V Semester B.

Sc(Computer Science)
BSCCSCN 502: Computer Networks

UNIT - I
1. Define computer network.
A computer network is a group of interconnected computers that communicate with each
other to share resources and information.
2. What are the different uses of computer network?
The primary uses of computer networks are to facilitate communication, enable resource
sharing, provide remote access, and collaborate.
3. Expand VPN, RFID.
VPN- Virtual Private Network
RFID- Radio Frequency Identification
4. Expand GPS, NFC
GPS - Global Positioning System
NFC- Near-Field Communication
5. Expand DMCA, CAPTCHA.
DMCA- Digital Millennium Copyright Act
CAPTCHA- Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
6. Expand WiMAX, NSP.
WiMAX- Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access
NSP- Network Service Provider
7. What is CAPTCHA ?
A CAPTCHA test is designed to determine if an online user is really a human and not a bot.
CAPTCHA is an acronym that stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell
Computers and Humans Apart." Users often encounter CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA tests on
the Internet.
8. Expand ARPANET, ICMP.
ARPANET - Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
ICMP - Internet Control Message Protocol
9. Expand SMTP, RTP
SMTP- Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
RTP - Real Time Transport Protocol
10. Expand HTTP, TELNET
HTTP- HyperText Transfer Protocol
TELNET - TErminaL NETwork.
11. Expand FTP, DNS.
FTP – File Transfer Protocol
DNS - Domain Name System
12. Expand TCP, UDP.
TCP - Transmission Control Protocol
UDP- User Datagram Protocol
13. Expand DSL, SONET
DSL - Digital Subscriber Line

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 SONET - Synchronous Optical NETwork.
14. Expand LAN, MAN, WAN.
LAN – Local Area Network
MAN – Metropolitan Area Network
WAN – Wide Area Network
15. Define NFC
NFC (near field communication) is the technology that allows two devices — like your phone
and a payments terminal — to talk to each other when they're close together. NFC is the
technology that enables contactless payments.
16. List out types of Network topologies.
Bus, Star, Ring, Mesh
17. What is Bus topology?
Bus topology is a type of network topology in which all devices are connected to a single cable
called a "bus." This cable serves as a shared communication medium, allowing all devices on the
network to receive the same signal simultaneously.
18. What is ring topology?
Ring topology is a type of network configuration where devices are connected in a circular
manner, forming a closed loop. In this setup, each device is connected to exactly two other
devices, creating a continuous pathway for data transmission.
19. What is star topology?
Star topology is a network topology in which each network component is physically connected
to a central node such as a router, hub or switch. In a star topology, the central hub acts like a
server and the connecting nodes act like clients.
20. What is peer-to-peer model?
A peer-to-peer (P2P) service is a decentralized platform whereby two individuals interact
directly with each other, without intermediation by a third party. Instead, the buyer and the
seller transact directly with each other via the P2P service.
21. What is client-server model?
The client-server model, or client-server architecture, is a distributed application framework
dividing tasks between servers and clients, which either reside in the same system or
communicate through a computer network or the Internet.
22. List the different forms of e-commerce.
 Business-to-Business (B2B)
 Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
 Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
 Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
 Business to Administration (B2A)
 Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)
23. What is profiling and phishing?
Network Profiling is a service that monitors the communication to the Virtual Machine, and
from the communication status provides reports that make unknown threats and latent risks
visible. Network Profiling is used via Service Interconnectivity.
Phishing is a technique for attempting to acquire sensitive data, such as bank account numbers,
through a fraudulent solicitation in email or on a web site,
24. What are the two types of transmission technology?
Broadcast Networks, Point-to-Point Networks.
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25. What is unicasting and broadcasting?
Unicasting is a one-to-one communication model in which a single sender delivers data to a
single receiver.
Multicasting is a one-to-many communication model in which a single sender provides data
to several recipients.
26. What are static and dynamic allocation methods in computer network?
With a static approach, the channel's capacity is essentially divided into fixed portions; each
user is then allocated a portion for all time. If the user has no traffic to use in its portion, then
it goes unused.
With a dynamic approach the allocation of the channel changes based on the traffic generated
by the users.
27. What is communication subnet?
The dedicated processors and trunk circuits that are responsible for communication functions
in a distributed network is called communication subnet
28. List the components of subnet.
Subnetting divides an IP address into two parts, namely network address and host address.
Then, using the subnet mask technique, you can further divide the divided address into units
and assign them to various devices in a network.
29. What are routing and forwarding algorithm?
Network routing is the process of selecting a path across one or more networks. The
principles of routing can apply to any type of network, from telephone networks to public
transportation.
Forwarding algorithm is in charge of taking the path decided for each incoming packet: it
performs a lookup in the local information computed and stored by the routing algorithm; it
sends the outgoing packet along the best path.
30. What is addressing and flow control?
In Computer Network, an addressing or a network address is a unique address that is used to
uniquely identify each computer (host) connected in a network.
Flow control is a technique used to regulate data transfer between computers or other nodes in
a network. Flow control ensures that the transmitting device does not send more data to the
receiving device than it can handle.
31. Differentiate connection oriented and connectionless service.
Connection-oriented service is related to the telephone system. It includes connection
establishment and connection termination. In a connection-oriented service, the Handshake
method is used to establish the connection between sender and receiver.
Connection-less service is related to the postal system. It does not include any connection
establishment and connection termination. Connection-less Service does not give a
guarantee of reliability. In this, Packets do not follow the same path to reach their
destination.
32. What is store-and-forward switching and cut-through switching?
In the store-and-forward switching method, error checking is performed against the frame, and
any frame with errors is discarded. Store and forward switches receive an entire packet before
they begin sending any data at all.
With the cut-through switching method, no error checking is performed against the frame,
which makes forwarding the frame through the switch faster than store-and-forward switches.
Cut through switches can receive the first few bytes of a packet, decide which port(s) to send
it on, and then start sending out the packet while the rest of the packet is still being received

