KOFORIDUA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Programme HND Network Management Year 1

Examination End of Second Semester Examination

Course Code/Title CSD 114/ Data Communication and

Computer Networking

Duration 3 Hours

Instructions This paper consists of five (5) questions

● Answer Question 1 and any other 2

questions
Section A (30 marks)

Question 1 (Compulsory)

1. a. Koforidua Textiles Limited has been given the IP block 17.12.40.0/26 which contains 64
addresses. The company has 3 departments. The first department requires 32 addresses, the
second department requires 16 addresses and the third department requires 16 addresses.
i. What is an IP address? [1 mark]
ANS: A unique string of characters that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol
to communicate over a network.
ii. What is the name given to the class of IP Address allocated to Koforidua Textiles
Limited? [1 mark]
ANS: Class A
iii. Mention 2 other classes of IP Addresses [0.5 marks for each correct answer]
ANS: Class B and C
iv. Write out the subnet mask for the Address Block given to Koforidua Textiles Limited in
decimal dotted notation [2 marks]
ANS: 255.255.255.192
v. Write out the subnet mask for the Address Block given to Koforidua Textiles Limited in
binary dotted notation [2 marks]
ANS: 11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000
vi. As the Network Engineer of Koforidua Textiles Limited, divide the IP block assigned to
the institution such that the requirements of each departments are met [9 marks]
ANS: (I will work it on paper, snap and send to you. Thanks)
b. i. An address space has a total of 1024 addresses. How many bits are needed to represent the
address space? [1 mark]
ANS: 210 = 1024, so you need 10 bits to address every byte in a kilobyte.
ii. An address space uses the symbols 0, 1 and 2 to represent addresses. If each address is made
up of 10 symbols, how many addresses are available I this address space?
ANS: 310 = 59,049 addresses
iii. What is the address space in an IP addressing system that has 16-bit addresses [2 marks]
ANS: 65,536

c. Change the following IP addresses from dotted-decimal notation to binary notation.

i. 114.34.2.8 = 01110010.00100010.00000010.00001000
ii. 129.14.6.8 = 10000001.00001110.00000110.00001000
iii. 208.34.54.12 = 11010000.00100010.00110110.00001100
iv. 238.34.2.1 = 11101110.00100010.00000010.00000001
v. 132.56.8.6 = 10000100.00111000.00001000.00000110
[1 mark for each correct answer]

d. i. State the forms of addressing commonly used in modern IP Networks [1 mark]

ANS: public, private, static, and dynamic
 ii. In a block of addresses we know that the IP address of one host is 25.34.12.56/16. What are the
first address(network address) and the last address(limited broadcast address) in this block? [2
marks]
ANS: 00011001.00100010.00001100.00111000 (25.34.12.56)
11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000 (255.255.0.0 subnet mask)
-----------------------------------------------------
00011001.00100010.00000000.00000000 (25.34.0.0, last two octets "0") first address
 
00011001.00100010.11111111.11111111 (25.34.255.255, last two octets "1" last address

iii. Find the netid and the hostid of the following IP addresses
114.34.2.8 = netid: 114 and hostid: 34.2.8
132.56.8.6 = netid: 132.56 and hostid: 8.6
[1 mark for each correct answer]
 Section B (30 marks)

Answer ANY TWO Questions

B. 1 a. Assume six devices are arranged in a mesh topology

i. How many cables are needed to connect them all? [1 mark]

ANS: =

=
=15
Therefore, 15 cables are needed

ii. how many ports will be connected? [1 mark]

ANS: 5 ports
b. The signal-to-noise ratio is often given in decibels. Assume the SN-B = 30 and the channel
bandwidth is 2MHz. what is the theoretical channel capacity? [3 marks]
ANS: SNRdB = 10 loglO SNR → SNR = lOSNRdB/10 →SNR = 10 3.0 = 1000
C =B log2 (1+ SNR) = 2 X 10^6 X log2 1000 = 60 Mbps

i. What assumption did Nyquist use in stating his formula for calculating the maximum channel
capacity in data communication? [1 mark]
ANS: The Nyquist formula gives the upper bound for the data rate of a transmission
system by calculating the bit rate directly from the number of signal levels and the
bandwidth of the system
ii. A signal travels from point A to point B. At point A, the signal power is 150W. at point B, the
power is 70W. what is the attenuation in decibels? [3 marks]
ANS: Attenuation in dB = 10 * log10 (70 / 150 ) 
                                                = 4.6667 dB
c. Define block coding and state its purpose [2 marks]
ANS: Block coding refers to the technique of adding extra bits to a digital word in
order to improve the reliability of transmission. The word consists of the message
bits (often called information, or data) plus code bits
d. For the 3rd generation of Mobile Telephony, state the following
i. The Technology used [1 mark]
ANS: CDMA
ii 2 Distinct features [0.5 marks for each correct answer]
ANS: Speed of up to 2 Mbps.
Increased bandwidth and data transfer rates.
iii. 1 Key Benefit [1 mark]
ANS: New radio spectrum to relieve overcrowding in existing systems.
iv. 1 Key Limitation [ 1 mark]
technology
ANS: Needs different handsets.

