CS-602 Computer Networks Lab Manual Updated
CS-602 Computer Networks Lab Manual Updated
LAB RECORD
1 University Scheme
2 Syllabus
3 List of Experiments
UNIT-I
Computer Network: Definitions, goals, components, Architecture, Classifications & Types. Layered
Architecture: Protocol hierarchy, Design Issues, Interfaces and Services, Connection Oriented &
Connectionless Services, Service primitives, Design issues & its functionality. ISO- OSI Reference
Model: Principle, Model, Descriptions of various layers and its comparison with TCP/IP. Principals of
physical layer: Media, Bandwidth, Data rate and Modulations
Unit II
Data Link Layer: Need, Services Provided, Framing, Flow Control, Error control. Data Link Layer
Protocol: Elementary &Sliding Window protocol: 1-bit, Go-Back-N, Selective Repeat, Hybrid ARQ.
Protocol verification: Finite State Machine Models & Petri net models. ARP/RARP/GARP
Unit III
MAC Sub layer: MAC Addressing, Binary Exponential Back-off (BEB) Algorithm, Distributed Random
Access Schemes/Contention Schemes: for Data Services (ALOHA and Slotted- ALOHA), for Local-Area
Networks (CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA), Collision Free Protocols: Basic Bit Map, BRAP, Binary
Count Down, MLMA Limited Contention Protocols: Adaptive Tree Walk, Performance Measuring
Metrics. IEEE Standards 802 series & their variant.
UNIT – IV
Network Layer: Need, Services Provided, Design issues, Routing algorithms: Least Cost Routing
algorithm, Dijkstra's algorithm, Bellman-ford algorithm, Hierarchical Routing, Broadcast Routing,
Multicast Routing. IP Addresses, Header format, Packet forwarding, Fragmentation and reassembly,
ICMP, Comparative study of IPv4 & IPv6
Unit V
Transport Layer: Design Issues, UDP: Header Format, Per-Segment Checksum, Carrying
Unicast/Multicast Real-Time Traffic, TCP: Connection Management, Reliability of Data Transfers, TCP
Flow Control, TCP Congestion Control, TCP Header Format, TCP Timer Management. Application
Layer: WWW and HTTP, FTP, SSH, Email (SMTP, MIME, IMAP), DNS, Network Management
(SNMP).
LIST OF EXPERIMENTS
2 Study and Verification of standard Network topologies i.e. Star, Bus, Ring etc.
Study & Simulation of MAC Protocols like Aloha, CSMA, CSMA/CD and
9
CSMA/CA using Standard Network Simulators
10 Study of Application layer protocols- DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and TelNet.
EXPERIMENT NO. 1
1. Repeater
2. Hub
3. Switch
4. Bridge
5. Router
6. Gate Way
Apparatus Required
Theory
1. Repeater: Functioning at Physical Layer. A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and
retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the
signal can cover longer distances. Repeaters have two ports, so cannot be used to connect for more than
two devices.
2. Hub: An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub, hub or concentrator is a device for
connecting multiple twisted pair or fiber optic Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single
network segment. Hubs work at the physical layer of the OSI model. The device is a form of multiport
repeater. Repeater hubs also participate in collision detection, forwarding a jam signal to all ports if it
detects a collision.
3. Switch: A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network
segments. The term commonly refers to a network bridge that processes and routes data at the data link
layer of the OSI model. Switch that additionally process data at the network layer are often referred to as
layer 3 switches or multilayer switches.
4. Bridge: A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer of the OSI model.
In Ethernet networks, the term bridge formally means a device that behaves according to the IEEE 802.1
D standards. A bridge and switch are very much alike; a switch being a bridge with numerous ports.
Switch of layer 2 switch is often used interchangeably with bridge. Bridges can analyze incoming data
packets to determine if the bridge is able to send the given packet to another segment of the network.
5. Router: A router is an electronic device that interconnects two or more computer networks, and
selectively interchanges packets of data between them. Each data packet contains address information
that a router can use to determine if the source and destination are on the same network, or if the data
packet must be transferred from one network to another. Where multiple routers are used in a large
collection of interconnected networks, the routers exchange information about target system addresses,
so that each router can build up a table showing the preferred paths between any two systems on the
interconnected networks.
6. Gate way: In a communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with another network
that uses different protocols.
A gateway may contain devices such as protocol translators, impedance matching devices, rate
converters, fault isolators, or signal translators as necessary to provide system interoperability. It also
requires the establishment of mutually acceptable administrative procedures between both networks.
A protocol translation/mapping gateway interconnects networks with different network protocol
technologies by performing the required protocol conversions.
Conclusions
Different Network Devices have been studied in detail.
EXPERIMENT NO. 2
Aim: Study and verification of standard Network topologies i.e. Star, Bus, Ring etc.
Apparatus Required
Theory
Network topology is the arrangement of the various elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a computer or biological
network. Essentially, it is the topological structure of a network, and may be depicted physically or logically.
Physical topology refers to the placement of the network's various components, including device location
and cable installation, while logical topology shows how data flows within a network, regardless of its
physical design. Distances between nodes, physical interconnections, transmission rates, and/or signal types
may differ between two networks, yet their topologies may be identical.
A good example is a local area network (LAN): Any given node in the LAN has one or more physical links
to other devices in the network; graphically mapping these links results in a geometric shape that can be
used to describe the physical topology of the network. Conversely, mapping the data flow between the
components determines the logical topology of the network.
Topology
1. Physical topologies
2. Logical topologies
The shape of the cabling layout used to link devices is called the physical topology of the network.
This refers to the layout of cabling, the locations of nodes, and the interconnections between the
nodes and the cabling The physical topology of a network is determined by the capabilities of the
network access devices and media, the level of control or fault tolerance desired, and the cost
associated with cabling or telecommunications circuits.
The logical topology, in contrast, is the way that the signals act on the network media, or the way
that the data passes through the network from one device to the next without regard to the physical
interconnection of the devices. A network's logical topology is not necessarily the same as its
physical topology. For example, the original twisted pair Ethernet using repeater hubs was a logical
bus topology with a physical star topology layout. Token Ring is a logical ring topology, but is wired
a physical star from the Media Access Unit.
The logical classification of network topologies generally follows the same classifications as those in
the physical classifications of network topologies but describes the path that the data takes between
nodes being used as opposed to the actual physical connections between nodes. The logical
topologies are generally determined by network protocols as opposed to being determined by the
physical layout of cables, wires, and network devices or by the flow of the electrical signals,
although in many cases the paths that the electrical signals take between nodes may closely match
the logical flow of data, hence the convention of using the terms logical topology and signal
topology interchangeably.
Logical topologies are often closely associated with Media Access Control methods and protocols.
Logical topologies are able to be dynamically reconfigured by special types of equipment such as
routers and switches.
Point-to-point
Bus
Star
Ring or circular
Mesh
Tree
Hybrid
Daisy chain
Conclusions
Different Topologies have been studied in detail.
Apparatus Required
Theory
Performance:
Perform the following steps as directed
EXPERIMENT NO. 4
Aim: To implement various types of error correcting techniques.
Apparatus Required
Theory
Error detection and correction are implemented either at the data link layer or the transport
layer of the OSI model.
Types of Errors
Single-bit error
Single bit errors are the least likely type of errors in serial data transmission because the noise must have a
very short duration which is very rare. However this kind of errors can happen in parallel transmission.
Example:
If data is sent at 1Mbps then each bit lasts only 1/1,000,000 sec. or 1 μs.
For a single-bit error to occur, the noise must have a duration of only 1 μs, which is very rare.
