Chapter 1 – Number Systems
Page 1
Chapter 1
NUMBER SYSTEM
Question 1
Describe the different types of number systems and the digits used in each system.
Question 2
Explain the place value in each system using the examples.
Question 3
Describe how you can change the decimal fraction to binary with a relevant example. What is
the major cause of errors in computers working with fractional values?
Question 4
Describe briefly on how computers perform arithmetic functions.
Question 5
Explain how a decimal number is converted to binary, octal and hexadecimal bases
respectively.
Question 6
Convert the decimal number 100 to
a) Binary
b) Octal
c) Hexadecimal
Convert the binary number 112 to
a) Octal
b) Hexadecimal
Question 7
Illustrate binary subtraction by using two’s complement by the following example: 850-425
Question 8
What are coding systems? What are the three most commonly used coding systems?
Question 9
Distinguish between floating point and fixed-point arithmetic. Discuss the benefits and
drawbacks of both.
Question 10
a) Convert each of the following numbers, given in the base named:
i)
hexadecimal 7F
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Chapter 1 – Number Systems
Page 2
ii)
binary 101101
iii)
octal 34
to the internal computer formats:
a)
binary coded decimal
b)
2's complement binary
c) By using examples, explain the functions of half-adder and full-adder.
Question 11
What is the sum of the binary numbers below?
a) 101101 + 001101
b) 111100 + 100011
Question 12
Find the difference of the binary numbers below: a) 10010 – 1101
b) 0110101 – 10010
c) 111111 - 011001
Question 13
Convert the following decimal values into binary.
a) 888
b) 36.75
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Chapter 2 – The Digital Logic Level
Page 3
Chapter 2
THE DIGITAL LOGIC LEVEL
Question 1
What are the basic logic gates?
Explain each of the logic gates and also express their circuit symbols and the truth tables.
Question 2
What is Boolean algebra?
Question 3
Describe the relationship between logic gates and Boolean expressions.
Question 4
Give a short note on the fixed logic device and programmable logic device.
Give some reasons for using programmable logic devices.
Question 5
What is the clock in a digital circuit? Define period and describe the relation between
frequency and period.
Question 6
Describe some of the types of I/O buses.
Question 7
Distinguish between multiplexing and decoding.
Question 8
Describe the characteristics of the following memory devices.
i)
Static RAM
ii)
Dynamic RAM
iii)
EPROM
iv)
EEPROM
Question 9
Identify the main application for which each type of memory is appropriate. What are the
merits and limitations encountered in using each of these memory technologies?
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Chapter 2 – The Digital Logic Level
Page 4
Question 10
What are the possible reasons for an I/O interrupt? Describe in detail the tasks performed by
an operating system when an I/O interrupt occurs.
Question 11
What are the advantages of using interrupt techniques instead of software pooling?
Question 12
Describe all the steps involved in:
i)
ii)
the interrupt-driven transfer of characters between a buffer in memory and a
peripheral controller for an asynchronous VDU, and
the transfer of a block of data between a buffer in memory and a disk
controller, via Direct Memory Access (DMA).
Question 13
Explain why interrupt-driven transfer is more suitable for VDU input and output, while DMA
transfer is preferred for disk transfers.
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Chapter 3 – Assembly Language Level
Page 5
Chapter 3
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE LEVEL
Question 1
Describe the following terms:
a) Linkers
b) Translators
c) Assemblers
Question 2
What are the main features of assembly languages?
Compare assembly languages with high-level languages.
Question 3
Explain briefly on
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
Accumulators
Data registers
Address registers
General purpose registers
Constant registers
Floating point registers
Index registers
Base registers
Control registers
Question 4
Distinguish between a macro and subroutine.
Question 5
Explain how macros can be used in the process of programming.
Question 6
Differentiate between machine language and low-level language.
Question 7
What are the common components of the assembly language and give some explanation on
those components.
Question 8
Explain pseudoinstructions. Name one pseudoinstruction that many assembler provide and
state its function.
Question 9
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Chapter 3 – Assembly Language Level
Page 6
What is utility software? Describe its features.