B. 2 a. State the full meaning of the abbreviations bellow as used in Frame Relay Networks
i. DLCI = A data link connection identifier (DLCI) is a Frame Relay 10-bit-wide link-
local virtual circuit identifier used to assign frames to a specific PVC or SVC.
ii. PVC = A permanent virtual circuit (PVC) is a software-defined logical connection in
a network such as a frame relay network
iii. SVC = Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs) are also part of the Frame Relay
specification. They provide a link that lasts only only as long as the session is active.
iv. FRAD = Frame Relay Assembler/Disassembler. It converts packets into frames that
can be transmitted over Frame Relay Networks. It operates at the physical layer
v. LMI = Local Management Interface (LMI), a technology developed by Cisco, is a
signaling standard that is used between the routers and frame relay switches for various
purposes
[1 mark for each correct answer]

b. State the major categories of transmission media used in data communications [2 marks]
ANS: twisted pair, coaxial cable, and optical fiber
i. What is the significance of twisting the pair cables in the Twisted-Pair Cabling method? [
1 mark]
ANS:  The twisting is done to help cancel exterior electromagnetic interference.
ii. State the frequency of Infrared Waves [1 mark]
ANS: IR frequencies range from about 300 gigahertz (GHz) up to about 400 terahertz
(THz),
iii. State 2 uses of Infrared waved in Data Communications [ 1 mark]
ANS: , short-range communications like remote controls, optical fibres

c. For 1st Generation of Mobile Technology state the following

i. The Technology used [1 mark]
ANS: Analog
ii. 2 Distinct Features [0.5 marks each correct answer]
ANS: Technology: Analogue switching.
Modulation: Frequency Modulation (FM)

iv. 1 Key Benefit [1 mark]

ANS: Improve voice clarity.

v. 1 Key Limitation[1 mark]

ANS: Poor voice quality.
B. 3 a. Briefly describe the use of the following TCP/IP protocols
i. DNS = DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load
Internet resources.
ii. UDP = User Datagram Protocol (UDP) UDP is also a transport-layer protocol and is an
alternative to TCP. It provides an unreliable datagram connection between
applications.
iii. Telnet = Telnet is a protocol that allows you to connect to remote computers
(called hosts) over a TCP/IP network (such as the internet)
iv. HTTP = Common TCP/IP protocols include the following: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) handles the communication between a web server and a web browser.
v FTP = FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a network protocol for transmitting files
between computers over Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
connections.
[1 mark for each correct answer]
b. A device is sending out data at the rate of 3000bps.
i. How long does it take to send out 10bits? [1 mark]
ANS: 10/3000 = 0.003secs
ii. How long does it take to send out a single character (8 bits) [1 mark]
ANS: 8/3000 = 0.003secs
iii. How long does it take to send a file of 100,000 characters? [1 mark]
ANS: 8*100000/3000 = 267secs
c. State the full meaning of the following abbreviations as used in Asynchronous Transfer mode
Networks
i. UNI = User-Network Interface 
ii. NNI = Network-Node Interface
iii. TP = transmission path
iv. VP = virtual paths
[0.5 marks for each correct answer]
d. For the 2nd Generation of Mobile Telephony state the following
i. Technology used [1 mark]
ANS: Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) Time division multiple access
(TDMA) Code division multiple access (CDMA
ii. 2 Distinct Features
ANS: Data speeds of up to 64 kbps.
Use of digital signals instead of analog.
[0.5 marks for each correct answer]
iii. 1 Key Benefit [1 mark]
ANS: Digital signals consume less battery power
iv. 1 Key Limitation [1 mark]
ANS: Unable to handle complex data such as Videos.

B. 4 a. What is the position of transmission media in the OSI model [1 mark]

ANS: Layer 1
i. State two uses of microwaves. [1 mark]
ANS:  point-to-point communication links, wireless networks
ii. How do guided media differ from unguided media? [1 mark]
ANS: The key difference between guided and unguided media is that guided media
uses a physical path or conductor to transmit the signals whereas, the unguided
media broadcast the signal through the air.
iii. What is the difference between omnidirectional and unidirectional waves [2 marks]
ANS: An omnidirectional antenna is able to radiate or receive equally well in all
directions. ... A unidirectional antenna focuses the radiofrequency (RF) energy in one or
two directions which lowers the beamwidth and overall area covered, but increases the
strength of the signal and distance covered in that direction
b. With the aid of diagrams briefly describe the following line coding scheme
i. Unipolar Line Coding Scheme
ANS:

ii. Alternate Mark Inversion Line Coding Scheme

ANS:

iv. Manchester Line Coding Scheme

ANS:
 [2 marks for each correct answer]

c. We want to measure the performance of a telephone line (4 KHz bandwidth). When the signal
is 10V, the noise is 5mV. What is the maximum data rate supported by this telephone line? [4
marks]
ANS: Shannon capacity provides the maximum capacity of a noisy channel in bits per
seconds.
The given channel is a noisy channel and its signal to noise ratio is SNR=signal/noise.
Where signal= 10V and noise= 5mv=0.005V.
SNR = 10/0.005 = 2000
Therefore Shannon capacity provides us the maximum data rate
C = B log2 (1+SNR)
C = 4 log2 (1+ 2000)
C = 24Mbps