Types of operating system

Charlie is about to study a computer games design course at university. He needs to purchase a computer to allow him to design and edit the graphics in his games, including video files.

Charlie’s computer contains a data bus, an address bus and a control bus.

State the purpose of each of these three buses.

Charlie will need to use input and output devices when designing and editing his computer games.

State one input device and one output device that Charlie could use and give an example use of each.

Input device

Output device

Charlie will need to store a large collection of files containing high definition images and high definition videos that he will use during his course.

State a type of secondary storage device that Charlie could use and give a reason why.

In addition to the Central Processing Unit (CPU), Charlie will purchase a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) that will be used to process and display the graphics in his games.

Tick (✓) one box on each row to indicate if each statement is referring to a CPU or a GPU.

State two benefits of using a GPU to process and display the graphics in computer games.

Charlie will require an operating system that will allow him to have several applications open at the same time.

State which type of operating system Charlie will need to install.

An operating system that Charlie is thinking about installing uses a multi-level feedback queue.

Describe how a multi-level feedback queue works.

An operating system manages and installs device drivers.

Explain why hardware devices require a device driver.

Once Charlie has installed an operating system he will need to install utility software.

State two utilities that Charlie could install and state the purpose of each.

A small manufacturing business uses networked computers with closed source application software installed.

A spreadsheet application package is used to calculate employee’s wages.

Give one benefit of using a spreadsheet application for this task compared to calculating wages manually.

Give two other types of application packages that the small business could use, giving an example of a task that the business could use each application for.

Example of task 1........

Example of task 2........

Describe a drawback of using closed source software (rather than open source software) for the small business.

Each computer the business uses has a BIOS.

Tick (✓) one box in each row to identify whether each statement in the table is true or false.

The business uses virtual storage to hold regular backups of all of its data.

Explain why virtual storage is well-suited for storing backups.

All computers owned by the business are connected together into a Local Area Network (LAN). Various network protocols are used in this network.

Give three advantages to the business of connecting computers together in a LAN.

Explain what is meant by a network protocol.

Give the names of two protocols that may be used in a LAN.

Explain why protocol layering is used.

One computer owned by the business monitors critical-safety features of manufacturing. All input data must be processed within a predictable timescale of a fraction of a second.

State the type of operating system that should be used by this computer.

Give the name of three other types of operating system, and for each state its purpose.

When a device such as a keyboard or printer requires attention from the CPU, an interrupt is raised.

Explain how an operating system deals with an interrupt.

* Memory management is a key function of an operating system. Explain how an operating system can manage the memory available to applications and why doing so is important.

You should include the following in your answer:

• the different actions carried out by an operating system to manage memory

• how memory that is being managed can be split up

• why memory management is important.

A company releases an in-home virtual assistant called ‘Bertie Butler’.

The device, when placed in a room, listens out for the phrase “Hey Bertie”. When someone says that phrase it then listens to the question that follows and tries to give a relevant answer.

Bertie Butler has a number of built-in input and output devices.

Name one input device and one output device that might be part of Bertie Butler. For each device give a reason for it being built into the virtual assistant.

Input Device Name:........

Input Device Reason:........

Output Device Name:........

Output Device Reason:........

The Bertie Butler device runs off an embedded operating system.

Define the term ‘embedded operating system’.

Bertie Butler’s circuitry is designed to only listen out for “Hey Bertie” under certain circumstances, which are:

The privacy button (P) must be off and the microphone must generate a signal (S) to say a sound has been heard.

Complete the truth table for whether the device is listening (L).

Draw logic gates to represent the circuitry needed.

The Bertie Butler machine uses a multicore processor.

Define the term ‘multicore processor’.

A taxi firm is investigating replacing its drivers with self-driving cars.

Explain why the self-driving system will use a real-time operating system.

The code for the self-driving system has been written using an object-oriented programming language.

It recognises obstacles in the road and then classifies them. The class for Obstacle is shown below.

Write a line of code to create an object called bollard of type Obstacle which is not moving and is 7.8 metres away in a direction of 8 degrees.

Describe an example of encapsulation in the class definition code above.

Describe the advantages of using encapsulation.

The self-driving program recognises people as a special type of obstacle and the class Person should inherit the methods and attributes of Obstacle. People are treated like other obstacles except:

• when the updateDistance method is called, if the person is more than 2 metres away but is 5 metres (or less) away, the method Controls.beepHorn() is called.

• when the person is 2 metres away (or closer), the method Controls.applyBrakes() is called as well as Controls.beepHorn().

Complete the class Person.

Give one advantage and one disadvantage to the customers of the taxi using self-driving cars rather than drivers.

Advantage

Disadvantage

An architect firm specialises in designing skyscrapers.

The firm uses high end computers with high performance CPUs, GPUs and large amounts of RAM.

Give one use the firm might have for GPUs.

Describe what is meant by the term ‘RAM’.

State one characteristic a high performance CPU might have.

Each computer has a multi-tasking operating system installed.

State the name of and describe two methods that the operating system can use to divide the contents of RAM.

Method 1

Method 2

Explain, giving an example, why the firm’s computers use operating systems capable of multi-tasking.

The computers in the office are connected to a LAN which is connected to the Internet.

The LAN is set up in a client-server network.

Give one advantage and one disadvantage to the architects’ firm of a client-server set up rather than a peer to peer setup.

The LAN is connected to the Internet via a firewall. Describe the term ‘firewall’.

State why the architects’ firm would use a firewall.