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Chapter 3

Physical Layer
True-False Questions
The following are possible True/False questions for tests. The statement is given and the answer
is provided in square brackets. The level of difficulty (easy, moderate, difficult) and the page
number(s) relevant to the topic are also furnished.

1. The physical layer is a layer where two communicating nodes are directly connected.

Answer:True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: The Three Faces of Networking
2. A physical circuit refers to the transmission characteristics of the connection.

Answer:False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
3. Computers produce digital data whose values are binary: 0 or 1.

Answer:True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
4. With modem communications, the receiving modem converts the incoming digital signal
from the telephone line into an analog signal that can be understood by the computer.

Answer:False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Introduction
5. Digital transmission produces more errors than analog transmission.

Answer:False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
6. Newer telephone circuits, built during the last decade, offer higher quality because they were
built using analog transmission.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
7. In a multipoint circuit configuration, each computer has a dedicated circuit between itself and
each of the other computers in the network

Answer:False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Circuit Configuration
8. In a multipoint circuit configuration, each computer can use the circuit at the same time.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Circuit Configuration
9. In simplex transmission, the data flows in both directions at the same time

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Data Flow
10. A walkie-talkie is an example of half-duplex transmission.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Data Flow
11. The amount of time it takes to switch between sending and receiving in half-duplex
transmission is called the propagation delay.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Data Flow
12. In full-duplex transmission, two stations can send and receive simultaneously.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Data Flow
13. The medium is the physical matter or substance that carries the voice or data transmission.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Communication Media
14. Guided media refers to the type of media in which the message is broadcast through the air.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Communication Media
15. Coaxial cable costs less and offers less shielding to electrical interference than twisted pair
cable.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Coaxial Cable
16. Fiber optic cable carries signals in traditional electrical form

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Fiber-Optic Cable
17. Multimode fiber is capable of longer transmission distances than single mode fiber.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Fiber-Optic Cable
18. Radio data transmission requires that each device has a radio receiver/transmitter and uses a
specific frequency.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Radio
19. Frequency division multiplexing is used on twisted-pair cabling.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Wavelength division multiplexing
20. Microwave transmissions require a line of sight between any two points.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Microwave
21. Propagation delay is negligible with satellite transmission.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Satellite
22. One form of interference with satellite transmission is called raindrop attenuation in which
the transmissions are absorbed by heavy rain.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Satellite
23. Fiber optic cable can only be used on LANs.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Media Selection
24. Radio, microwave and satellite are all examples of guided media.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Wireless Media
25. Of all the media available, fiber optic provides the highest transmission speeds.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Media Selection
26. Coding schemes are groups of bits that translate into the “alphabet” of any given system.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Coding
27. ASCII is the least popular code for data communications.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Coding
28. The predominant method of transferring information internally in a computer is via parallel
mode.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Parallel Mode
29. Serial mode transmission is much faster than parallel mode transmission.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Serial Mode
30. Nonreturn to zero is a type of unipolar signaling