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33. List the different service primitives.
Service generally includes set of various primitives. A primitive simply means Operations. A
Service is specified by set of primitives that are available and given to user or other various
entities to access the service. The different service primitives are
 Indication
 Request
 Response
 Confirm
34. What is service and protocol?
 A service is a set of capabilities or operations that a particular layer provides to the
entities of its higher layer.
 A protocol refers to a set of rules and conventions governing the format and
interpretation of different components of a frames, packets or messages by peer entities
within a layer. They specify how to initiate, maintain, and terminate a connection, how
to encode and decode data, how to handle errors and congestion, and how to ensure
security and reliability.
35. Differentiate OSI and TCP/IP reference model.
OSI stands for Open Systems Interconnection. It has 7 layers Physical layer, Data Link layer,
Network layer, Transport layer, Session layer, Presentation layer, and Application layer. Each
layer performs its task independently. It was developed in 1984 by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO).
TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. It has 4 layers named as
Physical layer, Network layer, Transport layer, and Application layer. It also can be used as a
communications protocol in a private computer network. It was designed by Vint Cerf and Bob
Kahn in the 1970s.

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 UNIT – II

1. Expand UTP, IrDA.

UTP- Unshielded Twisted Pair
IrDA- Infrared Data Association
2. Expand STDM, CDMA.
STDM- Statistical Time Division Multiplexing
CDMA - Code-Division Multiple Access
3. Expand FDM, OFDM.
FDM - Frequency Division Multiplexing
OFDM- Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
4. Expand TDM, CDM.
TDM - Time-division multiplexing
CDM - Code Division Multiplexing
5. What is transmission medium?
Transmission media is a communication channel that transmits information from the
source/transmitter to the receiver. It is a physical path for data transfer through
electromagnetic signals.
6. What is meant by unguided media?
Unguided transmission media are techniques that allow transmission of electromagnetic
waves through a wireless medium or we can say without using any physical medium. It
provides a mechanism for transferring electromagnetic waves but does not direct them.
7. What is meant by guided media?
Guided media is like a physical medium via which the signals are transmitted. The
guided media is used to provide a conduit from one machine to another that can have
twisted-pair, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable. It is also known as Bounded media.
8. Give examples for guided media.
 Twisted Pair
 Coaxial Cable
 Optical Fibre
9. Give examples for unguided media.
 Microwave Transmission
 Radio Transmission
 Infrared Transmission
10. Draw a cutaway view of a coaxial cable.

