MAHENDRA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(AUTONOMOUS)
QUESTION BANK

CS2014501 - COMPUTER NETWORKS

PART - A
1. What is mean by data communication?
Data communication is the exchange of data (in the form of 1s and 0s) between two devices
via some form of transmission medium (such as a wire cable).

2. What is LAN?
A LAN is a common name used to describe a group of devices that share a geographic
location. LAN is limited to single building or campus.

3. Why are protocols needed?

 In networks, communication occurs between the entities in different systems.
 Two entities cannot just send bit streams to each other and expect to be understood.
 For communication, the entities must agree on a protocol.
 A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communication.

4. List the types of topology.

Types Of Topology :
 Bus topology
 Ring topology
 Star topology
 Mesh topology
 Tree topology
5. Define OSI layers.
A standard that specifies a conceptual model called Open systems Interconnection network
interface model, which breaks networked communications into seven layers: Application,
Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data link, Physical.

6. Define and 2 layers of data link layer

 The data link layer is the protocol layer in a program that handles the moving of
data in and out of a physical link in a network.
 The data link layer is Layer 2 in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) architecture
model for a set of telecommunication protocols.
 The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has subdivided the data
link layer into two sublayers: Logical Link Control (LLC) and Media Access
Control (MAC).
7. What are the responsibilities of data link layer?
Specific responsibilities of data link layer include the following.
a) Framing
b) Physical addressing c) Flow control
c) Error control
d) Access control

8. Define Error detection and correction.

Error Detection:

 Data can be corrupted during transmission.

 It is called as an error.
 For reliable communication, the receiver must find out the errors occurred in the data
which is called as error detection.

Error Correction:

It is the mechanism to correct the errors and it can be handled in 2 ways.

a) When an error is discovered, the receiver can have the sender retransmit the entire
data unit.
b) A receiver can use an error correcting coder, which automatically corrects certain
error.

9. What are the ways to address the framing problem?

 The framing problem can be addressed by the following protocols:
 Byte-Oriented Protocols(PPP)
 Bit-Oriented Protocols(HDLC)
 Clock-Based Framing(SONET)

10. Mention the types of errors

There are 2 types of errors
a) Single-bit error.
b) Burst-bit error
 PART – B

1. Explain the four basics network topologies and write all the relevant features .

TOPOLOGIES:
 Topology refers to the way a network is laid out either physically or logically.

 Two or more devices connect to a link;

 Two or more links form a topology.

 It is the geographical representation of the relationship of all the links and linking
devices to each other.

 Types of tolpology.

1. Mesh
2. Star
3. Tree
4. Bus
5. Ring
1. Mesh Topology:
 Here every device has a dedicated point to point link to every other device.

 A fully connected mesh can have n(n-1)/2 physical channels to link n devices.

 It must have n-1 IO ports.

Figure: Mesh Topology

Advantages:
 1. They use dedicated links so each link can only carry its own data load. So traffic
problem can be avoided.
2. It is robust. If any one link get damaged it cannot affect others
3. It gives privacy and security
4. Fault identification and fault isolation are easy.

Disadvantages:
1. The amount of cabling and the number IO ports required are very large. Since
every device is connected to each other devices through dedicated links.
2. The sheer bulk of wiring is larger then the available space
3. Hardware required to connect each device is highly expensive.

2. STAR TOPOLOGY:

 Here each device has a dedicated link to the central „hub‟.

 There is no direct traffic between devices.
 The transmission are occurred only through the central controller namely hub.

Advantages:

1. Less expensive then mesh since each device is connected only to the hub.
2. Installation and configuration are easy.
3. Less cabling is need then mesh.
4. Robustness.
5. Easy to fault identification & isolation.
Disadvantages:
1. Even it requires less cabling then mesh when compared with other topologies it still
large.

1. BUS TOPOLOGY:
 A bus topology is multipoint.

 Here one long cable is act as a backbone to link all the devices are connected to the
backbone by drop lines and taps.

