Cambridge IGCSE Information and Communication Technology Theory Workbook answers

6 ICT applications
1 a paper-based, three from
• it is easier to target the exact audience
• you can be more certain your advert has been delivered
• posters, if placed
placed strategically,
strategically, can be seen
seen every day
day by people
• they catch the attention when in poster-form.
computer-based,
computer-based, three from:
• sound/video/animation
sound/video/animation can be added
• hyperlinks and hotspots can be used to link to other websites/web
websites/web pages
• buttons can be added to navigate/move
navigate/move around
around the website, leading
leading to more
information
• hit counters to see how many people have visited the website
• they can be seen by a global audience
• they cannot be defaced or thrown away
• it is much easier to update a website (and there is no need to do a reprint and then

distribute the new version).

multimedia advertising in a shopping mall, three from:
• use of sound and animation/video effects can be used which are more likely to grab
the attention of the audience, and which can also make the presentation easier to
understand
• it is possible to have interactive/hyperlinks built into the presentation; this means the
presentation could
could access a company’s
company’s website or even
even key files stored
stored on the cloud
cloud
(such as video footage, images, spreadsheets
spreadsheets and so on)
• the use of transition effects allow a presentation to display facts in a key or
chronological order
• presentations can be interactive
interactive
• it is more flexible; because of the links to websites and other external systems (for
example, the cloud), presentation can be tailored to suit a particular audience.
b i A method used to talk to pe
people
ople using
using computers
computers or internet-phones
internet-phones connected to the
internet
ii microphone, (loud) speakers
iii Advantages, one from:
• computer-to-c
computer-to-computer
omputer communica
communication
tion over the internet is free
• it ca
can
n ma
make
ke use of bu
built-in
ilt-in camera
camera to ma
make
ke a v
video
ideo ccall.
all.
Disadvantages,
Disadvantages, one from:
• sound quality can be poor
• there are potential security issues (due to viruses,
viruses, for example)
example)

•
it requires a high-speed broadband connection.

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2 a Three from:
• the number of vehicles passing the junction in all directions, along with a vehicle count
• how many vehicles build up at the junction
• the time of day
• the day of the
t he week, along with special days such as bank holidays etc.(to understand
how that might alter how the data needs to be interpreted)
• how long it takes a vehicle to clear the junction
• other data could include: pedestrian crossings, nearby left turns, right turns,
filtering, etc.
b Three from:
• using computer models is less expensive than having to build the real thing (for
example, a bridge)
• on many occasions it is safer to use a computer model (some real situations are
hazardous; for example, chemical processes)
• when using computer modelling it is much easier to try out various scenarios in
advance
• it is nearly impossible to try out some tasks in real life because of the high risk
involved or the remoteness
remoteness (for example, outer space, under the sea, nuclear reactors,
crash testing cars, etc.)
• it is often faster to use a computer model than to do the
t he real thing (some applications
would take years before a result was known; for example, climate change calculations,
calculations,
population growth, etc.).
etc.).
c

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3 Reasons Disadvantage?
( )

Robots have difficulty in doing 'one off' tasks ✓

Management
Management can move factories anywhere in the world

Using robots can lead to unemployment

unemployment

Robots manufacture more items per hour than

t han humans
All items produced using robots are identical

The set up and maintenance of robots is expensive ✓

4 a • contact is made with bank’s computer

• the ATM asks user to enter a PIN
• the PIN is checked to see if it is correct
• the card is checked to see if has expired or has been stolen
• if the card is stolen or expired then it is retained
• the customer account is accessed
• the customer is given a number of on-screen options
• the customer chooses the statement of account option
• the card is returned once the customer is finished.
b • customer selects option to view balance
• ATM makes contact made with bank’s computer
• bank's computer
computer finds the correct
correct record for the customer
customer in its database
database and sends this
information the ATM
• ATM displays the balance on-screen and asks whether the customer wants a printout.
5 a • 1 = user interface
• 2 = explanation system
• 3 = inference engine
• 4 = rules base
• 5 = knowledge base

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c Three from:
• oil/mineral prospecting
• medical diagnosis
• strategy games, such as chess
• tax/financial planning
• route scheduling for delivery vehicles
• identification of plants, animals, chemical compounds etc.
d • run the system using input data with known outcomes
• compare the results from expert system with existing system
• make any changes as necessary.
6 True False
Statement
( ) ( )
The making of prosthetic limbs is one example of an expert system
✓
application
One of the disadvantages
disadvantages of expert systems is that the results are inconsistent ✓