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Digital Transmission
31. With nonreturn to zero signaling, the voltage alternates between zero and a positive or
negative voltage.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Digital Transmission
32. Ethernet, a common LAN technology, uses Manchester encoding.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: How Ethernet Transmits Data
33. Manchester encoding is a special type of bipolar signaling in which the signal is changed
from high to low or from low to high in the middle of the signal.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: How Ethernet Transmits Data
34. Digital transmission occurs when the signal sent over the transmission media constantly
varies among an infinite number of states.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Analog Transmission of Digital Data
35. Frequency is the number of cycles per second and is expressed in Hertz.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Analog Transmission of Digital Data
36. Amplitude, frequency and phase are all characteristics of a sound wave.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Basic Modulation
37. Frequency modulation refers to the changing of the height of the sound wave.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Basic Modulation
38. Baud rate is the number of bits transmitted per second.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Bit Rate versus Baud Rate versus Symbol Rate
39. Bandwidth is the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies in a band.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Capacity of a Circuit
40. Data compression can increase the throughput of a communication link.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: How Modems Transmit Data
41. A codec converts an incoming digital signal to an analog signal for transmission over an
analog network.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Digital Transmission of Analog Data
42. One way to reduce quantizing errors is to increase the sampling rate of the analog signal.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Translating from Analog to Digital
43. The “local loop” refers to the wires that run from the customer premises to the telephone
switch of the telephone company.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: How Telephones Transmit Voice Data
44. Multiplexing increases the cost of provisioning network circuits.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Multiplexing
45. Frequency division multiplexing divides the circuit into a set of different time slots.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Frequency Division Multiplexing
46. Time division multiplexing is more efficient that frequency division multiplexing because the
guardbands used in the frequency division multiplexing or not needed.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Time Division Multiplexing
47. Statistical time division multiplexing does not require the capacity of the circuit to be equal
to the sum of the combined circuits.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Time Division Multiplexing
48. Wavelength division multiplexing can only used with copper cables.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Wavelength Division Multiplexing
49. Digital transmission permits higher maximum transmission rates when compared to analog.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
50. Multitasking means to break one high-speed physical communication circuit into several
lower-speed logical circuits so that different devices can simultaneously use it.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Data Flow
51.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

The following are possible multiple-choice questions for tests. The question is posed and the
answer is provided under the choices. The level of difficulty (easy, moderate, difficult) and the
page number(s) relevant to the topic is also furnished.
1. Data is physically transmitted from one computer or terminal to another in the ________
layer.
a. physical
b. transport
c. application
d. terminal
e. data link

Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
2. ____________ refers to the transmission characteristics of the circuit.
a. handshaking
b. virtual circuit
c. bonding
d. logical circuit
e. physical circuit

Answer: D
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
3. Two fundamentally different types of data are:
a. DSL and ADSL
b. asymmetric and symmetric
c. Microsoft and IBM
d. digital and analog
e. local area and wide area

Answer: D
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
4. In general, networks designed to transmit primarily computer data are likely to be ________,
while networks designed to transmit voice data are likely to be ________.
a. slow, fast
b. level 1, level 2
c. numeric, musical
d. direct, indirect
e. digital, analog

Answer: E
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Introduction
5. Which of the following is not a key advantage of digital transmission?
a. It permits only low transmission rates.
b. It is more efficient.
c. It is simpler to integrate voice, video, and data on the same circuit.
d. It is more secure.
e. It produces fewer errors.

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Introduction
6. _________ is the basic physical layout of the circuit.
a. point-to-point configuration
b. configuration
c. circuit configuration
d. circuit design
e. circuit plan

Answer: C
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Circuit Configuration
7. A(n) __________ circuit is another name for a multipoint configuration.
a. analog
b. dedicated
c. point-to-point
d. shared
e. simplex

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Circuit Configuration
8. Which is not true about point-to-point circuits?
a. point-to-point circuits are dedicated to the use of the two computers.
b. point-to-point circuits are more expensive than multipoint circuits.
c. point-to-point circuits are called dedicated circuits.
d. point-to-point circuits reduce the amount of cable required and use the circuit more
efficiently than multipoint circuits.
e. point-to-point circuits are used when the computers generate enough traffic to fill the
capacity of the communication circuit.

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Circuit Configuration
9. Having a conversation with someone using a cellular phone is an example of _________
transmission.
a. simplex
b. full-duplex
c. half-duplex
d. analog
e. digital

Answer: B
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Data Flow
10. The ability to transmit in both directions, but only in one direction at a time is an example of
_______________ transmission.
a. simplex
b. full-duplex
c. half-duplex
d. analog
e. digital

Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Data Flow
11. The two basic types of media are:
a. statistical and frequency
b. guided and wireless (radiated)
c. local and wide area
d. attenuator and Gaussian
e. duplexed and non-duplexed

Answer: B
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Communication Media
12. Which of the following would be considered a type of wireless media?
a. unshielded twisted pair
b. shielded twisted pair
c. coaxial cable
d. microwave
e. fiber optics

