West Bengal State University

M.Sc. (Computer Science)

2023
Computer Network
Full Marks-40
Group A

1.Answer any five questions. (5X2)

i. What happens if one of the station is unplugged in Bus topology and Ring topology?
Answer:
In ring topology, unplugging a station disrupts the entire network as each station prepares and retransmits the
signal in one direction. In bus topology, unplugging a station doesn't disrupt entire network as each device
connects to a central bus, but the unplugged station will not be able to send or receive data.

Explanation:
In a ring topology, if one of the stations is unplugged, it will disrupt the entire network. This is because the signal
travels in only one direction and each device or station in the ring topology prepares and retransmits the signal.
So, if a station is unplugged, the signal cannot continue on to the next station as the path is broken, causing the
entire network to fail.

However, in a bus topology, unplugging one of the stations will not disrupt the entire network. This is because
each device on the network connects to a central cable, or bus. If a station is unplugged, it won't affect the
overall communication since other devices can still transmit data along the backbone. Nevertheless, the
unplugged station will not be able to send or receive data.

ii. How Huffman coding is used in variable length encoding techniques?

Answer:
Huffman coding, a variable-length encoding technique, assigns shorter binary codes to more frequent symbols.
This minimizes the overall length of encoded data, aiding efficient compression. It involves building a Huffman
tree based on symbol frequencies, assigning codes, and encoding the data with variable-length representations.

iii. What is Tunneling?

Answer:
Here the source and destination host are on the same network but there is a different network in between. This
case is known “Tunneling”.

To send an IP packet from host 1 to host 2, the packet is inserted into a “Multiprotocol router”. After putting
packets on the ethernet, when a multiprotocol router gets the frame, it removes the IP packets. Packets are then
inserted in the payload field of the WAN network and address the latter to the WAN address of the destinations
multiprotocol router.

At receiver’s end, the host again fetch the IP packet and send it to the destination. In this view, WAN can seen as
a big tunnel extending from one multiprotocol router to other.

WAN LAN
LAN Tunnel

IP IP IP
 iv. What id Piggybacking?
Answer:
When a data frame arrives, instead of immediately sending a separate control frame, the receiver restrains itself
and waits until the network layer passes it the next packet. The acknowledgement is attached to the outgoing
data frame (using the ack field in the frame header). In effect, the acknowledgement gets a free ride on the next
outgoing data frame. The technique of temporarily delaying outgoing acknowledgements so that they can be
hooked onto the next outgoing data frame is known as “piggybacking”.

v. What are the features of a transparent bridge?

Answer:
 Simplicity: Transparent bridges are relatively simple devices that do not require much configuration or
maintenance.
 Compatibility: Transparent bridges are compatible with all network protocols and can be used to connect
different types of networks.
 Scalability: Transparent bridges can be easily added to a network to expand its capacity and reach.
 Reliability: Transparent bridges are reliable and can provide redundant paths for network traffic.
 Security: Transparent bridges can help to prevent network attacks by filtering traffic based on MAC addresses.

vi. What is Exterior Gateway Routing protocol? (BGP in Tannenbum)

Answer:
Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) is used to exchange net-reachability information between Internet gateways
belonging to the same or different autonomous systems. EGP was developed by Bolt, Beranek and Newman in
the early 1980s. It was first described in RFC 827 and formally specified in RFC 904 (1984).

vii. Define Data rate and Single rate?

viii. Differentiate between Congestion and Flow Control.
Answer:
Flow Control:
 It makes sure that the sender does not overload the receiver.
 It's a local phenomenon, unlike congestion control.
 It's generally initiated by the sender.
Congestion control:
 It makes sure that the network is able to handle the load of packets.
 It's a global phenomenon and affects every host connected with that network.
 It's initiated by the router.
 Group B
2. Answer any three questions. (3X10)
i. a) Construct the Hamming code for the bit 5 sequences 10011010 and draw the hardware design for hamming
code design. (4+3)
b) Explain the fundamental operation of stop and wait protocol in Data link Layer. 3

Answer:
It is the simplest flow control method. In this, the sender will transmit one frame at a time to the receiver. The
sender will stop and wait for the acknowledgement from the receiver.

This time (i.e. the time joining message transmitting and acknowledgement receiving) is the sender’s waiting
time, and the sender is idle during this time. When the sender gets the acknowledgement (ACK), it will send the
next data packet to the receiver and wait for the disclosure again, and this process will continue as long as the
sender has the data to send.

While sending the data from the sender to the receiver, the data flow needs to be controlled. If the sender is
transmitting the data at a rate higher than the receiver can receive and process it, the data will get lost. The
Flow-control methods will help in ensuring that the
data doesn't get lost. The flow control method will
check that the senders send the data only at a rate
that the receiver can receive and process.

