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cs456 Sample Midterm PDF
cs456 Sample Midterm PDF
Midterm Examination
Winter 2009
Section(s) 01 and 02
Marking Scheme
Question Maximum Score Question Maximum Score
1 14 5 12
2 16 6 8
3 12 7 14
4 10 8 14
The Ethernet minimum frame size depends on the propagation speed. true
A nodes link-layer address must be changed when the node is moved and false
connected to a different switch.
Soft state makes it easier to deal with crashing end nodes. true
Ethernet utilizes the medium more efficiently with larger frame sizes. true
81 packets
2 points
b. (2 points) What is the easiest way ro reduce queueing delay at the expense of higher drop rates?
2 points
c. (4 points) Why can a virtual circuit forwarding table often be implemented with a fixed size
array?
The maximum of virtual circuit identifiers is roughly the number of ongoing connections and vir-
tual circuit identifiers can be reused between connections. For a specific link, the maximum
number of connections can often be estimated to be sm
The self-learning algorithm broadcasts packets with an unknown destination address. However,
the ARP request preloads the switch table already, so in total only one broadcast is needed and
not two.
2 points
Multiple DHCP servers in the local network are informed about the clients choice.
2 points
CS 456/656 Midterm Exam 5 of 10 ID Number ____________________
Winter 2009
Question 3 (12 points) Data Link Layer - Medium Access Control
a. (4 points) What is the role of the random variable p in Aloha? What is the problem with it?
After a collision, p describes the probability that the node retransmits in any given time slot.
The best p depends on the number of nodes wanting to transmit at the same time. Ideally, p would
adapt to this number, but it cannot be determined.
b. (4 points) What is the main advantage of CSMA over Aloha? What is the additional advantage
of collision detection (CD)?
CSMA drastically reduces the probability of collisions, since nodes do not begin sending when
they detect another ongoing transmission.
Collision detection reduces the wasted time when frames collide, because collisions are dected
while the frame is still transmitted. (and theres no wait for a missing ack).
c. (4 points) MAC protocols that use the taking turns principle have a good combination of ran-
dom access and channel partioning properties. What is their main disadvantage and why does that
disadvantage not matter e.g. for terminals that are connected to a mainframe?
2 points each
CS 456/656 Midterm Exam 6 of 10 ID Number ____________________
Winter 2009
Question 4 (10 points) Data Link Layer - Ethernet
a. (2 points) What is the main requirement for link layer addresses?
uniqueness
2 points
b. (4 points) Compute the maximum supported distance for a CSMA/CD network given the fol-
lowing parameters:
minimum packet size: 100 bytes
transmission rate: 100 Mbit/s
propagation speed: 200,000 km/s
c. (4 points) An Ethernet hub is essentially a bit reflector. Name 2 differences between a hub and
switch.
CSMA/CD
buffering
checksum
self-learning directed forwarding
spanning tree protocol
2 points each
CS 456/656 Midterm Exam 7 of 10 ID Number ____________________
Winter 2009
Question 5 (12 points) Data Link Layer - Wireless
a. (4 points) One reason for ACKs in Wireless LAN (802.11) is that senders cannot tell whether
transmissions have collided. However, there are other errors that an Ethernet sender would not
notice, but that are caught by ACKs. Briefly describe two such errors
2 points each
b. (4 points) Explain the purpose of the distributed inter-frame spacing (DIFS) in Wireless LAN
(802.11).
After an ongoing transmission finishes, each station has to wait for DIFS, before their next send-
ing attempt, *except* for the receiver of the previous frame, which can transmit the ACK earlier.
This effectively gives priority to ACKs.
Note: theres also PIFS, by which the the base station can transmit between the receiver and any
other station. Ignore for this question.
RTS/CTS are also subject to collisions and loss and thus only mitigate (not solve) the CSMA hid-
den terminal problem (and others). Since RTS/CTS incurs extra overhead, the mechanism only
makes sense to protect large frames.
129.97.32.0
129.37.35.255
2 points each
b. (4 points) An ISP is allocated the subnet 211.77.128.0/17. If the ISP wants to divide that subnet
into four pieces, each with the same number of IP addresses,what are the CIDR addresses of each
piece?
211.77.128.0/19
211.77.160.0/19
211.77.192.0/19
211.77.224.0/19
1 points each
CS 456/656 Midterm Exam 9 of 10 ID Number ____________________
Winter 2009
Question 7 (14 points) Network Layer - Routing
Consider the following network topology. Using the table below, apply Dijkstras routing algo-
rithm step by step to determine all shortest paths from node a.
1
f e
2 4
3 1
a d
2
6
1
b c
b. (4 points) Briefly describe two goals (not the corresponding protocol changes) for the develop-
ment of IPv6.
c. (4 points) Describe a scenario where BGP policies are useful to suppress the announcement of
certain routing paths. Draw a picture, if you want to.