Robotics are now beginning to be used in everyday life, from travelling to space and back, to building machines such as cars and computers.
Strengths - They are resistant to heat, pressure, pain, and radiation e.g. Submersibles
- Perform repetitive tasks without boredom or errors e.g. Car Assembly Plant
- They are faster and more accurate in their work e.g. Circuit Assembly
- They can reduce the risk to human lifes e.g. Bomb Disposal
Weaknesses - Cannot cope with uncertainty or unpredictability
- Cannot make decisions or social decisions
- Still need a human commander
- Can only do the job they have been programmed to do
- They can act but cannot think
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Consequences Of Using Computers
Legal
The Computer Misuse Act (1990)
- There to protect against unauthorised use of computer systems
- Three Levels - 1. Unauthorised access to data and programs
- 2. Unauthorised access and committing further offenses
- 3. Unauthorised modification of computer material
- Unauthorised access can be known as cracking or hacking
- Maximum penalty is a fine or a prison sentence
Data Protection Act - Commissioned in 1984 and recommissioned in 1998
- 8 Principles - Data Gathering - Subject knows that data is being gathered
- Data Purpose - Obtained for one or more specific purposes
- Data Quantity - How much data is recorded
- Data Quality - Data should be accurate and up to date
- Data Lifetime - Data kept for a certain amount of time
- Subject's Rights - Only processed under consent of subject
- Internal Data Security - Appropriate technical measures to keep data safe
- External Data Security - Is it being moved between countries
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) - Referred generally as RIPA
- Prevents the interception of public or private messages
- Security can intercept as long as they have a warrant
- Can be used to force ISPs to help them (Encryption Keys)
- Only applies when the message is being delivered
- In a mailbox it is then covered by the Data Protection Act
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)
- Protects materials - Music, Art and Films
- Only use copyright items with owners consent
- Design right protects how something looks
- Patents protect how an innovation works and what it does
- Trademarks protect the name or logo used by a business
Health and Safety Regulations (1992)
- Employers must look after staff who use computers for a long time
- Software designers must think about colour schemes and font types
- Designers should try to reduce the amount of typing and mouse clicks
Ethical and Social
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
- Application of controls which limit the use of digital media
- Used by copyright owners to limit when you can use digital media
- It can limit the number of plays, number of transfers etc.
- Proprietary Software - Comes with a license
- Must not be changed, re-sold or passed on
- Open Source - Free software with different controls
- Can be modified, re-used
- Cannot be sold thought to make money
Code Of Conduct
- A set of instruction for how you should behave at a computer.
- Not a law - but each company has disiplinary actions
- May cover items such as - Not using other people's accounts
- Not interfering with other people's work
- Not to download software or install software
- Not looking at personal information - e-mail, socialising
- Not to use them for copying material
The Computer Misuse Act (1990)
- There to protect against unauthorised use of computer systems
- Three Levels - 1. Unauthorised access to data and programs
- 2. Unauthorised access and committing further offenses
- 3. Unauthorised modification of computer material
- Unauthorised access can be known as cracking or hacking
- Maximum penalty is a fine or a prison sentence
Data Protection Act - Commissioned in 1984 and recommissioned in 1998
- 8 Principles - Data Gathering - Subject knows that data is being gathered
- Data Purpose - Obtained for one or more specific purposes
- Data Quantity - How much data is recorded
- Data Quality - Data should be accurate and up to date
- Data Lifetime - Data kept for a certain amount of time
- Subject's Rights - Only processed under consent of subject
- Internal Data Security - Appropriate technical measures to keep data safe
- External Data Security - Is it being moved between countries
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) - Referred generally as RIPA
- Prevents the interception of public or private messages
- Security can intercept as long as they have a warrant
- Can be used to force ISPs to help them (Encryption Keys)
- Only applies when the message is being delivered
- In a mailbox it is then covered by the Data Protection Act
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)
- Protects materials - Music, Art and Films
- Only use copyright items with owners consent
- Design right protects how something looks
- Patents protect how an innovation works and what it does
- Trademarks protect the name or logo used by a business
Health and Safety Regulations (1992)
- Employers must look after staff who use computers for a long time
- Software designers must think about colour schemes and font types
- Designers should try to reduce the amount of typing and mouse clicks
Ethical and Social
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
- Application of controls which limit the use of digital media
- Used by copyright owners to limit when you can use digital media
- It can limit the number of plays, number of transfers etc.
- Proprietary Software - Comes with a license
- Must not be changed, re-sold or passed on
- Open Source - Free software with different controls
- Can be modified, re-used
- Cannot be sold thought to make money
Code Of Conduct
- A set of instruction for how you should behave at a computer.