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Microwave
13. The type of media usually installed on homes and businesses by the telephone company is
called ____________.
a. fiber optic cable
b. coaxial cable
c. twisted pair
d. phone cable
e. phone wire

Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Twisted-Pair Wire
14. The earliest type of fiber optic systems were:
a. Graded index multimode
b. Attenuated
c. Multimode
d. Single mode
e. Step mode

Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Fiber-Optic Cable
15. Another term for the weakening of a signal over distance is:
a. turnaround time
b. propagation delay
c. dispersion
d. insulation
e. attenuation

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Fiber-Optic Cable
16. ___________ refers to the spreading of the signal that different parts of the signal arrive at
different times at the destination.

a. turnaround time
b. propagation delay
c. dispersion
d. insulation
e. attenuation

Answer: C
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Fiber-Optic Cable
17. Which of the following media can best withstand harsh environmental conditions?
a. shielded twisted pair
b. unshielded twisted pair
c. Cat 5 twisted pair
d. coaxial cable
e. fiber optic cable

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Fiber-Optic Cable
18. __________ is a line-of-sight type of wireless media.
a. coaxial cable
b. microwave
c. radio
d. twisted pair
e. fiber optic

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Microwave
19. _____________ can be thought of as dividing the circuit horizontally.
a. Frequency division multiplexing
b. Statistical frequency division multiplexing
c. Statistical time division multiplexing
d. Time division multiplexing
e. Wavelength division multiplexing

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Frequency division multiplexing
20. Microwave transmission:
a. is a type of high frequency radio communication
b. requires a clear line-of-sight path
c. is typically used for long distance data transmission
d. does not require the laying of any cable
e. all of the above

Answer: E
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Microwave
21. ______________ refers to the time it takes for a signal to travel from sender to recipient
(highly exaggerated with satellite transmission).
a. Line-of-sight effect
b. Multimode index
c. Saturation effect
d. Raindrop attenuation
e. Propagation delay

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Satellite
22. Which of the following is not an important factor to consider when selecting media to be
used in a network?
a. prestige value of the type of media
b. type of network
c. cost
d. transmission distance
e. security

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Media Selection
23. Which of the following is the most secure wired media?
a. coaxial cable
b. unshielded twisted pair
c. shielded twisted pair
d. fiber optic cable
e. infrared

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Media Selection
24. Which of the following media has the lowest error rates and the highest transmission speeds?
a. Coaxial cable
b. unshielded twisted pair
c. shielded twisted pair
d. fiber optic cable
e. infrared

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Media Selection
25. Transmission speeds:
a. are the same among all media
b. are not a factor in selecting a media because all media have more than enough speed
to serve current communication demands
c. are a constant, 56Kbps, for all media types
d. differ widely among media
e. always have a direct correlation with security

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Digital Transmission of Digital Data
26. A coding scheme that uses 10 bits to represent each character is capable of representing
_________ different characters.
a. 256
b. 20
c. 200
d. 512
e. 1024

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Coding
27. ____________ is one of the most commonly used coding schemes used in data transmission.
a. ASCII
b. ISDN
c. MAU
d. ATM
e. FDM

Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Coding
28. The representation of the character A by the group of 8 bits, 01000001, is an example of:
a. digital coding
b. phase modulation
c. binary modulation
d. analog transmission
e. pitch variation

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Coding
29. When all bits of a character are transferred one after another, the bits are transferred in
___________ mode.
a. serial
b. frequency division
c. multiplexing
d. parallel
e. full complex

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Serial Mode
30. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. Parallel transmission is most often used for sending data on a circuit that is made up
of one wire.
b. Parallel transmission is distinguished from serial transmission by the fact that the
transmitting device sends a single bit, then a second bit, and so on, until all the bits
are transmitted.
c. Parallel transmission is only used for analog data.
d. Serial transmission is slower than parallel transmission.
e. Parallel transmission is the same as serial transmission.

