BAHRIA UNIVERSITY (KARACHI CAMPUS)

MIDTERM EXAMINATION – FALL 2020

(INTRO. TO INFORMATION & COMM. TECHNOLOGY: CSC-114)

SUBJECTIVE PART

Class: BS(IT) 1A (Evening)

Course Instructor: Engr. Jawad Ahmed Bhutta Time Allowed: 90 Minutes

Date: 7th December 2020 Session: III(3:00pm-4:30pm) Max Marks: 12+8(viva)

Student’s Name: _______Basharat Ali_____________

Enroll. No: _______02-235202-047__________

Note: In order to avoid any run time electricity and internet unavailability situation, it is suggested that keep your
laptop fully charged. Also activate 3G/4G connection as an alternative of Wi -Fi/internet option to upload your
paper.
In addition to upload your paper to LMS, it is mandatory to email the solution to course instructor (email address:
jawadbhutta.bukc@bahria.edu.pk ).
Mid exams comprise of 20 marks, where 08 marks will be based on viva voce performance.
Plagiarized/copied solution will be marked ZERO.
Question 3 should be done handwritten and snapshots of it should be attached on word file.

QUESTION NO 1. [2+2 = 4 Marks]

Review the following article and answer questions at the end
Apple’s powerful new M1 chip has made headlines as the first Apple Silicon to be used in Mac
computers, but the iPhone 12’s A14 was released just one month earlier. Apple still has
desktops and one laptop that use Intel processors, but this new technology is based upon
Apple’s A-series chips. For example, it’s quite similar to the A14 processor found in Apple’s
new iPhone 12 and iPad Air 4. The A14 itself is remarkably powerful as a mobile chip, but
differs from the M1 in a few key areas.

Apple is no stranger to changing architectures. Mac computers, originally known as Macintosh

computers, started with a Motorola 68000 chip, before transitioning several years later to the

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PowerPC, a joint project between Apple, Motorola, and IBM that provided an alternative to
Intel’s dominant x86 processors. In 2006, the Mac joined the majority of the desktop and
laptop market in using Intel CPUs. At each stage, Apple eased the transition for users and
developers by providing an emulator that allowed the newer chip architectures to run apps
designed for the previous generation of processors. Now another big conversion is happening
and possibly for the last time, as Apple moves all CPU development in-house to Apple Silicon.

The M1 chip is more than just a CPU, it’s a system on a chip. The M1 SoC contains a CPU for
primary processing tasks and a GPU that specializes in graphics. It also has a Neural Engine
that handles artificial intelligence needs, such as understanding spoken commands, analyzing
images, and collecting relevant information from large amounts of data. Beyond processing
cores, the chip has a large memory cache to speed up access to instructions and data, as well as
several special components that Apple hasn’t detailed for the public, making it powerful
enough to replace the Intel Core i7 chips powering the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from
early 2020.
The iPhone 12’s A14 has lower performance than the M1, but the design is basically the same.
However, simply placing an A14 in a MacBook would not have the speed potential of the M1.
The biggest factors when designing a chip are performance needs, thermal design, and power
availability.

The M1 and A14 are similar chips, but work within different devices. The M1 MacBook
computers have more room for larger batteries and the Mac mini, being a desktop model, has
continuous power. On the other hand, the A14 must draw power from a battery as small as that
of the iPhone 12 mini. While it also powers the iPad Air 4, the design had to consider the
smallest-sized battery. That means the amount of power drawn is intentionally restricted for
smartphones. The A14 is very powerful despite this limitation, but the M1 has that much more
available to channel into performance. Thermal design must be considered for every computer,
even large desktop models, and the size of the device is a big factor in how much heat can be
handled.

Computer components perform best and last longest when they are kept at reasonable
temperatures. That’s why overclocking CPUs and GPUs can lead to early failure. Of course,
various cooling techniques are used to move heat away, but using a fan to remove hot air or
pumping cool liquid through the device are best. A fan-cooled iPhone is not likely, so that
means temperature places a hard line at how hot the A14 can get. The M1 is used in the
MacBook Air which is much larger than an iPhone and does not contain a fan. It’s very
impressive for such a high-performance device to be fan-less, but it also means it will be more
likely to switch from its performance cores to the efficiency cores, which use one-tenth the
power and therefore should generate much less heat. The MacBook Pro and the Mac mini
contain fans so they should be able to sustain maximum performance for longer.

The two new Apple chips serve different device categories. The A14 is optimized for small
devices without significant cooling options and limited battery size. The M1 is made for much
larger devices with greater battery capacity, possibly plug-in power and fans. That means the
restrictions have loosened considerably. The transistor count can go up, the number of cores
can be increased, and specialty components can be added. The A14 has six-cores geared for
performance and two with efficiency in mind. The M1 contains four performance cores and
four for efficiency. All cores can work together to deliver maximum performance and

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efficiency, depending on the task at hand. GPU cores number four for the A14 and eight for the
M1, and each has a 16-core Neural Engine. Just by physical core count, it’s easy to understand
how the M1 can outperform the A14 in multi-core tasks.