Question 10
State 3 high level programming languages which you are very familiar with and for what
purpose they are used.
Question 11
What do the following data movement instructions perform.
a) load
b) store
c) transfer
d) exchange
Question 12
With the help of an example, describe the features of low level languages.
Question 13
Give some examples of address movement instructions .
Question 14
Explain the term “program”. Why is it necessary for a computer program to be written in a
programming language?
Question 15
Explain how macros can be used in the process of programming.
Question 12
Below is a list of translators:
a) Assemblers
b) Interpreters
c) Compilers
State the type of language they translate and describe how the translation takes place.
Question 16
Discuss the stages of a compilation process and describe how the translation takes place.
Question 17
What are the basic addressing modes?
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Chapter 4 – The Instruction Set Architecture Level
Page 7
Chapter 4
INSTRUCTION SET ARCHITECTURE LEVEL
Question 1
Describe the fetch-execute cycle. Illustrate your answer with the aid of a diagram.
Question 2
Describe the four types of information that may be stored in an instruction and define them.
Question 3
What are the three most common types of ISA’s and state their advantages and disadvantages.
Question 4
Give a brief explanation on the steps that the processor has to do to execute a program.
Question 5
Describe the abbreviations MAR and MDR stands for and for which purpose these internal
registers are in the CPU. Also express their role in fetch-execute cycle.
Question 6
Make a discussion on
a) Three-address instructions
b) Two-address instructions
c) One-address instructions
with some appropriate examples showing the effects.
Question 7
What is happen when the following instructions are applied.
a) Data-transfer instructions
b) Input/Output instructions
c) Data-processing instructions
d) Control instructions
Question 8
Explain the role that the following play in the instruction execution cycle.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Sequence control register
Current instruction register
Memory address register
Memory Data register
Question 9
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Chapter 4 – Instruction Set Architecture Level
Page 8
What are the most common memory addressing techniques? Distinguish between direct and
indirect addressing. Illustrate your answer with diagrams.
Question 10
Instructions used in computer systems are divided into four categories:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Arithmetic instructions
Data handling instructions
Input/Output instructions
Decision or control instructions
Explain their purpose and give an example where they are used.
Question 11
a) List one special function for each of the data registers AX, BX, CX, and DX.
b) Consider a machine language instruction that moves a copy of the contents of register AX
in the CPU to a memory word.
What happens during 1) the fetch cycle and
2) the execute cycle?
Question 12
The computer has to be given precise instructions in the right order before it can perform the
necessary processing. Discuss four main categories of instructions.
Question 13
By using examples, discuss an Instruction Representation of a machine instruction. What will
be the Total Instructions Possible for an 8-bit instruction format?
Question 14
The program code below adds an array of binary numbers and stores the result in a memory
location TOTAL. The starting address of the array is indicated by ARRAY. Both TOTAL and
ARRAY are 16-bit words. The particular machine has 8-bit (byte) memory word size.
MOV
CX, 10
MOV
AX, 0
MOV
S1, AX
START_LOOP:
ADD
AX, ARRAY[SI]
ADD
SI, 2
LOOP
START_LOOP
MOV
TOTAL, AX
Move source data 10 to CX, a register counter
Move source data 0 to AX (accumulator)
Move contents of AX to SI (source index register)
Add contents of address location (pointed to by 2nd
operand field) to accumulator and store result in
accumulator.
Add decimal value 2 to SI register. Result is stored
in SI register.
CX register is decremented by 1 and if result is 0,
the loop is exited; else there is a branch back to
START location.
Contents of accumulator is moved to memory
location TOTAL
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Chapter 4 – The Instruction Set Architecture Level
a)
b)
c)
Page 9
Identify the addressing modes used in each instruction. For the fourth and fifth
instructions, where there are two operands, identify both addressing modes.
State the number of times the loop structure is executed in the program. Explain how
you arrive at the answer.
What are the advantages of indexed addressing?
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Chapter 5 – Interfacing To The Outside World
Page 10
Chapter 5
INTERFACING TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Question 1
How do the control, data and address lines contribute in the operation of a system bus?
Illustrate the bus system by means of a diagram.
Question 2
Describe some types of buses.
