LO1: Distinguish between the characteristics, components, and topologies of common LAN/WAN networks.

LO3: Describe the Internet architecture, salient features of TCP/IP protocols, and unique characteristics of
Ethernet and Wireless LANs.

Q1 Answer the following questions (11 Marks)

1) Consider the switch shown below. Suppose that all datagrams have the same fixed
length, that the switch operates in a slotted, synchronous manner, and that in one time
slot a datagram can be transferred from an input port to an output port. The switch
fabric is a crossbar so that at most one datagram can be transferred to a given output
port in a time slot, but different output ports can receive datagrams from different
input ports in a single time slot. What is the minimal number of time slots needed to
transfer the packets shown from input ports to their output ports?
(4 Marks)

Output Port X

switch Output Port Y

fabric

Output Port Z

Answer: The minimal number of time slots needed is 3. The scheduling is as follows.
Slot 1: send X in top input queue, send Y in middle input queue.
Slot 2: send X in middle input queue, send Y in bottom input queue.
Slot 3: send Z in bottom input queue.
Largest number of slots is still 3. Actually, based on the assumption that a
non-empty input queue is never idle, we see that the first time slot always
 consists of sending X in the top input queue and Y in either middle or bottom
input queue, and in the second time slot, we can always send two more
datagram, and the last datagram can be sent in third time slot. NOTE: Actually,
if the first datagram in the bottom input queue is X, then the worst case
would require 4 time slots.
2) Suppose there are 6 hosts in a subnet. What should the IP address structure look like?
Provide the network address (of the form a.b.c.d/x) that satisfy this constraint.(1
Mark)
Answer: For Subnet we have to support at least 6 interfaces and 2^3 >= 6 so the
prefix for subnet is 32-3 = 29 for subnet = 192.168.1.2/29

3) Consider sending a 1,900-byte datagram into a link that has an MTU of 460 bytes.
Suppose the original datagram is stamped with the identification number 297. How
many fragments are generated? What are the values in the various fields in the IP
datagram(s) generated related to fragmentation?(3 Marks)
Answer: Assume that no optional fields of the IP header are in use (i.e. IP header is 20
bytes)
The original datagram was 1900 bytes, subtracting 20 bytes for header, that leaves
1880 bytes of data.
Assume the ID of the original packet is 'x'
With an MTU of 460 bytes, 460 - 20 = 440 bytes of data may be transmitted in each
packet
Therefore, ceiling(1880 / 440) = 5 packets are needed to carry the data.
The packets will have the following characteristics (NOTE: offset is measured in 8
byte blocks, you don't need to specify Total_len)

Packet 1: ID=x, Total_len=460, MF=1, Frag_offset=0

Packet 2: ID=x, Total_len=460, MF=1, Frag_offset=60
Packet 3: ID=x, Total_len=460, MF=1, Frag_offset=120
Packet 4: ID=x, Total_len=460, MF=1, Frag_offset=180
Packet 5: ID=x, Total_len=60, MF=1, Frag_offset=240

LO2: Illustrate networking standards and protocols and explain their functional application.

Q2 Answer the following questions (9 Marks)

1) The router typically consists of input ports, output ports, a switching fabric and a
routing processor. Discuss the router operation.(2 Marks)
Answer: A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer
networks. Routers perform the traffic directing functions on the Internet. When a data
packet comes in on one of the lines, the router reads the network address information
in the packet header to determine the ultimate destination.
2) Suppose the information content of a packet is the bit pattern
1110
0110
0111
1011
and an even parity scheme is being used. What would the value of the field containing
the parity bits be for the case of a two-dimensional parity scheme? (2 Marks)
Answer: The minimum length checksum field should be 4*4 matrix. For our data, two
dimensional (even) parity:

1 1 1 0 1
0 1 1 0 0
0 1 1 1 1
1 0 1 1 1
0 1 0 0 1