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Cambridge Assessment
Intemational Education

Cambridge IGCSE TM
CANDIDATE
NAME

CENTRE CANDIDATE
NUMBER NUMBER

COMPUTER SCIENCE 0478112

Paper 1 Computer Systems February/March 2024
1 hour 45 minutes

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

INSTRUCTIONS
Answer all questions.
IJse a black or dark blue pen. You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams or graphs.
Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
Do not use an erasable pen or correctionfluid.
Do not write on any bar codes.
e Calculators must not be used in this paper.

INFORMATION
The total mark for this paper is 75.
e The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets ( l.
e No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

This document has 16 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (DE) 327909/3
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1 Computers repre•ent differenttype of d•fø in bino
use binary to tepregent data
(a) fick one box to show the reason why cÜnputerg

A Computer' onty allow 19 and 09 to be entered

be on or off
B Computers are made of switd'es and gates that can only

to be displayed
C Binary does not need to be convertedinto otherforms of data

D Both computers and humans can quickly process binary data

(b) One form of data is characters.

for the
The American standard code for informationinterchange(ASCII) denary number
character 'N' is 78

(i) Tick V) one box to identifythe ASCII denary number for the character 'Q'

B 80

c 79

77

(il) Give the binary number for the ASCII denary number for •N'

Working space

(iii) Explain how the word •RED' IS represented using a character set

(2)
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IIlIIlI IIIII IIIII IIIII I II III IIII II II III IIIII II I IIII IIIII II I
(c) Sound can be representedas binary.

Explain why recording sound with a higher sampling resolution creates a more accurate
recording.

[21

(ii) Give one other way that the accuracy of a sound recording can be improved.

[1]

o o
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2 A computer has a central processing unit(CPU).

The CPU includes the registers:

Program counter (PC)
Memory address register (MAR)
Memory data register (MDR)
Accumulator (ACC)
Current instructionregister (CIR).
8
in the fetch—decode—execute
(a) The table contains five statementsaboutthe role of registers
cycle of a CPU.

Letter Statement
be accessed
PC stores the address of the next instructionto
running
B MAR stores the instructions of the program that is
c MDR stores the data passed to it from the PC
D ACC stores the result of each calculation
E CIR stores the instructioncurrently being executed

Two of the statements are not correct.

Identify the letter of each incorrect statement.

Suggest a corrected statement for each.

Incorrect statement 1

Corrected statement

z z
Incorrect statement 2

Corrected statement

88
(b) The computer has a single core 3.5 GHz processor and an 8kB cache.
z
(i) State what is meant by a 3.5GHz processor

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z

The CPU is changed to a dual-coro3.5GHz processor.

Explain how the number of cores affects the performance of a CPU.

(iii) The amount of cache is increased to 64 kB.

Explain how the amount of cache affects the performance of a computer

(c)The computer has both primary and secondary storage.

Random access memory (RAM) is one example of primarystorage.

Describe what is meant by RAM

z z
[2]

Read only memory (ROM) is another example of primary storage. ROM often stores the
z z start-up instructions for a computer.

Identify one other item of data that is commonly stored in ROM.

(iii) Some computers make use of virtual memory.

z z
State the purpose of virtual memory.

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z

3 A computerhas an operatingsystem (OS).

description.
(a) Complete the table by writing each missing OS function name and

Function name Description

z

managing memory

computer
allows application software to run on the
o

z z
managing peripherals
z z

o
z
(b) The OS handles interrupts.

State the purpose of an interrupt. zz

ö ö

zz
(ii) Identify one input device and one example of an interruptthat it can generate.

Input device o
z
Interrupt
88

z z

o
z
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(iii) A processor is currentlyexecuting a program. The receives an interrupt
Explain how the processor manages the current program and the interrupt.

[51

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4 A student enters a uniform resource locator (URL) into their web browser.
the web
Draw and annotate a diagram to show the process from the user entering the URL to
browser displaying the web page.

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Complete the desc,nption of term•

chønged datachains decentrau•ed

deleted encryption passport physo address
physically records time-stamp treed

transaction-chains virtuatty

A digital currency does not exist it can only be accessed

electronically.

Some digital currencies have digital ledgers caned

These are decentraliseddatabases where each transactionIS stored as a new set of data wrth

a and is linked to the previous set of data Thts means that

transactions cannot be altered, only new transactions added. which allows locaton of the data

to be

8 8

z e

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6 A self-driving tractor sows seeds and harvests crops for a farmer.The self-drivingtractormoves
automatically through the field, tuming at each end and stopping when it has finished.

(a) One reason the self-drivingtractor is a robot is because it has a mechanical structurethat
includes wheels, an engine, and a framework.

Give one other reason why the self-driving tractor is an example of a robot. 8

(b) If a person is detected within 3 metres whilst the tractor is moving, the self-driving tractor
must stop.
Z
Explain how an infra-red sensor, microprocessorand actuatorcan be used to stop the
self-driving tractor if a person is detected within 3 metres.
o
8

z z

z z

[5]

Identify one other sensor that the self-driving tractor might use and how it will use the
sensor.

Sensor
Use
8 8

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I Il Il Il Ill
(c) Explain the drawbacks of a farmer
using a self-driving tractor to sow seeds and harvest crops

(31

(d) The self-driving tractor has an in-built expert system that the farmer can use to solve any
errors with the tractor.

Identify three components of an expert system.

[31

the farmer's
(e) At the end of each day the self-driving tractor transmits the data it has collected to
computer in their house,

The transmission uses an echo check.

in the echo check.
(i) Describe the role of the self-driving tractor and the farmer's computer

(31

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IllIII IIII II II III I II III IIII II II II I III II I II II IIIII II Ill
(ii) Another method of error checking is a parity block check.
bit has been
The table shows 7 bytes that are transmittedusing odd parity.The parity
completed for each byte.

Complete the parity byte for the data.

8
parity bit 4 bit 3 bit 2 bit 1
bit bit7 bit 6 bit 5

byte 1

byte 2

byte 3
o o
byte 4
8

byte 5

byte 6

byte 7 1

parity
byte
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(a) The data is encrypted before transmission.

(i) State the purpose of encryptingdata.

[11

(ii) Describe the differences betweensymmetricand asymmetricencryption.

[41

(b) The data is transmittedusing packetswitching-

header.
(i) Identify two items of data contained in a packet

121

packet-switchingprocess.
(ii) Give the purpose of a routerin the

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8 (a) Hexadec•mal can be used to represent numbers

(i) Convetl the denary number 236 into hexadecimal.

Workingspace

represent data.
(ii) Give one benefit of using hexadecimal instead of binary to

binary integers
(b) Two's complement can be used to represent positive and negative

(i) Convert the two's complement integer 10110111 into denary.

Show all your working

(2)

(Il) Convert the denary number 45 Into an 8-blt two's complement integer

Workingspace

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(c) Logical shifts are performedon
binary integers.
State the mathematical effect of a
right shift of four places on a positive binary integer

8
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