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11. Draw side view of a single fiber.

12. What are single-mode and multimode fiber?

Single Mode (SM) and Multimode (MM) are the names given to two competing designs
of optical fiber based on how many paths of light are transmitted along the fiber core –
single mode means “one path” and multimode means “more than one path.”
13. What is chromatic dispersion and solitons?
Chromatic dispersion is the term given to the phenomenon by which different spectral
components of a pulse travel at different velocities.
Solitons, or solitary waves, are waves that travel undistorted along the propagation
dimension. In the case of optical time solitons these are pulses that do not compress or
expand in time along propagation. Its temporal shape remains unchanged.
14. Differentiate fiber optics and copper wire.
Copper carries electrical pulses along its metal strands. Fiber optics carry pulses of light
along flexible glass threads.
15. What is path loss?
Path loss refers to the attenuation of electromagnetic waves along the path from
transmitter to receiver.
16. What is multipath fading?
Multipath fading occurs in any environment where there is multipath propagation and
there is some movement of elements within the radio communications system. This may
include the radio transmitter or receiver position, or in the elements that give rise to the
reflections.
17. What is digital modulation?
Digital modulation is the process of encoding a digital information signal into the
amplitude, phase, or frequency of the transmitted signal. The encoding process affects
the bandwidth of the transmitted signal and its robustness to channel impairments.
18. What is multiplexing?
Multiplexing is the process of combining multiple signals into one signal, over a shared
medium. If analog signals are multiplexed, it is Analog Multiplexing and if digital signals
are multiplexed, that process is Digital Multiplexing.
19. List the types of multiplexing.
There are mainly two types of multiplexers, namely analog and digital. They are further
divided into FDM, WDM, and TDM.
20. What is FDM?
Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) is a networking method of sharing the total
available bandwidth of any communication channel by dividing them into many non-
overlapping bands of frequency.
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21. What is TDM?
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) is a method of putting multiple data streams in a
single signal by separating the signal into many segments, each having a very short
duration. Each individual data stream is reassembled at the receiving end based on the
timing.
22. What are the applications of FDM?
FDM is used for many applications such as radio broadcasting, cable television, satellite
communication, and cell phones. It is combined with other techniques to also increase
efficiency and throughput.
23. Differentiate FDM and TDM.

TDM FDM

TDM stands for Time division FDM stands for Frequency

multiplexing. division multiplexing.

TDM works with digital signals as well FDM works with only analog
as analog signals. signals.

TDM has low conflict. It has high conflict.

Wiring or chip of TDM is simple. Its wiring or chip is complex

rather than simple.

TDM is efficient. It is inefficient.

In TDM, time sharing takes place. Frequency sharing takes place.

In TDM, synchronization pulse is Guard band is necessary.

necessary.

24. List the different switching techniques.

There are three main switching techniques used in computer networks:
 Circuit switching
 Packet switching
 Message switching

25. Write the different design issues of data link layer.

 Providing services to the network layer
 Framing
 Error Control
 Flow Control

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 26. Differentiate circuit switching and packet switching.
Circuit Switching Packet Switching

In-circuit switching there are 3 phases:

i) Connection Establishment. In Packet switching directly data
ii) Data Transfer. transfer takes place.
iii) Connection Released.

In Packet switching, each data unit just

In-circuit switching, each data unit knows the
knows the final destination address
entire path address which is provided by the
intermediate path is decided by the
source.
routers.

In Packet switching, data is processed

In-Circuit switching, data is processed at the
at all intermediate nodes including the
source system only
source system.

