N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

Computer science
Higher level
Paper 1

Friday 3 November 2017 (afternoon)

2 hour 10 minutes

Instructions to candidates
yy Do not open this examination paper until instructed to do so.
yy Section A: answer all questions.
yy Section B: answer all questions.
yy The maximum mark for this examination paper is [100 marks].

8817 – 7011
9 pages © International Baccalaureate Organization 2017
 –2– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

Section A

Answer all questions.

1. Identify two essential features of a computer language. [2]

2. In the context of a networked world, state the role of

(a) a client. [1]

(b) a server. [1]

3. Identify one method of inputting data that can improve the accessibility of a computer
system for some users. [1]

4. Copy and complete the following truth table. [3]

A B A NOR B (A NOR B) OR A
FALSE FALSE … …
… … … …

5. Construct a logic diagram for the Boolean expression

NOT A OR B AND C. [3]

6. Consider the following recursive method, where N is a positive integer

mystery(N)
if (N > 0) AND (N mod 2 = 0) then
mystery(N−2)
end if
output N
end mystery

(a) Determine the output produced by the method call mystery(5). [1]

(b) Determine the output produced by the method call mystery(4). [3]

(c) Construct an iterative algorithm for the method mystery(), which uses a single
while loop instead of recursion. [4]
 –3– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

7. The machine instruction cycle is the process by which a program instruction is fetched,
decoded, executed and the results are stored.

(a) State where all instructions and data are stored. [1]

(b) Outline the role of the data bus and address bus in this process. [2]

8. Define the term bit. [1]

9. Outline what is meant by beta testing. [2]

Turn over
 –4– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

Section B

Answer all questions.

10. An application package used in an office includes a word processor.

(a) Describe how a spellchecker checks whether a word in a text file is correctly spelt
or not. [2]

The office manager decides to buy and install new software and hardware.

(b) Outline one problem that may arise from the installation of new hardware and software
in the office. [2]

The changeover to the new system can be achieved by either direct changeover or
phased conversion.

(c) Compare direct changeover and phased conversion. [4]

The new software allows basic text summaries and analysis to help check text files,
including functions such as calculating word frequency.

(d) Identify one way of testing this software. [1]

One of the methods in this software is findFirst(CH, CHARARRAY) which accepts a

character, CH, and a one-dimensional array of characters, CHARARRAY, and returns the
position of the first occurrence of character CH in CHARARRAY. It returns −1 if CH does not
appear in the array CHARARRAY.

For example, consider the character array MESSAGE, which is of length 19.

[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
A U R O R A M U S I S A M I C A .

For this array:

yy The character at position 8 in the sentence is “U” and hence MESSAGE[8] = "U".
yy The character at position 18 in the sentence is “.” and hence MESSAGE[18] = ".".
yy The method findFirst('A', MESSAGE) returns 0.
yy The method findFirst('S', MESSAGE) returns 9.
yy The method findFirst('Z', MESSAGE) returns −1.

(e) Construct an efficient algorithm for the method findFirst(). You should use the
function len(), which returns the number of characters in an array (for example,
len(MESSAGE) returns 19). [6]
 –5– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

11. A wireless local area network (WLAN) is used to extend access to a school’s wired
local area network.

(a) Identify one hardware component of the WLAN, other than computers. [1]

The advantages of this WLAN are user-mobility and economical access points.

(b) Outline two disadvantages of this WLAN. [4]

(c) Identify three ways in which the network administrator can reduce the risk of
unauthorized access to confidential data. [3]

The concept of packet data transmission is used within this network.

Figure 1 shows the simplified structure of a data packet.

Figure 1: The structure of a data packet

Header (12 bytes) Data (112 bytes) Trailer / Footer (4 bytes)

yy address of sender yy transmission codes
yy address of receiver yy error checking codes
Actual data to be transmitted
yy protocol yy control bits
(payload)
yy sequence number yy …
yy …

(d) Define the term protocol. [1]

(e) With reference to Figure 1, explain how data is transferred by packet switching. [6]

Turn over
 –6– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

12. A biotechnology company owns a resource centre which collects and classifies organisms
for use in research.

Only authorized employees are allowed access to some laboratories in the resource centre.

These laboratories are protected by locked doors. Each door is controlled by a separate
microprocessor. A digital camera is used to scan the iris of an employee who wishes to
enter the lab. If the employee is authorized the doors are unlocked.

