Computer Architecture COM-312-OL01 1

Homework Assignment 2

Bernard Turner

Computer Architecture COM-312-OL01

Instructions

Create a Word document where you answer each of the questions listed below. Your

answers should demonstrate evidence of sufficient writing mechanics and follow APA formatting

guidelines. Your responses should be a minimum of 200 words.

Submit your assignment to the Assignment folder no later than Sunday 11:59 PM

EST/EDT. (This Assignment folder may be linked to Turnitin.)

1. Assume you store the following words in memory “LINK ACC”. See figure 2-12 for

reference. (20 points)

a. Show how this is stored on a big endian machine.

0 L I N K
4 A C C

b. Show how this is stored on a little endian machine.

K N I L 0
C C A 4

2. What is the Hamming distance between 10101010 and 10011100? (20 points)

1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

The hamming distance between 10101010 and 10011100 is 4.

3. Devise two 8-bit numbers that have the Hamming distance of 5. (20 points).

1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0

4. Blu-ray runs at 5 MB/sec and has a capacity of 24 GB. How long does it take to read the

entire disk? (20 points).

1GB = 1024 MB
24 * 1024 = 24,576 MB
capacity
[SHORTENED TITLE UP TO 50 CHARACTERS] 4

24,576 / 5 (MB/sec read) = 4,

24 * 1024 = 24,576 MB capacity

24,576 / 5 (MB/sec read) = 4, 915.20 seconds to read the entire disk.

5. Explain how a laser printer works? (20 points)

Laser printers use an electrical charge to attract toner particles to a transfer roller. Toner

particles are pressed onto a piece of paper, while heat and pressure from the fuser unit

permanently fix the image onto the page.

There are seven main steps in laser printing:

Step 1: Sending

To begin the laser printer process, the document is broken down into digital data and sent

from the respective computer to the printer.

Step 2: Cleaning

Laser printers leave a residue on the printer drum. Cleaning is a physical and electrical

process carried out in order to remove the previous print job and prepare the photosensitive drum

for the new print job. During the cleaning process, remnants of toner on the drum are scraped

away by a rubber-cleaning blade into a debris cavity. Electrical charges remaining on the drum

from the prior print job are defused by electrostatic erase lamps inside laser printers. Lubrication

is then applied to the heat roller in order to make sure an adequate amount of heat is evenly

applied to transfer the incoming image.

Step 3: Conditioning

The process called conditioning involves applying a charge to the drum unit and the

paper as it passes through the corona wire. Adding a static charge to the paper allows an image to

be electrostatically transferred to the laser printer page.

Step 4: Exposing

The photosensitive drum is exposed to a laser beam. Every area of the drum exposed to

the laser has its surface charge reduced to about 100 volts DC. An invisible latent print is

generated as the printer's drum turns. The image that will ultimately be printed exists for the first

time as a thin layer of electrons on the OPC drum. The darkness within the printer cartridge is

broken by the glow of the laser. The beam bounces off a spinning, multi-sided mirror and breaks

into countless rays of information, spraying the OPC drum with its knowledge, turning the

negative charges positive. Line-by-line, the laser speaks to the revolving surface of the drum

unit, describing a page with the language of charged toner particles.

Step 5: Developing

In the developing stage, toner is applied to the latent image on the drum. Toner is

composed of negatively charged powdered plastics (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow). The

drum is held at a microscopic distance from the toner by a control blade. Toner is 85-95% finely
[SHORTENED TITLE UP TO 50 CHARACTERS] 7

ground plastic. Other toner ingredients used in printers include colored pigments, fumed silica,

and control agents.

Step 6: Transferring

The secondary corona wire, or transfer roller, applies a positive charge onto the paper.

The agitator unit inside the toner cartridge hopper spins, and the toner begins to heat up. The

toner adder spins, pulling toner in, gathering toner dust on its surface. A doctor blade sweeps

over the adjacent developer roller, leveling the toner to a precise height. All the spinning and

commotion has left the magenta particles on its surface with a negative charge, and when it

comes in contact with the positively charged image on the OPC drum, the laws of attraction take

over. The negatively charged toner on the surface of the drum is magnetically attracted to the

positively charged areas on the paper.

Step 7: Fusing

The final phase is fusing. Heat and pressure are applied to the toner by the fuser unit. The

toner generates a permanent bond as it is pressed and melted into the paper. Teflon covers the
[SHORTENED TITLE UP TO 50 CHARACTERS] 8

fuser unit as a light silicon oil is applied in order to remove any possibility of the sheet of paper

sticking to them. The fuser unit essentially melts the toner powder onto the page, creating the

image. A wiper blade cleans any remaining particles off the OPC drum and deposits them into a

waste bin. Any latent charge left on areas of the drum surface is erased, restored, refreshed, and

ready for the laser printer to sing again.

References

https://www.tonerbuzz.com/. (2021, April 5). How Do Laser Printers Work: The Laser Printing

Process. Toner Buzz. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from

https://www.tonerbuzz.com/blog/the-laser-printing-process/