Unit 2 – Fundamentals of Computer Systems
Hardware and Software
Computer hardware in a computer system
Purposes, features and uses of internal components
Factors affecting the choice, use and performance of internal components
How the features of hardware affect their performance and that of a system
Data storage and recovery systems
Computer software in a computer system
Principles and implications of open source software
Data Processing
The use, features and implications of using computer systems for data processing
The role of hardware in collecting data
Backup and data recovery procedures
Computer Architecture
Approaches to computer architecture
Features and characteristics of different computer architecture models
Use and application of emulation
Factors affecting the choice of different architecture models
The impact of using different architecture models
The concepts of microarchitecture
The use and choice of instruction sets
Multi-processing and multi-threading
Features and implications of embedded and mobile CPU architecture
Features and implications of server CPU architecture
Registers and register handling
Role of interrupts in a computer system
How data is represented by computer systems
Number systems
Use and interpretation of number systems
Use of binary to represent negative and floating point numbers
Text representation
Purpose and implications of using codes to represent character sets
Features and uses of common character sets
Image representation
How bitmap/raster image data is stored and represented
Impact of image resolution of how images are stored and represented
Impact of sample/bit depth on way image data is stored and represented
Effects of compression on image data
How data is organised on computer systems
Data structures
Features, applications and implications of data types used in computer systems
Use and application of data types in computer software
Indices and matrices
Single-, two- and multi-dimensional arrays
Row-major and column-major order
How data is transmitted by computer systems
Transmitting data
Asynchronous and synchronous data transmission
Parallel and serial transmission
Protocols used to govern and control data transmission
Features, applications and implications of encryption
Error detection
Methods used to detect errors in data transmission
Concepts, implications and applications of error detection
Error correction
Commonly-used error correction systems
The use of logic and data flow in computer systems
Flow charts and system diagrams
Use of flow charts and diagrams to represent data flow in and between computer systems
Use and interpretation of flow charts and diagrams to solve problems