Communication Networks 2 marks q &answers

EC8551 – COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (CN) Question Bank
TWO MARK QUESTION & ANSWERS
UNIT – I Fundamentals and Link Layer
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 are the three criteria necessary for an effective and efficient network?
The most important criteria are performance, reliability and security. Performance
of the network depends on number of users, type of transmission medium, the
capabilities of the connected h/w and the efficiency of the s/w.
Reliability is measured by frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to recover
from the failure and the network’s robustness in a catastrophe.
Security issues include protecting data from unauthorized access and viruses.
3. What are the three fundamental characteristics that determine the
effectiveness of the data communication system?
The effectiveness of the data communication system depends on 3 fundamental
characters:
Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct destination.
Accuracy: The system must deliver data accurately.
Timeliness: The system must deliver data in a timely manner.
4. What are the advantages of distributed processing?
Advantages of distributed processing include security/encapsulation, distributed
databases, faster problem solving, security through redundancy and collaborative
processing.
5. 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.

6. Why are standards needed?
Co-ordination across the nodes of a network is necessary for an efficient
communication. If there are no standards, difficulties arise. A standard provides a
model or basis for development to which everyone has agreed.
7. For n devices in a network, what is the number of cable links required for a
mesh and ring topology?
Mesh topology – n (n-1)/2 ; Ring topology – n
8. What is the difference between a passive and an active hub?
An active hub contains a repeater that regenerates the received bit patterns before
sending them out. A passive hub provides a simple physical connection between the
attached devices.
9. Distinguish between peer-to-peer relationship and a primary-secondary
relationship.
Peer-to-peer relationship: All the devices share the link equally.
Primary-secondary relationship: One device controls traffic and the others must
transmit through it.
10. Assume 6 devices are arranged in a mesh topology. How many cables are
needed? How many ports are needed for each device?
Number of cables=n (n-1)/2=6(6-1)/2=15
Number of ports per device=n-1=6-1=5
11. Group the OSI layers by function.
The seven layers of the OSI model belonging to three subgroups. Physical, data link
and network layers are the network support layers; they deal with the physical
aspects of moving data from one device to another. Session, presentation and
application layers are the user support layers; they allow interoperability among
unrelated software systems. The transport layer ensures end-to-end reliable data
transmission.
12. What are header and trailers and how do they get added and removed?
Each layer in the sending machine adds its own information to the message it
receives from the layer just above it and passes the whole package to the layer just

below it. This information is added in the form of headers or trailers. Headers are
added to the message at the layers 6,5,4,3, and 2. A trailer is added at layer2. At the
receiving machine, the headers or trailers attached to the data unit at the
corresponding sending layers are removed, and actions appropriate to that layer
retaken.
13. The transport layer creates a communication between the source and
destination. What are the three events involved in a connection?
Creating a connection involves three steps: connection establishment, data transfer
and connection release.
14. What is the DC component?
Direct current is a zero-frequency signal with constant amplitude.
15. How does NRZ-L differ from NRZ-I?
In the NRZ-L sequence, positive and negative voltages have specific meanings:
positive for 0 and negative for 1. in the NRZ-I sequence, the voltages are
meaningless. Instead, the receiver looks for changes from one level to another as its
basis for recognition of 1s.
16. Using HDB3, encode the bit stream 10000000000100. Assume the number
of 1s so far is odd and the first 1 is positive.
17. What are the functions of a DTE? What are the functions of a DCE?
Data terminal equipment is a device that is an information source or information
sink. It is connected to a network through a DCE .Data circuit-terminating
equipment is a device used as an interface between a DTE and a network.
18. What does the electrical specification of EIA-232 describe?
The electrical specification of EIA-232 defines that signals other than data must be

