CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY COMPUTING 9: UNIT 3 WORKSHEET ANSWERS

Unit 3 Worksheet answers

Worksheet 3.1A: Network topologies
Task 1
Topology A – Ring topology
Topology B – Bus topology
Topology C – Star topology

Task 2
Advantage/disadvantage Ring () Bus () Star ()

When the central cable breaks, one segment


of the network is affected.

When one computer breaks, it does not

affect the operation of the other computers.  

The network can be managed from 

a central location.

When the central device breaks, the entire 

network will be down.

As the number of devices connected

increases, the network becomes slower.   

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Worksheet 3.1B: Network topologies

Task 1
Star topology Bus topology

Ring topology Hybrid topology

(Note: Hybrid topology can also be formed between star and ring as well as bus and ring topologies.)

Task 2
a Advantages of a ring topology include:
• It saves on cost as there is no need for a central device like in star topology.
• It is relatively easy to add a new device.
• A ring topology uses fewer cables compared to a star topology.
• There is less chance of packet collisions since data packets are sent in one direction.
Disadvantages of ring topology include:
• If the ring cable breaks, the whole network is affected.
• If a device is switched off or does not work, the network will not work.
• If too many devices are connected, the data transmission process may slow down.

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 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY COMPUTING 9: UNIT 3 WORKSHEET ANSWERS

b Examples of how a star topology is better than a bus topology:

• A star topology can allow the network administrator to add more computers with minimal
degradation; in contrast, network degradation is noticeable in a bus topology as the number
of devices increases.
• In a star topology, the network can be managed from a central location, while in a bus,
it cannot.
• Failure of any cable connecting the devices in a star topology does not affect the rest of the
network; in contrast, if the backbone cable breaks in a bus topology, the network beyond
the backbone is affected.

c A hybrid topology is flexible. The user can experience the benefits of two or more topologies at
the same time.

Task 3
• A bridge is used to connect two LAN segments.
• Each segment is treated as if it were a separate network with its own set of MAC addresses.
• When a computer sends a message to another computer, the message is first sent to the bridge.
• The bridge checks the destination MAC address to determine which segment of the LAN the
message is supposed to go to.
• This way, only one LAN segment receives a message, improving network performance.

Worksheet 3.2A: Data transmission

Task 1
a A protocol is a set of rules that allow devices to communicate.
b Transmission control protocol.
c Internet protocol.
d Hypertext transfer protocol.

Task 2
• TCP/IP transfers data packets around the internet to the destination computers.
• TCP breaks data into packets.
• IP is used for addressing, for determining the source and destination addresses.
• TCP/IP is responsible for how devices communicate/exchange data over the internet.

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 CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY COMPUTING 9: UNIT 3 WORKSHEET ANSWERS

Task 3
• Potential number of users.
• Network bandwidth.
• Hardware compatibility.
• Cost of extra hardware as the number of users increases.

Worksheet 3.2B: Data transmission

Task 1
A router is a network device that connects different networks, such as LAN to WAN. It is
responsible for sending data to the correct network. To do this, it checks for the sender and receiver
IP addresses in the packet header. TCP/IP is responsible for breaking a message into packets, which
can then be sent to another computer. Data is less secure when sent using HTTP because it is sent as
plain text. A more secure protocol to use is HTTPS.

Task 2

Worksheet 3.3A: Parity checks

Task 1
a In even parity, the total number of 1s in the byte is even, while in odd parity check
the number of 1s is odd.
b Using odd parity check:

Received byte Passes () Fails ()

10001100 

11101111 

01010101 

10110101 

11111111 

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c Parity bits cannot detect when two or more bits have been swapped during transmission.

Task 2
a Column 6 is corrupted.
b Byte 5 is corrupted.
c The intersection of the corrupted row (Byte 5) and the corrupted column (Column 6) shows us
which bit is corrupt.

d Parity bit Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Column 6 Column 7

Byte 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1

Byte 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1

Byte 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0

Byte 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0

Byte 5 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1

Parity byte 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0

Worksheet 3.3B: Parity checks

Task 1
a Transmitted byte Received byte Passes () Fails ()

11101001 11001001 

10101010 10101000 

11101110 01101111 

10101101 10101101 

00111001 01011100 

b Parity checks only determine whether the number of 1s in a byte is even or odd and do not check
whether bits have been swapped.
c Parity block.

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Task 2
a Column 3.
b Byte 5.
c The intersection of column 3 and byte 5.

d Parity bit Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5 Column 6 Column 7

Byte 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1

Byte 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1

Byte 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0

Byte 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0

Byte 5 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1

Parity byte 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0

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