COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF EEE
(NYARUGENGE Campus)

END OF SEMESTER EXAMINATION MARKING SCHEME -ACADEMIC YEAR

2016/2017

YEAR: 4 SEMESTER: I GROUP: ETE

MODULE: ETE3325 – COMPUTER NETWORK

DATE: /01 /2017 TIME: 2hours

MAXIMUM MARKS = 50

INSTRUCTIONS

1. This paper contains FOUR (8) questions.

2. Answer THREE (3) Questions only:
3. Choose one question from Section “A” and Answer any TWO (2) from Section “B”
4. No written materials allowed.
5. Do not forget to write your Registration Number.
6. Write all your answers in the booklet provided
7. Do not write any answers on this questions paper.
8. Start each question in a NEW page

SECTION A

Question 1 (20 Marks)

a) Define the following terms as applied to computer networks (4 Marks)
b)
i) Address (1 mark)
 A network address is any logical or physical address that uniquely
distinguishes a network node or device over a computer or
telecommunications network. It is a numeric/symbolic number or address that
is assigned to any device that seeks access to or is part of a network.

ii) Subnet (1 mark)

A sub-network or subnet is a logical subdivision of an IP network. The

practice of dividing a network into two or more networks is called sub-netting.
Computers that belong to a subnet are addressed with a common, identical,
most-significant bit-group in their IP address.

iii) Subnet mask (1 mark)

A subnet mask is a screen of numbers used for routing traffic within a subnet.
Once a packet has arrived at an organization's gateway or connection point
with its unique network number, it can be routed to its destination within the
organization's internal gateways using the subnet number.

iv) Interface (1 mark)

A network interface is the point of interconnection between a computer and a

private or public network. A network interface is generally a network interface
card (NIC), but does not have to have a physical form. Instead, the network
interface can be implemented in software.

ii) Differentiate between Synchronous Time Division Multiple Access and Asynchronous
Time Division Multiple Access. (4 Marks)

Time-division multiplexing is a technique/process that allows a link to be ‘sectioned’

in time slots, so different signals can be transmitted almost simultaneously using the
same link. Each transmission uses the channel for a limited (and fixed) period of time
(the time slot) (1 mark)

In synchronous TDM, all party’s clocks need to be aligned with some reference
clock, which could be provided by one of the involved systems.

(1.5 marks)

In asynchronous TDM, the timeslots are not fixed. They are assigned dynamically as
needed. (1.5 marks)

b) Topology of a network is a geometric representation of the relationship of all the links and
the linking devices to one another.
 i) Draw diagrams to show bus topology and star topology. Compare the security issue
for the two topologies (4 Marks)

(1 mark)

Bus networks use a common backbone to connect all devices. A single cable, the backbone
functions as a shared communication medium that devices attach or tap into with an interface
connector. A device wanting to communicate with another device on the network sends
a broadcast message onto the wire that all other devices see, but only the intended recipient
actually accepts and processes the message. However, bus networks work best with a limited
number of devices. If more than a few dozen computers are added to a network bus,
performance problems will likely result. In addition, if the backbone cable fails, the entire
network effectively becomes unusable. (1 mark)

(1 mark)

A star network features a central connection point called a "hub node" that may be a network
hub, switch or router. Devices typically connect to the hub with Unshielded Twisted Pair
(UTP) Ethernet. Compared to the bus topology, a star network generally requires more cable,
but a failure in any star network cable will only take down one computer's network access
and not the entire LAN. (If the hub fails, however, the entire network also fails.). ( 1 mark)

ii) Calculate the number of Unshielded Twisted Pair cables required to connect five
Hosts in the Mesh network topology
(2 Marks)
c) The passage of a message from a source to destination involves many decisions. Also,
when a message reaches a connecting device, a decision needs to be made to select
one of the output ports through which the packet needs to be sent out.
i) Differentiate between circuit switching and packet switching (3 Marks)
In circuit switching, the whole message is sent from the source to the destination
without being divided into packets while in packet switching, the message is first
 divided into manageable packets at the source before being transmitted.
The packets are assembled at the destination.

ii) Discuss the forwarding process in connectionless and connection-oriented

network. ( 3 Marks)
In a connectionless packet-switched network, the forwarding decision is based on
the destination address of the packet. Packet will travel trough different links and
out of order. The total delay involves transmission time and waiting time between
the nodes
In a connection-oriented packet-switched network, the forwarding decision is
based on the label of the packet. The virtual circuit is created between the sender
and the receiver. Packets travel in orderly manner through the links. The total
delay involves the set up, teardown time and transmission time.

