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1. Which layer is immediately below the data link layer?

a. Physical
b. Network
c. Transport
d. Application
2. What does flow control determine?
a. When a device can transmit
b. Whether a device is connection oriented or connectionless
c. Both a and b
d. Neither a nor b
3. Converting data into signals by transforming and encoding the information to produce electromagnetic
signals is the functionality of a ___________.
a. source
b. transmitter
c. receiver
d. destination
4. Which of the following describes stop-and-wait flow control?
a. It is simple
b. It is complex
c. It is best with small frames
d. It is best over long distances
5. What must a sender do before a receivers sliding windows buffer can expand?
a. Send an acknowledgment
b. Receive an acknowledgment
c. Either a or b
d. Neither a nor b
6. Controlled access line discipline is used with which type of circuit?
a. Point-to-point
b. Multipoint
c. Either a or b
d. Neither a nor b
7. Which of the following is the simplest error-detection method?
a. Parity
b. Longitudinal redundancy checking
c. Checksum checking
d. Cyclic redundancy checking
8. Which type of error detection uses binary division?
a. Parity
b. Longitudinal redundancy checking
c. Checksum checking
d. Cyclic redundancy checking
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9. Which of the following is also called forward error correction?


a. Simplex
b. Retransmission
c. Detection-error coding
d. Error-correction coding
10. The solution to the problem of scalability of the Internet is to break the network down into manageable
parts, or domains each called ____________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

router
autonomous system
interface
bridge

11. For a CSMA/CD network, twice the propagation time between the two most distant stations is called
_________________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

slot time
transfer time
round trip delay time
both a and c

12. When a network interface has a failure in its circuitry, it sends a continuous stream of frames causing
the Ethernet LAN to enter a Collapse state. This condition is known as __________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

scattering
blocking
jabbering
refreshing

13. The IEEE 802.3 specification divides the data link layer into two sub-layers: the Logical link control sublayer and the medium access control sub-layer. An example of one implementation of medium access
control is _______________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

TCP protocol
CSMA/CD protocol
IP protocol
UDP protocol

14. In an object-oriented model, when different classes have operations with the same name but different
implementation, they are having the property of ___________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

inheritance
association
polymorphism
aggregation

15. Telnet, FTP, SMTP, DNS, HTTP are examples of protocols that are used in ____________________.
a.application layer of OSI reference model
b.presentation layer of OSI reference model
c. session layer of OSI reference model
d.data link layer of OSI reference model
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16. Session control, file and printer are three categories of messages which pass requests and
acknowledgements in a client-server platform. They are used by __________________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

TCP/IP protocol
Ethernet protocol
CSMA/CD protocol
SMB protocol

17. ____________________ is a technique which transforms an analogue telephone circuit into a digital
signal, and involves three consecutive processes: sampling, quantization and encoding.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Frequency Modulation (FM)


Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
Amplitude Modulation (AM)
Phase Modulation (PM)

18. The frame alignment word is a sequence of bits that allows the start of each STM-1 frame to be clearly
identified within SDH network. It is contained within _________________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Regenerator section overhead


Multiplex section overhead
Synchronous section overhead
Sequence section overhead

19. The Star arrangement in the figure below shows how it is used to distribute the timing source within a
telecommunication station in SDH network. This is an example of ___________________.

a.

Intra-

station synchronization
b. Inter-station synchronization
c. Ultra-station synchronization
d. Multi-station synchronization

20. ____________ is the standard defined by the American National Standard Authority, ANSI T1 for
synchronous operation used in North America.
a.
b.
c.
d.

DXC
STM-1
ADM
SONET
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21. The failure density function, f(t) is used to give the probability of failure during an interval of time. It is
known as ______________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Probability density distribution


Cumulative probability distribution
Cumulative density distribution
Failure probability distribution

22. _______________ is one of the Telecommunication management network (TMN) functional blocks that
will convert TMN information into a format that can be easily understood by the user.
a.
b.
c.
d.
23.