Expert systems are not infallible ✓

An explanation system provides the user with the reasons why an expert
✓
system came to its final conclusion
The rules base acts like a search engine in an expert system ✓

The knowledge base in an expert system is made up of objects and attributes ✓

When setting up an expert system, the first task is to gather information from
✓
knowledgeable sources

7 a ANPR:
• an abbreviation for automatic number plate recognition
• it is used to read the number plates on a car
• for example, to control the entry/exit barrier to a car park.

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b Stage order Stage

Algorithms are used to locate and isolate the number plate from
3
the camera image

6 The text string is stored in a database

The motorist returns to the car park and makes payment after
8
inserting his ticket into the machine
A sensor detects a vehicle and sends a signal to the
2 microprocessor
microproce ssor to instruct the camera to capture an image of the
front of the vehicle
The motorist drives to the exit barrier and the ANPR system
9 reads the number plate on the vehicle and checks the database for
the number plate
Brightness and contrast of the number plate is adjusted so that the
4
characters can be clearly read
If the number plate is recognised and payment
payment has been made, the
10
exit barrier is raised
Once all the checking is done, the car park entrance barrier is
7 raised and the motorist is issued
i ssued with a ticket showing date and
time of entry

1 The motorist drives up to the entrance to the car park

Each character
character on the number plate is then recognised using
5
OCR; the characters are converted into a text string

8 Three from:
• emergency
emergency services use GIS to send the closest emergency
emergency personnel to a location
• biologists and environmentalists
environmentalists use GIS to protect animal
animal life and plants
plants in certain
vulnerable areas (which meet certain criteria after carrying out a search on the
t he database)
• teachers can use GIS in their geography, science or engineering lessons
• crime mapping can take place in a region or in a country
• route monitoring (used in conjunction with route scheduling software)
• management
management of agricultural crop data
• addressing public health issues, for example, in the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 –2021 to
show the spread of the virus in different parts of the world and where data could be
combined with other data (such as, age groups, ethnic type, population density, and so on)
to create a unique insight into how the virus spread
• mapping of wildfire risks, for example, in Australia in 2019 during the wildfire outbreaks;
it was possible to map out why and how the fire was spreading.

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9 True False
Statements
( ) ( )
The sat nav in the car sends signals to the GPS satellites giving the car’s
✓
location
If the maps are not up to date, the driver can be given incorrect
incorrect
✓
instructions

The satellites move around the Earth keeping track of all the cars ✓

The sat nav system installed in the car has state of the art timing systems ✓

The system can estimate the time of arrival of the car at its destination ✓

Paper maps have been scanned in so that the

t he route shows up on the sat
✓
nav screen in the car

10

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11 a NFC dev
devices
ices communicate
communicate at up to 5 centimetres;
centimetres; they are not time dependent
dependent and do not
require devices to be paired.
b OMR is used to read pencil
pencil or pen marks
marks written on a pre-printed grid;
grid; lozenges
lozenges are filled
with pencil or ink to indicate choices.
c Passive RFID chips do not have a power source; they use the reader’s radio wave energy to
send back information.

d Satellites do not transmit

transmit the coordinates to on board
board sat nav devices;
devices; sat
sat nav software
software
triangulates signals received
received from at least
l east three satellites to determine the exact position of
the vehicle.
e Sound waves
waves are not transmitted; radio waves
waves are u
used
sed as carrier
carrier waves
waves to send
send data to the
satellites.
12 a geographic information system (GIS)
b RFID scanner
c token(isation)
d internet banking/shopping/commerce
banking/shopping/commerce
e expert system
f computer simulation.

13 a Three from:
• sensors could be used out in the river to monitor water level and rate of flow (and
possibly other factors,
factors, such as
as wind speeds);
speeds); using sensors would
would give a much
much faster
response to any deteriorating conditions in the river
• using a computer system is safer, because using humans to monitor conditions could
potentially put them at risk
• data collection is continuous and more accurate than manual measurements (readings
(readings
can also be taken more frequently)
• because of
of the faster response
response to changing
changing conditions, city
city dwellers can be warned well
well
in advance of any flooding actually taking place
• data from the sensors could also be fed into the simulation modelling the flood area;

this could lead to further improvements as more data is gathered, which means that the
simulation becomes closer to reality.
b • it has a faster response to changing conditions
• it is much safer since it is no longer necessary to use 'look outs' who could be in
i n danger
during extreme weather
• data is continuously collected irrespective of weather conditions or time of day (for
example, during the night).