sent using OFF as less than -3 volts and ON as greater than +3 volts. The data must
be transmitted using NRZ-L encoding.
19. Discuss the mode for propagating light along optical channels.
There are two modes for propagating light along optical channels,
Multimode: Multiple beams from a light source move through the core in different
paths. Single mode: Fiber with extremely small diameter that limits beams to a few
angles, resulting in an almost horizontal beam.
20. What is refraction?
The phenomenon related to the bending of light when it passes from one medium to
Another.
21 . What are the disadvantages of optical fiber as a transmission medium?
The disadvantages of optical fiber are Very expensive, Installation and maintenance
is difficult, Fragility.
23. What are the criteria used to evaluate transmission medium?
The criteria used to evaluate transmission medium are
Throughput, Propagation speed, Propagation time, Wavelength
24. Give the relationship between propagation speed and propagation time?
Propagation time = distance / propagation speed
The time required for a signal or a bit to travel from one point to another is called
Propagation time.
Propagation speed is the distance, a signal or a bit travel through a medium in one
second.
25. Explain cross talk and what is needed to reduce it?
Effect of one wire on another is called as cross talk. One wire will be the sending
antenna and the other wire will be the receiving antenna. We can use the shielded

twisted pair cable or coaxial cable for transmission, which contains metal foil to
reduce cross talk.
26. What are the features provided by layering?
 It decomposes the problem of building a network into more manageable
components. Rather than implementing a monolithic piece of software that
does everything implement several layers, each of which solves one part of
the problem.
 It provides more modular design. To add some new service, it is enough to
modify the functionality at one layer, reusing the functions provided at all the
other layers.
27. What is flow Control?
Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data.
The sender can send before waiting for acknowledgment.
28. 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.
29. What are the issues in data link layer?
The data link layer has a number of specific functions it can carry out. These
functions include,
a) Providing a well-defined service interface to the network layer.
b) Dealing with transmission errors.
c) Regulating the flow of data so that slow receivers are not swamped by fast
senders.
30. 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)
31. 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

d) Error control, e) Access control
32. What is the purpose of hamming code?
A hamming code can be designed to correct burst errors of certain lengths. So
the simple strategy used by the hamming code to correct single bit errors
must be redesigned to be applicable for multiple bit correction.
33. What is mean by error control?
Error control is a method that can be used to recover the corrupted data
whenever possible. These are two basic types of error control which are
backward error control and forward error control.
34. What is OSI?
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.
35. 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.
36.
UNIT-II: Media Access and Networking
1.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 d) Error control e) Access
control
2. Mention the types of errors.
There are 2 types of errors a) Single-bit error. b) Burst-bit error.
3. Define the following terms.

a) Single bit error: The term single bit error means that only one bit of a given data
unit (such as byte character/data unit or packet) is changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to
1. b) Burst error: Means that 2 or more bits in the data unit have changed from 1 to
0 from 0 to 1.
4. What is redundancy?
It is the error detecting mechanism, which means a shorter group of bits or extra
bits may be appended at the destination of each unit.
5. List out the available detection methods.
There are 4 types of redundancy checks are used in data communication.
a) Vertical redundancy checks (VRC).
b) Longitudinal redundancy checks (LRC). c) Cyclic redundancy checks (CRC).
d) Checksum.
6. Write short notes on VRC.
The most common and least expensive mechanism for error detection is the vertical
redundancy check (VRC) often called a parity check. In this technique redundant bit
called a parity bit, is appended to every data unit so, that the total number of 0’s in
the unit (including the parity bit) becomes even.
7. Write short notes on LRC.
In Longitudinal Redundancy Check (LRC), a block of bits is divided into rows and a
redundant row of bits is added to the whole block.
8. Write short notes on CRC.
The third and most powerful of the redundancy checking techniques is the Cyclic
Redundancy Check (CRC) CRC is based on binary division. Here sequence of
redundant bits, called the CRC remainder is appended to the end of data unit.
9. Write short notes on CRC generator.

