UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PERLIS

School of Computer and Communications Engineering

DPT224 Data Communications and Networking

Tutorial 1
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Identify the five components of a data communications system.

The five components of a data communication system are the sender, receiver,
transmission medium, message, and protocol.
2. Name the four basic network topologies, and cite an advantage of each type.
We give an advantage for each of four network topologies:
a. Mesh: secure b. Bus: easy installation c. Star: robust d. Ring: easy fault isolation
3. What are some of the factors that determine whether a communication system is a LAN
or WAN?
The general factors are size, distances (covered by the network), structure, and ownership.
4. For each of the following four networks, discuss the consequences if a connection fails.

a. Five devices arranged in a mesh topology

b. Five devices arranged in a star topology (not counting the hub)
c. Five devices arranged in a bus topology
d. Five devices arranged in a ring topology

a. Mesh topology: If one connection fails, the other connections will still be work- ing.
b. Star topology: The other devices will still be able to send data through the hub; there will
be no access to the device which has the failed connection to the hub.
c. Bus Topology: All transmission stops if the failure is in the bus. If the drop-line
fails, only the corresponding device cannot operate.
d. Ring Topology: The failed connection may disable the whole network unless it
is a dual ring or there is a by-pass mechanism.

4. What are headers and trailers, and how do they get added and removed?

Headers and trailers are control data added at the beginning and the end of each data unit at
each layer of the sender and removed at the corresponding layers of the receiver. They
provide source and destination addresses, synchronization points, information for error
detection, etc.
6. What is the difference between a port address, a logical address, and a physical
 address?

The physical address is the local address of a node; it is used by the data link layer to deliver
data from one node to another within the same network. The logical address defines the
sender and receiver at the network layer and is used to deliver messages across multiple
ol-02.fm Page 3 Saturday, January 21, 2006 10:27 AM

networks. The port address (service-point) identifies the application process on the station.
Page 3 Saturday, January 21, 2006 10:27 AM
7. In Figure below, computer A sends a message to computer D via LANl,3 router Rl, and
LAN2. Show the contents of the packets and frames at the network and data link layer
for d.
each hop interface.
Responsibility for carrying frames between adjacent nodes: data link layer
19. 3
a. Format and code conversion services: presentation layer
d. Responsibility for carrying
b. Establishing, frames
managing, andbetween adjacent
terminating nodes:
sessions: data link
session layerlayer
19. c. Ensuring reliable transmission of data: data link and transport layers
a. Format and code
d. Log-in andconversion services: presentation
log-out procedures: session layerlayer
b. Establishing, managing, and terminating
e. Providing independence from differentsessions:
datasession layer presentation layer
representation:
c. 20.
Ensuring reliable
See Figure transmission of data: data link and transport layers
2.1.
d. Log-in and log-out procedures: session layer
e. Figure
Providing
2.1 independence from different
Solution to Exercise 20 data representation: presentation layer
20. See Figure 2.1.
LAN1 LAN2
Figure 2.1 Solution to Exercise A/40
20
R1

Sender B/42 C/82 D/80

LAN1 LAN2
A/40
R1 Sender
Sender 42 40B/42
A D Data T2C/82 D/80
80 82 A D Data T2

21. See Figure 2.2. Sender

8. In Figure 2.22, assume thatT2the communication

42 40 A D Data 80 82 A D Data T2 is between a process running at

computer
Figure 2.2A Solution
with port address
to Exercise 21 i and a process running at computer D with port address j.
Show
21. See the2.2.
Figure contents of packets and frames at the network, data link, and transport layer
for each hop. LAN1 LAN2
Figure 2.2 Solution to Exercise 21 A/40
R1

Sender B/42 C/82 D/80

LAN1 LAN2
A/40
R1 Sender
Sender D/80
42 40 A D i B/42
j Data T2 C/8280 82 A D i j Data T2

