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Higher Certificate in Science in Computing in Information Technology Support – Stage 1 (National Certificate in Computing in Information Technology Support – Stage 1) (NFQ – Level 6)
Computer Systems
Autumn 2005
(Time: 2 Hours)
Answer FOUR questions.. All questions carry equal marks.
Examiners: Mr. Seamus Lankford Mr. A. O’Brien Dr. D. Chambers Mr. E. A. Parslow Mr. P. O’Connor Q1. a) Describe the function of the following in the 68000 microprocessor: i) PC ii) IR iii) SR iv) ALU [8 marks]
b) Write a 68000 program to determine if the number in D0 is an even number. Use data register, D4 as a flag in which to store your answer i.e. if D4 contains a value of “1” after program execution, this indicates that the number in D0 is odd. [5 marks] c) Draw the truth tables and circuits for the following: i) A Half Subtractor [4 marks] ii) A Half Adder [4 marks]
d) Using a “Sum of Products” implementation, design a simple circuit to implement the following truth table output:
[4 marks] Q a) Using “Two’s Complement” representation for negative numbers, perform the following calculation: i) 44-11 [5 marks]
b) i) Convert the following from Binary to Hexadecimal 101111010011002 [2 marks] ii) Convert the following from Hexadecimal to Binary FFCB 16 [2 marks] c) Convert the following number to Floating Point Format: 18. [8 marks] d) Draw the truth tables and circuits for the following:
i. (X + Y)(Y +Z) _ _ ii. XY + ZY + Y [8 marks]
X Y Z Output 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1
Q5.
a) Briefly describe the operation of a typical CD-ROM drive outlining how the various components of the drive operate. Illustrate the internal structure of such a CD ROM drive. [9 marks]
b) Using a sampling rate of 44,000 samples per second, what is the capacity in MB of a typical music CD? Show all calculations. [5 marks]
c) Briefly describe the operation of a floppy disk. In your description, explain the following: i. Typical rotational speed ii. Boot Sector iii. FAT [6 marks]
d) The capacity of a standard floppy disk is 1.44 MB. Show how this capacity is calculated using the logical layout (i.e. the sector and track layout) of a typical floppy disk. [5 marks]
Q
a) Briefly, describe what is meant by the chipset of a motherboard and outline the functions of the Southbridge and Northbridge? Using a simple block diagram, illustrate a typical motherboard layout. In your diagram, label all the important components. [7 marks] b) Describe what is meant by the following terms: i. DIMM ii. RIMM iii. Socket 7 iv. SEPP [8 marks]
c) Briefly describe the characteristics of the following types of ROM memory: i) ROM ii) PROM iii) EPROM iv) EEPROM v) Flash memory [10 marks]
Appendix 1 Frequently used Branch instructions: Branch Condition Flag Setting BEQ EQUAL Z= BNE NOT EQUAL Z= BGT GREATER Z+(N XOR V) = BLT LESS N XOR V = BGE GREATER OR EQUAL N XOR V = BLE LESS OR EQUAL Z +(N XORV) =