A CRC generator uses a modulo-2 division.
a) In the first step, the 4 bit divisor is subtracted from the first 4 bit of the dividend.
b) Each bit of the divisor is subtracted from the corresponding bit of the dividend
without disturbing the next higher bit.
10. Write short notes on CRC checker.
A CRC checker functions exactly like a generator. After receiving the data appended
with the CRC it does the same modulo-2 division. If the remainder is all 0’s the CRC
is dropped and the data accepted. Otherwise, the received stream of bits is
discarded and the dates are resent.
11. Define checksum.
The error detection method used by the higher layer protocol is called checksum.
Checksum is based on the concept of redundancy.
13. What are the steps followed in checksum generator?
The sender follows these steps
a) The units are divided into k sections each of n bits.
b) All sections are added together using 2’s complement to get the sum.
c) The sum is complemented and become the checksum. d) The checksum is sent
with the data.
14. List out the steps followed is checksum checker side.
The receiver must follow these steps
a) The unit is divided into k section each of n bits.
b) All sections are added together using 1’s complement to get the sum.
c) The sum is complemented. d) If the result is zero.
15. Write short notes on 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
errors.
16. What is the purpose of hamming code?
A hamming code can be designed to correct burst errors of certain lengths. So the
simple strategy used by the hamming code to correct single bit errors must be
redesigned to be applicable for multiple bit correction.
18. Define flow control.
Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data. The
sender can send before waiting for acknowledgment.
19. What is a buffer?
Each receiving device has a block of memory called a buffer, reserved for storing
incoming data until they are processed.
20. Mention the categories of flow control.
There are 2 methods have been developed to control flow of data across
communication links.
a) Stop and wait- send one from at a time.
b) Sliding window- send several frames at a time.
21. What is the function of stop and wait flow control?
In this method, the sender sends one frame and waits for an acknowledgement
before
sending.
22. Mention the advantage and disadvantage of stop and wait flow control.
Advantage: simplicity
Disadvantage: inefficiency.
23. Define ARQ.

Error control in the data link layer is based on Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ),
which means retransmission of data in 3 cases.
a) Damaged frame
b) Lost frame
c) Lost acknowledgment.
24. Mention the function of go-back N-ARQ.
It is the popular mechanism for continuous transmission error control. In the
method, if our frame is lost or damaged, all frames sent since the last frame
acknowledged are retransmitted.
25. What is selective reject ARQ?
In selective reject ARQ only the specific damaged or lost frame is retransmitted. If a
frame is corrupted in transit, a NAK is returned and the frame is resent out of
sequence.
26. Define HDLC.
It is a bit-oriented data link protocol designed to support both half-duplex and full
duplex communication over point to point and midpoint links.
27. List the types of stations is HDLC.
HDLC differentiates between 3 types of stations.
a) Primary b) Secondary c) Combined
28. Define configuration.
The bond configuration refers to the relationship of hardware devices on a link.
29. List the various ways of station configuration.
The stations are configured in 3 ways
a) Unbalanced configuration b) Symmetrical configuration c) Balanced
configuration
30. What are the different communication modes in HDLC?

HDLC supports 3 modes of communication between stations.
a) Normal Response Mode (NRM)
b) Asynchronous Response Mode (ARM)
c) Asynchronous Balanced Mode (ABM)
31. Mention the types of frames in HDLC.
There are 3 types of HDLC frames.
a) Information frames (I-frames) b) Supervisory frames (S-frames) c)
Unnumbered frames (U-frames)
32. Give the usage of I, S, U frames.
I frames – used to transport user data and control information relating to user data
S frames – used only to transport control information, primarily data link layer and
error controls frames
U frames – reserved for systems management.
33. Write the types of frame fields contained in HDLC.
Each frame in HDLC may contain up to 6 fields.
a) Beginning flag field
b) An address field
c) A control field
d) An information field
e) A frame check sequence (FCS) field
f) An ending flag field.
34. What is meant by bit stuffing?
Bit stuffing is the process of adding one extra 0 whenever there are 5 consecutive in
the data so that the receiver doesn’t mistake the data for a flag.
35. Define LAN.
A Local Area Network (LAN) is a data communication system that allows number of
independent devices to communicate directly with each other in a limited
geographic area.
36. Mention the various architecture in a LAN.

LAN is dominated by 4 architectures.
a) Ethernet
b) Token bus
c) Token ring
d) Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)
37. Define a standard 802.3.
IEEE 802.3 supports a LAN standard originally developed by Xerox and later
extended by a joint venture between digital equipment corporations. Intel
Corporation and Xerox. This was called ‘Ethernet’.
38. List the most command kinds of Base band 802.3 LAN.
a) 10 Base 5 b) 10 Base 2
c) 10 Base T
d) 1 Base 5
e) 100 Base T
39. Mention the different kinds of Ethernet networks.
a) Switched Ethernet
b) Fast Ethernet
c) Gigabit Ethernet
40. Write short notes on FDDI.
Fiber distributed data interface is a local areas. Network protocol standardized by
ANSI and ITU-7. It supports data rates of 100 Mbps and provides a high-speed
alternative to Ethernet and token ring access method used here is token passing.
41. Describe the three HDLC station types?
The three HDLC station types are:
Primary station: The primary station has the complete control of the link. The
Primary station sends commands to the secondary station.
Secondary station: The secondary station sends responses.