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Serial Mode
31. ___________ is not a type of digital signaling technique.
a. Non-return-to-zero signaling
b. Unipolar signaling
c. Manchester encoding
d. Return-to-zero signaling
e. Data rate signaling

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Digital Transmission
32. With which type of digital signaling does the signal always return to zero volts after each bit?
a. Non-return-to-zero signaling
b. Unipolar signaling
c. Return-to-zero signaling
d. Data rate signaling
e. Huffman encoding signal

Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Digital Transmission
33. Which type of digital signaling would experience fewer errors because it has more distinct
signals?
a. unipolar
b. serial
c. bipolar
d. attenuation
e. Huffman encoding signal

Answer: C
Difficulty: Difficult
Reference: Digital Transmission
34. Which of the following is a characteristic of sound waves that can be modulated to convert
digital data into analog signals?
a. phase
b. attenuation
c. bipolar
d. bandwidth
e. codec

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Analog Transmission of Digital Data
35. The direction in which the sound wave begins is known as:
a. amplitude, which our ears detect as loudness
b. frequency, which our ears detect as pitch
c. phase
d. bandwidth
e. furlong

Answer: C
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Basic Modulation
36. The height of a sound wave is called its:
a. frequency
b. phase
c. amplitude
d. bandwidth
e. furlong

Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Basic Modulation
37. _____________ is not a form of modulation used to transform digital data into analog
signals.
a. synchronous time division
b. amplitude shift keying
c. amplitude modulation
d. frequency modulation
e. phase modulation
Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Modulation
38. ____________ refers to changing the shape of the sound wave in different ways to represent
a 1 or a 0.
a. digitizing.
b. sampling
c. modulation
d. demodulation
e. shaping

Answer: C
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Basic Modulation
39. With respect to converting digital data into analog signals, AM stands for:
a. Asynchronous Manchester
b. Analog Multimode
c. Amplitude Modulation
d. Anomaly Multiplexing
e. Analytical Mosaic

Answer: C
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Basic Modulation
40. In which type of modulation is a 1 distinguished from a 0 by shifting the direction in which
the wave begins?
a. bandwidth modulation
b. amplitude modulation
c. frequency modulation
d. phase modulation
e. codec modulation

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Basic Modulation
41. When sending four bits at a time using frequency modulation, the number of different
frequency levels that would be needed would be _______.
a. 24
b. 16
c. 2
d. 8
e. 4

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Sending Multiple Bits Simultaneously
42. ____________ is a modulation technique that combines two different amplitude
combinations with eight different phase combinations modulation to send four bits per
symbol.
a. quadrature amplitude modulation
b. time division multiplexing
c. synchronous digital line control
d. pulse code modulation
e. baseband signaling

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Sending Multiple Bits Simultaneously

43. The _____________ of a circuit determines a circuit’s capacity.


a. frequency
b. bandwidth
c. phase
d. amplitude
e. loudness

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Capacity of a Circuit
44. The typical range of human hearing is:
a. 0 to 4,000 Hz
b. 0 to 1,200 Hz
c. 20 to 14,000 Hz
d. 0 to 300 Hz
e. 0 to 56,000 Hz

Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Capacity of a Circuit
45. If the highest frequency of a circuit is 10KHZ and the lowest frequency is 900 Hz, the
bandwidth available for this circuit is :
a. 890 Hz
b. 8900 HZ
c. 9100 Hz
d. 9Khz
e. 890 KHz

Answer: C
Difficulty: Difficult
Reference: Capacity of a Circuit
46. To get more “bandwidth” in a digital transmission, you must:
a. increase the range of frequencies available for a transmission
b. increase the loudness per transmission
c. decrease the bits per second transmission speed
d. increase the phase shifts per transmission
e. increase the baud rate per transmission

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Capacity of a Circuit
47. Which of the following statements is true?
a. the longer the distance of a telephone wire between sender and recipient, the lower
the bandwidth across that wire
b. the shorter the distance of a telephone wire between sender and recipient, the lower
the bandwidth across that wire
c. bandwidth is constant across any wire, therefore distance is not relevant to its
capacity
d. the longer the distance of a telephone wire between sender and recipient, the higher
the bandwidth across that wire
e. bandwidth is not a term that can be used when discussing telephone transmissions

