
– 16 bits of data sent along 16 channels in both directions at the same time
– 16 bits of data sent one bit at a time along a single channel; the data can be sent in both
directions but not at the same time
– data sent 8 bits at a time along 8 channels in one direction only
Write each description in the correct row of the table.
Description Method used Data direction
Serial Parallel Simplex Half duplex Full duplex
✔ ✔
✔ ✔
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✔ ✔
✔ ✔

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3 a i) Describe when a check digit would be used as a verification method.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

ii) Give three types of error a check digit could identify.

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iii) Name one situation where a check digit would not act as an error detection method.
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b ISBN-13 is one way of generating and verifying a check digit. The algorithm to verify if a check
digit has been calculated correctly is given below:
– add all the odd numbered digits together
– add all the even numbered digits together and multiply the result by 3
– add the results from (1) and (2) together and divide by 10
– the check digit is correct if the remainder in (3) is zero
Use the above algorithm to find out if the following number has been entered correctly (the check
digit is shown as the right-most digit)
9781471868684
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4 In Von Neumann architecture, both buses and registers are used.
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a i) Name two buses.

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ii) Name two registers.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

b Explain the purpose of the two buses and the two registers you named in part a).
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c Explain what is meant by a quad core processor.
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5 a Describe what is meant by a QR code.
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b A company advertising its website uses QR codes on the walls of a city metro system.
Describe how a passenger using the metro system could use the QR codes to visit the company’s
website.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

c Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using QR codes rather than barcodes.
Advantage:

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Disadvantage:

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6 John is taking photographs using a smartphone. The built-in camera uses a detector with a 2048 by
1536 pixel array. The smartphone’s camera software uses a bit depth of 24 bits.
a i) Explain the two terms pixel array and colour depth.
Pixel array:

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Colour depth:

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ii) John’s smartphone has 64 GiB available memory.
Assuming all the photographs are the same size, calculate how many photographs could be
stored on John’s smartphone.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

b The following logo, of a company called CIC, is being designed on a computer. The final design
is stored in a file called logo1.

Describe how run length encoding (RLE) could be used to reduce the size of file logo1.
Write down the data you would expect to see in the RLE compressed format file and describe
how this would differ from the original file. Include, in your answer, any file reduction you
might expect to see.
(You may assume that the colour code for a grey square is 80 and for a white square is 255.)

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c Describe the differences between lossy and lossless file compression.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

7 Data is being sent from a computer to a printer. Interrupts and buffers are used in this process.
a Explain the role of buffers during the printing process.
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b Explain how interrupts are used in the printing process.
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8 a Complete the following table by writing an appropriate sensor that could be used in each
application being described.
Each sensor chosen can only be used once.  [6]

Description of application Appropriate sensor

Pick up the noise of breaking glass in an intruder alert system
Used in mobile phones to switch between portrait and landscape mode when a
phone’s orientation is changed
Used in anti-lock braking systems in a vehicle
Sends data to allow a vehicle’s windscreen wipers to turn on automatically when
it starts to rain
Used to detect a leak in the refrigerant in an air conditioning unit
Monitors the moisture levels in the air in a factory manufacturing microchips

b A vending machine dispenses cold cans of soda (at < 4 °C). The vending machine also has an in-built
security system to sound an alarm if the machine is tilted by more than 20 degrees.
The operation and security of the vending machine is controlled by sensors and a microprocessor in
an embedded system.
i) Describe what is meant by an embedded system.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

ii) Name a sensor that could be used to ensure the soda cans are only dispensed at < 4 °C.
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iii) Name a sensor that could be used to monitor any attempt at tilting the vending machine by
over 20 degrees.
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iv) Describe how the sensors and microprocessor are used to maintain the temperature below 4 °C
and to raise an alarm if it is tilted by more than 20 degrees.
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9 a i) Explain what is meant by the term blockchaining.
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ii) Describe how blockchaining is used to prevent data tampering.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

b i) Describe what is meant by social engineering.

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ii) Describe two methods used by cybercriminals to target and attack their intended victims.
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c i) Explain what is meant by two-step verification and why it is used.
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ii) Explain why it is an advantage to allow automatic software upgrades on a computer system.
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10 Seven terms are being described below. Name each term being described.
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a A combination of software and hardware designed and programmed to work automatically without
the need for human intervention.
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b Devices that are mechanical and electronic structures designed to automatically carry out a task.
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c Name for a ‘brain’ used by a device, such as a robot, that can be programmed to do a specific task.
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Practice Paper 1A Computer systems

d Robots that have no direct human input and can completely replace any human requirement.
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e Branch of computer science dealing with the simulation of intelligent human behaviour
by a computer.
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f A form of AI that mimics human knowledge and experience to solve problems difficult enough
to require some degree of human expertise.
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g A subset of AI in which the algorithms are ‘trained’ and ‘learn’ from their past experiences
and examples.
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11 In the following diagram, six descriptions are shown on the left and ten computer terms are
shown on the right.
By drawing lines, connect each description to the correct computer term.
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Virtual memory

Descriptor
Program that supplies static or moving
images on a monitor when a computer
has been left idle for a period of time.

Screensaver
Software that rearranges blocks of data
to remove unused data blocks; it arranges
the data into contiguous sectors.
Bootstrap

USB device drivers contain information

such as vendor ID (VI), product ID (PID)
and unique serial numbers. Printer driver

Software that communicates with the

operating system and translates data Disk defragmenter
into a format understood by an
input/output device.

Solid-state device
Used by DRAM to recharge capacitors
every 15 microseconds to ensure values
are retained by the RAM memory.
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Disk thrashing
Device that uses floating gate and
control gate transistors to allow the
rewriting of data.
Refresh

Cache

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