Combined station: The combined station is one which acts either as a primary or a
Secondary, depending upon the nature and direction of the transmission. Combined
station sends both commands and responses.
42. What is piggy backing?
Piggy backing means combining data to sent and acknowledgement of the frame
received in one single frame. Piggy backing can save bandwidth because the
overhead from a data frame and an ACK frame can be combined into just one frame
43. Name the four types of S-frames?
The four types of S-frames are
Receive Ready (RR) - The value of the code sub field is 00
Receive Not Ready (RNR)- The value of the code sub field is 10
Reject (REJ) - The value of the code sub field is 01
Selective Reject (SREJ) - The value of the code sub field is 11
44. Name the five categories of U-frames?
The five categories of U-frames are
_ Mode setting
_ Unnumbered exchange
_ Disconnection.
_ Initialization mode.
_ Miscellaneous mode.
45. What are the two fundamental ways by which network performance is
measured?
1. Bandwidth
2. Latency
46. What are the responsibilities of Network Layer?
The Network Layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of
packet possibly across multiple networks (links). a. Logical Addressing b. Routing.
47.
UNIT III- Routing
1. What are the network support layers and the user support layers?

Network support layers:
The network support layers are Physical layer, Data link layer and Network layer.
These deals with electrical specifications, physical connection, transport timing and
reliability.
User support layers:
The user support layers are: Session layer, Presentation layer, Application layer.
These allow interoperability among unrelated software system.
2. What are the functions of LLC?
The IEEE project 802 model takes the structure of an HDLC frame and divides it into
2 sets of functions. One set contains the end user portion of the HDLC frame - the
logical address, control information, and data. These functions are handled by the
IEEE 802.2 logical link control (LLC) protocol.
4. What are the functions of MAC?
MAC sub layer resolves the contention for the shared media. It contains
synchronization, flag, flow and error control specifications necessary to move
information from one place to another, as well as the physical address of the next
station to receive and route a packet.
5. What is Protocol Data Unit (PDU)?
PDU is a information delivered as a unit among peer entities of networks containing
control information, address information or data. In layered system, PDU represents
a unit of data specified in the protocols of a given layer that consists of protocol
control information and user data.
6. What are headers and trailers and how do they get added and removed?
The control data added to the beginning of a data is called headers. The control data
added to the end of a data is called trailers. At the sending machine, when the
message passes through the layers each layer adds the headers or trailers. At the
receiving machine, each layer removes the data meant for it and passes the rest to
the next layer.

7. What are the responsibilities of network layer?
The network layer is responsible for the source-to-destination delivery of packet
across multiple network links. The specific responsibilities of network layer include
the Logical addressing. Routing.
8. What is a virtual circuit?
A logical circuit made between the sending and receiving computers. The
connection is made after both computers do handshaking. After the connection, all
packets follow the same route and arrive in sequence.
9. What are datagrams?
In datagram approach, each packet is treated independently from all others. Even
when one packet represents just a place of a multi packet transmission, the network
treats it although it existed alone. Packets in this technology are referred to as
datagram.
10. What are the two types of implementation formats in virtual circuits?
Switched virtual circuit ; Permanent virtual circuit.
11. What is meant by switched virtual circuit?
Switched virtual circuit format is comparable conceptually to dial-up line in circuit
switching. In this method, a virtual circuit is created whenever it is needed and exits
only for the duration of specific exchange.
12. What is meant by Permanent virtual circuit?
Permanent virtual circuits are comparable to leased lines in circuit switching. In this
method, the same virtual circuit is provided between two uses on a continuous
basis. The circuit is dedicated to the specific uses.
13. Define Routers.

