THIS IS A LEGACY SPECIFICATION

ADVANCED SUBSIDIARY GCE

COMPUTING 2506
Introductory Computer Systems, Communications and Software

Friday 15 May 2009

*OCE/T64172*

Candidates answer on the question paper

OCR Supplied Materials:

Morning
None
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Other Materials Required:
None

* 2 5 0 6 *

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
• Write your name clearly in capital letters, your Centre Number and Candidate Number in the boxes above.
• Use black ink. Pencil may be used for graphs and diagrams only.
• Read each question carefully and make sure that you know what you have to do before starting your answer.
• Answer all the questions.
• Do not write in the bar codes.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided, however additional paper may be used if
necessary.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

• The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
• The total number of marks for this paper is 90, of which 4 marks are allocated to the assessment of the
quality of written communication.
• No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.
• This document consists of 12 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

© OCR 2009 [R/100/0787] OCR is an exempt Charity

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1 (a) Describe the following methods of data transmission.

(i) Serial .................................................................................................................................

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(ii) Parallel ..............................................................................................................................

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(iii) Simplex ..............................................................................................................................

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(iv) Duplex ...............................................................................................................................

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(b) (i) State what is meant by the bit rate of data transmission.

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(ii) Data is sent between machines on a network.

State one type of data for which it would be essential to use a high bit rate, giving a
reason for your answer.

Data transmitted ................................................................................................................

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Reason ..............................................................................................................................

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(c) The bit rate of data transmission is one part of a protocol.

(i) Explain what is meant by a protocol.

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(ii) Describe one part of a protocol other than the bit rate.

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2 (a) State what is meant by the following types of software.

(i) Operating system ..............................................................................................................

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(ii) Applications software ........................................................................................................

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(iii) User interface ....................................................................................................................

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(iv) Translator ...........................................................................................................................

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(b) A utility program is a piece of systems software designed to perform a commonplace task.
Describe the following utility programs, giving an example of the use of each.

(i) Compression software .......................................................................................................

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Use ....................................................................................................................................

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(ii) An automatic incremental backup .....................................................................................

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Use ....................................................................................................................................

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3 A procedure is written to input the names of three students. The output from the procedure should
be the three names in alphabetical order.

(a) Describe what is meant by a procedure.

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(b) The procedure needs to be tested.

Give three different sets of data which could be used to test the procedure and state what
each set of data is testing.

Test data 1 ................................................................................................................................

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To test .......................................................................................................................................

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Test data 2 ................................................................................................................................

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To test .......................................................................................................................................

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Test data 3 ................................................................................................................................

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To test .......................................................................................................................................

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4 During the storage operation of a computer, data is transferred between secondary storage and
primary memory. Buffers and interrupts are used during this type of operation.

(a) State what is meant by a buffer and the reason it is used in this case.

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(b) (i) State what is meant by an interrupt in this case.

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(ii) Explain how interrupts are used during the process of data transmission between primary
memory and secondary stage.

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5 A teacher’s electronic mark book consists of a file of information about all the students he teaches.
Marks are whole numbers less than 100.

(a) (i) Complete the table below to show the data type and field length that would be used for
each field.

FIELD DATA TYPE FIELD LENGTH

Student name ……………………………… ………………………………

Mark for single piece of work ……………………………… ………………………………

Average mark ……………………………… ………………………………

Predicted Grade (A to F) ……………………………… ………………………………

[6]

(ii) There are spaces for 20 marks for each student and 100 students.
Estimate the size of the file in suitable units.
(You must show your working).

[3]

(b) The algorithm to work out the average mark includes adding up marks already stored in
binary.
Add up the following binary numbers, showing your working.

00100001
00101101
00100101

[3]

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6 A processor consists of a control unit, a memory unit and an arithmetic logic unit.
Describe the purpose of each of these parts.

Control unit .......................................................................................................................................

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Memory unit .....................................................................................................................................

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Arithmetic logic unit ..........................................................................................................................

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7 LIFO and FIFO describe types of data structure. Give an example of each and describe how
pointers are used in each case.

(i) Example of LIFO structure ........................................................................................................

Use of pointers ..........................................................................................................................

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(ii) Example of FIFO structure .......................................................................................................

Use of pointers ..........................................................................................................................

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8 A list of names is stored in an array.
Describe how a serial search can be carried out on the contents of the array to find the position of
a specific name.

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9 For each of the following user interfaces give an example of an application of its use, describing
why it is suitable for the application.

(i) Command line interface

Example of use .................................................................................................................

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Suitability ...........................................................................................................................

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(ii) Forms (forms dialogue) interface

Example of use .................................................................................................................

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Suitability ...........................................................................................................................

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10 State three types of printer which can be used with a computer system.
For each type give an application for which it would be suitable, justifying your answer.

Type 1 ...............................................................................................................................................

Application ........................................................................................................................................

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Justification ......................................................................................................................................

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Type 2 ...............................................................................................................................................

Application ........................................................................................................................................

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Justification ......................................................................................................................................

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Type 3 ...............................................................................................................................................

Application ........................................................................................................................................

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Justification ......................................................................................................................................

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11 FACT(X)
OUTPUT X
IF X = 1 THEN
FACT = 1
ELSE
FACT = X * FACT(X-1)
END IF
END FACT

(a) Explain why the algorithm is an example of recursion.

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(b) Write down the output when the function is called by OUTPUT FACT(4).

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(c) (i) Explain why the algorithm will fail if the initial value of X is a negative number.

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(ii) State how the algorithm can be improved to stop this happening.

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If you use these lined pages to complete the answer to any question, the question number must be
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Copyright Information
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whose work is used in this paper. To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced in the OCR Copyright
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© OCR 2009