 A drop line is the connection between the devices and the cable.

 A tap is the splice into the main cable or puncture the sheathing.

Advantages:

1. Ease of installation.
2. Less cabling.

Disadvantages:
1. Difficult reconfiguration and fault isolation.
2. Difficult to add new devices.
3. Signal reflection at top can degradation in quality.
4. If any fault in backbone can stops all transmission.

5. RING TOPOLOGY:
  Here each device has a dedicated connection with two devices on either side of it.

 The signal is passed in one direction from device to device until it reaches the
destination and each device have repeater.

Advantages:

1. Easy to install.
2. Easy to reconfigure.
3. Fault identification is easy.

Disadvantages:
1. Unidirectional traffic.
2. Break in a single ring can break entire network.

[ OR ]

2. Describe briefly the various layers and functions of OSI model

OSI Model
o OSI stands for Open System Interconnection is a reference model that describes how
information from a software application in one computer moves through a physical medium
to the software application in another computer.
o OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular network function.
o OSI model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in
1984, and it is now considered as an architectural model for the inter-computer
communications.
 o OSI model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks. Each layer is
assigned a particular task.
o Each layer is self-contained, so that task assigned to each layer can be performed
independently.

Characteristics of OSI Model:

o The OSI model is divided into two layers: upper layers and lower layers.
o The upper layer of the OSI model mainly deals with the application related issues, and they
are implemented only in the software.
o The application layer is closest to the end user.
o Both the end user and the application layer interact with the software applications.
o The lower layer of the OSI model deals with the data transport issues.
o The data link layer and the physical layer are implemented in hardware and software.
o The physical layer is mainly responsible for placing the information on the physical medium.

Functions of the OSI Layers

There are the seven OSI layers. Each layer has different functions. A list of seven layers are given
below:

1. Physical Layer
2. Data-Link Layer
3. Network Layer
 4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer

Physical layer :
 o The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one node
to another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface specifications.

Functions of a Physical layer:

o Line Configuration: Two or more devices can be connected physically.

o Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is simplex, half-duplex or
full-duplex mode between the two devices on the network.
o Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
o Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.

Data-Link Layer

o This layer is responsible for the error-free transfer of data frames.

o It defines the format of the data on the network.
o It provides a reliable and efficient communication between two or more devices.
o It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of each device that resides on a local
network.
o It contains two sub-layers:
o Logical Link Control Layer
 o It is responsible for transferring the packets to the Network layer of the
receiver that is receiving.
o It also provides flow control.
o Media Access Control Layer
o A Media access control layer is a link between the Logical Link Control layer
and the network's physical layer.

Functions of the Data-link layer

o Framing: The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit stream into packets known as
Frames.
o The Data link layer adds the header and trailer to the frame.
o The header which is added to the frame contains the hardware destination and source
address.

o Physical Addressing: The Data link layer adds a header to the frame that contains a
destination address
o Flow Control:

 Flow control is the main functionality of the Data-link layer.

o Error Control:

 Error control is achieved by adding a calculated value CRC (Cyclic Redundancy

Check) that is placed to the Data link layer's trailer which is added to the message
frame before it is sent to the physical layer.
 If any error seems to occurr, then the receiver sends the acknowledgment for the
retransmission of the corrupted frames.

o Access Control: When two or more devices are connected to the same communication
channel, then the data link layer protocols are used to determine which device has control
over the link at a given time.
Network Layer

o It is a layer 3 that manages device addressing, tracks the location of devices on the network.
o It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the network
conditions, the priority of service, and other factors.
o The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the packets.
o Routers are the layer 3 devices, they are specified in this layer and used to provide the
routing services within an internetwork.
o The protocols used to route the network traffic are known as Network layer protocols.
Examples of protocols are IP and Ipv6.

Functions of Network Layer:

o Internetworking: An internetworking is the main responsibility of the network layer.