Question 2 (20 Marks)

a) Answer the statement i, ii, iii, iv, v by true or false.

i) True (1.5 marks)

ii) True (1.5 marks)
iii) False (1.5 marks)
iv) False (1.5 marks)
v) True (1.5 marks)
vi) IPv4 has 32 bits header length, IPv6 has 128 bits header length (1.5 marks)

c)

Name each datagram at each of the OSI layers

Layer Name datagram

7 Application Data

6 Presentation Data

5 Session Data

4 Transport Segments

3 Network Packets,
Datagrams
 2 Data Link Frames

1 Physical Bits

(5 marks)
c) Routing protocols are used by the router to build and maintain a routing table, this tables
contains learned networks and associated ports for those networks, therefore the router
choose the best way that reaches the destination.

Examples: IGRP, RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, …

Routed protocols are used by Router to forward packet from source to destination, they use
destination IP address to make routing decisions.

Examples: IP, IPX

(3 marks)
d) Link state: algorithm that is used by routing protocol, which maintains a complex database
of topology information of the whole network.
Example: OSPF, EIGRP, ..

Distance vector: An algorithm that is used by routing protocol, it call for each router to send
its entire routing table to each of adjacent neighbors.
Example: BGP (border gateway protocol), IGRP, RIP, EIGRP…
(3 marks)
 SECTION B

Question 3

a) Explain what you understand by the term CSMA/CD as applied to Ethernet.(2

marks)

Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detect (CSMA/CD) is the protocol for

carrier transmission access in Ethernet networks. On Ethernet, any device can try to
send a frame at any time. Each device senses whether the line is idle and therefore
available to be used. If it is, the device begins to transmit its first frame. If another
device has tried to send at the same time, a collision is said to occur and the frames
are discarded. Each device then waits a random amount of time and retries until
successful in getting its transmission sent. (2 marks)

b) Identify the functions of the following network components in the network:

Repeater, Hub, Bridge, Switch and Router (1x5 Marks)

Network components and their functions

i) Repeater (1 Mark)
- Extends distances by repeating a signal
- Any slight variations in the carrier wave for individual bits is corrected when the
carrier wave is reproduced

ii) Hub (1 Mark)

- Re-creates the carrier wave on multiple ports
- Hubs do not decide whether or not to copy data, they do it (necessary or unnecessary)
- All ports are part of the same collision domain
iii) Bridge (1 Mark)
- Allows different types of network to be joined, since they need not share an
address type (layer 2)
- Cannot handle multiple paths effectively/efficiently: a host is either on a given
port or it is not
iv) Switch (1 Mark)
- Serves the same purpose as a hub (Layer 2)
- Dynamically determine if a frame should be placed on a port (and which one)
- Determine a path for packets (layer 3)
v) Router (1 Mark)
- Determines routes for each packet using network layer addresses (e.g. IP)
- Can connect any type of network together
- Is capable of determining preferred paths where multiple paths exist
-
C) Given the Class C network IP of 204.15.5.0/24, subnet the network in order to create
the sub networks as specified in the figure below. Assign hosts to the subnets, comment
on the subnet mask of the subnets and state the important of the subnet mask. (8
Marks)
 - There are 5 subnets, the number of host bits to be borrowed = 3 (0.5 Mark)
- Total number of subnets for the 3 bits is 23 = 8 subnets (1 Mark)
- The number of hosts supported per subnet is 2n = 25=32 (1 Mark)
- The usable hosts per subnet is given by = 25 – 2 = 30 hosts (1 Mark)