Burst error
The term burst error means that two or more bits in the data unit have changed from 1 to 0 or from
0 to 1.
Burst errors do not necessarily mean that the errors occur in consecutive bits, the length of the
burst is measured from the first corrupted bit to the last corrupted bit. Some bits in between may not
have been corrupted.
Burst error is most likely to happen in serial transmission since the duration of noise is normally
longer than the duration of a bit.
The number of bits affected depends on the data rate and duration of noise.
Example:
If data is sent at rate = 1Kbps then a noise of 1/100 sec can affect 10 bits.(1/100*1000)
If same data is sent at rate = 1Mbps then a noise of 1/100 sec can affect 10,000 bits.(1/100*106)
CYCLIC REDUNDANCY CHECK (CRC)
LOGIC:
1. Let r be the degree of G(x).Append r zero bits to the low-order end of the frame. So it now contains m+r
bits and corresponds to the polynomial x2 m(x).
2. Divide the bit string corresponding to G(x) into the bit string corresponding to x2 m(x) using modulo-2
division.
3. Subtract the remainder from the bit string corresponding to x2 m(x) using modulo-2 sub. The result is the
check summed frame to be transmitted. We call it as a polynomial.
Conclusions
Different error correcting techniques have been studied in detail.
EXPERIMENT NO. 5
a) CHARACTER COUNT
CHARACTER COUNT
Aim: Implementation of data link framing methods for counting characters in a given frame
LOGIC: The header in the given frame is by default first frame size including the first field data bits are
counted and considered as the first frame and the next field contains the next frame size and so on.
PSEUDO CODE:
1. At the sender side the user is asked to enter the number of frames he want to transmit.
2. Depending upon the input, that much number of frames are taken as input from the user and stored in a 2
by 2 matrix.
3. The length of each frame is calculated and stored in a new array.
4. While out putting the frame, the length of each frame is added to the each frame and finally all the frames
are appended and sent as a single string.
5. At the receiver side, the first number is treated as the length of the first frame and the string is extracted
and displayed.
6. The next number is treated as the length of the next frame and so on.
At Sender:
INPUT:
Enter the number of frames you want to send: 2
Enter the frame: 1234
Enter the frame: 678
OUTPUT
The transmitted frame is: 512344678
At receiver:
INPUT:
Enter data 512344678
OUTPUT:
Frame sizes are: 5 4
Frames are:
Frame 1: 1234
Frame 2: 678
BIT STUFFING
AIM
Implementation of the data link framing methods for the bit stuffing in a frame.
LOGIC: Stuffing a 0 bit in a data frame in order to differentiate the header, trailer and data.
1. a flag “01111110” is embedded at the starting and the ending of the data. /* stuffing of data */
2. if data bit is 1 increment count else count is zero.
3. If count is five store a zero bit after the five 1‟s in the data array.
4. Repeat step 3 till the end of data. /* De stuffing of data */
5. If the data bit is 1 increment count else count is zero.
6. If the count is five and the next bit is zero then store the next bit after zero in the data array. /* transmit
the data */
7. De stuffed data is transmitted without flags.
At sender:
INPUT:
Enter the string 1111110101
OUTPUT:
Transmitted data is: 01111110111111010101111110
Stuffed data is: 011111101111101010101111110
At Receiver:
INPUT:
Enter the string 1111110101
OUTPUT:
De stuffed data is: 11111110101
CHARACTER STUFFING
AIM
LOGIC: In a character data frame if a DLE is encountered between the data it is doubled and transmitted at
the receiver side it is de stuffed and original data is obtained.
1. As the DLE characters are non-printable characters. The ASCII values of the printable characters like *,
#, $ are assigned to DLE, STX, ETX.
2. If the ASCII value that is assigned to DLE occurs in the data array another DLE character is stuffed and
stored in the array and transmitted along with starting and ending flags /* DE stuffing data */
3. If the ASCII value of DLE occurs in the data array, the next bit is stored in to the array and transmitted
without the flags.
4. Here whenever the program encounters characters like * the string DLE is added to the original string.
At Sender:
INPUT:
Enter Data r*gm
OUTPUT:
Stuffed data DLESTXrDLEDLEgmDLEETX
At receiver:
OUTPUT:
The message: r*gm
Conclusions
Different framing methods have been studied in detail.
EXPERIMENT NO. 6
TCL (originally from "Tool Command Language", but conventionally spelled "TCL" rather than "TCL";
pronounced as "tickle" or "tee-see-ell") is a scripting language created by John Ouster out.Originally "born
out of frustration”, according to the author, with programmers devising their own languages intended to be
embedded into applications, TCL gained acceptance on its own. It is commonly used for rapid prototyping,
scripted applications, GUIs and testing. TCL is used on embedded systems platforms, both in its full form
and in several other small-footprint versions.
Features
All operations are commands, including language structures. They are written in prefix notation.
Commands are commonly variadic.
Everything can be dynamically redefined and overridden.
All data types can be manipulated as strings, including source code.
Event-driven interface to sockets and files. Time-based and user-defined events are also possible.
Variable visibility restricted to lexical (static) scope by default, but uplevel and upvar allowing
process to interact with the enclosing functions' scopes.
All commands defined by TCL itself generate error messages on incorrect usage.
Extensibility, via C, C++, Java, and TCL.
Interpreted language using byte code
Full Unicode (3.1) support, first released 1999.
Cross-platform: Windows API; UNIX, Linux, Macintosh, etc.
Close integration with windowing (GUI) interface Tk.
Multiple distribution mechanisms exist:
o Full development version (e.g., Active State TCL)
o TCLkit (kind of single-file runtime, only about 1 megabyte in size)
o starpack (single-file executable of a script/program, derived from the TCLkit technology)
o FreewrapTCLSH turns TCL scripts into single-file binary executable programs.
o BSD licenses, freely distributable source.
TCL did not originally have object oriented (OO) syntax (8.6 provides an OO system in TCL core), so OO
functionality was provided by extension packages, such as incr TCL and XOTCL. Even purely scripted OO
packages exist, such as Snit and STOOOP (simple TCL-only object-oriented programming).
Safe-TCL is a subset of TCL that has restricted features. File system access is limited and arbitrary system
commands are prevented from execution. It uses a dual interpreter model with the "untrusted interpreter"
running code in an untrusted script. It was designed by Nathaniel Bornstein and Marshall Rose to include
active messages in e-mail. Safe-TCL can be included in e-mail when the application/safe-TCL and
multipart/enabled-mail are supported. The functionality of Safe-TCL has since been incorporated as part of
the standard TCL/Tk releases.
Syntax and fundamental semantics
A TCL script consists of several command invocations. A command invocation is a list of words separated
by whitespace and terminated by a newline or semicolon.
The first word is the name of a command, which is not built into the language, but which is in the library.
The following words are arguments. So we have:
Practical example, using the puts command which outputs a string, adding a trailing newline, by default to
the stdout channel:
puts"Hello, world!"
Variables and the results of other commands can be substituted inside strings too, such as in this example
where we use set and expr to store a calculation result in a variable, and puts to print the result together with
some explanatory text:
# Good style would put the expression (1+2+3+4+5, in this case) inside {curly braces}
set sum [expr1+2+3+4+5]
puts"The sum of the numbers 1..5 is $sum."
#expr function will be evaluated faster if curly braces are added on the equation.
There is one basic construct (the command) and a set of simple substitution rules.
Formally, words are either written as-is, with double-quotes around them (allowing whitespace characters to
be embedded), or with curly-brace characters around them, which suppresses all substitutions inside (except
for backslash-newline elimination). In bare and double-quoted words, three types of substitution occur
(once, in a single left-to-right scan through the word):
Command substitution replaces the contents of balanced square brackets with the result of
evaluating the script contained inside. For example, “[expr 1+2+3]” is replaced with the result of
evaluating the contained expression (i.e. 6) since that's what the expr command does.
