Student ID: 170021038

ASSIGNMENT-01

Course Number: EEE 4551

Data Communication and Networking 1

Name: Muntequa Imtiaz Siraji

Department: EEE
Section: A
1. What is a network? Why is the Internet called 'Network of Networks'? As a designer you are asked to
develop an internet with basic network components. Explain your development procedure. Briefly define
each of the components and their basic working principles.

Answer: A network is a collection of computers, servers, mainframes, network devices, peripherals, or

other devices connected to one another to allow the sharing of data over wired or wireless medium.
'Internet' which is called 'Network of Networks', is the largest network ever existed connecting millions
and millions of people. Almost every company, business, institution, hospital, etc. are somehow or
somewhat connected to internet and both contributing and consuming content and services to other
individuals all around the globe.

To develop an internet, both wired and wireless network systems are needed. In case of wired
network, UTP cable, switch and broadband router are needed.

Wired:

 UTP Cable: It is needed to carry the signals and messages to the client.
 Switch: It channels incoming data from multiple input ports to a specific output port
that will take it toward its intended destination.
 Broadband Router: A device that provides high-speed access to the Internet for two or
more computers.

Wireless:

 Router or Wireless router: Connects the network to the Internet.

 Wireless Access Point: Used to Connect Wi-Fi equipped devices to the network.
 Ethernet HUB or Switch: Used to Connect Ethernet equipped devices.
 Cable cat 5, cat5e or cat 6 with RJ45 connectors.
 Telephone Cable with RJ 10 connectors.
 Broadband Filters.

2. To create a computer network, you are asked to select between circuit switching and packet
switching. What should be the choice? Explain with justification.

Answer: Key Differences Between Circuit Switching and Packet Switching:

 Circuit Switching is connection oriented that means a path is established between source and
destination before the transmission occurs. On the other hand, Packet Switching is
connectionless that means a dynamic route is decided for each packet while transmission.
 Circuit Switching was originally designed for voice communication whereas, Packet Switching
was originally designed for data communication.
 Circuit Switching is inflexible as once a path is established for transmission, it doesn’t change
while the duration of the session. On the other hand, Packet Switching is flexible as each packet
may travel through a different route to reach its destination.
  In packet switching, as each packet travels a different path hence, the packet is received out of
order at the receiver side and later arranged in order. On the other hand, in circuit switching the
entire message is received as it is as sent from a sender to receiver.

For Data transmission, Packet Switching is the more efficient than Circuit Switching whereas, when it
comes to voice transmission Circuit switching is more efficient than packet switching.

3. Many designs for packet switching are possible. But there is a need to answer some basic questions
first:

a) How a destination should be identified?

Answer: The IP Address is used to uniquely identify the destination that is needed to contact. This
information remains hidden in the IP header section located right above the TCP (Transmission Control
Protocol) header unless it were to expand.

b) How can a sender find the identification of a destination?

Answer: The port number, allows to identify the request must be sent to.  To identify a destination, the
correct IP address, DNS resolution and sending the request to the correct port number is necessary.
When a request is received by the DNS (Domain Name Server) server, it checks whether it has the
required information else the DNS server forwards this request to the other DNS server. 

c) How large should a packet be?

Answer: A typical packet contains around 1,000 or 1,500 bytes or 60 to 1500 characters.

d) How a network can recognize the end of a packet?

Answer: A 16bit number at the beginning of each packet shows all relevant information for the
upcoming data. A network recognizes this packet ID, gets all the info about how many characters is
carried by this packet determining where it ends.

e) How a network can recognize the start of a new packet?

Answer: By identifying the Packet ID or packet header.

f) If a network is shared, how is balance maintained between users so that everyone gets a fair
opportunity to send?

Answer: To share resources between multiple users there are multiple techniques in packet switching.
TDM is notable. Here the users have allocated time for sending and receiving data. In the meantime,
other packets of data are stored in the RAM of the router. And types of data have different priorities and
time is allocated accordingly.
g) How can network technologies be designed to meet various requirements of speed, distance and
economic cost?

Answer: For extremely fast and long-distance communication, optical fiber is the ideal choice with
minimal attenuation. But when it comes to the price, this is way too expensive for everyday use and so
forth resulting in cheaper, slower coaxial cable and similar cable types.

h) How can network handle data loss, pack delay, throughput requirement?

Answer:

 In the event of data loss, the sender has to send the data again. This process can be automatic
or manual.
 Pack delay is seen when a huge amount of data is sent at a time and the RAM is unable to deal
with them all within allocated time.
 Pack delay results in Packet Loss which is the lack of information given in a certain period of
time.

END