Subnet works assignment :( 0.5 x 5 marks)

Net A: 204.15.5.0/27 host address range 1 to 30

Net B: 204.15.5.32/27 host address range 33 to 60

Net C: 204.15.5.64/27 host address range 65 to 66

Net D: 204.15.5.96/27 host address range 97 to 126

Net E: 204.15.5.128/27 host address range 129 to 156

- Comment on subnet mask ( 1 Marks)
The same subnet mask was applied for all the subnets. This means that each subnet
has the same number of available host addresses

- Subnet Mask: Used to identify the network address and host address (1 Mark)
Question 4 (15 Marks)
a) i, The address 205.16.37.32 is eligible because 32 is divisible by 16. The address
17.17.33.80 is eligible because 80 is divisible by 16.
(5 marks)
b) The number of 1s in the default mask is 24 (class C).
The company needs six subnets. This number 6 is not a power of 2. The next number that is a
power of 2 is 8 (23). We need 3 more 1s in the subnet mask. The total number of 1s in the
subnet mask is 27 (24 + 3).
The total number of 0s is 5 (32 - 27). The mask is
255.255.255.224
The number of subnets is 8.
The number of addresses in each subnet is 25 (5 is the number of 0s) or 32.

Subnet 1: 201.70.64.0 ………………..201.70.64.31

Subnet 2: 201.70.64.32 ………………..201.70.64.63
…..
Subnet 8: 201.70.64.224 ………………..201.70.64.255
(5 marks)

c)
1. c,d,e,f (2.5 marks)

2. Subnets: 2^5=32
Users: 2^11=2048
Ranges:

Subnet1: 180.1.0.0------180.1.7.255
Subnet2: 180.1.8.0------180.1.15.255
Subnet3: 180.1.16.0------180.1.23.255
Subnet4: 180.1.24.0------180.1.31.255
Subnet5: 180.1.32.0------180.1.39.255
Subnet6: 180.1.40.0------180.1.47.255
…..
Subnet32: 180.1.248.0 -----180.1.255.255 (2.5 marks)
 Question 5

a) Draw the TCP/IP reference model and clearly state the functions of each layer.
Indicate the protocols working at the application layer, Transport layer and the
network layer (8 Marks)

Figure 1 shows the TCP/IP reference model (2 Marks)

Figure 1: TCP/IP reference model

Figure 2 below shows the protocols and networks in the TCP/IP (3 Marks)

Figure 2: Protocols and networks in the TCP/IP model initially

Functions of the TCP/IP layers (4 Marks)

The Internet Layer (1 Mark)

Its job is to permit hosts to inject packets into any network and have them travel
independently to the destination (potentially on a different network). They may even arrive in
a different order than they were sent, in which case it is the job of higher layers to rearrange
them, if in-order delivery is desired. Note that ''internet'' is used here in a generic sense, even
though this layer is present in the Internet.

The internet layer defines an official packet format and protocol called IP (Internet Protocol).
The job of the internet layer is to deliver IP packets where they are supposed to go. Packet
routing is clearly the major issue here, as is avoiding congestion. For these reasons, it is
reasonable to say that the TCP/IP internet layer is similar in functionality to the OSI network
layer.

The Transport Layer (1 Mark)

The layer above the internet layer in the TCP/IP model is now usually called the transport
layer. It is designed to allow peer entities on the source and destination hosts to carry on a
conversation, just as in the OSI transport layer. Two end-to-end transport protocols have
been defined here.

The first one, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), is a reliable connection-oriented

protocol that allows a byte stream originating on one machine to be delivered without error
on any other machine in the internet. It fragments the incoming byte stream into discrete
messages and passes each one on to the internet layer.

At the destination, the receiving TCP process reassembles the received messages into the
output stream. TCP also handles flow control to make sure a fast sender cannot swamp a
slow receiver with more messages than it can handle.

