May 2021

REGIONAL MARITIME UNIVERSITY

MARINE ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
BEE21 / BEW21
END OF SEMESTER EXAMINATION
BEE 410 - COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING III

TIME ALLOWED: 8HOURS

Instruction: Answer question one (1) and any other three (3) questions. Attempt all sub-questions
under the questions selected.

Question 1 (Compulsory):

a. What is virtual circuit switching and state any four (4) characteristics (10 marks)
b. The National Communications Authority (NCA) has consulted you to propose a solution to reduce
mobile phone theft in the country. Describe the solution you will propose and how it will help meet
the objectives of the regulator (10 marks)
c. What is ISDN and discuss its relevance in WAN communication? (5 marks)

Question 2:

a. Draw, Label and describe the various interfaces of the ISDN reference points. (10 marks)
b. Describe any two (2) Network Elements that make up the Core Network in GSM and state their
functions (10 marks)
c. What are the limitations of PDH that led to the introduction of SDH (5 marks)

Question 3:

a. Describe the 4th Generation mobile technology and highlight its benefits to users and Mobile Network
Operators (MNOs) (10 marks)
b. What are the characteristics and application of Signalling System Number 7? (10 marks)
c. What is B-ISDN and describe its application (5 marks)

Question 4:

a. Discuss traffic management in relation to congestion control in data networks (10 marks)
b. What is circuit switching and describe the three (3) phases for a typical circuit switch connection (10
marks)
c. Compare and contrast Frame Relay and X.25 communication technologies (5 marks)

Doc. No.: EXM/F/03 Page No.: 1/2 Issue No.: 1 Last Update: 26/04/21
Revision No.: 1 Date: 26/04/21 Author: HS Approved: DAA
Question 5:

a. With the aid of diagram, describe information flow from source to destination in the Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) Protocol stack (10 marks)
b. What is Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and describe its application? (10 marks)
c. With the aid of diagram, compare the Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) and Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM) multiple access control techniques (5 marks)

Doc. No.: EXM/F/03 Page No.: 2/2 Issue No.: 1 Last Update: 26/04/21
Revision No.: 1 Date: 26/04/21 Author: HS Approved: DAA