How Computers Work- Mid Term Coursework

Chosen Application:

WhatsApp is a mobile application I use to communicate with family, friends and colleges in the past week.

Data representation:

WhatsApp is a mobile application which make communication across a variety of media types, including text,
images, audios and videos. Each type of data is processed, displayed and transmitted using encoding techniques that
enables seamless communication. At the highest level of abstraction users see text, images and videos in a screen. All
data comes in binary code (ones and zeros) and transfers between devices such as your phone or computer and
servers at the lowest level. That is done through physical connections such as Ethernet cables or fiber-optic lines, or
wirelessly through networks such as Wi-Fi or cellular signals.

Text messages are the main features of WhatsApp. Characters such as letters, numbers and symbols are
encoded using ASCII or Unicode standards. Each character is represented by a unique numeric value, which is then
translated into binary code. For example: “The letter C is represented by the number 67 in ASCII”. Each character
occupies 1 byte (8 bits), so a five words, such as “Hello” requires 40-bit (5 bytes) if binary data. WhatsApp also
supports emojis and languages that use non-Latin alphabets, encoding to handle a huge range of characters.

With WhatsApp, users can also send and receive photos. This is usually compressed to reduce the file size
and secure faster transmission. Images are represented as pixel grid, and each pixel contains information about its
colour. Grayscale images use 8 bit per pixel, while the colour images use 24 bits (3 byte) per pixel to represent RGB
values. For a standard image of 400x400 pixels, the raw data would be 480,000 bytes (480KB) to compression.
Compression algorithms such at JPEG are used to remove redundant information to reduce file size for efficient
storage and transmission.

Videos are integral part of WhatsApp, combining visual and audio data into a unified format. Videos are
essentially a series of images, called frames, shown one after another very quickly, usually 30 frames per second
(fps) to create the illusion of motion. Each frame is handled just like a normal image, with its pixels converted into
computer-readable code. A microphone captures these changes in air pressure, translates them into electrical
signals, and encodes those into digital code. To achieve smaller file sizes that are more manageable to store or send
across the Internet the digital video data is compressed with codecs tools such as H.264 or HEVC that shrink the file
size without losing quality.

Voice messaging and calls rely on audio data captured through the microphone. Sound waves are converted
into digital signals using sampling techniques. The resulting binary data is compressed using audio codecs to ensure
efficient transmission without noticeable quality loss. WhatsApp uses advanced encoding, compression and
transmission technologies to enable the efficient exchange of text, images, audio and videos even over slow or
unreliable networks.

Computer Architecture:

The hardware that I used to access WhatsApp is iPhone, while other people use a variety of smartphones
that has network interfaces. Smartphones like iPhone have similar components to traditional computers, including a
CPU and RAM and a massive storage. The CPU is the core of the device and is responsible for carrying out
instructions and performing calculations. TAM temporarily contains data and instructions necessary to launch
applications. SSD provides long-term storage for the app data, multimedia files and cached information.

When WhatsApp is opened, the application and its data are loaded from the SSD to RAM, according to the
stored program concept. Th CPU processed the application’s tasks using the fetch-execute cycle. Instructions are
encoded in binary format, typically consists of 4 bits for the operation code, specifying what action to perform, 12
bits for the operands, which define the data or memory locations involved. After each instruction is executed, the
program counter advances to fetch the next instruction in sequence.

WhatsApp operates on a client-server architecture, where communication between users is provided by

Operating Systems and Applications

WhatsApp is a downloadable application available on major platforms such as Apple App Store and Google
Play Store. The app’s core is an executable code file that integrates with the operating system using code libraries
that enable advance functionality. These libraries allow WhatsApp to interact with the device’s hardware and OS
features, while interface libraries manage the display of interactive elements, such at buttons, chat windows, and
menus. Additionally, resource files such as icons, fonts, and animations help improve the user experience.

In addition to mobile apps, WhatsApp offers a web version that can be accessed from a desktop browser. This
version operates using pre-designed template pages that create the layout for features such as chat list, message
threads and media previews. These templates include placeholders that are dynamically filled with user-specific data,
such as contact names or recent messages, retrieved from WhatsApp’s backend databases. The web server merges
the templates with user data and delivers fully-rendered pages to the browser.

I primarily use an iPhone, running Apple’s iOS to access WhatsApp. iOS is built on a Unix-based kernel called
XNU and offers the foundation for apps like WhatsApp to function smoothly. The operating system provides a
Graphical User Interface that supports WhatsApp’s interactive design, displaying chats, buttons and multimedia
features.

WhatsApp relies on iOS’s memory management system for effective startup. The app allocates temporary
memory (RAM) for processing real-time tasks like sending messages, displaying media, etc. When handling files, such
as photos or videos, WhatsApp stores them temporarily in memory before saving them to the device’s permanent
storage system.

Networks and the Internet

WhatsApp relies on your phone’s internet connection to send and receive messages, calls and data. This
occurs via a combination of physical cables and wireless networks, as well as devices such as routers and servers.
Routers become increasingly crucial as the switch divides the larger network into sub-networks that converge
through the routers towards the destination. Wired connections, such as Ethernet cables or fiber optics, transmit
data via cables, while wireless networks, such as Wi-Fi or mobile data, relay it through the air using electromagnetic
waves. Most people are using WhatsApp using the Wi-Fi at home, work, and public places, so mobile data comes in
to play when there is no Wi-Fi.
 When WhatsApp transmits data, it is divided into layers of packets for seamless transfer. For example, binary
data, such as text messages or media files, is encapsulated in an application layer, which contains app-specific
information. This is further wrapped in a transport layer, usually using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for its
reliability, which is then wrapped in the network IP Layer, which is assigned an IP address so that the data can be
routed to the correct destination. The final layer, called the link layer, controls the actual transmission over networks
like Wi-Fi or cellular systems. Once the data arrives at its destination, these layers are removed one by one, allowing
the server to extract and process basic information before sending updates or responses back to the client device.

To protect communications, WhatsApp uses advanced security protocols. WhatsApp secures your account
with strong password policies, and you can further enhance security by activating two-factor authentication. To help
protect your privacy, WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning any messages, calls and files you share are
scrambled so only the person you’re communicating with can see them. This prevents anyone else from
intercepting or accessing your private information as it’s being sent. These features help ensure that people
everywhere can connect with each other privately and securely on WhatsApp.