The second protocol in this layer, UDP (User Datagram Protocol), is an unreliable,
connectionless protocol for applications that do not want TCP's sequencing or flow control
and wish to provide their own. It is also widely used for one-shot, client-server-type request-
reply queries and applications in which prompt delivery is more important than accurate
delivery, such as transmitting speech or video. The relation of IP, TCP, and UDP is shown in
Fig 2. Since the model was developed, IP has been implemented on many other networks.

The Application Layer (1 Mark)

The TCP/IP model does not have session or presentation layers. No need for them was
perceived, so they were not included. Experience with the OSI model has proven this view
correct: they are of little use to most applications.

On top of the transport layer is the application layer. It contains all the higher-level protocols.
The early ones included virtual terminal (TELNET), file transfer (FTP), and electronic mail
(SMTP).

The virtual terminal protocol allows a user on one machine to log onto a distant machine and
work there. The file transfer protocol provides a way to move data efficiently from one
machine to another. Electronic mail was originally just a kind of file transfer, but later a
specialized protocol (SMTP) was developed for it. Many other protocols have been added to
these over the years: the Domain Name System (DNS) for mapping host names onto their
network addresses, NNTP, the protocol for moving USENET news articles around, and
HTTP, the protocol for fetching pages on the World Wide Web, and many others.

The Host-to-Network Layer (1 Mark)

The lowest layer in the model, the Host-to-Network describes what links such as serial lines
and classic Ethernet must do to meet the needs of this connectionless internet layer.
 b) If the codeword at the receiver is 1000110, use the CRC error detection method to
determine the status of the received code given that the sender and receiver divisor is
1011. Comment on your answer.

Received codeword: 1001110 (1 Marks)

Divisor: 1011

- Comment: Syndrome is equal to zero. The codeword is accepted and therefore

the data word used. (1 Marks)

c) Describe briefly the twisted pair and coaxial cables used as physical layer in
computer networks (4 Marks)

- Twisted Pairs (2 Marks)

For many applications an online connection is needed. One of the oldest and still most
common transmission media is twisted pair.

A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires, typically about 1 mm thick. The wires
are twisted together in a helical form, just like a DNA molecule. Twisting is done because
two parallel wires constitute a fine antenna. When the wires are twisted, the waves from
different twists cancel out, so the wire radiates less effectively. A signal is usually carried as
the difference in voltage between the two wires in the pair. This provides better immunity to
external noise because the noise tends to affect both wires the same, leaving the differential
unchanged
The most common application of the twisted pair is the telephone system. Nearly all
telephones are connected to the telephone company (telco) office by a twisted pair. Both
telephone calls and ADSL Internet access run over these lines.

Figure 2 shows the Category 5 UTP cable with four twisted pairs.

Figure 2: Category 5 UTP cable with four twisted pairs

- Coaxial Cable (2 Marks)

Another common transmission medium is the coaxial cable (known to its many friends as
just ‘‘coax’’ and pronounced ‘‘co-ax’’). It has better shielding and greater bandwidth than
unshielded twisted pairs, so it can span longer distances at higher speeds. Two kinds of
coaxial cable are widely used.

One kind, 50-ohm cable, is commonly used when it is intended for digital transmission from
the start. The other kind, 75-ohm cable, is commonly used for analog transmission and cable
television. This distinction is based on historical, rather than technical, factors (e.g., early
dipole antennas had an impedance of 300 ohms, and it was easy to use existing 4:1
impedance-matching transformers). Starting in the mid-1990s, cable TV operators began to
provide Internet access over cable, which has made 75-ohm cable more important for data
communication.

A coaxial cable consists of a stiff copper wire as the core, surrounded by an insulating
material. The insulator is encased by a cylindrical conductor, often as a closely woven
braided mesh. The outer conductor is covered in a protective plastic sheath. A cutaway view
of a coaxial cable is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: A coaxial cable

The construction and shielding of the coaxial cable give it a good combination of high
bandwidth and excellent noise immunity. The bandwidth possible depends on the cable
quality and length. Modern cables have a bandwidth of up to a few GHz. Coaxial cables used
to be widely used within the telephone system for long-distance lines but have now largely
been replaced by fiber optics on longhaul routes. However, Coax is still widely used for
cable television and metropolitan area networks.
Question 6 (15 Marks)
a) A company needs 600 addresses.
Which of the following set of class C blocks can be used to form a supernetwork for this
company?

