1. Explain the following concepts. Please pay special attention to the way they differ
from each other:
a) micro processor- micro computer
b) program - process
c) assembler language - machine language - micro code
d) compilation - interpretation
(These concepts can be found eg. in Tanenbaum: Structured Computer
Organization)
2.
a) What are the essential hardware parts in a micro computer?
What peripherals are most commonly used?
b) Study recent advertisements for information about the performance and
capacity of the newest micro computers. Find some differences between
cheap and more expensive machines.
3.
a) What are the main advantages of the virtual machine model?
b) How well should a user know his/her computer system on each
of the levels if he/she uses the computer only for word processing or
Internet communications?
(Virtual machine model is explained in Tanenbaum p.2 - and in van de Goor.)
4. Search for recent books on micro computer hardware. At least four titles are required (in addition to the ones on the course homepage).
5.
a) Convert the following binary numbers to decimal and hexadecimal numbers: 110111,
1100.011
b) Convert the following decimal numbers to binary numbers: 107, 0.625, 2.75
(eg. Tanenbaum Appendix A p. 631 - or Aho, Ullman p. 201 -)
6.
a) Substract 47 from 34 using 2's complement. What are the main benefits of this data representation technique?
b) If a number is represented in 2's complement form, how do you know whether it is positive or negative?
c) What are the smallest and greatest numbers that can be represented with 32 bits using 2's complement?
(eg. Tanenbaum Appendix A p. 631 - or Aho, Ullman p.193-)