CXC Information Technology Unit 1

Fundamentals of Hardware and Software

Homework 1 (with answers)
nswer all ! "uestions# Total of $% marks#

&1
'hen a (rogram makes a read re"uest to the hard disk) the
de*ice which reads data from the disk is mo*ed along the radius
to the (articular concentric circle on which the data is stored#
'hen the rele*ant (art of the concentric circle of the disk
arri*es under the de*ice which reads the data) the data is read
and stored in a s(ecial area of memory from which it could +e
accessed#
State the (ro(er technical term for ,CH of the F-U.
underlined (hrases in the (assage a+o*e# (/ marks)
.ead0write head#
Track
Sector
1uffer
&2
,3(lain the meaning of these terms (1% marks)
a) 1yte#
+) l(hanumeric characters#
c) Se"uential access#
d) .4#
e) 1ar code#
f) ,5-S#
1
g) .esolution#
h) Sign and magnitude#
i) 4achine reada+le#
6) Command dri*en#
a) 1yte7 8 +its# Usually contains 1 character#
+) l(hanumeric characters7 Characters from the al(ha+et and
the num+ers# (a9:) %9;)
c) Se"uential access# -rgani:ing data in an ascending or
descending se"uence#
d) .4# .andom ccess 4emory# 4emory locations can +e
accessed directly# 4ain 4emory is .andom ccess 4emory#
e) 1ar code# se"uence of +lack and white stri(s that
re(resent a num+er#
f) ,5-S# ,lectronic 5oint -f Sale# The system of stock control
in su(ermarkets# Includes +ar code readers) electronic
scales) recei(t (rinter) sales dis(lay all linked to a data+ase
system#
g) .esolution# The shar(ness of a dis(layed or (rinted
character or image#
h) Sign and magnitude# method of re(resenting num+ers in
the com(uter where the first 1IT is the sign and the
remaining 1ITs are the magnitude#
i) 4achine reada+le# <ata in a form that can +e read +y the
com(uter#
6) Command dri*en# Interacting with the com(uter using lines
of te3t#
2
&=
>ame the hardware com(onent that (erforms ,CH of the
following functions7
a) Stores (rograms and data that are currently +eing used +y
the C5U# (1 mark)
+) 5erforms the logical o(erations within the C5U# (1 mark)
c) Stores (rograms and data that are not currently +eing used
+y the C5U# (1 mark)
d) 4odulates and demodulates signals# (1 mark)
e) .eads from disks# (1 mark)
f) <irects internal o(erations within the C5U# (1 mark)
a) 4ain 4emory or Immediate ccess Store#
+) ?U) rithmetic and ?ogic Unit#
c) Secondary Storage e#g# hard disk dri*e
d) 4-<,4
e) .ead0'rite heads#
f) CU) Control Unit#
&/
a) Con*ert the decimal num+er $$ into its +inary e"ui*alent# (2
marks)
+) Con*ert the +inary num+er 1%11%1% to its decimal e"ui*alent#
(2 marks)
c) dd the +inary num+ers 11%1% and 1%%11# (2 marks)
d) The SCII code for the letter H has a decimal e"ui*alent
of !2# 'hat is the SCII code for the letter 5# (2 marks)
a)
@/ =2 1@ 8 / 2 1
% 1 1 % 1 1 1
%11%111
3
+)
@/ =2 1@ 8 / 2 1
1 % 1 1 % 1 %
@/A1@A8A2 B ;%
c) 22
11010
10011
101101

d) H I C D ? 4 > - 5
!2 != !/ !$ !@ !! !8 !; 8%
5B8%
&$
State ->, difference +etween ,CH of the following7
a) Command9line interface and gra(hical user interface# (2
marks)
+) Im(act (rinters and non9im(act (rinter# (2 marks)
c) Character (rinter and line (rinter# (2 marks)
d) Eeneral (ur(ose software (ackage and s(ecialised software
(ackage# (2 marks)
a) Command line uses te3t whereas EUI uses icons#
+) Im(act (rinters strike a ri++on onto the (a(er whereas non9
im(act s(ray or electro statically attract the ink on to the
(age#
c) character (rinter is like a ty(ewriter when characters are
(rinted one after the other# line (rinter formulates a
com(lete line +efore (rinting#
4
d) Eeneral (ur(ose (ackages are a+le to (erform a *ariety of
tasks# S(ecialised software is restricted to (erforming a
single task#
&@
<raw a la+elled diagram showing the main com(onents of a
com(uter system) indicating clearly the direction in which data
flows# (@ marks)
C5U
5
Main
Memory
Arithmetic
and Logic
Unit
Control Unit Input Output
Backing
torage
&!
a) Cohn recei*ed com(uter hardware from a friend who li*es in
the United States of merica) +ut the software was
missing# He) therefore) decided to (urchase the necessary
software# In order for his system to run he realises that he
would ha*e to (urchase software to manage the resources
of the com(uter as well as software which could (ro*ide for
his (articular (rocessing needs# For +oth ty(es of software
he had a choice of two styles of interfaceF one of which was
command dri*en or the other which (ro*ided screen listing
with o(tions from which the user could select a((ro(riate
functions# Some software (ro*ides user interfaces which
dis(lay small gra(hic images that can +e selected when the
functions they re(resent is re"uired# Since Cohn intended
to use the com(uter in his family +usiness) he had a choice
of ac"uiring software written es(ecially for his +usiness or
general (ur(ose software# He noted) howe*er) that he would
ha*e to do some modifications to allow it to meet his
s(ecific need#
State the (ro(er technical term for ,CH of the SIX underlined
(hrases in the a+o*e (assage# (@ marks)
-(erating system
((lication (ackages
4enu
EUI Era(hical User Interface
S(ecialised
Customisation#
+) State T'- functions of an o(erating system# (2 marks)
Hel( manage files and folders#
4anage the hardware resources of the com(uter#
!