Question 3
Distinguish between synchronous and asynchronous protocol.
Question 4
What are the requirements for using plug and play?
Question 5
What is Data Memory access?
Question 6
Describe all the steps involved in:
a)
b)
the interrupt-driven transfer of characters between a buffer in memory and a peripheral
controller for an asynchronous VDU
the transfer of a block of data between a buffer in memory and a disk controller, via
Direct Memory Access (DMA).
Explain why interrupt-driven transfer is more suitable for VDU input and output, while DMA
transfer is preferred for disk transfers.
Question 7
a)
A major feature common to both batch and time-sharing modes is the use of
multiprogramming. Describe how several processes may share a single processor in a
multiprogramming environment.
b)
Describe the tasks to be performed when an I/O interrupt occurs.
Question 8
What are the three component buses which are collectively known as the system bus. Make a
brief description on each bus.
Question 9
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Chapter 5 – Interfacing To The Outside World
11
Write a short note the benefit of the Universal Serial Bus.
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Page
Chapter 6 – Operating System Level
12
Page
Chapter 6
OPERATING SYSTEM LEVEL
Question 1
What are the types of operating systems based on the types of computers they control and the
sort of applications they support?
Question 2
What is a virtual machine? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Question 3
What are the functions of an operating system?
Question 4
Write a short note on how operating system work?
Question 5
Define the following:
a) Scheduling
b) Scheduler
c) Memory Management
d) Memory Manager
Question 6
For which activities the operating system is responsible in connecting with process
management?
Question 7
Describe the layered architecture of an operating system with the aid of a diagram.
Question 8
Explain with the use of a diagram, how an operating system supports multiprogramming
Question 9
List and describe five functions performed by an operating system.
Question 10
Discuss the concept of virtual storage
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Chapter 6 – Operating System Level
13
Page
Question 11
What is the nucleus or kernel of an operating system? Why is the nucleus ordinarily
maintained in primary storage? What functions are normally performed by the nucleus?
Question 12
a)
Compare and contrast the network operating system with multiprocessor operating
systems.
b)
What is an agent process?
Question 13
What is the central goal of most multiprocessing systems? List several advantages of
multiprocessor architectures over uniprocessor architectures. List several disadvantages.
Question 14
Discuss how fragmentation manifests itself in each of the following types of virtual storage
systems.
a)
b)
c)
segmentation
paging
combined segmentation / paging
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Chapter 7 – Memory Management
Page 14
Chapter 7
MEMORY MANAGEMENT
Question 1
What does virtual memory management refer to? Describe how the memory is organised in
order of speed.
Question 2
a)
b)
Describe briefly the working principles and applications of CACHE MEMORY.
Explain the concept of VIRTUAL MEMORY. Describe how a paging system may be
used to implement virtual memory.
Question 3
What are the problems faced in managing memory in virtual systems?
Question 4
What does address translation mechanism refer to?
Question 5
What are the problems faced in managing memory?
Question 6
What are the advantages and disadvantages of:
a) Manual memory management
b) Automatic memory management
Question 7
Explain how memory management is carried out using virtual storage.
Question 8
Describe the following processes in memory management:
a)
b)
Segmentation
Paging
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Chapter 8 – Secondary Management
Page 15
Chapter 8
SECONDARY MANAGEMENT
Question 1
What does low level formatting refer to?
Question 2
What are the three layers of abstraction of a file system? What is the function of each layer?
Question 3
Write short notes on the following:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Protected Mode
Real Address Mode
Extended Memory
Page-Oriented Virtual Memory
Question 4
a) Explain the following terms in storage devices: i)
surface
ii)
sector
iii)
track
iv)
cylinder
b) Explain the term latency with reference to disc data transfer.
c) Explain the purpose of the cache that is usually an integral part of a modern disc drive.
d) Discuss the characteristics of CD-ROM.
Question 5
a)
What is the function of the File Allocation Table (FAT)? How is this done?
b)
With the aid of an example, explain, in details, how a file is stored in DOS.