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c • a cross-section of river (for example, bottlenecks)

• the dimensions of any bridges, weirs or sluices in the flood area
• what can affect water flow rates (for example, downstream tides are affected by the
time of year and by strong winds)
• boundary conditions
conditions (for example,
example, upstream flows into rivers and
and downstream
downstream
water levels)

• the start and finishing date for the simulation

• calibration data (observation of actual flooding in the past).
d It is expensive
expensive to set up initially and the outcome
outcome is only as good as the data input in
the first case.
14 a • an interactive screen with dialogue boxes, command prompts or other input methods
• a series of questions asked about the illness
ill ness which usually only have Yes/No answers
and are based on the responses to previous questions
• an inference engine compares the symptoms entered with those in the knowledge base
looking for matches
• a rules base is used in
i n the matching process
• once a match is found, the system suggests the probability of the patient’s illness being
identified accurately
• an expert system also suggests possible solutions and remedies to cure the patient or
recommendations
recomme ndations on what to do next
• an explanation system will give reasons for its diagnosis so that the user can determine
the validity of the
t he diagnosis or suggested treatment.
b • it could be in the form of text including possible images related to the diagnosis
• there would be possible medications and advice given
• it might give the probability that the solution will work/accuracy of recommenda
recommendations.
tions.
15 Scenarios:
• the amount of traffic that might be caught in a traffic jam on the bridge in the event of an
accident; this could lead to very heavy loading on the bridge structure
• the effects of strong winds; can the bridge design withstand the worst-case scenario
• the effect of earthquakes;
earthquakes; is the bridge earthquake-proof
• the effect of tidal waves and ice floes during extreme weather conditions; can the pillars
supporting the bridge withstand these conditions
• the effects of vibrations (there have been cases over tthe
he years where bridges have collapsed
due to, for example, wind setting up the natural frequency of the bridge causing it to
collapse).
The reasons modelling was done:
• much cheaper and quicker to test the effect of weather etc. using a model before building
the real thing
• can only build one real bridge but there are a number of potential designs, therefore
modelling is the only way that they can all be tested.
How scale models could be used:
• Can be used to test the effect of wind on the bridges, with the aid of wind tunnels.

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16 a • simple app to use

• can carry out 'what if' scenarios
• capable of auto-calculations
auto-calculations
• possible to embed
embed testing criteria
criteria into a cell.
cell.
b D5: A number of possible solutions exist here – a nested IF example is given here:
=IF(D4<=100,D4*A1,IF(D4<=1000,100+(D4-
=IF(D4<=100,D4*A1,IF(D4< =1000,100+(D4-100)*A2,IF(D4<=
100)*A2,IF(D4<=5000,
5000,
100+450+(D4-1000)*A3,IF(D4>500
100+450+(D4-1000)*A3,IF(D4>5000,100+450+10
0,100+450+1000+(D4-5000)*A4
00+(D4-5000)*A4,"commen
,"comment"))))
t"))))
D6: = D4 * 0.8
E7: = D6 – D5
17 a it is easy to spellcheck
spellcheck the website contents (C)
b large RAM capacity in the laptop (B)
c Voice over Internet protocol (D)
d software, such as spreadsheets,
spreadsheets, are well known to users
users (B)
(B)
e robots leave humans free to do
do more
more interesting jobs (A)
f autonomous (D)
18 order:

Stage order Stages

4 Cheque image and digital record are added to file of all cheques for bank 'A'

7 Bank 'A' receives data stream containing 'request to pay' and 'no pay' messages

1 Camera in bank 'B' takes an image of the cheque

Central facility breaks file down into individual payment message

messagess and also does
6
a payment validation

2 OCR software turns camera images into electronic data

8 Central facility routes all 'request to pay' and 'no pay' responses to bank 'B'

5 Bank 'B' sends all files to a central facility

Bank 'B' uses electronic data to create a digital record of money to be paid, sort
3
code of bank 'A' and account number of customer

19 a media streaming:
• refers to media content
• … which can be live or pre-recorded
pre-recorded
• which is sent to computer/smartphone/table
computer/smartphone/tablett
• using the internet and played back on a device in real time
• streaming is done via data packets sent over the internet
• continuous transmission of video or audio files from a remote server to a user’s device
• streaming removes
removes the need to store files on device storage, such as HDD or SSD.