Addressing: A Network layer adds the source and destination address to the header of the
frame.
o Routing: Routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines the best
optimal path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination.
o Packetizing:

 A Network Layer receives the packets from the upper layer and converts them into
packets.
 This process is known as Packetizing.

 It is achieved by internet protocol (IP).

Transport Layer

o Ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in which they are sent and there is no
duplication of data.
o The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data completely.
o It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller units known as
segments.
o This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a point-to-point connection
between source and destination to deliver the data reliably.

The two protocols used in this layer are:

o Transmission Control Protocol

o It is a standard protocol that allows the systems to communicate over the internet.
o It establishes and maintains a connection between hosts.
o When data is sent over the TCP connection, then the TCP protocol divides the data
into smaller units known as segments.
o User Datagram Protocol
o User Datagram Protocol is a transport layer protocol.
o It is an unreliable transport protocol as in this case receiver does not send any
acknowledgment when the packet is received, the sender does not wait for any
acknowledgment.
 o Therefore, this makes a protocol unreliable.

Functions of Transport Layer:

o Service-point addressing: Computers run several programs simultaneously due to this

reason, the transmission of data from source to the destination not only from one computer to
another computer but also from one process to another process.
o Segmentation and reassembly: When the transport layer receives the message from the
upper layer, it divides the message into multiple segments, and each segment is assigned
with a sequence number that uniquely identifies each segment.
o Connection control: Transport layer provides two services Connection-oriented service and
connectionless service.
o Flow control: The transport layer also responsible for flow control but it is performed end-
to-end rather than across a single link.
o Error control: The transport layer is also responsible for Error control. Session Layer

Session layer:

o It is a layer 3 in the OSI model.

o The Session layer is used to establish, maintain and synchronizes the interaction between
communicating devices.
Functions of Session layer:

o Dialog control: communication between two processes which can be either half-duplex or
full-duplex.
o Synchronization: If some error occurs in the middle of the transmission of data, then the
transmission will take place again from the checkpoint. This process is known as
Synchronization and recovery.

Presentation Layer

o A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information
exchanged between the two systems.
o It acts as a data translator for a network.
o This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data from one presentation
format to another format.
o The Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer.

Functions of Presentation layer:

o Translation: The processes in two systems exchange the information in the form of
character strings, numbers and so on.
o Encryption: Encryption is needed to maintain privacy.
o Compression: Data compression is a process of compressing the data,
Application Layer

o An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access
network service.
o It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
o An application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer functions.
o This layer provides the network services to the end-users.

Functions of Application layer:

o File transfer, access, and management (FTAM): user to access the files in a remote
computer, to retrieve the files from a computer and to manage the files in a remote computer.
o Mail services: email forwarding and storage.
o Directory services: distributed database sources and is used to provide that global
information about various objects.
3. Explain Ethernet in detail.
ETHERNET PROTOCOL:
IEEE Project 802

 The IEEE has subdivided the data-link layer into two sublayers: logical link control
(LLC) and media access control (MAC).

 IEEE has also created several physical-layer standards for different LAN protocols.
Logical Link Control (LLC)
 In IEEE Project 802, flow control, error control, and part of the framing duties are
collected into one sub layer called the logical link control(LLC).

 Framing is handled in both the LLC sub layer and the MAC sub layer.
 The LLC provides a single link-layer control protocol for all IEEE LANs.
 This means LLC protocol can provide interconnectivity between different LANs because
it makes the MAC sub layer transparent.
Media Access Control (MAC)
 IEEE Project 802 has created a sub layer called media access control that defines the
specific access method for each LAN.
 For example, itdefines CSMA/CD as the media access method for Ethernet LANs and
defines thetoken-passing method for Token Ring and Token Bus LANs.
Ethernet Evolution:
 The Ethernet LAN was developed in the 1970s by Robert Metcalfe and David
Boggs.Since then, it has gone through four generations: Standard Ethernet (10 Mbps),
FastEthernet (100 Mbps), Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps), and 10 Gigabit Ethernet(10
Gbps),
 Fig: Ethernet evolution through four generations.
STANDARD ETHERNET:
 The original Ethernet technology with the data rate of 10 Mbps as the Standard Ethernet.
Characteristics:
Some characteristics of the Standard Ethernet are
1) Connectionless and Unreliable Service
 Ethernet provides a connectionless service, which means each frame sent is independent
of the previous or next frame.
 Ethernet has no connection establishment or connection termination phases.
 The sender sends a frame whenever it has it; the receiver may or may not be ready for it.
 The sender may overwhelm the receiver with frames, which may result in dropping
frames.
 If a frame drops, the sender will not know about it.
 Ethernet is also unreliable like IP and UDP.