Sender
22. If the corrupted destination address does not match any station address in the net-
work, the42 40 A D is
packet i lost.
j Data 80 82 A destination
If theT2corrupted D i j Dataaddress
T2 matches one of the sta-
tions, the frame is delivered to the wrong station. In this case, however, the error
detection destination
22. If the corrupted mechanism,address availabledoesin not
most data link
match protocols,
any station will find
address in thethenet-
error and
discard the frame. In both cases, the source will somehow
matches one of the sta- one
be informed using
9. work,
Whatthe of
packet
isthe
thedatabitislink
lost. If
rate fortheeach
control
corrupted
of the
mechanisms
destination
following
discussed
address
signals?
in Chapter 11.
tions,
a.23. the
Aframe
signal is indelivered
which to1 the
bit wrong station.s In this case, however,
lasts 0.001 the error
Before using the destination address in an intermediate
detection mechanism, available in most data link protocols, will find or the destination
the error andnode, the
A
b. packet signal
goes in which
through 1
errorbit lasts
checking 2 ms
that may help
discard the frame. In both cases, the source will somehow be informed using onethe node find the corruption
A signal
ofc.the data
(with a high
link inprobability)
control which 10and
mechanisms bits last 20
discard
discussed theinJ-ls
packet.
Chapter Normally
11. the upper layer protocol
a.23.
bitrate=1/(bitduration)=1/(0.001s)=1000bps=1Kbps
will inform the source to resend the packet.
Before using the destination address in an intermediate or the destination node, the
packet goes through error checking that may help the node find the corruption
(with a high probability) and discard the packet. Normally the upper layer protocol
will inform the source to resend the packet.
b. bitrate=1/(bitduration)=1/(2ms)=500bps
c. bitrate=1/(bitduration)=1/(20μs/10)=1/(2μs)=500Kbps

10. A signal travels from point A to point B. At point A, the signal power is 100 W. At
point B, the power is 90 W. What is the attenuation in decibels?

dB=10log10 (90/100)=–0.46dB

11. If the bandwidth of the channel is 5 Kbps, how long does it take to send a frame of
100,000 bits out of this device?

100,000 bits / 5 Kbps = 20 s

12. A line has a signal-to-noise ratio of 1000 and a bandwidth of 4000 KHz. What is the
maximum data rate supported by this line?

4,000 log2 (1 + 1,000) ≈ 40 Kbps

13. Define FHSS and explain how it achieves bandwidth spreading.

The frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) technique uses M different car-
rier frequencies that are modulated by the source signal. At one moment, the signal modulates
one carrier frequency; at the next moment, the signal modulates another carrier frequency.

14. Define DSSS and explain how it achieves bandwidth spreading.

The direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technique expands the bandwidth of the
original signal. It replaces each data bit with n bits using a spreading code.

15. Assume that a voice channel occupies a bandwidth of 4 kHz. We need to multiplex 10
voice channels with guard bands of 500 Hz using FDM. Calculate the required
bandwidth.

To multiplex 10 voice channels, we need nine guard bands. The required band- width is then
B = (4 KHz) × 10 + (500 Hz) × 9 = 44.5 KHz

16. We need to use synchronous TDM and combine 20 digital sources, each of 100 Kbps. Each
output slot carries 1 bit from each digital source, but one extra bit is added to each frame for
synchronization. Answer the following questions:
a. What is the size of an output frame in bits?
b. What is the output frame rate?
c. What is the duration of an output frame?
d. What is the output data rate?
e. What is the efficiency of the system (ratio of useful bits to the total bits).

a. Each output frame carries 1 bit from each source plus one extra bit for synchro- nization.
Frame size = 20 × 1 + 1 = 21 bits.
b. Each frame carries 1 bit from each source. Frame rate = 100,000 frames/s.
c. Frame duration = 1 /(frame rate) = 1 /100,000 = 10 μs.
d. Data rate = (100,000 frames/s) × (21 bits/frame) = 2.1 Mbps
e. In each frame 20 bits out of 21 are useful. Efficiency = 20/21= 95%
17. Ten sources, six with a bit rate of 200 kbps and four with a bit rate of 400 kbps are to be
combined using multilevel TDM with no synchronizing bits. Answer the fol- lowing questions
about the final stage of the multiplexing:
a. What is the size of a frame in bits?
b. What is the frame rate?
c. What is the duration of a frame?
d. What is the data rate?

We combine six 200-kbps sources into three 400-kbps. Now we have seven 400- kbps
channel.

a. Each output frame carries 1 bit from each of the seven 400-kbps line. Frame size = 7 × 1 =
7 bits.
b. Each frame carries 1 bit from each 400-kbps source. Frame rate = 400,000 frames/s.
c. Frame duration = 1 /(frame rate) = 1 /400,000 = 2.5 μs.
d. Output data rate = (400,000 frames/s) × (7 bits/frame) = 2.8 Mbps. We can also
calculate the output data rate as the sum of input data rate because there is no synchronizing
bits. Output data rate = 6 × 200 + 4 × 400 = 2.8 Mbps.