GCSE ICT REVISION NOTES- PART 2

COMPUTER SYSTEMS 3 TYPES OF COMPUTER SYSTEM

Information systems

This type of ICT system is focused on managing data and information. Examples of these are a sports club membership system or a supermarket stock system.
Control systems

These ICT systems mainly control machines. They use input, process and output, but the output may be moving a robot arm to weld a car chassis rather than information.
Communications systems

The output of these ICT systems is the successful transport of data from one place to another.

Input, output and system diagrams What comes out of an ICT system is largely dependant on what you put into the system to begin with. ICT systems work by taking inputs (instructions and data), processing them and producing outputs that are stored or communicated in some way. The higher the quality and better thought-out the inputs, the more useful the outputs.
Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO)

ICT systems cannot function properly if the inputs are inaccurate or faulty; they will either not be able to process the data at all, or will output data which is erroneous or useless.
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GIGO is a useful term to remember in the exam - it can help explain many issues such as why validation is needed and why accurate data is valuable. GIGO stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out
An ICT system diagram

A system is an assembly of parts that together make a whole. ICT systems are made up of some or all of the parts shown in the diagram. Various devices are used for input, processing, output, and communication.

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HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

HARDWARE

INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES

INPUT DEVICES - Input devices allow us to enter raw data into a computer.

The computer processes the data and then produces outputs that we can understand using an output device. Input devices can be manual or automatic. Examples of input devices- Concept keyboard Each button on a concept keyboard relates to a particular item or function. Buttons can be labelled with text or a picture. Fast food restaurants often use concept keyboards because very little training is needed to operate them and they ' re efficient - a single button can order an entire meal.
Trackball

Used as an alternative to a mouse. To operate it the user rotates the ball which moves the pointer on screen. They are particularly easy to use for those with limited movement in their hands and are often used in Computer Aided Design (CAD) for their increased precision over a mouse.
Joystick
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Joysticks used to be popular with gamers but have slowly been replaced by other types of game controller. In construction, joysticks are used to control machinery such as cranes.
Digital camera

A digital camera takes pictures and can usually record video too. The pictures it takes and the videos it records are stored in les. These les can be copied to a computer and later edited.
Microphone

Microphones are used to input sound. In computing they can be used with voice recognition software and a word processingapplication to enter text. Webcams commonly have microphones built-in too.
Touch screen

A touch sensitive visual display unit (VDU) or screen has a grid of light beams or ne wires criss-crossing the screen that are used to detect touch. Many mobile phones use touch screens and do away with the keypad entirely. They ' re often used on cash machines and in shopping centres too. Touch screens are robust, easy to operate and easy to reprogram.
Video digitiser

A video digitiser takes an image from a video camera or television and digitises it so it can be read by, and stored on, a computer. Video sequences captured using a video digitiser are often used in multimediapresentations.
Scanner

A scanner can be used to digitise images. They ' re similar to a photocopier but they make a digital copy instead of a physical copy. They can also be used with optical character recognition (OCR) software to scan in text that is then editable.
Graphics tablet

A graphics tablet consists of a at pad (the tablet) on which the user draws with a special pen. As the user draws on the pad the image is created on the screen. Using a graphics tablet a designer can produce very accurate onscreen drawings as if they were drawing on paper.
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OUTPUT DEVICESCommon output formats are printed paper, sound, video and on-screen documents. They let the computer communicate with the user. Examples of devices that take advantages of these formats are:
Monitor

The most common output device is the monitor or VDU. Modern monitors, where the case isnt more than a few centimetres deep, are usually Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) or Thin Film Transistors (TFT) monitors. Older monitors, where the case is likely to be around 30 cm deep, are Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors.
Printers

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Laser printers are quite expensive to buy and run but produce a high quality output and are quiet and fast. Ink-jet printers offer black and white or colour printing with reduced levels of quality and speed. Colour ink jet printers are cheaper to buy than colour laser printers.

Dot matrix printers are not so common today. They are comparatively noisy and low quality but are cheap to run and are used when carbon copies or duplicates need to be made, such as for wage slips. Also, they are useful in dirty environments such as a garage because they are much sturdier than the other two types of printer.

Plotters

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A plotter can be used to produce high quality, accurate, A3 size or bigger drawings. They are usually used for Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) applications, such as printing out plans for houses or car parts.
Other output devices

OTHER TYPES OF OUTPUT DEVICES: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 speakers projectors buzzers motors switched outputs lights mechanical devices

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ROM and RAM A computer uses two types of storage. A main store consisting of ROM and RAM, and backing stores which can be internal, eg hard disk, or external, eg a CD or USB ash drive. Main store (or computer memory) is divided into Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM).
ROM

ROM is memory that cannot be changed by a program or user. ROM retains its memory even after the computer is turned off. For example, ROM stores the instructions for the computer to start up when it is turned on again.
RAM

RAM is a fast temporary type of memory in which programs, applications anddata are stored. Here are some examples of what ' s stored in RAM: 1 2 3 the operating system applications the graphical user interface (GUI)

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STORAGE CAPACITIES AND FILE SIZES

Storage capacities and le sizes are measured from lowest to highest in: 1 2 3 4 5 6 bits bytes kilobytes megabytes gigabytes terabytes

An operating system abbreviates these measurements, eg 1 megabyte becomes 1MB (megabyte).

