NPTEL Online Certification Courses

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Jan 2025

Course Name: Computer Networks and Internet Protocol

Assignment 4 - Week 4 (Jan 2025)
TYPE OF QUESTION: MCQ/MSQ
Number of questions: 10 Total mark: 10 X 1 = 10

QUESTION 1

Which statement about choosing a transport protocol based on BDP (Bandwidth Delay Product) is
correct?

a) Sliding window protocols always outperform stop-and-wait protocols, regardless of the BDP.
b) When the BDP is smaller than the segment size, a sliding window protocol significantly
improves performance.
c) Stop-and-wait protocols are preferred when the BDP is smaller than the segment size to
minimize complexity.
d) Selective repeat ARQ should always be chosen over go-back-N ARQ to maximize throughput.

Correct Answer: (c)

Detailed solution: The simplicity of stop-and-wait protocols comes from avoiding the complexity of
managing multiple packets in transit, retransmissions, and acknowledgments simultaneously. In cases
where the BDP is smaller than the segment size, the channel cannot effectively utilize the benefits of
a sliding window protocol, making stop-and-wait a better choice for reducing complexity without
sacrificing performance.

QUESTION 2

Which of the following best describes Max-Min Fairness in congestion control?

a) Allocating bandwidth equally to all flows regardless of their requirements..

b) Allocating bandwidth based on the relative priority of each flow, does not ensure optimal
network efficiency.
c) Maximizing the minimum bandwidth across all links in the network.
d) Allocating bandwidth so that no flow can increase its allocation without decreasing another
flow's allocation.

Correct Answer: (d)

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Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Jan 2025

Detailed solution: Max-Min Fairness ensures that bandwidth is allocated in such a way that
increasing the allocation for one flow can only occur by decreasing the allocation for another flow.
This principle prioritizes fairness while respecting the constraints of the network, particularly at
bottleneck links, ensuring that no flow is unfairly starved.

QUESTION 3

What happens if a transport-layer application Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) attempts to send
data before the connection is established?

a) The data is queued until the connection is established.

b) The operation is invalid, and the transport layer prevents it.
c) The data is sent, but the receiver might ignore it.
d) The data is fragmented and sent in packets to the destination.

Correct Answer: (b)

Detailed solution: In a stateful transport-layer protocol like TCP, data transmission is only allowed
when the connection is in the "established" state. If an application attempts to send data before the
connection is established, the operation is invalid, and the transport layer will block or reject it."

QUESTION 4

Which of the following conditions does not influence the segment size in TCP?

a) Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) of the underlying link.

b) Receiver's advertised window size.
c) Network congestion window size.
d) Header length of the IP protocol.

Correct Answer: (d)

Detailed solution: Header Length of the IP Protocol does not directly affect the TCP segment size.
Instead, it impacts the total size of the network packet but is unrelated to the TCP segmentation
process.
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Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Jan 2025

QUESTION 5

In the TCP connection release process, why does the active closer enter the TIME-WAIT state after
receiving the final acknowledgment?

a) To confirm that the other host has received the FIN message.
b) To allow the passive closer to resend data if needed.
c) To ensure that any delayed packets in the network are discarded.
d) To avoid reusing the same port for a new connection.

Correct Answer: (c)

Detailed Solution:

The TIME-WAIT state ensures that all delayed packets in the network from the just-closed connection are
discarded. This prevents any potential interference with subsequent connections that might reuse the same
port and sequence numbers.

QUESTION 6

In a distributed system, a server advertises a receiver window of 0 due to lack of buffer space.
However, the application frees up space but the updated acknowledgment is lost. What should the
client do to prevent deadlock?

a) Wait indefinitely until the server sends a new acknowledgment.

b) Resend data packets at periodic intervals to elicit a response.
c) Use a keep-alive mechanism to periodically check the buffer status.
d) Close the connection and restart communication.

Correct Answer: (c)

Detailed Solution : A keep-alive mechanism allows the client to periodically probe the server for
updated buffer availability without retransmitting data, preventing deadlock.

QUESTION 7
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Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Jan 2025

A TCP sender observes a mismatch between the advertised window size from the receiver and the
available buffer space. Which of the following is True?

a) The receiver has miscalculated the advertised window size.

b) Congestion control mechanisms have reduced the sender’s transmission rate.

c) The sender's maximum segment size (MSS) is incorrectly set.
d) A delayed acknowledgment has caused the advertised window size to be outdated.

Correct Answer: (d)

Detailed Solution : If acknowledgments are delayed, the receiver’s advertised window size may not
reflect the current buffer availability, leading to a perceived mismatch.

QUESTION 8

A transport-layer protocol using AIMD starts with an initial sending rate of 1 Mbps. After four
successful additive increases (each adding 0.5 Mbps), it detects packet loss. If the multiplicative
decrease factor is 0.5, what will be the new sending rate?

a) 2.5 Mbps
b) 1 Mbps
c) 3 Mbps
d) 1.5 Mbps

Correct Answer: (d)

Detailed Solution:
Initial rate: 1 Mbps.
Four additive increases: 1+4×0.5=3 Mbps
Multiplicative decrease: 3×0.5=1.5 Mbps

QUESTION 9
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Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Jan 2025

A TCP connection is experiencing high delays and packet reordering. Which features of TCP help
maintain reliable and ordered communication in this scenario?

(i) Sequence numbers in the TCP header.

(ii) Acknowledgment numbers indicating the next expected byte.
(iii) The urgent pointer to prioritize packets.
(iv) Sliding window flow control.

a) (i), (iii), (iv)

b) (i), (ii), (iii)
c) (ii), (iii), (iv)
d) (i), (ii), (iv)

Correct Answer: (d)

Detailed Solution:
A and B: Sequence and acknowledgment numbers allow TCP to reorder out-of-order packets and ensure
reliable delivery.
D: Sliding window flow control ensures efficient data transfer despite delays.
C: The urgent pointer is unrelated to packet reordering or delays

QUESTION 10

In the case of a simultaneous TCP open (both hosts initiate a connection at the same time), which of
the following are true?
(i) : Both hosts will transition to the SYN-RECEIVED state after exchanging SYN messages.
(ii): The three-way handshake completes with the exchange of SYN+ACK messages.
(iii): Both hosts will immediately move to the ESTABLISHED state after receiving SYN messages.
(iv): Simultaneous open is less secure due to lack of proper sequence number synchronization.

a) (i) and (ii)

b) (iii) and (iv)
c) All are True
d) All are False

Correct Answer: (a)

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Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Jan 2025

Detailed Solution: In a simultaneous open, both hosts send SYN packets and transition to the
SYN-RECEIVED state. The handshake proceeds as normal, ensuring proper synchronization of
sequence numbers. Security is not compromised (D) because sequence numbers are negotiated
during the handshake. So only (i) and (ii) are true.