Introduction to datacoms (HET 202/HCT 207)

Practice Questions
Attempt questions: 6, 15 and 16 as assignment 7; 8 & 9 as assignment 2.
The two assignments are to be submitted on or before the 3rd of October 2022
All questions may help you to prepare for the exam. Good luck.

1. List two main functions of the TCP/IP protocol, the bread and butter of today’s Internet. [2]
2. Why do we need both TCP and IP protocols? [4]
3. Distinguish between
i. TCP and UDP header formats
ii. TCP and UDP protocols [10]
4. Describe the following processes in detail
i. TCP connection setup
ii. TCP window sliding mechanism
iii. TCP shutdown [12]
5. It is often said by User Experience Experts that the “Best Interface for a system is no User Interface.” What does such
statement mean? When does it typically apply? Provide an example in networking technologies. [7]
6. This question has four parts:
(a) What is circuit-switched technology? What is packet-switched technology? [6]
(b) What are circuit-switched networks and packet-switched networks used for? List an example of each use. [6]
(c) Why did we need packet-switched technology? [4]
(d) In a table, list three main differences between packet switching and circuit switching? [6]
(e) Which approach is better for the Internet and why? [5]
7. What is a connection-oriented protocol? What is a connectionless protocol? Provide an example of each. [8]
8. Circuit-switched networks are designed with either frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) or time-division multiplexing
(TDM). For TDM link, time is divided into frames of fixed duration, and each frame is divided onto a fixed number of time
slots as shown below (for a network link supporting up to three connections/circuits).

When the network establishes a connection across a link, the network dedicates one time slot in every frame to this
connection. These slots are dedicated for the sole use of that connection, with one time slot available for use (in every
frame) to transmits the connection’s data.
(a) How does FDM work in circuit-switched networks? [6]
(b) What is the typical frequency band in tradition circuit-switched-based telephone networks/public-switched telephone
network (PSTN)? [2]
(c) Compare FDM with TDM. [8]
(d) Draw FDM and TDM for a tradition circuit-switched network link supporting up to five connections/circuits. [6]
9. Refer again to problem 6 above. Let’s assume that all links in the circuit- switched network are T1 (i.e., have a bit rate of
1.536 Mbps with 24 slots) and use TDM.

(a) Assuming setup and propagation delays are zero, how long does it take to send a file of 1.280M bits from Host A to
Host B? How about from Host A to Host C? Do you expect the answer to be the same or different and why? [6]
(b) Let’s also assume that it takes 500 ms to establish an end–to-end circuit before Host A can begin to transmit the
file and 250 ms for a propagation delay between any two adjacent routers. How long does it take to send a file form
Host A to Host B? [4]
(c) What is the difference between transmission delay and prorogation delay? Which delay is a function of the
distance between the routers? [6]

10. (a)Convert the following IPv6 address into its hexadecimal form delimited with colons. [6]
Binary Form
0111000111011010000000001101001100000000000000000010111100111011
0000001010101010000000001111111111111110001010001001110001011011
(b) How do you simplify your answer. [1]
11. Ethernet and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) are two examples of data link protocols. Name two other data link
protocols. [2]
12. Describe the following datalink flow control mechanisms
i. Stop and wait
ii. Go back N ARQ
iii. Selective Reject ARQ [10]
13. Describe in detail the steps involved in ARP mapping [12]
14. Provide an example of Session Layer protocol. [1]
15. In a table format, compare the bandwidth, distance, interference rating, cost and security of (1) twisted pair, (2) coaxial
cabling, and (3) fiber optical cabling. [10]
16. A. What are the main components of a router? B. Which element is considered the most essential? C. Why? [8]
17. How do network administrators guarantee that changes in the configuration are not lost in case the router is restarted or
loses power? [5]
18. What is a disaster recovery function in a router? Which router’s sub-component contains such function? [5]
19. Many argue that routers are special computers but built to handle internetwork traffic. List three main differences
between routers and personal computers. [3]
20. There are no input devices for router like a monitor, a keyboard, or a mouse. How does a network administrator
communicate with the router? List all possible scenarios. What are the main differences between such interfaces? [7]
21. How many IPv4 addresses are available? Justify your answer. .[4]
22. What is the ratio of the number of addresses in IPv6 compared to IPv4? [3]
23. IPv6 uses a 128-bit address, allowing 2128 addresses. In decimal, how many IPv6 addresses exist? How many IPv6
addresses will each human have? Why do we need billions of addresses for each human being? [5]
24. What are the major differences between interior and exterior routing protocols? [6]
25. What is distance vector protocol? Why is it called a vector? Where is it used? [6]
26. When would you use static routing and when would use dynamic routing? Why? [6]
27. Most IP networks use dynamic routing to communicate between routers but may have one or two static routes. Why
would you use static routes? [4]
28. In TCP/IP networks, the entire route is not known at the beginning of the journey. Instead, at each stop, the next router
hop is determined by matching the destination address within the packet with an entry in the current router’s routing
table using internal information. IP does not provide for error reporting back to the source when routing anomalies
occur.
A. Which Internet Protocol provides error reporting?
B. List two other tasks that this protocol provides? [4]
29. In a table, compare the speed and distance Standard Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Giga Ethernet. Why is Ethernet
connection limited to 100 meters? [8]
30. Why the Internet does require both TCP and IP protocols? [4]
31. Are IPv4 and IPv6 protocols designed to be interoperable? How would an enterprise transition from IPv4 to IPv6? [8]
32. List two factors that can affect throughput of a communication system. [2]
33. What is Traceroute? What does it typically report? What are the main advantageous of trace route? What is the main
difference between Traceroute and Ping? [10]

34. For the network shown below, assume the network administer is interested in measuring the end-to-end delay from
router A to the server.
A. What is the Traceroute command? Hence, Traceroute command is sent from router A directly (i.e., via the
shown connected terminal).
B. Which device will send their delays? [7]

35. What is time to live command? Why is it needed? [5]

36. Differentiate between data & information. What are the different forms in which data can be represented? [6]
37. Explain the term protocol in detail. [6]
38. State the three basic categories of computer networks and briefly describe each. [9]
39. Distinguish between analog and digital signals, giving an example of each. [6]
40. Distinguish between the terms:
(a) bit-rate and baud-rate. [2]
(b) baseband transmission and broadband transmission. [4]
(c) signal bandwidth and channel bandwidth. [3]
(d) Synchronous and asynchronous transmission. [5]
(e) Serial and parallel transmission. [3]
41. What is the OSI model? List its layers and explain their responsibility in exactly one line. [10]
42. What are the three address classes supported by IPv6, briefly describe each. [10]
43. With the aid of a diagram, describe the difference between IPv6 and IPv4 header formats. [10]
44. Distinguish between Link-state and Distance- vector routing algorithms. [8]