Variable substitution replaces a dollar-sign followed by the name of a variable with the contents of
the variable. For example, “$foo” is replaced with the contents of the variable called “foo”. The
variable name may be surrounded in curly braces so as to delimit what is and isn't the variable name
in otherwise ambiguous cases.
Backslash substitution replaces a backslash followed by a letter with another character. For
example, “\n” is replaced with a newline.
From TCL 8.5 onwards, any word may be prefixed by “{*}” to cause that word to be split apart into its
constituent sub-words for the purposes of building the command invocation (similar to the “,@” sequence of
Lisp's quasiquote feature).
As a consequence of these rules, the result of any command may be used as an argument to any other
command. Also, there is no operator or command for string concatenation, as the language concatenates
directly. Note that, unlike in Unix command shells, TCL does not reparse any string unless explicitly
directed to do so, which makes interactive use more cumbersome but scripted use more predictable (e.g. the
presence of spaces in filenames does not cause difficulties).
The single equality sign (=) for example is not used at all, and the double equality sign (==) is the test for
equality, and even then only in expression contexts such as the expr command or the first argument to if.
(Both of those commands are just part of the standard library; they have no particularly special place in the
library and can be replaced if so desired.)
The majority of TCL commands, especially in the standard library, are variadic, and the proc (the
constructor for scripted command procedures) allows one to define default values for unspecified arguments
and a catch-all argument to allow the code to process arbitrary numbers of arguments.
TCL is not statically typed: each variable may contain integers, floats, strings, lists, command names,
dictionaries, or any other value; values are reinterpreted (subject to syntactic constraints) as other types on
demand. However, values are immutable and operations that appear to change them actually just return a
new value instead.
EXPERIMENT NO. 7
Aim: Study and Installation of Standard Network Simulator: N.S.-2, N.S.-3, OpNet, QualNet, Cisco
Packet Tracer.
In communication and computer network research, network simulation is a technique where a program
models the behavior of a network either by calculating the interaction between the different network entities
(hosts/routers, data links, packets, etc.) using mathematical formulas, or actually capturing and playing back
observations from a production network. The behavior of the network and the various applications and
services it supports can then be observed in a test lab; various attributes of the environment can also be
modified in a controlled manner to assess how the network would behave under different conditions. When
a simulation program is used in conjunction with live applications and services in order to observe end-to-
end performance to the user desktop, this technique is also referred to as network emulation.
Network simulator
A network simulator is a piece of software or hardware that predicts the behavior of a network, without an
actual network being present. A network simulator is a software program that imitates the working of a
computer network. In simulators, the computer network is typically modeled with devices, traffic etc. and
the performance is analyzed. Typically, users can then customize the simulator to fulfill their specific
analysis needs. Simulators typically come with support for the most popular protocols in use today, such as
WLAN, Wi-Max, UDP, and TCP.
Simulations
Most of the commercial simulators are GUI driven, while some network simulators require input
scripts or commands (network parameters). The network parameters describe the state of the network
(node placement, existing links) and the events (data transmissions, link failures, etc.). An important
output of simulations is the trace files. Trace files can document every event that occurred in the
simulation and are used for analysis. Certain simulators have added functionality of capturing this
type of data directly from a functioning production environment, at various times of the day, week,
or month, in order to reflect average, worst-case, and best-case conditions. Network simulators can
also provide other tools to facilitate visual analysis of trends and potential trouble spots.
Most network simulators use discrete event simulation, in which a list of pending "events" is stored,
and those events are processed in order, with some events triggering future events—such as the event
of the arrival of a packet at one node triggering the event of the arrival of that packet at a
downstream node.
Some network simulation problems, notably those relying on queueing theory, are well suited to
Markov chain simulations, in which no list of future events is maintained and the simulation consists
of transiting between different system "states" in a memory less fashion. Markov chain simulation is
typically faster but less accurate and flexible than detailed discrete event simulation. Some
simulations are cyclic based simulations and these are faster as compared to event based simulations.
Simulation of networks can be a difficult task. For example, if congestion is high, then estimation of
the average occupancy is challenging because of high variance. To estimate the likelihood of a buffer
overflow in a network, the time required for an accurate answer can be extremely large. Specialized
techniques such as "control variants" and "importance sampling" have been developed to speed
simulation.
Examples of network simulators
Examples of notable network simulation software are, ordered after how often they are mentioned in
research papers:
1. ns2/ns3
2. OPNET
3. QualNet
4. Cisco Packet Tracer
1. NS (simulator)
Ns (from network simulator) is a name for series of discrete eventnetwork simulators, specifically ns-1,
ns-2 and ns-3. These simulators are used in the simulation of routing protocols, among others, and are
heavily used in ad-hoc networking research, and support popular network protocols, offering simulation
results for wired and wireless networks alike.
Design
Ns-3 is built using C++ and Python and scripting is available with either language. Split over 30
modules, features of ns-3 include:
Callback-driven events
Attribute system that manages default and per-object simulation values
Helpers that allow using simpler API when configuring simulations
Workflow for ns
Components
Ns, the simulator itself has Nam, the network animator to visualize ns (or other) output.
Pre-processing component for Traffic and topology generators.
Post-processing for Simple trace analysis, often in Awk, Perl, or TCL.
Installation of NS 2
1. Install CYGWIN
http://www.isi.edu/nsnam/dist/ns-allinone-2.29.2.tar.gz
Download cygwin setup.exe from www.cygwin.com
Click on “cygwin.exe”.
“all”. If we select “install”, then all sub items will be automatically selected. Otherwise
Installing
Finish in installing
“ftp%3a%2f%2fftp.mirror.ac.uk%2fsites%2fsources.redhat.com%2fftp%2fcygwin”
Install “Install
“C:\NS2\NS-2.29 Install files\Cygwin files \ ftp%3a%2f%2fftp.is.co.za%2fmirrors%2fcygwin”.
Select to install all.
Finish in stalling “ftp%3a%2f%2fftp.is.co.za%2fmirrors%2fcygwin”
2. Install NS2
a. Copy ns-allinone-2.29.2.tar to directory c:/cygwin/usr/local
b. Unzip “ns-allinone-2.29.2.tar”
c. Click on desktop icon “cygwin”
d. Type “cd ..” to go to the upper folder(“cd” must be low case. And there is one space
between “d” and “.”)
e. Type “cd ..” again.
j. Installing
3. Configure system variables and library paths
a. Installing is finished and the following window appears: Make sure to copy all these
contents.
OpNet: OpNet stands for Optimized Network Engineering Tool (software). OPNET Network simulator is a
tool to simulate the behavior and performance of any type of network. OPNET is an object-orientated
simulation tool for making network modeling and QoS analysis of simulation of network communication,
network devices and protocols. OPNET Modeler has a vast number of models for network elements, and it
has many different real-life network configuration capabilities. The main difference Opnet Network
Simulator comparing to other simulators lies in its power and versatility.
Advantages of Opnet Network Simulator:
Opnet Network Simulator is a open free software
Large number of project scenarios that are offered information on Opnet Network Simulator
Can be overlooked using Opnet Network Simulator.
Uses of opnet simulator:
Operational validation.
Application troubleshooting.
Network planning and design.
Validating hardware architecture.
Protocol modeling.
Traffic modeling of telecommunication networks.
Evaluating performance aspects of complex software systems.
