A company releases an in-home virtual assistant called ‘Bertie Butler’.

The device, when placed in a room, listens out for the phrase “Hey Bertie”.

When someone says that phrase it then listens to the question that follows and tries to give a relevant answer.

Bertie Butler has a number of built-in input and output devices.

Match the correct devices

• To show visual information

• Microphone

• To indicate the device is on/listening

• Screen

• Allow the device to hear spoken request

• Buttons

• To turn the device off or on

• LEDs

• To play the device’s responses

• Speaker

The Bertie Butler in-home virtual assistant device runs off an embedded operating system

Define the term ‘embedded operating system’

• System software/software used to manage the device

• Which is built into the device itself

• Stored in the device’s ROM/cannot be changed

• Specific to the hardware/purpose

• A high-performance operating system used primarily for gaming computers.

Bertie Butler’s circuitry is designed to only listen out for “Hey Bertie” under certain circumstances, which are:

The privacy button (P) must be off and

the microphone must generate a signal (S)

to say a sound has been heard

(a)   ​ (b)   ​ (c)   ​ (d)  

• False
• True

The Bertie Butler in-home virtual assistant machine uses a multicore processor:

Define the term ‘multicore processor’.

• more than one processing unit in a (single) processor

• which can independently process instructions at the same time.

• A processor that boosts its speed by overclocking a single core.

• A type of processor used exclusively in mobile devices for low-energy consumption.

• A networking device that manages multiple computer connections simultaneously.

Answer Question (a)

a

b

c

6

9

4

1

State what the purpose of the program is:​ ​ (a)   ​ ​ (b)  

• Squares a number
• multiplies a number by itself
• minus one number from another
• Counts the number of times a number is added

In Little Man Computing, whilst the line STA count is being executed,

the CPU receives a signal from another process, requiring its attention.

State the name for the signal received by the CPU

• Power Surge

• Interrupt

• Data Request

• Processing Error

Traditionally films have been distributed on optical media such as DVDs.

Giving an example other than DVDs, and describe what is meant by the term ‘optical media’

• read/written to, using a laser

• read/written onto a reflective surface

• data is stored using pits and lands

• Blu-ray discs, which offer high-definition video and greater data storage capacity.

• A USB flash drive, which uses solid-state memory for data storage.

Adding a DVD drive to a computer would often require the installation

of a piece of software called a device driver -

State the purpose of a device driver

• To enable communication between the operating system and a hardware device,

• To increase the processing power of the CPU.

• To protect the computer from viruses and malware.

• To provide an interface for editing video content from DVDs.

A company makes anti-virus software. Anti-virus software is an example of a utility.

(a) Define the term ‘utility’

• A program with one purpose/piece of system software

• Used for the upkeep/maintenance of the system

• Used for general computing tasks like word processing or spreadsheet management.

• Software that serves as the primary interface for users to interact with their computer, like an operating system.