Routers relay packets among multiple interconnected networks. They Route packets
from one network to any of a number of potential destination networks on internet
routers operate in the physical, data link and network layer of OSI model.
14. What is meant by hop count?
The pathway requiring the smallest number of relays, it is called hop-count routing,
in which every link is considered to be of equal length and given the value one.
15. How can the routing be classified?
The routing can be classified as, Adaptive routing, Non-adaptive routing.
16. What is time-to-live or packet lifetime?
As the time-to-live field is generated, each packet is marked with a lifetime, usually
the number of hops that are allowed before a packet is considered lost and
accordingly, destroyed. The time-to-live determines the lifetime of a packet.
17. What is meant by router?
A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer
networks. Routers perform the traffic directing functions on the Internet. Data sent
through the internet, such as a web page or email, is in the form of data packets. A
packet is typically forwarded from one router to another router through the
networks that constitute an internetwork (e.g. the Internet) until it reaches its
destination node.
18. Write the keys for understanding the distance vector routing.
The three keys for understanding the algorithm are
Knowledge about the whole networks
Routing only to neighbors
Information sharing at regular intervals.
19. Write the keys for understanding the link state routing.
The three keys for understanding the algorithm are

Knowledge about the neighborhood.
Routing to all neighbors.
Information sharing when there is a range.
20. How the packet cost referred in distance vector and link state routing?
In distance vector routing, cost refer to hop count while in case of link state routing,
cost is a weighted value based on a variety of factors such as security levels, traffic
or the state of the link.
21. How the routers get the information about neighbor?
A router gets its information about its neighbors by periodically sending them short
greeting packets. If the neighborhood responds to the greeting as expected, it is
assumed to be alive and functioning. If it dose not, a change is assumed to have
occurred and the sending router then alerts the rest of the network in its next LSP.
22. What are the four internetworking devices?
The four internetworking devices are, Repeaters, Bridges, Routers, Gateway
23. Define IP address.
A unique string of numbers separated by full stops that identifies each computer
using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. IP address is the 3-bit
number for representing a host or system in the network. One portion of the IP
address indicates a networking and the other represents the host in a network.
24. What is Token Bus?
Token Bus is a physical bus that operates as a logical ring using tokens. Here
stations are logically organized into a ring. A token is passed among stations. If a
station wants to send data, it must wait and capture the token. Like Ethernet, station
communicates via a common bus.
25. What is token passing?
Stations may attempt to send data multiple times before a transmission makes it
onto a link. This redundancy may create delays of indeterminable length if the traffic

is heavy. Token ring resolves this uncertainty by requiring that stations take turns
,sending data. Each station may transmit only during its turn and may send only one
frame during each turn. The mechanism that coordinates this rotation is called
token passing.
26. Define Masking?
Masking is the process that extracts the address of the physical network from an IP
address.
27. What are the rules of boundary-level masking?
The rules of boundary-level masking:
The bytes in the IP address that corresponds to 255 in the mask will be repeated in
the sub network address.
The bytes in the IP address that corresponds to 0 in the mask will change to 0 in the
sub network address.
28. What are the rules of non boundary-level masking?
The mask numbers are not just 0 or 255. The bytes in the IP address that
corresponds to 255 in the mask will be repeated in the sub network address.
The bytes in the IP address that corresponds to 0 in the mask will change to 0 in the
sub network address.
For other bytes, use the bit-wise AND operator
29. Define Gateway.
A device used to connect two separate networks with different communication
protocols. Generally, a router is configured to work as a gateway device in computer
networks.
30. What is LSP?
In link state routing, a small packet containing routing information sent by a router
to all other router by a packet called link state packet.
UNIT IV: Transport Layer

1. What is function of transport layer?
The protocol in the transport layer takes care in the delivery of data from one
application program on one device to an application program on another device.
They act as a link between the upper layer protocols and the services provided by
the lower layer.
2. What are the duties of the transport layer?
The services provided by the transport layer are End-to- end delivery, Addressing
Reliable delivery, Flow control, multiplexing.
3. What is the difference between network layer delivery and the transport
layer delivery?
Network Layer Transport Layer
The main function of this layer is to
deliver packets from source to
destination across multiple networks.
Transport layer is responsible for
source to destination delivery of the
entire message.
The relationship of the network layer to
the data link and transport layer is given
as below:
The relationship of the transport layer
to the network layer and session layer
is shown as below:

Network Layer Transport Layer
It provides connection services, including
network layer flow control, network layer
error control and packet sequence
control.
The transport layer can be either
connectionless or connection oriented.
It translates logical network address into
physical machine address i.e the numbers
used as destination IDs in the physical
network cards.
It divides each message into the
packets at the source and reassembles
then at the destination.
4. What are the four aspects related to the reliable delivery of data?
The four aspects are, Error control Sequence control Loss control Duplication
control
5. What is meant by segment?