Frame Format
The Ethernet frame contains seven fields

Fig: Ethernet Frame

 Preamble. This field contains 7 bytes (56 bits) of alternating 0s and 1s that alert the
receiving system to the coming frame.
 Start frame delimiter (SFD). This field (1 byte: 10101011) signals the beginning of the
frame.
 Destination address (DA). This field is six bytes (48 bits) and contains the link layer
 address ofthe destination station or stations to receive the packet.
 Source address (SA). This field is also six bytes and contains the link-layer address of
the sender of the packet.
 Type. This field defines the upper-layer protocol whose packet is encapsulated in the
frame. This protocol can be IP, ARP, OSPF.
 Data. This field carries data encapsulated from the upper-layer protocols. It is a
minimum of 46 and a maximum of 1500 bytes.
 CRC. The last field contains error detection information.
Frame Length
 An Ethernet frame needs to have a minimum length of 512 bits or64 bytes. Part of this
length is the header and the trailer. If we count 18 bytes of header and trailer (6 bytes of
source address, 6 bytes of destination address, 2 bytes of length or type, and 4 bytes of
CRC), then the minimum length of data from the upper layer is64 − 18 = 46 bytes.
 The standard defines the maximum length of a frame (without preamble and SFD field)
as 1518 bytes.
Minimum frame length: 64 bytes Minimum data length: 46 bytes
Maximum frame length: 1518 bytes Maximum data length: 1500bytes

Addressing
 Each station on an Ethernet network (such as a PC, workstation, or printer) has its own
network interface card (NIC).

 The Ethernet address is 6 bytes (48 bits), normally written in hexadecimal notation, with
a colon between the bytes.
For example: 4A:30:10:21:10:1A
Transmission of Address Bits
  The way the addresses are sent out online is different from the way they are written
in hexadecimal notation.

 The transmission is left to right, byte by byte.

Example: Show how the address 47:20:1B:2E:08:EE is sent out online.

Solution:
The address is sent left to right, byte by byte; for each byte, it is sent right to left, bit by
bit, as shown below:

Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast Addresses:

 A source address is always a unicast address - the frame comes from only one station.
 The destination address, can be unicast, multicast, or broadcast.

 If the least significant bit of the first byte in a destination address is 0, the address is
unicast; otherwise,it is multicast.
 In a unicast transmission, all stations will receive the frame, the intended recipient
keeps and handles the frame; the rest discard it.

 In a multicast transmission, all stations will receive the frame, the stations that are
members of the group keep and handle it; the rest discard it.
 In a broadcast transmission, all stations (except the sender) will receive the frame
and all stations (except the sender) keep and handle it.
Access Method:
 Since the network that uses the standard Ethernet protocol is a broadcast network, we
need to use an access method to control access to the sharing medium. The standard
Ethernet chose CSMA/CD with 1-persistent method.
Efficiency of Standard Ethernet
The practical efficiency of standard Ethernet has been measured to be
Efficiency 5 1 / (1 1 6.4 3 a)
 in which the parameter “a” is the number of frames that can fit on the medium. It can be
calculated as
a = (propagation delay)/(transmission delay).
Implementation:
The Standard Ethernet defined several
implementations, Table: Summary of standard
Ethernet implementation
Implementation Medium Medium Length Encoding
10Base5 Thick coax 500m Manchester
10Base2 Thin coax 185m Manchester
10Base-T 2 UTP 100m Manchester
10Base-F 2 Fiber 2000m Manchester

10Base5: Thick Ethernet

 The first implementation is called 10Base5, thick Ethernet,or Thicknet.10Base5
was the first Ethernet specification to use a bus topology with an external transceiver
(transmitter/receiver) connected via a tap to a thick coaxial cable.