QualNet : QualNet enables the evaluation of on-the-move communication networks faster and with more
realism than any other tool. It uses a network digital twin to digitally represent the entire network, the
various protocol layers, radios, antennas, and devices. QualNet employs state of the art Parallel Discrete
Event Simulation (PDES) algorithms designed to leverage multi-core and parallel processors to dramatically
increase the event processing rate and hence simulation execution speeds to run high-fidelity simulations of
large networks at faster than real-time speeds. •
The QualNet network simulation platform (QualNet) is used by planners, analysts, IT technicians, and
communication specialists to evaluate the performance of communication networks under different
operational conditions and to identify and mitigate identified operational issues. The analysis proceeds by
first creating a simulation model, or scenario, representing the network and its operating environment,
executing the scenario and analyzing the results. Features of QualNet
The major features of QualNet include the following:
• QualNet can model a variety of heterogeneous networks (wired, wireless, under-water, satellite, etc.) with
thousands of nodes exchanging different types of traffic. These scenarios can run at faster than real-time
speed, making it possible to quickly perform “what-if” analysis of the network’s performance under
different operating conditions.
• QualNet supports a large number of high-fidelity models for network devices, protocols from all layers of
the protocol stack, applications, terrains, propagation models, and mobility models. The model library
includes models for wireless technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi and WiMax); cellular networks (e.g., GSM, UMTS,
LTE, and 5G); military waveforms (e.g., Link-11, Link-16); satellite communications; underwater
communications; devices such as routers, switches, and access points; indoor, rural, and urban terrain; and
many real-world applications. Thus, real-world commercial and tactical networks operating in multiple
domains can be modeled and analyzed in QualNet at a high level of fidelity.
• QualNet’s Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) interface supports dynamic interactions to modify the operations of
a running scenario. For example, users can activate/deactivate nodes and modify the traffic rate of certain
applications via the HITL interface. • The QualNet VR-Link interface allows QualNet to network with other
constructive simulators, virtual reality applications, and Computer-Generated Force (CGF) tools, such as
OTB and OneSAF, using High Level Architecture (HLA) or Distributed Interaction Simulation (DIS).
• The QualNet GUI can be used to visualize different types of packet flows as the scenario is running to
provide an operational view of the network. Dynamic statistics can also be displayed while a scenario is
running. • Orientation change extension FFC for Standard SIM.
• QualNet’s Analyzer can be used to plot hundreds of metrics post simulation. QualNet also provides for the
generation of detailed time-stamped tables in an SQL database, from which queries and reports such as
connectivity among nodes, throughput, latency, path loss, packet drop, etc., can be produced. Third-party
tools, such as Tableau, can also be used to create reports from the statistics database.
• QualNet’s heatmap feature can be used to refine a network layout based on the signal coverage of wireless
transmitters in the scenario, which can be displayed graphically.
• The QualNet framework is highly flexible and extensible: models for new protocols, devices, and
applications can be easily developed and incorporated in simulation scenarios. Highfidelity models can also
be developed by incorporating actual code from protocol implementation.
Cisco Packet Tracer: Cisco Packet Tracer is a comprehensive, networking technology teaching and
learning program that offers a unique combination of realistic simulation and visualization experiences,
assessment and activity authoring capabilities, and opportunities for multiuser collaboration and
competition. Most of Cisco's UC apps are built on Java and products that support plugins or embedded code
(like UCCX or CVP) often use Java as the plug-in or embeddedable language.
Cisco packet tracer enables developers to view the flow of data packets and carry out analysis on the data
packets transmitted in the IoT network. All the IoT devices on Cisco Packet Tracer can be run on standard
programs or can be customized by programming them with Java, Phyton or Blockly.
Many of Cisco's network programmability projects available at https://github.com/datacenter are written
using Python.
Apparatus Required
Theory
Routing algorithms:
A routing algorithm is a set of step-by-step operations used to direct Internet traffic efficiently. When a
packet of data leaves its source, there are many different paths it can take to its destination. The routing
algorithm is used to determine mathematically the best path to take.
Properties of routing algorithm:
Correctness: The routing should be done properly and correctly so that the packets may reach their proper
destination.
Simplicity: The routing should be done in a simple manner so that the overhead is as low as possible. With
increasing complexity of the routing algorithms the overhead also increases.
Robustness: Once a major network becomes operative, it may be expected to run continuously for years
without any failures. The algorithms designed for routing should be robust enough to handle hardware and
software failures and should be able to cope with changes in the topology and traffic without requiring all
jobs in all hosts to be aborted and the network rebooted every time some router goes down.
Stability: The routing algorithms should be stable under all possible circumstances.
Fairness: Every node connected to the network should get a fair chance of transmitting their packets. This is
generally done on a first come first serve basis.
Optimality: The routing algorithms should be optimal in terms of throughput and minimizing mean packet
delays. Here there is a trade-off and one has to choose depending on his suitability.
a. Hot Potato: When a packet comes to a node, it tries to get rid of it as fast as it can, by putting it on the
shortest output queue without regard to where that link leads. A variation of this algorithm is to combine
static routing with the hot potato algorithm. When a packet arrives, the routing algorithm takes into account
both the static weights of the links and the queue lengths.
b. Backward Learning: In this method the routing tables at each node gets modified by information from the
incoming packets. One way to implement backward learning is to include the identity of the source node in
each packet, together with a hop counter that is incremented on each hop. When a node receives a packet in
a particular line, it notes down the number of hops it has taken to reach it from the source node. If the
previous value of hop count stored in the node is better than the current one then nothing is done but if the
current value is better than the value is updated for future use. The problem with this is that when the best
route goes down then it cannot recall the second best route to a particular node. Hence all the nodes have to
forget the stored information periodically and start all over again. 3. Distributed: In this the node receives
information from its neighboring nodes and then takes the decision about which way to send the packet. The
disadvantage is that if in between the interval it receives information and sends the packet something
changes then the packet may be delayed.
2. Non-Adaptive Routing Algorithm: These algorithms do not base their routing decisions on measurements
and estimates of the current traffic and topology. Instead the route to be taken in going from one node to the
other is computed in advance, off-line, and downloaded to the routers when the network is booted. This is
also known as static routing. This can be further classified as: 1. Flooding: Flooding adapts the technique in
which every incoming packet is sent on every outgoing line except the one on which it arrived. One problem
with this method is that packets may go in a loop. As a result of this a node may receive several copies of a
particular packet which is undesirable. Some techniques adapted to overcome these problems are as follows:
a. Sequence Numbers: Every packet is given a sequence number. When a node receives the packet it sees its
source address and sequence number. If the node finds that it has sent the same packet earlier then it will not
transmit the packet and will just discard it.
b. Hop Count: Every packet has a hop count associated with it. This is decremented (or incremented) by one
by each node which sees it. When the hop count becomes zero (or a maximum possible value) the packet is
dropped.
c. Spanning Tree: The packet is sent only on those links that lead to the destination by constructing a
spanning tree routed at the source. This avoids loops in transmission but is possible only when all the
intermediate nodes have knowledge of the network topology.
2. Random Walk: In this method a packet is sent by the node to one of its neighbours randomly. This
algorithm is highly robust. When the network is highly interconnected, this algorithm has the property of
making excellent use of alternative routes. It is usually implemented by sending the packet onto the least
queued link.
Two algorithms for computing the shortest path between two nodes of a graph are:-
1. Dijkstra’s Algorithm 2. Bellnam-Ford Algorithm
1. Dijkstra's algorithm:
1. Compute the least cost path from one node to all other nodes in the network.
2. Iterative algorithm - After the kth iteration, the least cost paths for k destination nodes are found.
3. D(v): cost of the least cost path from source node to destination v
4. p(v): previous node of v along the least-cost path from source.