Operations system function block


Workstation function block
Reference function block
Network element function block

In Telecommunication management Network (TMN) system, the role of the manager is to issue
commands and requests to the agent. These commands and requests are known as
________________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

notifications
feedbacks
operations
acknowledgements

24. The sequence of the binary digits representing the outcomes of parity checks in Hamming codes is
known as _________________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

look-up entry
Hamming distance
radix
syndrome

25. Rather than sending the absolute value of each sample, it is possible to achieve a smaller transmission
bit-rate by sending the difference between consecutive samples. This is known as _______________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

delta modulation
deltasigma modulation
adaptive delta modulation
differential PCM

26. The electron beam in the cathode ray tube (CRT) inside the TV set is made to scan the whole visible
surface of the screen in a zigzag pattern. This is known as ____________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

raster
picture line
frame
broadcast

27. The figure below shows an example of a modulation system used in digital communication. What is that
modulation system?

a.
b.
c.
d.

PCM Modulation.
Delta Modulation.
Sigma Modulation.
Differential Modulation.

28. One of the compression techniques in communication uses the fact that in most pictures, there is
considerable correlation between neighboring areas that is a high degree of redundancy in the data to
compress. This type of compression is known as _____________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

temporal compression
dynamic compression
spatial compression
random compression

29. Reversible or lossless coding is a type of coding for which the exact data can be recovered after
decoding. This type of coding is used by _________________.
a.
b.
c.
d.

PCM encoding
Huffman encoding
Run-length encoding
Both b and c

30. The error represented by the difference between the original and quantized signals set a fundamental
limitation to the performance of PCM systems known as __________________.
a. dynamic range
b. quantization noise
c. detection-error
d. correction-error

Part II: Short essay questions (20 marks)


5

This part consists of 12 questions carrying a WEIGHT OF 2.5 marks each. You must
answer only 8 (any) of the following questions by using the space provided below
(Suggested Time about 45 minutes).
31. Discuss the reason for the 9.6 s inter-frame gap of network interface card in CSMA/CD.
The reason for the 9.6 s inter-frame gap is to allow the station that last transmitted to cycle its circuitry
from transmit mode to receive mode. Without the inter-frame gap, such a station might miss a fame that
was destined for it because it had not yet cycled back into receive mode.
32. Compare between a Hub and a Switch.

Hub
Operates at Layer 1
The transmission medium is shared
Collisions could happen

Switch
Operates at Layer 2
The transmission medium is dedicated
No collisions

33. What is the function of the following devices?


- Repeater
- The repeater regenerates the signal in order

to reach longer distances. It operates at Layer 1

of the OSI model.


-

Bridge

The bridge is a device that connects two different or similar LANs and it operates at Layer
2 of the OSI model. The bridge is used to increase the network performance by avoiding
collisions happened in one LAN to affect (propagate) the other LAN.

34. Define briefly the expression Nyquist rate.

The minimum sampling rate, which according to the sampling theorem is


twice the bandwidth, is known as the Nyquist rate.
35. Compare between TCP and UDP.

TCP
Connection Oriented Protocol
Suitable for delay insensitive date such as
email and file transfer
Suitable for non-reliable networks
Packets arrive in order

UDP
Connection Less Protocol
Suitable for delay sensitive date such as
real time audio and video
Suitable for reliable networks
Packets may arrive out of order

36. List the four components that are needed by the network operating system software in order to change
a stand-alone PC to a networked PC.
The Redirector, Server message block, NetBIOS, TCP/IP protocol stack
37. What are the basic four functional units of an SDH network?
-

Multiplexer
Regenerator
Add/Drop Multiplexer (ADM)
Digital Cross Connect (DXC)

38. Plots of hazard rate against time often take the form of a bath-tub curve. Illustrate with diagram.
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39. List the five management functions of TMN.