- Not a law - but each company has disiplinary actions
- May cover items such as - Not using other people's accounts
- Not interfering with other people's work
- Not to download software or install software
- Not looking at personal information - e-mail, socialising
- Not to use them for copying material
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Fetch, Execute Cycle & Registers Used
- Instructions are fetched from the main memory
- Intructions are then decoded
- Instructions are then executed
Registers
Program Counter (PC) - Holds the address of the next instruction to be executed
Current Information Register (CIR) - Holds the current instruction while it's decoded and executed
Memory Address Register (MAR) - Holds the address of the memory location being accessed
Memory Buffer Register (MBR) - Holds data being transferred to or from the memory that is held in the MAR
Accumulator (ACC) - Holds the result of the current calculations
- Intructions are then decoded
- Instructions are then executed
Registers
Program Counter (PC) - Holds the address of the next instruction to be executed
Current Information Register (CIR) - Holds the current instruction while it's decoded and executed
Memory Address Register (MAR) - Holds the address of the memory location being accessed
Memory Buffer Register (MBR) - Holds data being transferred to or from the memory that is held in the MAR
Accumulator (ACC) - Holds the result of the current calculations
Basic Machine Code Operations
- High Level language programs are translated into Machine Code
- The processor decodes this Machine Code to run programs
- Machine Code - Operation Code (what to do)
- Operand (what to do with it)
What do I need to know?
- Load 15 (meaning load whatever is in memory location 15)
- Store 6 (meaning store whatever number is in the accumulator into memory location 6)
- Add #10 (meaning add the number 5 to the accumulator)
# is important to signify a number
- The processor decodes this Machine Code to run programs
- Machine Code - Operation Code (what to do)
- Operand (what to do with it)
What do I need to know?
- Load 15 (meaning load whatever is in memory location 15)
- Store 6 (meaning store whatever number is in the accumulator into memory location 6)
- Add #10 (meaning add the number 5 to the accumulator)
# is important to signify a number
Factors Affecting Processor Speeds
Clock Speed - The clock executes a set of instructions by ticking.
- Each instruction takes one or more ticks.
- The faster the clock the faster a program can be executed.
- Double the clock speed and you would double the performance.
Bus Width - The number of wires within a bus (8, 16, 32, 64)
- Each wire has a high voltage or a low voltage (1 or 0)
- The larger the number of wires the larger number of instruction can be passed through
- The bigger the bus, the less data has to be broken into smaller pieces, therefore increasing performance.
Word Length - The number of bits in a binary number that can be sent
- The largest number sent has to be equal to the number of wires on the Bus
- Common word length is 32 or 64 bits
- The bigger the word length, the less data has to be broken into smaller pieces, therefore increasing performance.
Multicore Processors - Adding more than one processor allows the computer to do things at the same time
- Dual Core is now standard in computers
- Quad Core is becoming common in computers
- Each instruction takes one or more ticks.
- The faster the clock the faster a program can be executed.
- Double the clock speed and you would double the performance.
Bus Width - The number of wires within a bus (8, 16, 32, 64)
- Each wire has a high voltage or a low voltage (1 or 0)
- The larger the number of wires the larger number of instruction can be passed through
- The bigger the bus, the less data has to be broken into smaller pieces, therefore increasing performance.
Word Length - The number of bits in a binary number that can be sent
- The largest number sent has to be equal to the number of wires on the Bus
- Common word length is 32 or 64 bits
- The bigger the word length, the less data has to be broken into smaller pieces, therefore increasing performance.
Multicore Processors - Adding more than one processor allows the computer to do things at the same time
- Dual Core is now standard in computers
- Quad Core is becoming common in computers
Three Box Model
The Three Box model has three components to it - Processor
- Main Memory
- Inputs & Outputs (I/O)
It also has a Bus which combines these components.
Processor - The brain of the system.
- Responsible for executing programs
- Contains a microprocessor, which can contain up to 1 billion transistors
Main Memory - Also known as the Immediate Access Memory
- Used to store program instructions and data
- Random Access Memory - Loses its data when Computer is turned off
- Read Only Memory - Keeps it's data (non-volatile)
- ROM is used to store programs which boot the computer.
Inputs & Outputs (I/O) - Everything outside the computer is a peripheral.
- I/O controllers allows the CPU to communicate with them
Bus - Can be called System Bus or External Bus
- Connects the Three Boxes together
- Three Types - Data - Bidirectional (Two Way)
- Consists of 32 wires
- Used to transport Data
- Address - One Directional
- Consists 32 wires
- Used to address Memory and I/O locations
- Control - Bidirectional (Two Way)
- Consists of 8 wires
- Used to transport control signals between the three components
- Main Memory
- Inputs & Outputs (I/O)
It also has a Bus which combines these components.
Processor - The brain of the system.
- Responsible for executing programs
- Contains a microprocessor, which can contain up to 1 billion transistors
Main Memory - Also known as the Immediate Access Memory
- Used to store program instructions and data
- Random Access Memory - Loses its data when Computer is turned off
- Read Only Memory - Keeps it's data (non-volatile)
- ROM is used to store programs which boot the computer.
Inputs & Outputs (I/O) - Everything outside the computer is a peripheral.
- I/O controllers allows the CPU to communicate with them
Bus - Can be called System Bus or External Bus
- Connects the Three Boxes together
- Three Types - Data - Bidirectional (Two Way)
- Consists of 32 wires
- Used to transport Data
- Address - One Directional
- Consists 32 wires
- Used to address Memory and I/O locations
- Control - Bidirectional (Two Way)
- Consists of 8 wires
- Used to transport control signals between the three components
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