5. N’: set of nodes to which the least-cost path is found.
Bellman-ford algorithm:
Following are the detailed steps.
Input: Graph and a source vertex src
Output: Shortest distance to all vertices from src. If there is a negative weight cycle, then shortest distances
are not calculated, negative weight cycle is reported.
1) This step initializes distances from source to all vertices as infinite and distance to source itself as 0.
Create an array dist[] of size |V| with all values as infinite except dist[src] where src is source vertex.
2) This step calculates shortest distances. Do following |V|-1 times where |V| is the number of vertices in
given graph. a) Do following for each edge u-v
If dist[v] >dist[u] + weight of edge uv, then update dist[v] dist[v] = dist[u] + weight of edge uv
3) This step reports if there is a negative weight cycle in graph. Do following for each edge u-v
If dist[v] >dist[u] + weight of edge uv, then “Graph contains negative weight cycle”
The idea of step 3 is, step 2 guarantees shortest distances if graph doesn’t contain negative weight cycle. If
we iterate through all edges one more time and get a shorter path for any vertex, then there is a negative
weight cycle
How does this work? Like other Dynamic Programming Problems, the algorithm calculates shortest paths in
bottom-up manner. It first calculates the shortest distances which have at-most one edge in the path. Then, it
calculates shortest paths with at-most 2 edges, and so on. After the i-th iteration of outer loop, the shortest
paths with at most i edges are calculated. There can be maximum |V| – 1 edge in any simple path that is why
the outer loop runs |v| – 1 times. The idea is, assuming that there is no negative weight cycle, if we have
calculated shortest paths with at most i edges, then an iteration over all edges guarantees to give shortest
path with at-most (i+1) edges
Example
let us understand the algorithm with following example graph. The images are taken from this source.
Let the given source vertex be 0. Initialize all distances as infinite, except the distance to source itself. Total
number of vertices in the graph is 5, so all edges must be processed 4 times.
Let all edges are processed in following order: (B,E), (D,B), (B,D), (A,B), (A,C), (D,C), (B,C), (E,D). We
get following distances when all edges are processed first time. The first row in shows initial distances. The
second row shows distances when edges (B, E), (D,B), (B,D) and (A,B) are processed. The third row shows
distances when (A,C) is processed. The fourth row shows when (D,C), (B,C) and (E,D) are processed.
Aim - Study & Simulation of MAC Protocols like Aloha, CSMA, CSMA/CD and CSMA/CA using
Standard Network Simulators
MAC Sublayer
In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, media access control (MAC) data communication
protocol is a sublayer of the data link layer (layer 2). The MAC sublayer provides addressing and channel
access control mechanisms that make it possible for several terminals or network nodes to communicate
within a multiple access network that incorporates a shared medium, e.g. Ethernet. The hardware that
implements the MAC is referred to as a media access controller.
The MAC sublayer acts as an interface between the logical link control (LLC) sublayer and the network's
physical layer. The MAC layer emulates a full-duplex logical communication channel in a multi-point
network. This channel may provide unicast, multicast or broadcast communication service.
Fig.3.1
Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) is a probabilistic media access control (MAC) protocol in which a
node verifies the absence of other traffic before transmitting on a shared transmission medium, such as an
electrical bus, or a band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Carrier sense means that a transmitter uses feedback from a receiver to determine whether another
transmission is in progress before initiating a transmission. That is, it tries to detect the presence of a carrier
wave from another station before attempting to transmit. If a carrier is sensed, the station waits for the
transmission in progress to finish before initiating its own transmission. In other words, CSMA is based on
the principle "sense before transmit" or "listen before talk".
Multiple access means that multiple stations send and receive on the medium. Transmissions by one node
are generally received by all other stations connected to the medium.
CSMA protocol was developed to overcome the problem found in ALOHA i.e. to minimize the chances of
collision, so as to improve the performance. CSMA protocol is based on the principle of 'carrier sense'. The
station senses the carrier or channel before transmitting a frame. It means the station checks the state of
channel, whether it is idle or busy.
Even though devices attempt to sense whether the network is in use, there is a good chance that two station
will attempt to access it at the same time. On large networks, the transmission time between one end of the
cable and another is enough that one station may access the cable even though another has already just
accessed it.
The chances of collision still exist because of propagation delay. The frame transmitted by one station takes
some time to reach other stations. In the meantime, other stations may sense the channel to be idle and
transmit their frames. This results in the collision.
Fig CSMA
Drawback of I-persistent
The propagation delay time greatly affects this protocol. Let us suppose, just after the station 1 begins its
transmission, station 2 also became ready to send its data and senses the channel. If the station 1 signal has
not yet reached station 2, station 2 will sense the channel to be idle and will begin its transmission. This will
result in collision.
Even if propagation delay time is zero, collision will still occur. If two stations became .ready in the middle
of third station's transmission, both stations will wait until the transmission of first station ends and then
both will begin their transmission exactly simultaneously. This will also result in collision.
Fig 1-persistent CSMA
(ii) Non-persistent CSMA
• In this scheme, if a station wants to transmit a frame and it finds that the channel is busy (some other
station is transmitting) then it will wait for fixed interval of time.
• After this time, it again checks the status of the channel and if the channel is.free it will transmit.
• A station that has a frame to send senses the channel.
• If the channel is idle, it sends immediately.
• If the channel is busy, it waits a random amount of time and then senses the channel again.
• In non-persistent CSMA the station does not continuously sense the channel for the purpose of capturing it
when it detects the end of previous transmission.
Advantage of non-persistent
• It reduces the chance of collision because the stations wait a random amount of time. It is unlikely that
two or more stations will wait for same amount of time and will retransmit at the same time.
Disadvantage of non-persistent
It reduces the efficiency of network because the channel remains idle when there may be stations with
Frames to send. This is due to the fact that the stations wait a random amount of time after the collision.
• If the next slot is also idle, it either transmits or waits again with probabilities p and q.
• This process is repeated till either frame has been transmitted or another station has begun transmitting.
•In case of the transmission by another station, the station acts as though a collision has occurred and it waits
a random amount of time and starts again.
Advantage of p-persistent
• It reduces the chance of collision and improves the efficiency of the network.
Fig p-persistent CSMA
Fig CSMA/CD
Transmitting and the signal of that distant station have not yet reached other stations.
• Therefore the purpose of IFS time is to allow this transmitted signal to reach other stations.
• If after this IFS time, the channel is still idle, the station can send, but it still needs to wait a time equal to
contention time.
• IFS variable can also be used to define the priority of a station or a frame.
2. Contention Window
• Contention window is an amount of time divided into slots.
• A station that is ready to send chooses a random number of slots as its wait time.
• The number of slots in the window changes according to the binary exponential back-off strategy. It means
that it is set of one slot the first time and then doubles each time the station cannot detect an idle channel
after the IFS time.
• This is very similar to the p-persistent method except that a random outcome defines the number of slots
taken by the waiting station.
• In contention window the station needs to sense the channel after each time slot.
• If the station finds the channel busy, it does not restart the process. It just stops the timer & restarts it when
the channel is sensed as idle.
3. Acknowledgement
• Despite all the precautions, collisions may occur and destroy the data.
• The positive acknowledgment and the time-out timer can help guarantee that receiver has received frame.
Aim: Study of Application layer protocols- DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and TelNet.
Apparatus Required
Theory
TELNET: A terminal emulation that enables a user to connect to a remote host or device using a telnet client,
usually over port 23. For example, typing telnet hostname would connect a user to a host named hostname.
