Cambridge International AS & A Level

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/31

Paper 3 Advanced Theory May/June 2024
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 2024 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 14 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 descriptions 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.

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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) One mark per mark point (Max 3) 3

MP1 conversion of exponent 001001 to 9
MP2 application of exponent to mantissa to go from 0.100111100 to 100111100 // 256 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 seen // 64/128
+ 8/128 + 4/128 + 2/128 + 1/128 = 79/128 // 1/2 + 1/16 + 1/32 + 1/64 + 1/128 = 79/128
MP3 correct answer = 316

1(b) One mark per mark point (Max 3) 3

MP1 number converted to binary 10011001.01 // number converted to positive 102.75, reversed bits and 1 added.
(0)1100110.11  10011001.00  10011001.01 // -128 + 16 + 8 + 1 + 0.25 = –102.75
MP2 exponent = 7 // Moving binary point the correct number of places
MP3 correct answer

Mantissa Exponent
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) Two marks for all protocols in correct position 2

One mark for at least two protocols in correct position

Application

Transport

Internet

Link

2(b) One mark per mark point (Max 2) 2

MP1 The transport layer is responsible for delivery of data from the source host to the destination host
MP2 It is where data is broken up into packets and sent to the internet layer
MP3 Adds the sequence number to the packet header
MP4 It establishes end to end contact
MP5 It ensures data arrives error free // It retransmits packets if lost.

2(c) One mark for name of protocol and one mark for expansion (Max 2) 2

HTTP(S) – responsible for correct transfer of files / hypertext documents that make up web pages on the world wide web

FTP – used when transferring files from a server to a client on a network

POP3 – handles the receiving of emails

IMAP – handles the receiving of emails

SMTP – handles the sending of emails

BitTorrent – provides peer-to-peer file sharing

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) One mark per mark point (Max 2) 3

non-composite data types
MP1 Non-composite data types can both be user-defined or primitive
MP2 Non-composite data types do not refer to other data types in their definition / contain one data type in their
definition
MP3 Non-composite data types can be primitive/enumerated/pointer

One mark per mark point (Max 2)

composite data types
MP4 Composite data types can be user-defined or primitive
MP5 Composite data types refer to other data types in their definition/contain more than one data type in their
definition
MP6 Composite data types can be record/set/class

3(b) One mark for TYPE FootballClub and ENDTYPE correct 4

One mark for every two correct declarations

Example answer
TYPE FootballClub
DECLARE TeamName : STRING
DECLARE DateOfJoining : DATE
DECLARE MainTelephone : STRING
DECLARE ManagerName : STRING
DECLARE NumberOfMembers : INTEGER
DECLARE LeaguePosition : INTEGER
ENDTYPE

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) One mark per mark point (Max 2) 2

MP1 Sequential access method searches for records one after the other
MP2 … from the physical start of the file until the record is found/the end of file.

4(b) One mark per mark point (Max 3) 3

MP1 For serial files, records are stored in chronological order
MP2 … every record needs to be checked until the record is found, or all records have been checked.
MP3 For sequential files, records are stored in order of a key field/index, and it is the key field/index that is compared.
MP4 … every record is checked until the record is found, or the key field of the current record is greater than the key
field of the target record.

Question Answer Marks

5(a) One mark per correct term (Max 3) 3

(5 + 2)
/ (9 – 3)
* 3

Complete correct answer

((5 + 2) / (9 - 3)) * 3

5(b) One mark 7 3 + 2

One mark 2 8 * - 6 /

Complete answer
7 3 + 2 8 * - 6 /

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Question Answer Marks

5(c) One mark per ring (Max 4) 4

5 7 7 10 10

17 17 12 12 12 12 120 120 12

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Question Answer Marks

6(a) One mark for working, all four columns P, Q, R and S 3

One mark for first four rows of column Z
One mark for second four rows of column Z

Working space

A B C P Q R S Z

0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1

0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1

1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1

6(b) Two marks for all five correct terms and no extras 2
One mark for any three correct terms

(Z =) A.B.C + A.B.C + A.B.C + A.B.C + A.B.C

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Question Answer Marks

6(c)(i) Two marks if all correct 2

One mark if one error present

BC
A 00 01 11 10

0 1 1 0 0

1 1 1 1 1

6(c)(ii) One mark for each correct loop (Max 2) 2

BC
A 00 01 11 10

0 1 1 0 0

1 1 1 1 1

6(c)(iii) A+B 1

Question Answer Marks

7(a) One mark per point (max 3) 3

MP1 A digital certificate is an electronic/online document.
MP2 used to authenticate/prove the identity of a website/the online identity of an individual/organisation
MP3 typically issued by a CA
MP4 For example: it contains information identifying a website owner/individual and a public key

7(b) One mark per point (max 2) 2

MP1 The digital certificate provides the public key
MP2 … that can be used to validate the private key associated with the organisation/website/digital signature

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Question Answer Marks

8(a) One mark for each correctly completed clause (Max 3) 3

(23) feature(sliding_doors).
(24) available(sliding_doors, minivan).
(25) unavailable(sliding_doors, hatchback).

