CMPT 371 Data Communication & Networking

Assignment 1

CMPT 371 D-100 Data Communications and Networking

Answer Key
Assignment 1 - Spring 2016 (70 marks)
NOTE: Please talk to the instructor and/or the TA if you need more explanation.
1) Review Questions on Chapter 1 R2, R11, R16, R19 (10 marks), R23, R24, R26
R2: R2. The word protocol is often used to describe diplomatic relations. How does Wikipedia describe
diplomatic protocol?
ANSWER KEY:
2.
From Wikipedia: Diplomatic protocol is commonly described as a set of international
courtesy rules. These well-established and time-honored rules have made it easier for nations and
people to live and work together. Part of protocol has always been the acknowledgment of the
hierarchical standing of all present. Protocol rules are based on the principles of civility.
Students need to elaborate and explain
R11. Suppose there is exactly one packet switch between a sending host and a receiving host. The
transmission rates between the sending host and the switch and between the switch and the receiving host
are R1 and R2, respectively. Assuming that the switch uses store-and-forward packet switching, what is the
total end-to-end delay to send a packet of length L? (Ignore queuing, propagation delay, and processing
delay.)
ANSWER KEY:

11. At time t0 the sending host begins to transmit.

At time t1 = L/R1, the sending host completes transmission and the entire packet
is received at the router (Given assumption: Ignore queuing, propagation delay,
and processing delay).
At time t2 = t1 + L/R2, the router completes transmission and the entire packet is
received at the receiving host (Given assumption: Ignore queuing, propagation
delay, and processing delay).
Thus, the end-to-end delay is L/R1 + L/R2.
Students need to elaborate and explain
R16. Consider sending a packet from a source host to a destination host over a fixed route. List the delay
components in the end-to-end delay. Which of these delays are constant and which are variable?

ANSWER KEY:
16. The delay components are processing delays, transmission delays, propagation
delays, and queuing delays.
All of these delays are relatively fixed, except for the queuing delays, which are
variable.
Students need to elaborate and explain

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CMPT 371 Data Communication & Networking

Assignment 1

R19. Suppose Host A wants to send a large file to Host B. The path from Host A to Host B has three links,
of rates R1 = 500 kbps, R2 = 2 Mbps, and R3 = 1 Mbps.
a. Assuming no other traffic in the network, what is the throughput for the file transfer?
b. Suppose the file is 4 million bytes. Dividing the file size by the throughput, roughly how long will it take
to transfer the file to Host B?
c. Repeat (a) and (b), but now with R2 reduced to 100 kbps.

ANSWER KEY:
19. a) 500 kbps (Refer to Section 1.4.4)
b) 64 seconds
c) 100kbps; 320 seconds (Refer to Section 1.4.4)
Students need to elaborate and explain
R23. What are the five layers in the Internet protocol stack? What are the principal responsibilities of each
of these layers?

ANSWER KEY:
23. The five layers in the Internet protocol stack are from top to bottom the
application layer, the transport layer, the network layer, the link layer, and the
physical layer. The principal responsibilities are outlined in Section 1.5.1.
Students need to elaborate and explain
R24. What is an application-layer message? A transport-layer segment? A network-layer datagram? A linklayer frame?

ANSWER KEY:
24. Application-layer message: data which an application wants to send and passed
onto the transport layer; transport-layer segment: generated by the transport
layer and encapsulates application-layer message with transport layer header;
network-layer datagram: encapsulates transport-layer segment with a networklayer header; link-layer frame: encapsulates network-layer datagram with a
link-layer header and trailer.
Students need to elaborate and explain
R26. What is the difference between a virus and a worm?

ANSWER KEY:
26. a) Virus Requires some form of human interaction to spread.
Students need to elaborate and explain

b) Worms
No user replication needed. Worm in infected host scans IP addresses and
port numbers, looking for vulnerable processes to infect.
Students need to elaborate and explain

Simon Fraser University

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CMPT 371 Data Communication & Networking

Assignment 1

2) Internet Speed [20 marks]:

a) Find out the fastest residential Internet speed and cost from Telus and Shaw. Is
there any specific technical requirement to get to the fastest speed in each of the
companies? Can they offer such a speed to your residence? Explain in details.
(5 marks)
ANSWER KEY:
Students should find out the details from www.telus.com and www.shaw.ca.
Students need to elaborate and explain

b) List the upload and download speed that you have subscribed from your ISP.
Then, check the speed of your Internet connection using speedtest.net. Screen
capture the results and print it out. Is there any discrepancy between your attained
speed and the guaranteed speed? Explain. (5 marks)
ANSWER KEY:
Each student will have a different response. It depends on his/her plan and the
ISP.
Students need to explain if there is any discrepancy. The discrepancy could be
due to the Cable/DSL modem, the routers, the local loop, etc.
Students need to elaborate and explain

c) You have trained your racing pigeons to carry a bag of ten SanDisk USB flash
drives from any location to your house/apartment. Each of the USB drives has a
capacity of 128GBytes. The pigeon can travel to your residence at 80 km/hour.
For what range of distance does the bird have a higher data rate than the fastest
residential Internet line from part a)? (10 marks)
ANSWER KEY:
Students may be using a different speed from part a). In this calculation, I
assume the fastest speed is 100Mbps.
The pigeons can carry 128GBytes x 10 = 10.24 Tbits.
A speed of 80 km/hour equals 0.022 km/sec.
Data rate = (Data Sent)/(time to send the data)
The time to travel distance y km is y/0.022 y sec
Data rate = 10.24 Tbits/(45.45*y) Tbits/sec = 225.3/y Gb/s
Set 225.3/y Gb/s = 100 Mbps = 0.1 Gb/s y = 2253km
For y < 2253 km, the pigeon has a higher rate than the Internet line.
Students need to elaborate and explain

Simon Fraser University

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CMPT 371 Data Communication & Networking

Assignment 1

3) In the future, when everyone has a home terminal connected to a computer network,
instant public referendums on important pending legislation will become possible.
Ultimately, existing legislatures could be eliminated, to let the will or the people be
expressed directly. The positive aspects of such a direct democracy are fairly
obvious; discuss some of the negative aspects. (10 marks) [From Tanenbaum]
ANSWER KEY:
There is obviously no single correct answer here, but the following points seem relevant.
i)
The present system has a great deal of inertia (checks and balances) built into it.
ii)
Also, many people hold strong opinions on controversial social issues, without
really knowing the facts of the matter.
iii)
The potential effects of advertising campaigns by special interest groups of one
kind or another also have to be considered.
iv)
Another major issue is security.
Students need to elaborate and explain

Simon Fraser University

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