Answer: C
Difficulty: Difficult
Reference: Capacity of a Circuit
48. The acronym, Modem, stands for _________________.
a. multiplexing/demultiplexing
b. more/demote
c. Mode-M technique
d. modulator/demodulator
e. Mod emulation technique

Answer: D
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: How Modems Transmit Data
49. ______ is a modem standard that uses Lempel-Ziv encoding to compress data.
a. V.22
b. V.44
c. V.32bis
d. V.34
e. RS 232

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: How Modems Transmit Data
50. Equipment used to transform analog voice signals to digital signals and digital signals to
analog signals.
a. voice converter
b. modem
c. codec
d. multiplexer
e. demodulator

Answer: C
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Digital Transmission of Analog Data
51. _____________ refers to the difference between the original analog data and the
approximation of that data using the techniques for translating from analog data to digital
signals.
a. quantizing error
b. handshaking phase
c. modulating frequency
d. POTS anomaly
e. amplitude Trellis effect

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Translating from Analog to Digital
52. When converting analog voice data to digital signals, Pulse Code Modulation typically
samples the incoming voice signal _______ times per second.
a. 8,000
b. 8
c. 18,000
d. 64
e. 256

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Translating from Analog to Digital, Figure 3.24
53. How many bits are required to sample an incoming signal 4000 times per second using 64
different amplitude levels?
a. 64
b. 32
c. 16
d. 8
e. 6

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Translating from Analog to Digital
54. If each sample uses 16 bits and the number of samples taken each second is 8000; then the
transmission speed on the circuit is?
a. 128 Kbps
b. 64 Kbps
c. 12800 bps
d. 96 Kbps
e. 32000 bps

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: How Telephones Transmit Voice Data
55. A(n) ___________ divides one high-speed communication circuit into several lower speed
circuits for the primary reason of saving communication line costs.
a. transponder
b. multiplexer
c. inverse multiplexer
d. codec
e. intelligent terminal

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Multiplexing
56. ____________ is used by IM and other applications that provide voice services over lower-
speed digital circuits.

a. pulse code modulation


b. adaptive differential pulse code modulation
c. Voice conversation
d. code modulation
e. phase modulation

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: How Instant Messenger Transmits Voice Data
57. The type of multiplexer that divides the circuit horizontally into different light frequencies
that are transmitted simultaneously across many channels is a:
a. wavelength division multiplexer
b. time division multiplexer
c. statistical time division multiplexer
d. frequency division multiplexer
e. statistical frequency division multiplexer

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Wavelength Division Multiplexing
58. Frequency division multiplexing:
a. operates by statistically time slicing the signal
b. operates by dividing the signal into different frequencies
c. uses a codec that divides signals into different channels
d. operates by time slicing the signal
e. operates by light dividing the signal

Answer: B
Difficulty: Easy
Reference: Frequency Division Multiplexing
59. ________________ separate channels to reduce interference between channels in frequency
division multiplexing.
a. Channel blockers
b. Statistical dividers
c. Attenuators
d. Guardbands
e. Adaptive differential processors

Answer: D
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Frequency Division Multiplexing
60. Time (non-statistical) division multiplexing differs from frequency division multiplexing
because it:
a. does not share a communication circuit
b. splits the communication circuit vertically (with time slots) instead of horizontally
c. increases the wavelength and phase angles of the baseband frequency used for
transmission
d. moves the baseband of a circuit by shifting it to a higher frequency
e. reduces baseband signal velocity more than frequency division multiplexing

Answer: B
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Time Division Multiplexing
61. Inverse multiplexing means:
a. combining several low speed circuits to enable them to be transmitted across one
high speed circuit
b. multiplexing from the terminal to the host, rather than from the host to the terminal
c. combining high speed circuits to enable them to be transmitted across one low speed
circuit
d. inverting the frequencies used for transmission across a low speed circuit for
switching to a digital circuit
e. multiplexing to a codec, rather than to a modem