At the sending and receiving end of the transmission, TCP divides long
transmissions into smaller data units and packages each into a frame called a
segment.
6. What is meant by segmentation?
When the size of the data unit received from the upper layer is too long for the
network layer datagram or data link layer frame to handle, the transport protocol
divides it into smaller usable blocks. The dividing process is called segmentation.
7. What is meant by Concatenation?
The size of the data unit belonging to a single session are so small that several can fit
together into a single datagram or frame, the transport protocol combines them into
a single data unit. The combining process is called concatenation.
8. What are the types of multiplexing?
The types of multiplexing are, Upward multiplexing, Downward multiplexing
9. What are the two possible transport services? Two basic types of transport
services are, Connection service, Connectionless services
10. The transport layer creates the connection between source and
destination. What are the three events involved in the connection?
For security, the transport layer may create a connection between the two end
ports. A connection is a single logical path between the source and destination that
is associated with all packets in a message. Creating a connection involves three
steps: Connection establishment, Data transfer & Connection release.
11. What are the techniques used in multiplexing? The three basic techniques of
multiplexing are, Frequency-division multiplexing, Time-division multiplexing
Wave-division multiplexing.
12. What is meant by congestion?

Congestion in a network occur if user send data into the network at a rate greater
than that allowed by network resources.
13. Why the congestion occur in network?
Congestion occur because the switches in a network have a limited buffer size to
store arrived packets.
14. How will the congestion be avoided?
The congestion may be avoided by two bits : BECN - Backward Explicit
Congestion Notification, FECN - Forward Explicit Congestion Notification.
15. What is the function of BECN BIT?
The BECN bit warns the sender of congestion in network. The sender can respond to
this warning by simply reducing the data rate.
16. What is the function of FECN?
The FECN bit is used to warn the receiver of congestion in the network. The sender
and receiver are communicating with each other and are using some types of flow
control at a higher level.
17. What is meant by quality of service?
The quality of service defines a set of attributes related to the performance of the
connection. For each connection, the user can request a particular attribute each
service class is associated with a set of attributes.
18. What are the two categories of QoS attributes?
The two main categories are User Oriented, Network Oriented
19. List out the user related attributes?
User related attributes are SCR – Sustainable Cell Rate, PCR – Peak Cell Rate
MCR- Minimum Cell Rate,CVDT – Cell Variation Delay Tolerance.

20. What are the networks related attributes?
The network related attributes are, Cell loss ratio (CLR), Cell transfer delay (CTD)
Cell delay variation (CDV) Cell error ratio (CER)
21. What is frame?
A frame consists of one complete cycle of time slots, including one or more slot
dedicated to each sending device.
22. What is interleaving?
The switch moves from device to device at a constant rate and fixed order. This
process is called interleaving.
23. What is framing bits?
One or more synchronization bits are usually added to the beginning of each frame.
These bitts are called framing bits.
UNIT – V : APPLICATION LAYER
1. What is the purpose of Domain Name System?
Domain Name System can map a name to an address and conversely an address to
name.
2. Discuss the three main division of the domain name space.
Domain name space is divided into three different sections: generic domains,
country domains & inverse domain.
Generic domain: Define registered hosts according to their generic behavior, uses
generic suffixes.
Country domain: Uses two characters to identify a country as the last suffix.
Inverse domain: Finds the domain name given the IP address.

