Topic 2 covers how computers work at the hardware level: CPU architecture, the fetch-decode-execute cycle, binary number systems, and logic gates.
Von Neumann architecture: CPU, memory, I/O, system bus. CPU components: ALU (performs calculations and logic), control unit (coordinates operations), registers (PC — program counter, MAR, MDR, accumulator). Machine instruction cycle: (1) Fetch instruction from memory address in PC. (2) Decode the instruction. (3) Execute using ALU. (4) Store result. (5) Increment PC.
Binary: base-2 number system (0 and 1). Converting between binary, denary, and hexadecimal. Binary addition. Representation of characters: ASCII (7-bit, 128 characters), Unicode (16+ bit, all scripts). Representation of colours, images (pixels, resolution, colour depth), sound (sampling rate, bit depth).
AND: output 1 only when both inputs are 1. OR: output 1 when any input is 1. NOT: inverts input. NAND: NOT-AND. NOR: NOT-OR. XOR: output 1 when inputs differ. Construct truth tables for compound expressions. Apply logic gates to real-world scenarios (security systems, decision-making circuits). Simplify Boolean expressions using laws.
You need to understand individual gates (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR), construct and interpret truth tables, trace logic circuits to determine outputs, and translate between Boolean expressions and logic gate diagrams. You do not need to design complex circuits from scratch, but you should be able to analyse a given circuit and predict its output for any input combination.
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