(a) Identify two benefits of using a digital camera as an input device in this control system. [2]

(b) Outline the use of a microprocessor in this control system. [2]

(c) Outline the function of an output transducer. [2]

The company is planning to use a centralized computer system to secure the resource
centre’s building.

(d) Compare a centrally controlled system with the system described above. [4]

The operating system has an important role in this system.

(e) Identify two functions of the operating system. [2]

Polling and interrupt are two operating system management techniques.

(f) Suggest with reasons which of these two techniques is the most appropriate for this
centrally controlled system. [3]
 –7– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

13. (a) Describe the features of a dynamic data structure. [2]

Consider the following doubly linked list which holds the names of flowers in
alphabetical order.

FIRST NULL Aster Camellia Lavender NULL LAST

(b) Explain how “Primrose” could be inserted into this doubly linked list. You should draw
a labelled diagram in your answer. [6]

Consider the two stacks: FLOWERS and FRUITS.

FLOWERS FRUITS
Aster Apple
Broom Cherry
Camellia Orange
Day Lily Pear
Lavender
Primrose
Yarrow

(c) Show the output produced by the following algorithm. [4]

loop while (NOT FRUITS.isEmpty()) AND (NOT FLOWERS.isEmpty())

X = FRUITS.pop()
Y = FLOWERS.pop()
if X < Y then
output X
else
output Y
end if
end loop

A third stack, FLOFRU, is needed. It should contain all the data from FLOWERS and FRUITS
and will store it as shown below

FLOFRU
Yarrow
Primrose
Lavender
Day Lily
Camellia
Broom
Aster
Pear
Orange
Cherry
Apple

(d) Describe how the FLOFRU stack could be created. [3]

Turn over
 –8– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

14. Consider the following two-dimensional array, MAT, with dimensions 6 × 6.

[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[0] 7 0 0 0 0 0
[1] 0 0 0 0 0 0
[2] 0 0 −3 0 9 0
[3] 0 0 0 0 0 0
[4] 0 0 −1 0 0 0
[5] 0 −6 0 0 −5 1

The value −1 is stored in MAT at position [4][2]. The position [4][2] means row 4
and column 2.

(a) State the total number of elements stored in MAT. [1]

(b) State the number of non-zero elements in MAT. [1]

A two-dimensional array in which most of the elements are zero is called a sparse matrix.
A sparse matrix can be compressed by storing only non-zero elements using three
one‑dimensional arrays.

The first array, VALUES, stores all non-zero elements taken from the sparse matrix in
row‑major order (left-to-right then top-to-bottom order).

The length of the array VALUES is equal to the number of non-zero elements in the sparse
matrix. For the sparse matrix above, MAT, the array VALUES is:

[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

7 −3 9 −1 −6 −5 1

The second array is ROWC. ROWC[i] stores the number of non-zero elements, from row 0 to
row i of the sparse matrix, inclusive.

The length of ROWC is equal to the number of rows in the sparse matrix. For MAT the array
ROWC is:

[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

1 1 3 3 4 7

For example, ROWC[2] stores 3 because in MAT there are three non-zero elements from
row 0 to row 2, inclusive.

The third array, COL, stores the column index for each non-zero element in the sparse
matrix. COL[i] stores the sparse matrix column index for the non-zero element stored in
VALUES[i]. For MAT the array COL is:

[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

0 2 4 2 1 4 5

(This question continues on the following page)

 –9– N17/4/COMSC/HP1/ENG/TZ0/XX

(Question 14 continued)

(c) Construct an algorithm that compresses a 6 × 6 two-dimensional array, such as MAT,

into the three one-dimensional arrays described on page 8. You may assume that the
6 × 6 array is inputted and all three one-dimensional arrays are initialized. [6]

Consider the following three arrays. They hold the compressed contents of a 7 × 7 sparse
matrix, BIGMAT.

VALUES
[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
15 20 37 43 57 60 70 89 90 92

ROWC
[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
1 3 4 5 5 7 10

COL
[0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
0 1 2 1 3 0 1 0 5 6

(d) For a given column, C, in BIGMAT, outline how it could be determined that this column
contains no non-zero elements. [2]

(e) State how many rows in BIGMAT contain only zeros. [1]

(f) (i) State the index in VALUES of the first non-zero element in row 5 of BIGMAT. [1]

(ii) For a given row, R, in BIGMAT, determine the range of indexes in VALUES where
non-zero elements in row R of BIGMAT are placed. You may assume that there
is at least one non-zero element in row R. [3]