- Planning Management
- Configuration Management
- Accounting Management
- Performance Management
- Security Management
40. List functional blocks used in TMN.
- Network Element Function (NEF)
- WorkStation Function (WSF)
- Operations System Function (OSF)
- Q Adapter Function (QAF)
- Mediation Function (MF)
41. Briefly define the following terms:
- A state transition diagram represents states by symbols and transitions by directed lines.
- A class is a collection of same type objects. For example, a model of a graphical user interface will
contain several different window objects.
- Different classes have operations with the same name but in another way is called polymorphism.
For example, a system may need scaleable windows whose contents shrink or grow when the
window is resized. The Scaleable window class would be a subclass of the Window class but the
resize operation for the scaleable window would have different implementation.
42. State the four categories of message which SMB peer-to-peer protocol defines for passing requests
and acknowledgements.
o session control
o file
o printer
o message.

Part III: Numerical problems (36 marks)


This part consists of 10 questions carrying a WEIGHT of 6 marks each. You must answer
only 6 (any) of the following questions by using the space provided below (Suggested
Time about 60 minutes).
43. What is the minimum frame size necessary to ensure the correct operation of the CSMA/CD protocol at
a bit-rate of 1500 Mbit/s in a star topology with a maximum segment length of 200 m and two
repeaters?
Solution:

The worst-case cable distance between two stations is 2 x 200 m = 400 m.


The propagation delay through the cable is:
Delay= 400/ (1.77 x108 ) = 2.26 s.
So the round-trip delay is 2 x 2.26 = 4.52 s.
The total repeater delay is 4 x 0.75 = 3s.
Therefore, the total round-trip delay (slot time) is: 4.52 + 3 = 7.52 s.
The number of bits that can be transmitted during the slot time is:
# of bits =1500 x106 x7.52 x 10-6 = 11280 bits.
44. Two computers A and B are connected through an Ethernet link having a bit-rate of 10 Mbit/s. The
Round-Trip Time (RTT) between the two computers is assumed to be 2 milliseconds. Computer A is
sending messages containing 250 octets to computer B and waits for an ACK after each message.
a- What is the percentage utilization of the channel capacity by computer A in this scenario?
b- If a sliding window algorithm with a window width of seven messages is used, what would be then,
the percentage utilization?
Solution:

a- Channel Capacity= bit-rate x RTT = (10 x 106 ) x (2x 10-3 ) = 2x 104 bits
A message of 250 octets transports 8 x 250 = 2000 bits.
The percentage utilization of the channel = the ratio between the number of bits sent
within an RTT period and the number of bits that could be sent (i.e. the channel
capacity) x 100:
Percentage utilization= (2000 / (2x 104 )) x 100= 10 %
b- Using a sliding window algorithm with a window width of 10 messages, the
number of bits
that is actually sent is given by:
7 x 2000 = 14000 bits
The new Percentage utilization= (14000 / (2x 104 )) x 100= 70 %
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45. The table below gives information on 20000 telephone calls. Calls are classified by distance and
duration and the table gives the number of calls of each type. Category X represents calls lasting less
than five minutes and Y represents calls lasting five minutes or longer. L represents local calls, and O
represents overseas calls.
Duration
X (<5) Y( 5)
L (Local-calls)
O (Overseas calls)

11358
3124

4365
1153

?a- What is the probability that an Overseas call lasts less than 5 minutes
?b- What is the probability that a Local call lasts 5 minutes or more
?c- What is the probability that a call would be a local call
Solution:

a- The total number of overseas calls= 3124+1153= 4277 and 3124 of these lasted less
than five minutes. So, the probability that an overseas call lasts less than five minutes=
3124/4277=0.73.
b- The total number of local calls=11358+4365=15723 and 4365 of these lasted 5
minutes or more. So, the probability that a local call lasts five minutes or more
=4365/15723=0.277.
C- The total number of local calls=15723 and the total number of calls = 20000 calls. So,
the probability that a call would be a local call = 15723/20000=0.786.
46. A network contains eight switches. Each has a probability of 0.85 of being in operation at any given
time.
?a- What is the probability of all the switches being in operation
?b- What is the probability of all the switches being out of operation
?c- What is the probability of five of the switches being in operation
Solution:

a- The probability of one switch being in operation=0.85. So, the probability of one switch
being out of operation is: = 1-0.85=0.15
Therefore, the probability of all switches being in operation is= (0.85) 8 = 0.272
b- The probability of all switches being out of operation is= (0.15) 8 = 2.56x10-7
c-The probability of five of the eight switches being in operation is given by Formula of
the binomial distribution:

P(r) = nCr pr (1-p) n-r & nCr = n! / (r! x (n-r)!)


