Assignment 2

COMP3271 - Computer Networks

Chapter 2
1. List the three main multiplexing techniques mentioned in this chapter.
Frequency-division multiplexing, time-division multiplexing, and wave-division
multiplexing.

2. Compare FDM, TDM, and WDM based on:

a.What types of signals are being combined?

b.What are being shared?

FDM and WDM are used to combined analog signals, and TDM is used to combine
digital signals.
FDM: the transmission happens when the bandwidth of a link is greater than the
bandwidth of the combined signals.
TDM: the time is divided into partitions, and each signal is passed to a time slot; single
time-shared link is formed based on the combination of the digital data from varied sources.
WDM: combine two signals into a composite signal and transmit through a line.

3. Which layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite are involved in a link-layer switch?
Data-link and physical

4. What are the types of addresses (identifiers) and how many addresses (i.e., the number of
addresses used to identify the start and end points; what are they called in general) are used in
each of the following layers? Provide one example (i.e., write the address in standard format)
for each type of addresses.
There are physical address, logical address, port address and specific address.
a. Network layer – use logical address. Example: IP address 156.129.1.48
b. Data link layer – use physical address. Example: A2:34:45:11:92:F1

5. If there is a single path between the source host and the destination host, do we need a
router between the two hosts?
We do not need a router between the two hosts, as they can communicate directly if
the two hosts use the same networks or subnets.

6. Assume six devices are arranged in a mesh topology.

c. How many cables are needed?

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 n(n−1) 6 x 5
= =¿ 15 cables
2 2
d. How many ports are needed for each device?
n−1=6−1=5 ports

7. For each of the following four network topologies, discuss the consequences if a connection
fails.
a. Five devices arranged in a mesh topology
One of the connection fails does not affect another connections since all devices are
fully connected.
b. Five devices arranged in a star topology (not counting the hub)
If one of the connection fails does not affect other connections sending data through
the hub, but all devices are dependent on the hub will lose their connection (the whole network
is disconnected) so they cannot communicate.
c. Five devices arranged in a bus topology
Since all the devices are connected to the main cable, so if one fails which makes the
whole line fails to communicate to each other.
d. Five devices arranged in a ring topology
Like a bus topology, if one fails, the whole network will be down since the signal travel
through the completed ring; then there is a gap between devices if one fails in the ring, so they
cannot communicate.

8. Match the following to one or more layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite?
a. Route determination - Network layer
b. Connection to transmission media - Physical layer
c. Providing services for the end user - Application layer

Chapter 2
9. Name three types of transmission impairment.

Noise, Distortion, and Attenuation.

10. What is the bandwidth of a composite analog signal that can be decomposed into four sine
waves with frequencies of 20, 50, 100, and 200 Hz?

The bandwidth = highest frequency – lowest frequency = fh – f1 = 200 – 20 = 180Hz

11. A network device sends out data at the rate of 5 kbps.

Bit rate: 5 kbps = 5000 bps

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 a. How long does it take to send out 100 bits?
number of bits 100
Time ¿ = =¿ 0.02s
bit rate 5000
b. How long does it take to send out a single Unicode character (UTF-16)? 16 bits?
number of bits 16
UTF-16 uses 16 bits per character, then Time ¿ = =¿ 0.0032s
bit rate 5000
c. How long does it take to send out a file of 100,000 Unicode characters (UTF-16)?
number of bits 16 x 100000
Time ¿ = =¿ 320s
bit rate 5000

12. 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?

PTransmit 100
Attenuation = 10 log 10 =10 log 10 =¿ ¿ 0.458dB (from A to B)
P Receive 90

13. A signal has passed through three cascaded amplifiers, each with a 4-dB gain. What is the
total gain? How much is the signal amplified?

For cascaded amplifiers, The total gain = 3*4dB = 12dB

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PTransmit PTransmit
Attenuation = 12dB = 10 log 10 then =10 10 =¿ 15.849
P Receive → P Receive
Signal amplified by factor 15.849

14. 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?

4000 kHz = 4000 x 103 Hz

Maximum data rate:
C = B log 2 (1+SNR )=4000 x 103 log 2 ( 1+1000 )=¿ ¿ 39868905.035 bps ≈ 40Mbps

15. We need to upgrade a channel to a higher bandwidth.

a. How is the rate improved if we double the bandwidth?

By the formula:
Bit rate ¿ 2 B log 2 L. If we double bandwidth, bit rate now become4 B log 2 L -> bit rate is
also doubled.
Shannon Capacity C ¿ B log 2 (1+SNR ). So double B, C ¿ 2 B log 2 ( 1+ SNR ) also double.
b. How is the rate improved if we double the SNR?
Shannon Capacity C ¿ B log 2 (1+SNR). So double B, C ¿ B log 2 ( 1+2∗SNR ). We know
B log 2 (1+2∗SNR ) is close to B log 2 (2∗SNR ). Then we can have

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 New C ¿ B log 2 ( 1+2∗SNR ) ≈ B log 2 (2∗SNR )=B¿ ¿
≈ Bl og 2 ( 2 ) +¿ B log 2 (1+ 2∗SNR ) ≈ B+C ¿ ; or the rate improves B unit.

16. What is the transmission time of a packet sent by a station if the length of the packet is 1
million bytes and the bandwidth of the channel is 200Kbps?

1 million bytes = 8 million bits

packet length 8000000
Transmission time ¿ = =¿ 40 secs
bandwidth 200000

17. We need to send 300 kbps over a noiseless channel with a bandwidth of 40 kHz. How many
signal levels do we need?

Bit rate ¿ 2 B log 2 L=2 x 40 x 103 log 2 L=¿ 300kbps => log 2 L=3.75 => L=23.75 =13.45.
result is not power of 2, so we need either increase number of levels, which is 16 levels (bit rate
will be 320 kbps).

18. Define block coding and give its purpose.

Define: Block coding changes a block of m bits into a block of n bits, n > m (addition of
bits).
Purpose: Block coding provides redundancy to ensure synchronization and to provide
error detection, error correction, and data organization.

19. Define carrier signal and explain its role in analog transmission.

A carrier signal is a single-frequency signal that has one of its characteristics like as
amplitude, frequency, or phase (Encoder produces a high frequency signal). Its role in analog
transmission is changed to represent the baseband signal, as the receiver maintain the
frequency of the carried signal form the sender.

20. Calculate the bit rate given that the sampling rate is 8000 samples per second, and there are
16 bits per sample.

16 bits per sample, 8000 samples per second

samples bits
=> 8000 samples, we have bit rate ¿ 8000 x 16 =¿ 128k bits/second
second samples

21. Give the number of bits per baud for the following techniques.

a. ASK with four different amplitudes

Amplitude Shift Keying, 4 different amplitudes.
Number of bits per baud = log 2 L=log 2 4=¿ 2 bits/baud

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b. FSK with eight different frequencies
Frequency Shift Keying, 8 different frequencies.
Number of bits per baud = log 2 L=log 2 8=¿ 3 bits/baud
c. PSK with four different phases
Phase Shift Keying, 4 different phases.
Number of bits per baud = log 2 L=log 2 4=¿ 2 bits/baud
d. QAM with a constellation of 128 points
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, 128 points
Number of bits per baud = log 2 L=log 2 128=¿ 7 bits/baud