Question 6
a) With the aid of diagrams, show how data is organised on a magnetic disk, which has six
recording surfaces. Clearly identify all parts including those surfaces where data may not
be stored.
b) Magnetic disk and magnetic tape are used to store information. Comment on the
suitability of each medium for:
i. direct access
ii. sequential access
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Chapter 9 – Process Management
Page 16
Chapter 9
PROCESS MANAGEMENT
Question 1
Define the following terms:
a) Virtual time
b) Virtual memory
c) Process
Question 2
How are processes implemented?
Question 3
What is critical section? What are the conditions that have to be met for a critical section to
exist?
Question 4
What are the objectives of a good processing scheduling?
Question 5
Describe the following terms:
a) Priority aging
b) Priority scheduling
Question 6
What are the three main types of memory placement policy in non-paged system? Discuss any
two of them.
Question 7
Explain the following scheduling in a large multi user computer system:
a) Deadline scheduling
b) First in First out
c) Round Robin scheduling
d) Shortest job first
e) Shortest remaining time
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Chapter 9- Process Management
Page 17
Question 8
What is process table? The abbreviation PTE stands for what?
Question 9
What are the requirements for a critical section implementation?
Question 10
Distinguish preemptive scheduling algorithms form non-preemptive schedule algorithms.
Question 11
Describe about deadline scheduling.
Question 12
What does the abbreviation FCFS mean?
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Chapter 10 – Data Communications Networking
Page 18
Chapter 10
DATA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKING
Question 1
What are the major criteria that a data communications network must satisfy?
Question 2
What are the applications of data communications?
Question 3
With the help of a diagram illustrate the components of a data communications network. Give
examples of each component. Describe the types of data flow. Give examples for each type.
Question 4
Describe five most common types of modems. Give some characteristics of modems.
Question 5
What is the function of a multiplexer? Differentiate between the techniques used for
multiplexing.
Question 6
Two major timing schemes are used: Asynchronous and Synchronous Transmission. Describe
each of them. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both timing schemes.
Question 7
Compare and contrast between the following
i)
Packet switching
ii)
Data switching
Question 8
Explain how is data transmitted using:
i)
ii)
iii)
Full duplex transmission
Half duplex transmission
Simplex transmission
Question 9
Explain with the help of a diagram, the purpose of a concentrator.
Question 10
Describe the purpose of front-end processors.
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Chapter 10- Data Communications Networking
Page 19
Question 11
What are the factors that affect response time in transference of error-free data?
Question 12
What does the physical connection determines? Compare serial and parallel communications.
Question 13
Describe four main types of communication network and explain them.
Question 14
LANs may have a number of different physical configurations. Explain all these
configurations with illustrated diagrams.
Question 15
The abbreviations PSTN, PSDN and ISDN stand for what?
Question 16
Public networks employ two types of switching, CSN and PSN. Explain those two networks.
Question 14
Explain hardware handshaking and software handshaking?
Question 17
Explain data flow control between source and destination.
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Chapter 11 – Distributed Processing
Page 20
Chapter 11
DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING
Question 1
What is distributed processing?
Question 1
Distinguish between parallel and distributed computing. Illustrate your answer with examples.
Question 2
Describe client/server model with the aid of a diagram.
Question 3
Distinguish between file sharing and client/server model.
Question 4
What does distributed processing refer to?
Question 5
Discuss the features of a distributed database system.
Question 6
Describe the equipment and software required for distributed processing.
Question 7
Compare and contrast between distributed and centralized processing.
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Chapter 12 – The TCP/IP Protocol Suite
Page 21
Chapter 12
THE TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
Question 1
Explain the term protocol.
Question 2
Describe the similarities and differences between the OSI model and the TCP/IP suite
Question 3
What is the purpose of the OSI model and the TCP/IP suite?
Question 4
a) What are the seven layers of OSI model? Discuss briefly about each layer.
b) Name and discuss an application that uses TCP/IP protocol.
Question 5
With the aid of a diagram describe the OSI architecture.
Question 6
Describe the layers that constitute the Ethernet frame? Illustrate your answer with a diagram.
Question 7
Explain the functions of each of these:
a) Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)
b) File Transfer Protocol(FTP)
c) TELNET
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