Fig: 10Base5 implementation

10Base2: Thin Ethernet

 The second implementation is called 10Base2, thin Ethernet, or Cheapernet.

10Base2also uses a bus topology, but the cable is much thinner and more flexible.
 Fig: 10Base2 implementation
10Base-T: Twisted-Pair Ethernet
 The third implementation is called 10Base-T or twisted-pair Ethernet. 10Base-T
uses a physical star topology. The stations are connected to a hub via two pairs of
twisted cable.

Fig: 10Base- T implementation

10Base-F: Fiber Ethernet
 10Base-F uses a star topology to connect stations to a hub. The stations are
connected to the hub using two fiber-optic cables.
 Fig: 10Base- F implementation

[ OR ]

4. Discuss the various aspects of FDDI in detail.

Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is a set of ANSI and ISO standards for transmission of
data in local area network (LAN) over fiber optic cables. It is applicable in large LANs that can
extend up to 200 kilometers in diameter.

Features

 FDDI uses optical fiber as its physical medium.

 It operates in the physical and medium access control (MAC layer) of the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) network model.
 It provides high data rate of 100 Mbps and can support thousands of users.
 It is used in LANs up to 200 kilometers for long distance voice and multimedia
communication.
 It uses ring based token passing mechanism and is derived from IEEE 802.4 token bus
standard.
 It contains two token rings, a primary ring for data and token transmission and a
secondary ring that provides backup if the primary ring fails.
 FDDI technology can also be used as a backbone for a wide area network (WAN).
The following diagram shows FDDI −
Frame Format

The frame format of FDDI is similar to that of token bus as shown in the following diagram −

The fields of an FDDI frame are −

 Preamble: 1 byte for synchronization.
 Start Delimiter: 1 byte that marks the beginning of the frame.
 Frame Control: 1 byte that specifies whether this is a data frame or control frame.
  Destination Address: 2-6 bytes that specifies address of destination station.
 Source Address: 2-6 bytes that specifies address of source station.
 Payload: A variable length field that carries the data from the network layer.
 Checksum: 4 bytes frame check sequence for error detection.
 End Delimiter: 1 byte that marks the end of the frame.

5. Explain framing in detail.

Frame Definition

 A frame can be defined as the digital data transmission unit in telecommunication and
computer networking.
 A frame is a straight-forward network packet in the packet-switched systems.
 A frame is a repeating structure that supports time-division multiplexing in other types of
telecommunication systems.
 Typically, a frame contains frame synchronization benefits including a sequence of
symbols or bits.
 It shows the starting and completion of the payload data in the bits and symbols stream it
receives.
 When a receiver is linked to the system at the time of frame transmitted.
 It avoids the information until it finds a new frame coordination sequence.

Packet Switching

 A frame has been defined as a protocol data unit on the data link layer in the computer
networking OSI model.
 These frames are an outcome of the encapsulation's final layer before the information is
moved to the physical layer.
 The frames are the transmission unit at the link-layer protocol.
 It combines the header of a link-layer followed by a single packet.
 All the frames are isolated from the next frame through the inter-frame gap.
 Generally, a frame is a sequence of bits consisted of the frame coordination bits such as a
frame check sequence and the packet payload.
 Examples are V.42 modem frames, Fibre Channel Frames, PPP (Point-to-Point)
Frames, and Ethernet Frames.
 Often, different sizes of frames are nested in each other.
 The eight bits of all individual bytes can be framed by stop and start bits if using PPP
(Point-to-Point) on asynchronous serial communication.