Where r=5; n=8; p=0.85
P( r ) = 8C5 (0.85)5 (0.15) 8-5;

C5 =8!/( 5!x3!) = 56

P(r) = 56 x (0.85)5 x (0.15)3 = 56x0.4437x0.003375=0.08386.


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47. There are five companies sharing an internet connection through a leased line with an Internet Service
provider (ISP). Each company needs to use the internet connectivity for 20% of the time, on the
average.
a- What is the probability that, at a give time, only one company wants to use the Internet?
b- What is that probability that, at a given time, no companies wants to use the Internet?
c- What is the probability that, at a given time, more than one company wants to use the Internet?

The probability of a company wants to use the internet link at any given time is 0.2. So,
the probability of a company not wanting to use the internet link is: 0.8.
a- The probability P (1) that, one company wants to use the Internet link at a given time is
given by:
P (1) = 5x (0.8)4 x (0.2) = 0.4096
b- The probability P (0) that, no companies wants to use the Internet link at a given time is
given by:
P (0) = (0.8)5 = 0.32768
c- The probability P (>1) that more than one company wants to use the Internet link at a
given time is given by:
P (>1) = 1- [P (0) + P (1)] = 1- (0.32768+0.4096) =0.26272.
48. A subsystem of a communication system has the reliability diagram shown in the figure below that
shows the individual components reliability.
0.6
0.7

0.8

0.6

0.8

0.6
.Calculate the overall reliability of the system to three significant figures
Solution:

There are six components shown in the diagram above three of which are connected in
.parallel
;R1=0.7; R2=R3=R4=0.6; R5=0.8; R6=0.8
The reliability for the three components in parallel = [1-(1-0.6) 3 ] = 0.936
Therefore, Rp= 0.936
:The reliability for the overall system is given by
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.RT= R1 x Rp xR5xR6= 0.7x0.936x0.8x0.8=0.419


49. A coding scheme has to transmit five distinct messages, with probabilities and code words as given in
the table below:
Message Probability Code
A
0.2
11
B
0.3
101
C
0.25
110
D
0.1
111
E
0.15
10
a- What is the average length of a code word transmitted using this system?
b- What is the entropy of the source?
c- What is the efficiency of the code?
Solution:

Given the probabilities and the codes, the following table can be constructed:
Message
(symbol)
A
B
C
D
E
Total:

Probability
P
0.2
0.3
0.25
0.1
0.15
1.00

Code Word
B=? bits
11 B=2 bits
101 B=3 bits
110 B=3 bits
111 B=3 bits
10 B=2 bits

Average code word


Length L= P x B
= 0.2x2 =0.4
= 0.3x3 =0.9
=0.25x3=0.75
=0.1x3 =0.3
=0.15x2=0.3
L= 2.65 (bits)

Source entropy
H= -p x log2p
=-0.2xlog20.2= 0.464
=-0.3x log20.3=0.521
=-0.25x log20.25=0.5
=-0.1x log20.1=0.332
=-0.15x log20.15=0.41
H= 2.227

a- Based on the above table, the average length of the code word, L= 2.65 bits.
b- Based on the above table, the source entropy, H=2.227 bits.
c- The efficiency of the code E= H/L=2.227/2.65=0.84037 84 %.
50. In tests of a certain type
it is found that approximately
the surviving components fail
table shown below predicted
first two days of a 5-day test
components.