However, the design advanced in more than just the number of cores. Allowing for more
energy throughput and size means common CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine tasks can be moved
into Apple’s custom components. Apple is continually refining the design of each individual
core.
Apple states that each efficiency core delivers similar performance as the 10th-generation Intel
Core i3–1000NG4 used in the previous MacBook Air. That means the M1 is blazing fast,
despite running cool enough to be used in a fan-less laptop design. The M1 is based on the
A14, but with energy and thermal restrictions much looser, Apple was able to create a much
faster processor.

a) Why does the author think that the M1 SoC made by Apple has put an end to the intel’s
leading x86 architecture in terms of design and future computing?

QUESTION NO.1: (a)

ANSWER:
The reason the M1 is such a threat to Intel isn’t that Apple is suddenly going to consume
the PC market. The Mac’s net market share gain is likely to be in the single digits, near-
term.
The problem for Intel is what the M1 represents. For the first time in 15 years, a
company without an x86 license is building a consumer microprocessor that plausibly
competes with x86 chips. If Apple maintains or improves its position relative to Intel,
other companies with ARM licenses are going to notice. Nvidia, which has purchased
ARM pending regulator approval, is certainly going to notice. If ARM can outperform
x86, the entire WinTel ecosystem is vulnerable in a way it hasn’t been since the dawn of
personal computing.
Apple is continually refining the design of each individual core. Apple states that each
efficiency core delivers similar performance as the 10th-generation Intel Core i3–
1000NG4 used in the previous MacBook Air. That means the M1 is blazing fast, despite
running cool enough to be used in a fan-less laptop design. The M1 is based on the A14,
but with energy and thermal restrictions much looser, Apple was able to create a much
faster processor.
b) This article is comparing Apple’s Smartphone SoC A14 to it’s newly inducted M1
SoC. How both of them are similar yet applicable to two distinct norms of computing
i.e. the Smartphone and the portable laptop?

Answer
(b).

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 Apple’s powerful new M1 chip has made headlines as the first Apple Silicon to be used
in Mac computers, but the iPhone 12’s A14 was released just one month earlier. Apple
still has desktops and one laptop that use Intel processors, but this new technology is
based upon Apple’s A-series chips. For example, it’s quite similar to the A14 processor
found in Apple’s new iPhone 12 and iPad Air 4. The A14 itself is remarkably powerful
as a mobile chip, but differs from the M1 in a few key areas.
The M1 chip is more than just a CPU, it’s a system on a chip. The M1 SoC contains a
CPU for primary processing tasks and a GPU that specializes in graphics. It also has a
Neural Engine that handles artificial intelligence needs, such as understanding spoken
commands, analyzing images, and collecting relevant information from large amounts
of data. Beyond processing cores, the chip has a large memory cache to speed up access
to instructions and data, as well as several special components that Apple hasn’t detailed
for the public, making it powerful enough to replace the Intel Core i7 chips powering
the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from early 2020. The iPhone 12’s A14 has lower
performance than the M1, but the design is basically the same. However, simply placing
an A14 in a MacBook would not have the speed potential of the M1. The biggest factors
when designing a chip are performance needs, thermal design, and power availability.
The M1 and A14 are similar chips, but work within different devices. The M1
MacBook computers have more room for larger batteries and the Mac mini, being a
desktop model, has continuous power. On the other hand, the A14 must draw power
from a battery as small as that of the iPhone 12 mini. While it also powers the iPad Air
4, the design had to consider the smallest-sized battery. That means the amount of
power drawn is intentionally restricted for smartphones. The A14 is very powerful
despite this limitation, but the M1 has that much more available to channel into
performance. Thermal design must be considered for every computer, even large
desktop models, and the size of the device is a big factor in how much heat can be
handled.
The A14 is optimized for small devices without significant cooling options and limited
battery size. The M1 is made for much larger devices with greater battery capacity,
possibly plug-in power and fans.

QUESTION NO 2 [2+2 = 4 Marks]

a) In your words, please describe how can we replace classical teaching methodologies
with ICT based ones?
Answer a:
• Give ICT’s a role to help young people be able to arrange, evaluate, and decide on the
information that comes to them.
• Challenge students with different types of supports and formats and, therefore, a great variety of
activities in which they pass from receivers to makers.
• Bring students to the real contact with the target foreign language and users (whether natives or
not), by means of the electronic mail, "chats", "blogs", or spaces wiki.
• Bring students to the cultural elements through authentic and real-time documents.

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 • Attend the diversity of students, using the copious offer of interactive exercises
available on the web
b) Describe how can ICT based systems can improve online education with the example
of at least two tools.
Answer b:
1) Utilize ICT's in the classroom to work on data handling, genuine correspondence, and
on the student self-sufficiency, as the manufacturer of their own learning cycle.
2) Challenge students with various sorts of supports and designs and, accordingly, an
extraordinary assortment of exercises wherein they pass from collectors to creators.

QUESTION NO 3. [2+2 = 4 Marks]

a) Convert from Decimal to Binary,

(i) (48)10 (ii) (42.625)10

b) Convert from Binary to Decimal.

(i) (11 0101)2 (ii) (1 1110 1100.0110)2

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++++++++++ End of Subjective Paper +++++++++

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