Telnet enables a user to manage an account or device remotely. For example, a user may telnet into a computer
that hosts their website to manage his or her files remotely.
Fig. TELNET
HTTP: Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, HTTP is a set of standards that allow users of the World
Wide Web to exchange information found on web pages. When accessing any web page entering http:// in
front of the address tells the browser to communicate over HTTP. For example, the URL for Computer
Hope is https://www.computerhope.com. Today's browsers no longer require HTTP in front of the URL
since it is the default method of communication. However, it is kept in browsers because of the need to
separate protocols such as FTP.
HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (https) is a combination of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) with the Secure Socket Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. TLS is an
authentication and security protocol widely implemented in browsers and Web servers. Hypertext transfer
protocol secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, which is the primary protocol used to send data
between a web browser and a website. HTTPS is encrypted in order to increase security of data transfer.
FTP: FTP Stands for "File Transfer Protocol." FTP is a protocol designed for transferring files over the
Internet. Files stored on an FTP server can be accessed using an FTP client, such as a web browser, FTP
software program, or a command line interface.
Fig. FTP
DNS: The domain name system (DNS) is the way that internet domain names are located and translated into
internet protocol (IP) addresses. The domain name system maps the name people use to locate a website to
the IP addresses that a computer uses to locate a website. For example, if someone types TechTarget.com
into a web browser, a server behind the scenes will map that name to the IP address 206.19.49.149.
Web browsing and most other internet activity rely on DNS to quickly provide the information necessary to
connect users to remote hosts. DNS mapping is distributed throughout the internet in a hierarchy of
authority. Access providers and enterprises, as well as governments, universities and other organizations,
typically have their own assigned ranges of IP addresses and an assigned domain name; they also typically
run DNS servers to manage the mapping of those names to those addresses. Most URLs are built around the
domain name of the web server that takes client requests.
Fig. Domain Name Server
List of Books
PUBLISHER /
SNo TITLE AUTHOR YEAR
EDITION
Andrew S.
1 Computer Networks Pearson Education 2005
Tanenbaum
Data Communications &
2 Behrouz A. Forouzan McGraw Hill 2013
Networking
1. Define Network?
A network is a set of devices connected by physical media links. A network is recursively is a connection of
two or more nodes by a physical link or two or more networks connected by one or more nodes.
2. What is a Link?
At the lowest level, a network can consist of two or more computers directly connected by some physical
medium such as coaxial cable or optical fiber. Such a physical medium is called as Link.
3. What is a node?
A network can consist of two or more computers directly connected by some physical medium such as
coaxial cable or optical fiber. Such a physical medium is called as Links and the computer it connects is
called as Nodes.
4. What is a gateway or Router?
A node that is connected to two or more networks is commonly called as router or Gateway. It generally
forwards message from one network to another.
5. What is point-point link?
If the physical links are limited to a pair of nodes it is said to be point-point link.
6. What is Multiple Access?
If the physical links are shared by more than two nodes, it is said to be Multiple Access.
7. Define Bandwidth and Latency?
Network performance is measured in Bandwidth (throughput) and Latency (Delay). Bandwidth of a network
is given by the number of bits that can be transmitted over the network in a certain period of time. Latency
corresponds to how long it t5akes a message to travel from one end off a network to the other. It is strictly
measured in terms of time.
8. Define Routing?
The process of determining systematically hoe to forward messages toward the destination nodes based on
its address is called routing.
9. What is a peer-peer process?
The processes on each machine that communicate at a given layer are called peer-peer process.
10. When a switch is said to be congested?
It is possible that a switch receives packets faster than the shared link can accommodate and stores in its
memory, for an extended period of time, then the switch will eventually run out of buffer space, and some
packets will have to be dropped and in this state is said to congested state.
11. Define the terms Unicasting, Multiccasting and Broadcasting?
If the message is sent from a source to a single destination node, it is called Unicasting.
If the message is sent to some subset of other nodes, it is called Multicasting.
If the message is sent to all the m nodes in the network it is called Broadcasting.
12. What is Multiplexing?
Multiplexing is the set of techniques that allows the simultaneous transmission of multiple signals across a
single data link.
13. What is FDM?
FDM is an analog technique that can be applied when the bandwidth of a link is greater than the combined
bandwidths of the signals to be transmitted.
14. What is WDM?
WDM is conceptually the same as FDM, except that the multiplexing and demultiplexing involve light
signals transmitted through fiber optics channel.
15. What is TDM?
TDM is a digital process that can be applied when the data rate capacity of the transmission medium is
greater than the data rate required by the sending and receiving devices.
16. What is Synchronous TDM?
In STDM, the multiplexer allocates exactly the same time slot to each device at all times, whether or not a
device has anything to transmit.
17. List the layers of OSI
a. Physical Layer
b .Data Link Layer
c. Network Layer
d. Transport Layer
e. Session Layer
f. Presentation Layer
g. Application Layer
18. Which layers are network support layers?
a. Physical Layer
b. Data link Layer and
c. Network Layers
19. Which layers are user support layers?
a. Session Layer
b. Presentation Layer and
c. Application Layer
20. Which layer links the network support layers and user support layers?
The Transport layer links the network support layers and user support layers.
21. What are the concerns of the Physical Layer?
Physical layer coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream over a physical medium.
a. Physical characteristics of interfaces and media
b. Representation of bits
c. Data rate
d. Synchronization of bits
e. Line configuration
f. Physical topology
g. Transmission mode
22. What are the responsibilities of Data Link Layer?
The Data Link Layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission facility, to a reliable link and is
responsible for node-node delivery.
a. Framing
b. Physical Addressing
c. Flow Control
d. Error Control
e. Access Control
23. 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
24. What are the responsibilities of Transport Layer?
The Transport Layer is responsible for source-to-destination delivery of the entire message.
a. Service-point Addressing
b. Segmentation and reassembly
c. Connection Control
d. Flow Control
e. Error Control
25. What are the responsibilities of Session Layer?
The Session layer is the network dialog Controller. It establishes, maintains and synchronizes the interaction
between the communicating systems.
a. Dialog control
b. Synchronization
26. What are the responsibilities of Presentation Layer?
The Presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged between
two systems.
a. Translation
b. Encryption
c. Compression
27. What are the responsibilities of Application Layer?
The Application Layer enables the user, whether human or software, to access the network. It provides user
interfaces and support for services such as e-mail, shared database management and other types of
distributed information services.
a. Network virtual Terminal
b. File transfer, access and Management (FTAM)
c. Mail services
d. Directory Services
28. What are the two classes of hardware building blocks?
Nodes and Links.
29. What are the different link types used to build a computer network?
a. Cables
b. Leased Lines
c. Last-Mile Links
d. Wireless Links
30. What are the categories of Transmission media?
a. Guided Media
i. Twisted - Pair cable
1. Shielded TP
2. Unshielded TP
ii. Coaxial Cable
iii. Fiber-optic cable
b. Unguided Media
i. Terrestrial microwave
ii. Satellite Communication
31. What are the types of errors?
a. Single-Bit error
In a single-bit error, only one bit in the data unit has changed
b. Burst Error
A Burst error means that two or more bits in the data have changed.
32. What is Error Detection? What are its methods?
Data can be corrupted during transmission. For reliable communication errors must be deducted and
Corrected. Error Detection uses the concept of redundancy, which means adding extra bits for detecting
errors at the destination. The common Error Detection methods are
a. Vertical Redundancy Check (VRC)
b. Longitudinal Redundancy Check (VRC)
c. Cyclic Redundancy Check (VRC)
d. Checksum
33. What is Redundancy?
The concept of including extra information in the transmission solely for the purpose of comparison. This
technique is called redundancy.
