Cambridge International AS & A Level

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/12

Paper 12 Theory Fundamentals May/June 2022
MARK SCHEME
Maximum Mark: 75

Published

This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the
examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the
details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have
considered the acceptability of alternative answers.

Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for
Teachers.

Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes.

Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the May/June 2022 series for most
Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International A and AS Level and Cambridge Pre-U components, and some
Cambridge O Level components.

This document consists of 9 printed pages.

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Generic Marking Principles

These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers.
They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptors
for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these marking principles.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1:

Marks must be awarded in line with:

 the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question
 the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question
 the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2:

Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3:

Marks must be awarded positively:

 marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit
is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme,
referring to your Team Leader as appropriate
 marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do
 marks are not deducted for errors
 marks are not deducted for omissions
 answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these
features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The
meaning, however, should be unambiguous.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4:

Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed
instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors.

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5:

Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question
(however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate
responses seen).

GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6:

Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should
not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind.

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Question Answer Marks

1(a) 1 mark for 1 correct line 3

2 marks for 2 or 3 correct lines
3 marks for all 4 correct lines

Term Definition

The number of pixels

Pixel wide by the number of
pixels high

The smallest identifiable

Bit depth
component of an image

Stores data about the

image file, e.g. file
Image resolution
format, number of bits
per pixel, file size

The number of bits used

File header
to represent each colour

1(b)(i) 8 1

1(b)(ii) 1 mark for working 2

 10 * 5 * 8 (bits) / 8 // = 50 (pixels) * 8 (bits) / 8

1 mark for answer

 50 (bytes)

1(c) 1 mark per point 2

 Increasing the colour depth results in increased file size // Decreasing

the colour depth results in smaller file size

 Increasing the colour depth means more bits per pixel and hence more
data stored // Decreasing the colour depth means fewer bits per pixel
and hence less data stored

1(d) 1 mark per point 2

 Use run-length encoding // RLE

 Record the colour Blue, and the number of times it occurs 10

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) 1 mark per point to max 2 2

 The lane detection system is built into / integrated into the car

 The lane detection system only performs one task

 The lane detection system is not easily changed/updated by the car
owner

2(b) 1 mark for primary 2

 e.g. Miles travelled in the current journey, before the engine is turned off

1 mark for secondary

 e.g. Total miles travelled since the car was built // miles for most recent
journey after engine switched off

2(c) 1 mark for all correct ticks 1

Statement True False

The screen always has five different layers 

A processor determines the horizontal and


vertical coordinates of the point of contact

The touchscreen will work if any object


touches the screen

Question Answer Marks

3(a) 1 mark for correct opcode and 1 mark for corresponding operand 2

OR #255 // OR #154 // XOR #154

e.g.
 OR...
 ... #255

3(b) 1 mark for correct opcode and 1 mark for corresponding operand 2

XOR #255

e.g.
 XOR...
 ... #255

3(c) 7E 1

3(d) 11110000 1

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Question Answer Marks

3(e) 1 mark per point 3

 Correct conversion to binary 01111111 (127) and 00001100 (12)

 Working e.g. turning 01111111 into two's complement 10000001
 Answer: 1000 1101

Question Answer Marks

4(a) 1 mark per point, max 1 for data and max 1 for computer system 2

Data
 Data needs protecting from someone amending / deleting or taking it

Computer System
 Computer system need protecting to stop people for example, installing
malware or damaging the system

4(b) 1 mark for each correct threat, matching description and prevention 6
e.g.

Threat Description Prevention method

Virus Malicious software that Anti-virus / Firewall /

replicates itself and can corrupt Anti-malware
data

Hacker Unauthorised access to the Firewall / strong or

computer with malicious intent biometric passwords / user
permissions

4(c) 1 mark per point to max 2 2

 Data is turned into cipher text // Data is encoded

 Used so that it cannot be understood if intercepted without the
decryption key

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Question Answer Marks

5(a) 1 mark for each correct relationship 2

ACTOR FILM_FACT

FILM_ACTOR

5(b) 1 mark per point 2

 Neither key uniquely identifies each tuple by itself

 One actor cannot appear in the same film twice so together they are
unique

5(c) 1 mark per correct entry 4

SELECT FILM_ACTOR.ActorID / ActorID

FROM FILM_ACTOR
INNER JOIN FILM_FACT
ON FILM_FACT.FilmID = FILM_ACTOR.FilmID
WHERE FILM_FACT.FilmTitle = "Cinderella" ;