8(b) (Options =) sunroof, reversing_camera 1

8(c) One mark per mark point (Max 4) 4

MP1 feature(F)
MP2 bodystyle(B)
MP3 unavailable(F, B)
MP4 all correct Boolean operators and punctuation (allow , for AND) and no additional lines of code

Example answers

may_choose_option(F, B)
IF

feature(F) AND bodystyle(B) AND NOT unavailable(F, B).

feature(F), bodystyle(B), NOT unavailable(F, B).

Question Answer Marks

9 One mark per mark point (Max 3) 3

MP1 Deep learning learns by finding hidden patterns that are undetectable to humans.
MP2 It structures algorithms in layers: input layer, hidden layers and output layer.
MP3 … to create an artificial neural network to learn and make intelligent decisions on its own.
MP4 It is trained using large quantities of unlabelled data.
MP5 Deep learning requires/uses a large number of hidden layers.
MP6 … the larger the number of layers, the higher the level of success.

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Question Answer Marks

10(a) One mark 1

The elements are sorted according to the compare function / in ascending / descending order.

10(b) One mark for each correctly completed line (Max 5) 5

DECLARE Names : ARRAY[1:100000] OF STRING
DECLARE TopOfList : INTEGER
DECLARE EndOfList : INTEGER
DECLARE CurrentItem : INTEGER
DECLARE ToFind : STRING
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN
DECLARE NotInList : BOOLEAN
TopOfList  1
EndOfList  100000

OUTPUT "Which name do you wish to find? "

INPUT ToFind
Found  FALSE
NotInList  FALSE
WHILE Found = FALSE AND NotInList = FALSE
CurrentItem  (TopOfList + EndOfList) DIV 2
IF ToFind = Names[CurrentItem]// Names[CurrentItem] = ToFind THEN
Found  TRUE
ELSE
IF TopOfList >= EndOfList THEN
NotInList  TRUE
ELSE
IF ToFind > Names[CurrentItem] THEN
TopOfList  CurrentItem + 1
ELSE
EndOfList  CurrentItem – 1
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

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Question Answer Marks

10(b) IF Found = TRUE THEN

OUTPUT "Item found at position ", CurrentItem, " in array"
ELSE
OUTPUT "Item not in array"
ENDIF

10(c) One mark from 2

MP1 Big O for a binary search is O(Log2 n).
MP2 Big O notation is used to indicate the time/space complexity of an algorithm.

One mark from

MP3 The time taken to complete the search increases logarithmically as the number of search items increases linearly
MP4 The time taken to complete the search increases linearly as the number of search items increases exponentially
MP5 As the search field is repeatedly getting smaller, the number of comparisons made before the item is found, or the
number of items runs out, is relatively small.

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Question Answer Marks

11(a) One mark per mark point (Max 2) 2

MP1 Uses hard-wired code/control units
MP2 Uses relatively few instructions / simple instructions
MP3 Uses relatively few addressing modes
MP4 Makes use of a single-cycle for each instruction
MP5 Makes use of fixed length / fixed format instructions
MP6 Makes use of general-purpose registers
MP7 Pipelining is straightforward to apply
MP8 The design emphasis is on the software
MP9 Processor chips require few transistors.

11(b) One mark per mark point (Max 3) 3

MP1 Once the processor detects an interrupt at the start/end of the fetch-execute cycle
MP2 … the current program is temporarily stopped and the status of each register stored on the stack.
MP3 After the interrupt has been serviced/the Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) has been executed …
MP4 … the registers can be restored to its original status before the interrupt was detected // … the data can be
restored from the stack.

11(c) One mark per mark point (Max 3) 3

MP1 Pipelining adds an additional complexity // there could be a number of instructions still in the pipeline when the
interrupt is received
MP2 All the instructions currently in operation are usually discarded except for the last one/the one at write back
MP3 … the interrupt handler routine is applied to the remaining instruction.
MP4 Once the interrupt has been serviced the processor can restart with the next instruction in the sequence.

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