Time-division Multiplex

 Specifically, in time-division multiple access (TDMA), time-division multiplex (TDM),

and telecommunications variants, a frame has been defined as a constantly repeated block
of data that includes the fixed number of various time slots, a single for all logical TDMA
transmitter TDM channel.
 Typically, a frame is an entity in this context on the physical layer.
  Some examples of TDM applications are ISDN circuit-switched B-channel and
SDH/SONET,
 Also, the frame is an individual for a time-division duplex. Besides, the mobile terminal
might transmit during a few time slots and get during others.

Framing Problems

o Finding the Beginning of the frame: Station finds many frames by seeing out for a
unique series of bits that points to the starting of the frame such as SFD (Starting Frame
Delimeter).
o How station finds a frame: All stations listen to connected for SFD style by a sequential
circuit.
o These sequential circuits inform the station when SFD is found.
o Station inspects destination address to reject or accept a frame.
o Finding End of the Frame: When to finish reading a frame.

Framing Types
Two of the primary types of framing are discussed below:

o Fixed-size: The first type of frames is of fixed size.

o There is no requirement to give boundaries to any frame because frame length behaves as
a delemiter itself.
o Drawback: It goes through internal fragmentation when the size of data is less
than as compared to the size of the frame.
o Quick Fix: Padding
o Variable Size: There is no requirement to describe frame end as well as starting of the
upcoming frame to characterize this type of framing.
o It could be implemented in two different forms:
o Length field:
o ED (End Delimeter):

Advantages of frames

o A frame is the event's complete cycle within the period division in time-division
multiplexing.
o In playback, video, and film recording, a frame is a general image in a series of images
that can be played back and recorded.
o In the computer video display method, a frame is an image that is transferred to a display
image delivering device.
o Continuously, it is refreshed and updated through the frame buffer.
o It is a highly accessible video RAM part.
o In Artificial intelligence applications, the frames are a group of data along with details
about a specific image, process, and object.
o An example of this type of frame is the iris-print visual recognition system utilized to
recognize users of various bank ATMs.
o This system then compares the data frame for a user using the frame within its authorized
user's database.

Data Link Layer Framing

  Data transmission associates bits synchronized transmission through a source to a
destination.
 This data link layer stores these bits into the frames.
 This layer holds the packets through the Network layer and envelopes them into the
frames.
 When the size of a frame becomes large, then a packet might be categorized into a small
size of frames.
 These smaller sized frames enable error control and flow control more efficient.
 It then sends all frames over the hardware bit-by-bit.
 The data link layer takes the signals through hardware and gathers them into many frames
at the end of the receiver.

Frames Parts

A frame contains some parts which are mentioned as follows:

o Flag: It points to the starting and completion of the frame.
o Trailer: It includes the error correction and end detection bits.
o Payload field: It includes the messages to be rendered.
o Frame Header: It includes the origin and the target addresses of a frame.

Frame Header

It includes the source address, destination address, and three of the main control fields such
as ack, seq, and kind. These fields are discussed below:

o ack: It includes the acknowledgment number of a few frames when piggybacking is

applied particularly.
o seq: It includes the sequence number of a frame for re-adjustment of various out-of-
sequence frames. This field is also used for sending acknowledgments through the
receiver.
o kind: It includes states whether a frame is any data frame or the frame is applied for
many control functions such as link management or flow and error control etc.

Need for frames

o The frame is the digital transmission's units in telecommunications and computer network
particularly.
o In case of the energy, frames are proportionate to the energy packets known as photons.
o Continuously, frames are used in process of time-division multiplexing.
o Frame relay, token ring, Ethernet, and other types of data link layer methods have their
frame structures.
o Also, frames contain headers that include information like error-checking codes.
o The data link layer categorizes the datagram and translates them into capable for transfer.
It is known as framing.
o It facilitates two of the primary functionalities:
o mechanism for flow control
o reliable transfer services