5(d) 1 mark per point 3

 COUNT and correct fieldname

 SELECT and FROM statements, including the table name in FROM
 WHERE statement

e.g.
SELECT COUNT(FilmID)
FROM FILM_FACT
WHERE ReleaseDate >= #01/01/2022# AND ReleaseDate <=
#31/01/2022#;
// WHERE ReleaseDate BETWEEN #01/01/2022# AND
#31/01/2022#;
// WHERE ReleaseDate = “January 2022”;

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Question Answer Marks

5(e) 1 mark for each correctly completed term 6

 data dictionary
 field names // primary keys
 primary keys //field names
 logical schema
 query
 interface

A DBMS provides data management. This includes the development of a

data dictionary that stores information about the data stored, such as field
names and primary keys.
The logical schema uses methods such as an E-R diagram to show the
structure of the database and its relationships.
The query processor allows a user to perform searches to find specific data.
The DBMS also provides a developer interface that allows the user to
create tables, forms and reports.

Question Answer Marks

6(a) 1 mark per point to max 2 2

e.g.
 Attempts to translate the whole source code
 Creates a separate error report at the end of the translation process
 If translation successful / no errors creates an executable file

6(b) 1 mark per point to max 2 2

e.g.
 Reads each line then translates it and executes it
 Stops when an error is encountered // displays errors where it finds
them

6(c) 1 mark per point, max 2 for writing, max 2 for testing 4

Writing e.g.
 Enter code into an editor
 Pretty printing to identify key terms
 Context-sensitive prompts to help complete statements
 Expand and collapse code blocks
 Auto-complete to suggest what to type next
 Auto-formatting to indent code blocks
 Dynamic syntax checking

Testing e.g.
 Single stepping to run the code line by line
 Breakpoints to stop the code at set points to check values
 Report window to see how variables change

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Question Answer Marks

7 1 mark for first 4 rows, 1 mark for second 4 rows (shaded) 2

A B C Working space X

0 0 0 0

0 0 1 0

0 1 0 1

0 1 1 0

1 0 0 1

1 0 1 0

1 1 0 0

1 1 1 0

Question Answer Marks

8 1 mark for identification of an application 3

Max 2 marks for relevant description
e.g.
 Police identifying wanted people
 Uses image recognition
 ... to identify features/characteristics/items in an image

 Natural language interfaces

 Use speech recognition to identify words that are spoken
 ... and adapts to learn regional accents

 Self-driving cars
 Detects its position on the road and within the traffic
 Follows a route // Collision avoidance // Self-parking etc.

 Spoken Interfaces
 Use natural language processing
 ... to take a sentence and work out its meaning

 Game playing
 Models characters in a computer game
 ... to allow computer characters to react according to the player's
movements

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Question Answer Marks

9(a) 1 mark for each completed name or description 4

Device Description

Receives and sends data between two networks

Router
operating on the same protocol

Wireless
Hardware component that allows a device to connect to
Network
a wireless network // Provides a MAC address to the
Interface Card
device to identify it on the wireless network
(WNIC)

Restores the digital signal so it can be transmitted over

Repeater
greater distances

Wireless Hardware component that provides radio

Access Point communication from the central device to nodes on the
(WAP) network (and vice versa)

9(b) 1 mark for each difference 3

e.g.
 Fibre optic data is transmitted using light, copper cable through
electrical signals
 Fibre optic has higher bandwidth than copper cable // Fibre optic has
higher transmission rates than copper cable
 Fibre optic has smaller risk of (noise) interference than copper cable
 Fibre optic can be used over longer distances than copper cable before
repeaters are needed
 Fibre optic is much more difficult to hack into than copper cable
 Fibre optic is more prone to damage than copper cable

9(c) 1 mark per point to max 4 4

 A workstation / node (wishing to transmit) listens to the communication

channel
 …data is only sent when the channel is free // ... if channel is free data
is sent
 Because there is more than one computer connected to the same
transmission medium
 ... two workstations can start to transmit at the same time, causing a
collision
 If a collision happens, the workstations send a (jamming) signal / abort
transmission
 …and each waits a random amount of time before attempting to resend

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