34. What is VRC?
It is the most common and least expensive mechanism for Error Detection. In VRC, a parity bit is added to
every data unit so that the total number of 1s becomes even for even parity. It can detect all single-bit errors.
It can detect burst errors only if the total number of errors in each data unit is odd.
35. What is LRC?
In LRC, a block of bits is divided into rows and a redundant row of bits is added to the whole block. It can
detect burst errors. If two bits in one data unit are damaged and bits in exactly the same positions in another
data unit are also damaged, the LRC checker will not detect an error. In LRC a redundant data unit follows n
data units.
36. What is CRC?
CRC, is the most powerful of the redundancy checking techniques, is based on binary division.
37. What is Checksum?
Checksum is used by the higher layer protocols (TCP/IP) for error detection
38. List the steps involved in creating the checksum.
a. Divide the data into sections
b. Add the sections together using 1's complement arithmetic
c. Take the complement of the final sum, this is the checksum.
39. What are the Data link protocols?
Data link protocols are sets of specifications used to implement the data link layer. The categories of Data
Link protocols are
1. Asynchronous Protocols
2. Synchronous Protocols
a. Character Oriented Protocols
b. Bit Oriented protocols
40. Compare Error Detection and Error Correction:
The correction of errors is more difficult than the detection. In error detection, checks only any error has
occurred. In error correction, the exact number of bits that are corrupted and location in the message are
known. The number of the errors and the size of the message are important factors.
41. What is Forward Error Correction?
Forward error correction is the process in which the receiver tries to guess the message by using redundant
bits.
42. Define Retransmission?
Retransmission is a technique in which the receiver detects the occurrence of an error and asks the sender to
resend the message. Resending is repeated until a message arrives that the receiver believes is error-freed.
42. What are Data Words?
In block coding, we divide our message into blocks, each of k bits, called data words. The block coding
process is one-to-one. The same data word is always encoded as the same codeword.
43. What are Code Words?
"r" redundant bits are added to each block to make the length n = k + r. The resulting n-bit blocks are called
codewords. 2n - 2k codewords that are not used. These codewords are invalid or illegal.
44. What is a Linear Block Code?
A linear block code is a code in which the exclusive OR (addition modulo-2) of two valid codewords creates
another valid codeword.
45. What are Cyclic Codes?
Cyclic codes are special linear block codes with one extra property. In a cyclic code, if a codeword is
cyclically shifted (rotated), the result is another codeword.
46. Define Encoder?
A device or program that uses predefined algorithms to encode, or compress audio or video data for storage
or transmission use. A circuit that is used to convert between digital video and analog video.
47. Define Decoder?
A device or program that translates encoded data into its original format (e.g. it decodes the data). The term
is often used in reference to MPEG-2 video and sound data, which must be decoded before it is output.
48. What is framing?
Framing in the data link layer separates a message from one source to a destination, or from other messages
to other destinations, by adding a sender address and a destination address. The destination address defines
where the packet has to go and the sender address helps the recipient acknowledge the receipt.
49. What is Fixed Size Framing?
In fixed-size framing, there is no need for defining the boundaries of the frames. The size itself can be used
as a delimiter.
50. Define Character Stuffing?
In byte stuffing (or character stuffing), a special byte is added to the data section of the frame when there is a
character with the same pattern as the flag. The data section is stuffed with an extra byte. This byte is usually
called the escape character (ESC), which has a predefined bit pattern. Whenever the receiver encounters the
ESC character, it removes it from the data section and treats the next character as data, not a delimiting flag.
51. What is Bit Stuffing?
Bit stuffing is the process of adding one extra 0 whenever five consecutive Is follow a 0 in the data, so that
the receiver does not mistake the pattern 0111110 for a flag.
52. What is Flow Control?
Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data that the sender can send before
waiting for acknowledgment.
53. What is Error Control?
Error control is both error detection and error correction. It allows the receiver to inform the sender of any
frames lost or damaged in transmission and coordinates the retransmission of those frames by the sender. In
the data link layer, the term error control refers primarily to methods of error detection and retransmission.
54. What Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ)?
Error control is both error detection and error correction. It allows the receiver to inform the sender of any
frames lost or damaged in transmission and coordinates the retransmission of those frames by the sender. In
the data link layer, the term error control refers primarily to methods of error detection and retransmission.
Error control in the data link layer is often implemented simply: Any time an error is detected in an
exchange, specified frames are retransmitted. This process is called automatic repeat request (ARQ).
55. What is Stop-and-Wait Protocol?
In Stop and wait protocol, sender sends one frame, waits until it receives confirmation from the receiver
(okay to go ahead), and then sends the next frame.
56. What is Stop-and-Wait Automatic Repeat Request?
Error correction in Stop-and-Wait ARQ is done by keeping a copy of the sent frame and retransmitting of
the frame when the timer expires.
57. What is usage of Sequence Number in Relaible Transmission?
The protocol specifies that frames need to be numbered. This is done by using sequence numbers. A field is
added to the data frame to hold the sequence number of that frame. Since we want to minimize the frame
size, the smallest range that provides unambiguous communication. The sequence numbers can wrap
around.
58. What is Sliding Window?
The sliding window is an abstract concept that defines the range of sequence numbers that is the concern of
the sender and receiver. In other words, he sender and receiver need to deal with only part of the possible
sequence numbers.
59. What is Piggy Backing?
A technique called piggybacking is used to improve the efficiency of the bidirectional protocols. When a
frame is carrying data from A to B, it can also carry control information about arrived (or lost) frames from
B; when a frame is carrying data from B to A, it can also carry control information about the arrived (or lost)
frames from A.
60. What are the two types of transmission technology available?
(i) Broadcast and
(ii) Point-to-point
61. What is subnet?
A generic term for section of a large networks usually separated by a bridge or router.
62. Difference between the communication and transmission.
Transmission is a physical movement of information and concern issues like bit polarity, synchronization,
clock etc.
Communication means the meaning full exchange of information between two communication media.
63. What are the possible ways of data exchange?
(i) Simplex
(ii) Half-duplex
(iii) Full-duplex.
64. What is SAP?
Series of interface points that allow other computers to communicate with the other layers of network
protocol stack.
65. What is Brouter?
Hybrid devices that combine the features of both bridges and routers.
66. What is cladding?
A layer of a glass surrounding the center fiber of glass inside a fiber-optic cable.
67. What is point-to-point protocol?
A communications protocol used to connect computers to remote networking services including Internet
service providers.
68. How Gateway is different from Routers?
A gateway operates at the upper levels of the OSI model and translates information between two completely
different network architectures or data formats.
69. What is attenuation?
The degeneration of a signal over distance on a network cable is called attenuation.
70. What is MAC address?
The address for a device as it is identified at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer in the network
architecture. MAC address is usually stored in ROM on the network adapter card and is unique.
71. Difference between bit rate and baud rate.
Bit rate is the number of bits transmitted during one second whereas baud rate refers to the number of signal
units per second that are required to represent those bits.
baud rate = (bit rate / N)
where N is no-of-bits represented by each signal shift.
72. What is Bandwidth?
Every line has an upper limit and a lower limit on the frequency of signals it can carry. This limited range is
called the bandwidth.
73. What are the types of Transmission media?
Signals are usually transmitted over some transmission media that are broadly classified in to two categories.
a.) Guided Media: These are those that provide a conduit from one device to another that include twisted-
pair, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable. A signal traveling along any of these media is directed and is
contained by the physical limits of the medium. Twisted-pair and coaxial cable use metallic that accept and
transport signals in the form of electrical current. Optical fiber is a glass or plastic cable that accepts and
transports signals in the form of light.
b.) Unguided Media: This is the wireless media that transport electromagnetic waves without using a
physical conductor. Signals are broadcast either through air. This is done through radio communication,
satellite communication and cellular telephony.