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b buffering:
• the temporary storage of data
• to prevent 'freezing'
• because playback
playback is often
often faster than the data streaming
streaming rate
• while the buffer receives data packets, it is sending previous data packets to the media
player (playback
(playback is always a few seconds
seconds behind data receiving time).
time).
c subscriber identity model:
• SIM card installed in a mobile phone
• … to allow it to connect to the mobile phone network.
d simulation:
• creation of a model of a real system
• in order to study the behaviour of the system
• it is computer-generated
computer-generated and is based on mathematical represen
representations.
tations.
e end effector:
• a device connected to a robotic arm
• it allows the arm to carry out a number of functions.
f e-ticket:
• electronic ticket
• sent to a device to act as the ticket for entry to an event, theatre, etc.
• often shows as a QR code or barcode.
g out clearing:
• camera takes image of cheque at bank where cheque is presented
• OCR software turns the cheque image into an electronic data format
• creating a digital record of money to be paid, sort code, account number, date and
signature.
h expert system:
•
software developed
developed to mimic the expertise and knowledge of an expert
• made up of HCI, explanation system, inference engine, knowledge base and rules base.
i near-field communication:
communication:
• uses RFID technology
t echnology
• can be passive or active
• three types: peer-to-peer, read-write mode and card emulation mode
• range is up to 5 centimetres
• does not require devices to be paired.

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j tokenisation:
• a user takes a photo of card using a smartphone camera
• the image is stored on a smartphone which reads details such as card number and
bank name
• then details are transmitted to the bank that issued the card
• the bank now replaces details on the card by a series of randomly generated numbers
(called tokens)
• tokens are changed every time NFC transaction takes place.
20 a rules base:
• a set of inference
i nference rules
• inference rules are used by the inference engine to draw conclusions (the methods used
closely follow human reasoning)
• inference rules follow logical thinking; usually involving a series of 'IF' statements,
for example: IF continent = 'South America' AND language = 'Portuguese' THEN
country = 'Brazil'.
b knowledge base:
• a repository of facts
• it stores all the
t he knowledge about an area of expertise obtained from a number of expert
resources
• it is basically a collection of objects and their attributes.
c inference engine:
• the main processing element of the expert system
• the engine acts like a search engine examining the knowledge base for information/data
information/data
that matches the queries
• responsible for gathering information from the user by asking a series of questions and
applying responses where necessary;
necessary; each question being asked is based on the
previous responses
responses
• the problem-solving part of the expert system which makes use of inference rules in the
rules base
• because the knowledge base
base is a collection
collection of objects and
and attributes, the inference
inference
engine attempts to use information gathered from the user to find an object that
matches (making use of the rules base to find a match).
d explanation system:
• informs the user of the reasoning behind the expert system’
system’ss conclusions and
recommended actions
• will supply a conclusion and any suggested actions to take; the important thing is that
it will also give the percentage probability of the accuracy of its conclusions.

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21 • the customer clicks on the performance they wish to see

• a date and time is typed in
• the required number of seats is also entered
• the seating display at the venue is shown on the
t he screen
• the user selects their seat(s) by highlighting the
t he actual seats on the screen display and then
clicks CONFIRM to go to the next part of the process
• the database is then searched to check the availability of the selected seats
• if the seats are available, the total
t otal price is shown + the seat numbers; this shows on another
screen on the web page
• if the customer is happy with this, they select CONFIRM on tthe
he screen
• the seats are now temporarily set at NO LONGER AVAILABLE
• the customer then enters their personal details or indicates that they are a returning
customer (in which case the website being used will already have their details)
• the payment method is then selected and payment made
• the theatre seats are then booked in the customer’s name
• the final details are again shown on the screen
•
an email is sent to
t o the customer which will contain a QR code which contains all their
booking details (this acts
acts as their
their e-ticket); the QR code
code is then scanned
scanned at the venue
• the database is finally updated with the booking transaction and the seats become no longer
available.

7 The systems life cycle

1

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