Day
1
2
3
4
5

Survivors at the start of day


600
500

Failures during day


100
83

of component,
one-sixth
of
each day. The
results for the
of 600 of these

a- Complete the missing fields in the above table (round your answers to the nearest integer).
b- Calculate the value of the reliability R (t) at the end of day 4.
c- Calculate the value of the failure function Q (t) at the end of the test period.
Solution:

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a- The completed table is shown below with taking into consideration the rounding to the
nearest integer.

b- The reliability function R(t) at a time t = Ns(t)/No where Ns(t) is the number of
components surviving at time t & No is the number of components under test.
No = 600; the number of surviving components at the end of day 4= N s (t) = 289.
Therefore, reliability R(t) at the end of day 4 = 289/600=0.481
c- The failure function Q(t) at a time t = Nf(t)/No where Nf(t) is the number of components
which have failed by time t & No is the number of components under test
From the table, the number of components that have survived by the end of day 5 is:
289-48= 241. Then, the total number of components which have failed by the end of day
5 = Nf(t)= 600-241=359.
Therefore, the failure function Q(t) at the end of the test period= 359/600=0.598
51. The components in a new communication system are known to have a constant hazard rate. It is a
requirement of the system that exactly 4% of the components should fail in the first 2000 hours of
operation.
What is the MTTF that corresponds to such a system?
Solution:

We have: 4% of the components failing during the first 2000 hour. This means that after,
2000 hours R(t)= 0.96.
Because components have a constant hazard rate, h, the reliability function R(t) is given
by: R(t)= exp(-ht). So, R(2000)=exp(-hx2000)=0.96.
To find the value of h, take natural logarithms of both sides, this gives:
-hx2000=ln(0.96). This implies: h=-ln (0.96)/ 2000 = 0.0000204.
The MTTF for components with a constant hazard rate h is 1/h.
Day Survivors at the start of day Failures during day
so, the
1
600
100
corresponding
2
500
83
3
417
70
4
347
58
5
289
48
1/h=1/0.0000204= 48993.2 hours.
12

MTTF =

52. A picture is stored electronically in a space probe as an array 600 by 600 pixels which can each have
one of 32 equally probable brightness levels. The picture is sent to earth using a 150 Hz channel with a
signal-to-noise ratio of 0.5.
Assuming that the information rate for the channel is one-fifth of its ideal capacity, how long will the
picture take to transmit?
Solution:

Signal-to-noise ratio, S/N=0.5; Bandwidth= 150 Hz.


Applying Shannons second theorem, the channel capacity, C, of a channel of Bandwidth
W Hz, is given by: C=W log2 (1+S/N) where S/N is the signal-to-noise power ratio.
Therefore, ideal channel capacity, C= 150 log 2 (1+0.5) =87.74 bit/s
The channels actual rate, which is one-fifth of the ideal capacity=17.548 bit/s.
There are 32 equally probable brightness levels per pixel, so five bits are needed per
pixel. The total picture therefore requires:
600x600x5=1800000 bits.
The time needed to transmit this data =1800000/17.548 102576 seconds.
Part IV: Longer problem (14 marks)
This part consists of 2 questions carrying a WEIGHT of 14 marks. You must answer the following question
by using the space provided below (Suggested Time about 30 minutes).
53.
a- V.32bis modems can send data at 14400 bit/s. The modems operate on the assumption that the
bandwidth of the telephone line is 2400 Hz. Using this bandwidth and a signal-to-noise ratio of 1500,
calculate the theoretical channel capacity of the telephone line. What percentage of the theoretical
channel capacity is achieved by a V.32bis modem?
b- V.34 modems can send data at 28800 bit/s. These modems operate on the initial assumption that the
telephone line bandwidth is 3429 Hz. What is the theoretical channel capacity corresponding to this
increased bandwidth and the same signal-to-noise ratio 1500? What percentage of the theoretical
channel capacity can a V.34 modem achieve?
Solution:

a- S/N=1500 ; W=2400;
Shannons equation for the theoretical channel capacity, C= W log 2 (1+S/N)
C=2400 log2 (1+1500) =2400x10.552=25324 bit/s.
A modem operating at 14400 bit/s will then, achieve a percentage of the theoretical
capacity = 14400/25324 x 100%= 56.86 %.
b- Using the new value of 3429 Hz for the bandwidth W gives an increased theoretical
capacity: 3429 log2 (1+1500) =3429x10.552=36183 bit/s.
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A modem operating at 28800 bit/s will achieve a percentage of the theoretical capacity
equal to= (28800/36183) x 100%= 79.6 %

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