The delay between data units in circuit The delay between data units in packet
switching is uniform. switching is not uniform.

Resource reservation is the feature of circuit There is no resource reservation

switching because the path is fixed for data because bandwidth is shared among
transmission. users.

Circuit switching is more reliable. Packet switching is less reliable.

Wastage of resources is more in Circuit Less wastage of resources as compared

Switching to Circuit Switching

It is not a store and forward technique. It is a store and forward technique.

Transmission of the data is done not

Transmission of the data is done by the
only by the source but also by the
source.
intermediate routers.

Congestion can occur during the connection Congestion can occur during the data
establishment phase because there might be a transfer phase, a large number of
case where a request is being made for a packets comes in no time.
channel but the channel is already occupied.

Circuit switching is not convenient for Packet switching is suitable for

handling bilateral traffic. handling bilateral traffic.

In-Circuit Switching there is a physical path In Packet Switching there is no

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 Circuit Switching Packet Switching

between the source and the destination physical path between the source and
the destination

Circuit Switching does not support store and Packet Switching supports store and
forward transmission forward transmission

In-circuit switching each packet follows the In packet switching packets can follow
same route. any route.

The circuit switching network is implemented Packet switching is implemented at the

at the physical layer. datalink layer and network layer

Circuit switching requires simple protocols for Packet switching requires complex
delivery. protocols for delivery.

27. Write the various services offered by the data link layer to the networklayer.
Unacknowledged connectionless service − Here, the data link layer of the sending machine
sends independent frames to the data link layer of the receiving machine. The receiving
machine does not acknowledge receiving the frame. No logical connection is set up between
the host machines. Error and data loss is not handled in this service. This is applicable in
Ethernet services and voice communications.
Acknowledged connectionless service − Here, no logical connection is set up between the
host machines, but each frame sent by the source machine is acknowledged by the destination
machine on receiving. If the source does not receive the acknowledgment within a stipulated
time, then it resends the frame. This is used in Wifi (IEEE 802.11) services.
Acknowledged connection-oriented service − This is the best service that the data link
layer can offer to the network layer. A logical connection is set up between the two machines
and the data is transmitted along this logical path. The frames are numbered, that keeps track
of loss of frames and also ensures that frames are received in correct order. The service has
three distinct phases −
• Set up of connection – A logical path is set up between the source and the
destination machines. Buffers and counters are initialised to keep track of frames.
• Sending frames – The frames are transmitted.
• Release connection – The connection is released, buffers and other resources are
released.

28. List the different framing methods.

There are two main types of framing approaches used in computer networks:
 Byte-oriented framing
 Bit-oriented framing.
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29. Expand PPP, HDLC
PPP- Point-to-Point Protocol
HDLC - High-level Data Link Control
30. Expand NIC, FEC
NIC - Network Interface Card
FEC - Forward Error Correction
31. What are the two different approaches of Flow control?
There are two basic approaches to flow control:
 Stop and wait
 Sliding window
32. What is erasure channel?
The erasure channel is a communication channel model where sequential packets are
either received or lost (at a known location). This channel model is closely related to
the binary erasure channel. An erasure code can be used for forward error correction on
such a channel.
33. List the different error-correcting codes.
 Hamming codes.
 Binary convolutional codes.
 Reed-Solomon codes.
 Low-Density Parity Check codes.
34. List the different error-detecting codes.
 Parity Check
 Checksum
 Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)

35. Expand LDPC, CRC.

LDFC- Low-Density Parity Check
CRC - Cyclic Redundancy Check
36. List the different fields from which the frame is composed of.
A frame is composed of four types of fields- kind, seq, 𝑎𝑐𝑘 and info. The first three fields
contain control information about the frame and collectively form the frame header.
Besides, the frame header contains the destination and the source addresses.
37. What is meant by event=cksum_err and event=frame_arrival ?
event=cksum_err means that the checksum is incorrect, there is a transmission
error. event=frame_arrival means the inbound frame arrived is undamaged.

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