74. What is Project 802?
It is a project started by IEEE to set standards to enable intercommunication between equipment from a
variety of manufacturers. It is a way for specifying functions of the physical layer, the data link layer and to
some extent the network layer to allow for interconnectivity of major LAN protocols.
It consists of the following:
1. 802.1 is an internetworking standard for compatibility of different LANs and MANs across
protocols.
2. 802.2 Logical link control (LLC) is the upper sublayer of the data link layer which is non-
architecture-specific, that is remains the same for all IEEE-defined LANs.
3. Media access control (MAC) is the lower sublayer of the data link layer that contains some
distinct modules each carrying proprietary information specific to the LAN product being
used.
The modules are Ethernet LAN (802.3), Token ring LAN (802.4), Token bus LAN (802.5).
. 802.6 is distributed queue dual bus (DQDB) designed to be used in MANs.
75. What is Protocol Data Unit?
The data unit in the LLC level is called the protocol data unit (PDU). The PDU contains of four fields a
destination service access point (DSAP), a source service access point (SSAP), a control field and an
information field. DSAP, SSAP are addresses used by the LLC to identify the protocol stacks on the
receiving and sending machines that are generating and using the data. The control field specifies whether
the PDU frame is a information frame (I - frame) or a supervisory frame (S - frame) or a unnumbered frame
(U - frame).
76. What is the different type of networking / internetworking devices?
1. Repeater: Also called a regenerator, it is an electronic device that operates only at physical layer. It
receives the signal in the network before it becomes weak, regenerates the original bit pattern and puts the
refreshed copy back in to the link.
2. Bridges: These operate both in the physical and data link layers of LANs of same type. They divide a
larger network in to smaller segments. They contain logic that allow them to keep the traffic for each
segment separate and thus are repeaters that relay a frame only the side of the segment containing the
intended recipent and control congestion.
3. Routers: They relay packets among multiple interconnected networks (i.e. LANs of different type).
They operate in the physical, data link and network layers. They contain software that enable them to
determine which of the several possible paths is the best for a particular transmission.
4. Gateways: They relay packets among networks that have different protocols (e.g. between a LAN and a
WAN). They accept a packet formatted for one protocol and convert it to a packet formatted for another
protocol before forwarding it. They operate in all seven layers of the OSI model.
77. What is ICMP?
ICMP is Internet Control Message Protocol, a network layer protocol of the TCP/IP suite used by hosts and
gateways to send notification of datagram problems back to the sender. It uses the echo test / reply to test
whether a destination is reachable and responding. It also handles both control and error messages.
78. What are the data units at different layers of the TCP / IP protocol suite?
The data unit created at the application layer is called a message, at the transport layer the data unit created
is called either a segment or an user datagram, at the network layer the data unit created is called the
datagram, at the data link layer the datagram is encapsulated in to a frame and finally transmitted as signals
along the transmission media.
79. What is difference between ARP and RARP?
The address resolution protocol (ARP) is used to associate the 32 bit IP address with the 48 bit physical
address, used by a host or a router to find the physical address of another host on its network by sending a
ARP query packet that includes the IP address of the receiver.
The reverse address resolution protocol (RARP) allows a host to discover its Internet address when it knows
only its physical address.
80. What is the minimum and maximum length of the header in the TCP segment and IP datagram?
The header should have a minimum length of 20 bytes and can have a maximum length of 60 bytes.
81. What is the range of addresses in the classes of internet addresses?
Class A - 0.0.0.0 - 127.255.255.255
Class B - 128.0.0.0 - 191.255.255.255
Class C - 192.0.0.0 - 223.255.255.255
Class D - 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255
Class E - 240.0.0.0 - 247.255.255.255
82. What is the difference between TFTP and FTP application layer protocols?
The Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) allows a local host to obtain files from a remote host but does not
provide reliability or security. It uses the fundamental packet delivery services offered by UDP.
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the standard mechanism provided by TCP / IP for copying a file from
one host to another. It uses the services offer by TCP and so is reliable and secure. It establishes two
connections (virtual circuits) between the hosts, one for data transfer and another for control information.
104. What are major types of networks and explain?
1. Server-based network: provide centralized control of network resources and rely on server computers
to provide security and network administration
2. Peer-to-peer network: computers can act as both servers sharing resources and as clients using the
resources.
83. What are the important topologies for networks?
1. BUS topology: In this each computer is directly connected to primary network cable in a single line.
Advantages: Inexpensive, easy to install, simple to understand, easy to extend.
2. STAR topology: In this all computers are connected using a central hub.
Advantages: Can be inexpensive, easy to install and reconfigure and easy to trouble shoot physical
problems.
3. RING topology: In this all computers are connected in loop. Advantages: All computers have equal
access to network media, installation can be simple, and signal does not degrade as much as in other
topologies because each computer regenerates it.
84. What is mesh network?
A network in which there are multiple network links between computers to provide multiple paths for data
to travel.
85. What is difference between baseband and broadband transmission?
In a baseband transmission, the entire bandwidth of the cable is consumed by a single signal. In broadband
transmission, signals are sent on multiple frequencies, allowing multiple signals to be sent simultaneously.
86. Explain 5-4-3 rule?
In a Ethernet network, between any two points on the network ,there can be no more than five network
Segments or four repeaters, and of those five segments only three of segments can be populated.
87. What MAU?
In token Ring, hub is called Multistation Access Unit (MAU).
88. What is the difference between routable and non- routable protocols?
Routable protocols can work with a router and can be used to build large networks. Non-Routable protocols
are designed to work on small, local networks and cannot be used with a router.
89. Why should you care about the OSI Reference Model?
It provides a framework for discussing network operations and design.
90. What is logical link control?
One of two sublayers of the data link layer of OSI reference model, as defined by the IEEE 802 standard.
This sublayer is responsible for maintaining the link between computers when they are sending data across
the physical network connection.
91. What is virtual channel?
Virtual channel is normally a connection from one source to one destination, although multicast connections
are also permitted. The other name for virtual channel is virtual circuit.
92. What is virtual path?
Along any transmission path from a given source to a given destination, a group of virtual circuits can be
grouped together into what is called path.
93. What is packet filter?
Packet filter is a standard router equipped with some extra functionality. The extra functionality allows
every incoming or outgoing packet to be inspected. Packets meeting some criterion are forwarded normally.
Those that fail the test are dropped.
94. What is multicast routing?
Sending a message to a group is called multicasting, and its routing algorithm is called multicast routing.
95. Expand IDEA.
IDEA stands for International Data Encryption Algorithm.
96. What is IGP (Interior Gateway Protocol)?
It is any routing protocol used within an autonomous system.
97. What is EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol)?
It is the protocol the routers in neighboring autonomous systems use to identify the set of networks that can
be reached within or via each autonomous system.
98. What is autonomous system?
It is a collection of routers under the control of a single administrative authority and that uses a common
Interior Gateway Protocol.
99. What is BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?
It is a protocol used to advertise the set of networks that can be reached with in an autonomous system. BGP
enables this information to be shared with the autonomous system. This is newer than EGP (Exterior
Gateway Protocol).
100. What is Gateway-to-Gateway protocol?
It is a protocol formerly used to exchange routing information between Internet core routers.
101. What is NVT (Network Virtual Terminal)?
It is a set of rules defining a very simple virtual terminal interaction. The NVT is used in the start of a Telnet
session.