3. Discuss the TCP connections needed in FTP.
FTP establishes two connections between the hosts. One connection is used for data
transfer, the other for control information. The control connection uses very simple
rules of communication. The data connection needs more complex rules due to the
variety of data types transferred.
4. Discuss the basic model of FTP.
The client has three components: the user interface, the client control process, and
the client data transfer process. The server has two components: the server control
process and the server data transfer process. The control connection is made
between the control processes. The data connection is made between the data
transfer processes.
5. What is the function of SMTP?
The TCP/IP protocol supports electronic mail on the Internet is called Simple Mail
Transfer (SMTP). It is a system for sending messages to other computer users based
on e- mail addresses. SMTP provides mail exchange between users on the same or
different computers.
6. What is the difference between a user agent (UA) and a mail transfer agent
(MTA)?
The UA prepares the message, creates the envelope, and puts the message in the
envelope. The MTA transfers the mail across the Internet.
7. How does MIME enhance SMTP?
MIME is a supplementary protocol that allows non-ASCII data to be sent through
SMTP. MIME transforms non-ASCII data at the sender site to NVT ASCII data and
deliverers it to the client SMTP to be sent through the Internet. The server SMTP at
the receiving side receives the NVT ASCII data and delivers it to MIME to be
transformed back to the original data.
8. Why is an application such as POP needed for electronic messaging?
Workstations interact with the SMTP host which receives the mail on behalf of every

host in the organization, to retrieve messages by using a client-server protocol such
as Post Office Protocol , version 3(POP3). Although POP3 is used to download
messages from the server, the SMTP client still needed on the desktop to forward
messages from the workstation user to its SMTP mail server.
9. Give the format of HTTP request message.
10. Give the format of HTTP response message.
11. Write down the three types of WWW documents.
The documents in the WWW can be grouped into three broad categories: static,
dynamic and active.
Static: Fixed-content documents that are created and stored in a
server. Dynamic: Created by web server whenever a browser requests the
document. Active: A program to be run at the client side.
12. What is the purpose of HTML?

HTML is a computer language for specifying the contents and format of a web
document. It allows additional text to include codes that define fonts, layouts,
embedded graphics and hypertext links.
13. Define CGI.
CGI is a standard for communication between HTTP servers and executable
programs. It is used in crating dynamic documents.
14. Name four factors needed for a secure network.
Privacy: The sender and the receiver expect confidentiality.
Authentication: The receiver is sure of the sender’s identity and that an imposter
has not sent the message.
Integrity: The data must arrive at the receiver exactly as it was sent.
Non-Reputation: The receiver must able to prove that a received message came
from a specific sender.
15. How is a secret key different from public key?
In secret key, the same key is used by both parties. The sender uses this key and an
encryption algorithm to encrypt data; the receiver uses the same key and the
corresponding decryption algorithm to decrypt the data. In public key, there are two
keys: a private key and a public key. The private key is kept by the receiver. The
public key is announced to the public.
16. What is a digital signature?
Digital signature is a method to authenticate the sender of a message. It is similar to
that of signing transactions documents when you do business with a bank. In
network transactions, you can create an equivalent of an electronic or digital
signature by the way you send data.
17. What are the advantages & disadvantages of public key encryption?
Advantages:
a) Remove the restriction of a shared secret key between two entities. Here each
entity can create a pair of keys, keep the private one, and publicly distribute the
other one.

b) The no. of keys needed is reduced tremendously. For one million users to
communicate, only two million keys are needed.
Disadvantage:
If you use large numbers the method to be effective. Calculating the cipher text using
the long keys takes a lot of time. So it is not recommended for large amounts of text.
18. What are the advantages & disadvantages of secret key encryption?
Advantage:
Secret Key algorithms are efficient: it takes less time to encrypt a message. The
reason is that the key is usually smaller. So it is used to encrypt or decrypt long
messages.
Disadvantages:
a) Each pair of users must have a secret key. If N people in world want to use this
method, there needs to be N (N-1)/2 secret keys. For one million people to
communicate, a half- billion secret keys are needed.
b) The distribution of the keys between two parties can be difficult.
19. Define permutation.
Permutation is transposition in bit level.
Straight permutation: The no. of bits in the input and output are
reserved. Compressed permutation: The no. of bits is reduced (some of the bits
are dropped). Expanded permutation: The no. of bits is increased (some bits are
repeated).
20. Define Substitutional & Transpositional encryption.
Substitutional: A character level encryption in which each character is replaced by
another character in the set.
Transpositional: A Character level encryption in which the characters retain their
plaintext but the position of the character changes.

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Communication Networks 2 marks q &answers