Answer: iv.
Explanation
i. No, there are only three blocks.
ii. No, the blocks are not contiguous.
iii. No, 31 in the first block is not divisible by 4.
iv. Yes, all three requirements are fulfilled.
(5 marks)

b)
i) 167.88.99.65------------- 167.88.99.126 (5 marks)
ii) 62 assignable addresses (5 marks)

Question 7

a) Explain the difference between TCP and UDP ( 3 Marks)

Given the address for devices A and B below, show that device A and B are on the
same subnet-work. (3 marks)
DeviceA: 172.16.17.30/20
DeviceB: 172.16.28.15/20

Determining the Subnet for DeviceA:

172.16.17.30 − 10101100.00010000.00010001.00011110
255.255.240.0 − 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−| sub|−−−−−−−−−−−−
subnet = 10101100.00010000.00010000.00000000 = 172.16.16.0 (1 mark)
Looking at the address bits that have a corresponding mask bit set to one, and setting
all the other address bits to zero (this is equivalent to performing a logical "AND"
between the mask and address), shows you to which subnet this address belongs.
In this case, Device A belongs to subnet 172.16.16.0. (0.5 mark)

Determining the Subnet for DeviceB:

172.16.28.15 − 10101100.00010000.00011100.00001111
255.255.240.0 − 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−| sub|−−−−−−−−−−−−
subnet = 10101100.00010000.00010000.00000000 = 172.16.16.0 (1 mark)
 From these determinations, DeviceA and DeviceB have addresses that are part of the
same subnet. (0.5 mark)

b) Determine the number of hosts that are available with a Class C /29 mask
(2 Marks)

C/29 is 255.255.255.248, which means that there are 5 subnet bits and 3 host bits.
This is only 6 (23−2) hosts per subnet.
c) For a Hamming (7,4) code that uses the following check bit rules
(10 Marks)
C1 = k1+ k2 + k4
C2= k1+ k3+k4
C3= k2 + k3 +k4
i) Construct the Generator Matrix for the code set
ii) Construct the Check Matrix for the code set
iii) Using the Check Matrix decode the following received codeword<1110111>
iv) Comment on the content of the syndrome
v) Locate the bit position for error correction if any

i) The complete Hamming code (2 Marks)

ii) Generator Matrix for the code set (2 Marks)

iii) The transpose of Generator matrix gives the check matrix (2 Marks)

iv) The encoded form of the dataword<1010> (2 Marks)

v) Decoding the received codeword<1000110> (2 Marks)

Question 8 (15 Marks)

a) Name the following interfaces: (5 marks)

A : DB9
B : Console
C : Ethernet
D : Serial
E : Ethernet

b) During the visit of the data center at UR/huye, the following terms has been discussed:
what do those terms mean in the network:

i) Heart beat run mode: In order to avoid single point of failure, the network is
configured such that a packet that indicate the status of nodes is sent between
nodes. Heartbeats are used to monitor the health of the nodes, networks and
network interfaces, and to prevent network partitioning. If a node is not alive,
its backup nodes takes over immediately. (2 marks)

ii) Layer 3 switch: it is a specialized hardware device used in network routing.

Layer 3 switches technically share much in common with traditional routers.
Both can support the routing protocols. Both inspect incoming packets and
make dynamic routing decisions based on the source and destination addresses
inside. Layer 3 switches were conceived as a technology to improve network
routing performance on large local area network like intranets. (2 marks)

iii) Backbone network: it is a part of computer network that interconnects

various pieces of network, providing a path for the exchange of information
between different LANs or subnetworks. (2 marks)
iv) Uplink: refer to data path that a user or a station sent out towards the internet.
This action to push this data is referred as uploading. (2 marks)

v) Downlink: refer to data path which is sent out or downwards from a higher
level like internet or portion of a network towards a station or a user, the
action to get data to local device is called downloading this an inverse of
uploading.
(2 marks)

Good luck!