Relationship between measurements

The table below outlines the relationship between bits (smallest) and terabytes (largest). Read each row of the table from left to right:
Relationship between measurement

Size 8 bits 1024 bytes

Equal to 1 byte 1 kilobyte 1 megabyte 1 terabyte

1024 kilobytes 1024 gigabytes

1024 megabytes 1 gigabyte

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SOFTWARE

Word processing applications allow users to type and edit text. Desktop publishing (DTP) applications allow users to create page layouts using text and pictures. Word processing Most people are familiar with word processing packages such as Microsoft Word or Writer (part of the Open Office suite).
Standard features

All word processing applications allow you to: 1 2 3 4 5 enter and edit text save print cut/copy/paste check your spelling

Cut, copy, and paste

Cut and copy work in a similar way. Highlighting a piece of text, right-clicking and selecting copy/cut will store the text in memory. The difference is copy leaves the highlighted text behind where as cut removes it. To insert the copied/cut text into a different area of the document, a different document, or an entirely different application altogether, right-click and select paste. The use of cut, copy, and paste is not necessarily limited to text.
Text formatting

Formatting text makes a document easier to read. You can: 1 2 3 4 5 change font type and size change the alignment of text (left, centre, right or justied) bold text underline text create bulleted or numbered lists

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GRAPHICS SOFTWARE- BITMAP AND VECTOR IMAGES

The range of pictures, drawings and images which can be produced by a computer are called graphics. The main types of graphics packages are painting, drawing, photo editing and CAD. There may be some cross over between the packages, ie certain packages may be suitable for more than one task. Painting packages A painting application allows freehand drawing and colouring, usually with a mouse. Generally the features are: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 a palette from which the user can choose colours freehand pens and brushes offering different styles and line thickness a range of standard shape tools such as rectangles and circles colour ll tools spray cans and eraser tools cut, copy and paste zoom (to work in ner detail)

Bitmap graphics

Bitmap graphics made with painting packages consist of many tiny dots called pixels. It is possible to edit each individual pixel. Since the computer has to store information about every single pixel (the colour for example) in the image, the le size of a bitmap graphic is often quite large. Bitmap graphics lose quality when they ' re resized.
Vector graphics

Vector graphics are based on mathematical relationships with control points that make up the image, information is not stored about each pixel. These points are connected by lines and curves called vector paths or vectors.
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Vector objects

A vector object is a shape made up of vector paths. It is possible to edit each object separately, for example, change the shape, stroke, ll, size and position. A stroke follows the outline of the vector path and a ll adds a colour to the area inside the path.
Advantages

Smaller le size - vector graphics, unless bitmap images, do not store data about each individual pixel. For a large illustration, such as a poster, a vector graphic would have a signicantly smaller le size compared to a bitmap image.

Scalable - when you resize a vector graphic the mathematical relationships mean that the image does not lose quality. A vector graphic the size of a postage stamp could be resized to be used on a poster and the image would still be clear.

Disadvantage

Vector graphics are never going to be as life-like as bitmaps or photos. They will always appear computer generated.

Computer Aided Design (CAD) CAD packages are more sophisticated drawing packages. They are used by engineers, architects and designers to produce detailed design plans andtechnical drawings. CAD software offers all the features of standard drawing software but in addition may also offer: 1 2 3 4 5 6 greater accuracy (it is possible to work to within 1/72 of an inch) objects and drawings can be created in 2D, 3D, 2D CAD and 3D CAD images can be viewed from any angle powerful scaling, rotation and reection options libraries of engineering components which can be imported links to packages to calculate costs

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OPERATING SYSTEMS
An operating system is a system program that controls and organises the general operation of the computer. Operating system functions In any computer, the operating system: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 controls the backing store and peripherals such as scanners and printers deals with the transfer of programs in and out of memory organizes the use of memory between programs organizes processing time between programs and users maintains security and access rights of users deals with errors and user instructions allows the user to save les to a backing store provides the interface between the user and the computer - for example,WindowsVista and Apple OSX. issues simple error messages

GUI- GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

An acronym to remember what is included in a GUI is WIMP WINDOWS - a rectangular area on the screen where the commonly used applications run ICONS - a picture or symbol which is used to represent a software application or hardware device MENUS - a list of options from which the user can choose what they require POINTERS - a symbol such as an arrow which moves around the screen as you move your mouse. helps you to select objects.

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NETWORKS AND COMMUNITCATIONS

A computer network is a number of computers linked together to allow them to share resources. Networked computers can share hardware,software and data. Most computer networks have at least one server. A server is a powerful computer that provides one or more services to a network and its users. For example, le storage and email. LANs and WANs There are two main types of network: 1. Local Area Network LAN 2. Wide Area Network WAN

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LAN

A LAN covers a small area such as one site or building, eg a school or a college.

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WAN

A WAN covers a large geographical area. Most WANs are made from several LANs connected together.

WAN - Wide Area Network

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The Internet is a WAN. A network of bank cash dispensers is a WAN. A school network is usually a LAN. LANs are often connected to WANs, for example a school network could be connected to the Internet. WANs can be connected together using the Internet, leased lines or satellite links.

Advantages and disadvantages of networks

Advantages

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Sharing devices such as printers saves money. Site (software) licenses are likely to be cheaper than buying several standalone licenses. Files can easily be shared between users. Network users can communicate by email and instant messenger. Security is good - users cannot see other users' files unlike on stand-alone machines. Data is easy to backup as all the data is stored on the file server. Purchasing the network cabling and file servers can be expensive. Managing a large network is complicated, requires training and a network manager usually needs to be employed. If the file server breaks down the files on the file server become inaccessible. Email might still work if it is on a separate server. The computers can still be used but are isolated. Viruses can spread to other computers throughout a computer network. There is a danger of hacking, particularly with wide area networks. Security procedures are needed to prevent such abuse, eg a firewall.

Disadvantages

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TYPES OF NETWORK
BUS NETWORK

RING NETWORK

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STAR NETWORK

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