Answer: A
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: Inverse Multiplexing
62. Digital Subscriber Line:
a. is a fairly recent approach to provide higher data transmission rates across traditional
voice circuits in the local loop
b. combines analog transmission and frequency division multiplexing
c. involves the use of a customer premises equipment (CPE)
d. uses a combination of amplitude and phase modulation
e. all of the above

Answer: E
Difficulty: Moderate
Reference: How DSL Transmits Data
Essay and Short Answer Questions

1. Define analog, and then describe the conversion from analog to digital using a four
step method (sampling, measuring, quantizing and coding), and present a detailed
diagram like the one which in the slides.  What is quantizing error and how can it
be lessened in some situations?  Draw a sketch of quantizing error in your model. 

2.     Describe the three types of data flows, and discuss why some are applicable in
some situations and vice versa.

3.     Describe three types of guided media.  Give an example, describe what it looks
like and how it works, and why it might be used in a scenario of a network. 

4.     Describe four types of radiated media.  Give an example, describe what it looks
like and how it works, and why it might be used in a scenario of a network. 

5.     What is the term used to describe the placing of two or more signals on a single
circuit?

6.     What is the purpose of multiplexing? How does it work?  Multiplexing usually is
done in multiples of _______ ? Of the different types of multiplexing, what
distinguishes

a.         Frequency division multiplexing (FDM)?  (describe and draw a sketch of


this)

b.         Time division multiplexing (TDM)?  (describe and draw a sketch of this)

c.         Statistical time division multiplexing (STDM)? (describe and draw a


sketch of this)

d.         Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM)?  (describe)

7.     What is the function of inverse multiplexing?  What is an inverse multiplexer?


Why would you put one on a network?

8.     If you were buying a multiplexer, why would you choose either TDM or FDM?

9.  Describe two ways in which Statistical Time Division Multiplexing (STDM)
differs from Time Division Multiplexing (TDM).

10.  Compare and contrast Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) and Wavelength
Division Multiplexing (WDM).
11.  Under what circumstances would you use a microwave circuit rather than a
satellite circuit?

12.  Explain two reasons why the use of twisted pair cable is becoming more common
than the use of coax cable?

13.  How does analog data differ from digital data?

14.  Clearly explain the differences between analog data, analog transmission, digital
data, and digital transmission.

15.  Define digital data and draw a picture of it as compared to a picture of analog
data.  Explain why most networks are now digital. Why is digital transmission
superior to analog? Give five reasons.

16.  What is coding? Briefly describe the two most important coding schemes.

17.  How is data transmitted in parallel? What feature distinguishes serial mode from
parallel mode?

18.  How does bipolar signaling differ from unipolar signaling? Why is Manchester
encoding more popular than either? What kind of signaling is used in Ethernet?

19.  What are the three important characteristics of a sound wave?

20.  Describe how data could be transmitted using amplitude modulation.  Draw this.

21.  Describe how data could be transmitted using frequency modulation.  Draw this.

22.  Describe how data could be transmitted using phase modulation.  Draw this. 

23.  Describe how data could be transmitted using a combination of modulation


techniques.

24.  Is the bit rate the same as the symbol rate? Explain. 

25.  What is a modem?  How does a modem send digital data on an analog network? 
Draw a schematic or diagram of this, explaining the process step by step.

26.  Describe two common modem standards. 

27.  Why is data compression so useful?  Describe how it works.

28.  What is the typical sampling network in telephony?  Why is a higher sampling
rate more effective for sound quality? 
29.  What is the difference between multiplexing and modulation? Why are each
important? Draw a picture that shows a sample of multiplexing at work (a specific
kind) and modulation at work (a specific kind).

30.  Compare and contrast data rate (i.e., bits per second) and symbol rate (also called
baud rate) by giving two concrete, different examples.

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