The working of Stop and Wait Protocol is shown in

the figure below −

The main advantage of stop & wait protocols is their

accuracy. The next frame is transmitted only when
the first frame is acknowledged. So there is no chance
of the frame being lost.

Features
The features of Stop and Wait Protocol are as follows
−
 It is used in Connection-oriented communication.
 It offers error and flows control.
 It can be used in data Link and transport Layers.
 Stop and Wait ARQ executes Sliding Window Protocol with Window Size 1.

ii. a) Compare byte stuffing and bit stuffing. Also, “Bit Stuff” the following data frame
00111111100110001111111100. (2+3)
b) How does token bucket traffic sharper work? Explain through a diagram. 5
Answer:

iii. a) Discuss the functions and services of sublayers of ATM adaption layers (AAL). 5
b) What is the important aspect that establishes trust in digital signature?
Answer:
a) Adaptation Layers (AAL)
 The use of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology and services creates the need for an adaptation layer
in order to support information transfer protocols, which are not based on ATM. This adaptation layer defines
how to segment and reassemble higher-layer packets into ATM cells, and how to handle various transmission
aspects in the ATM layer. Examples of services that need adaptations are Gigabit Ethernet, IP, Frame
Relay, SONET/SDH, UMTS/Wireless, etc.

The main services provided by AAL (ATM Adaptation Layer) are:

 Segmentation and reassembly

 Handling of transmission errors
 Handling of lost and misinserted cell conditions
 Timing and flow control

b)

Digital signatures rely on asymmetric cryptography, also known as public key cryptography. This cryptography
uses a public/private key pair. The private key is used to create a signature, and the corresponding public key is
used to verify the signature.

Digital signatures have three important functions:

 Ensure integrity: The sender's private key is used to create a digital signature of the message.
 Ensure confidentiality: The recipient's public key encrypts the entire message.
 Verify the user's identity: The public key is used to verify the user's identity by checking it
against certificate authority.

Digital signatures are a subset of electronic signature technology (eSignature). They rely on a universally
accepted format known as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to ensure enhanced security. The level of trust in digital
signatures is based on the level of assurance or vetting that the process that proved your identity went through.

iv. a) Draw the format of IP Header version 4 and explain the significance of each field. 5
b) Explain the DES algorithm with the help of suitable diagram. 5
Answer:
a)
IP datagram is unit of transfer in an IP network. It carries enough information about the network to get
forwarded to its destination; it consists of a header followed by bytes of data.
The header contains information about the type of IP datagram, how long the datagram should stay on the
network with special flags indicating any special purpose the datagram is supposed to serve etc. The minimum
use of the IP header is 20 bytes consisting of five 32 bit words.

The packet datagram header is as shown below:

VERSION HEADER LENGTH D.S. TYPE OF SERVICE TOTAL LENGTH 16 BITS

IDENTIFICATION 16 BITS FLAGS 3 BITS FRAGMENTATION

OFFSET(13 BITS)

TIME TO LIVE PROTOCOL HEADER CHECKSUM(16 BITS)

SOURCE IP ADDRESS
DESTINATION IP ADDRESS
OPTION + PADDING
 a) Version (4 bit): It is used to define the IP version. The value 4 defines the packet as IPv4 while value 6
defines the packet as IPv6.
b) Header length (4 bit): It is used to define the length of the header. It does not include the data field
and the value cannot be greater than 60 bytes. The default value of this field i.e. no options present is 5.
c) Type of service (8 bit): Of the 8 bits, the first three bits i.e. the precedence bits are ignored. The type
of service is represented by the next 4 bit and the last bit is left unused. They are:
Type of service Description

0000 Normal serivce

0001 Minimize monetary cost

0010 Maximize reliability

0100 Maximize throughput

1000 Maximize delay

d) Total length (16 bit): It defines the total length of the datagram, header and data and the maximum
size of IP datagram can be 65535 bytes.
e) Identification (16 bit): Identifier is assigned by the host during fragmentation. This helps in
reassembling the fragmented datagrams. Each fragment of a single datagram has the same identification
number.
f) Flags (3 bit): There are 3 types of flags and only two of the three allocated bits are used. They are used
to indicate three different statuses namely Reserved, Do not fragment and more fragments.
g) Fragment offset (13 bit): It is primarily used during fragmentation process. The fragmented datagrams
are of 8 bytes and this is used in reassembly of fragmented IP datagrams.
h) Time to live (8 bit): It represents number of hops that the IP datagram will go through before being
discarded. The value is decremented by one by every router that handles the datagram. When this field reaches
0, the datagram is thrown away and the sender is notified with an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)
message.
i) Protocol (8 bit): It identifies which upper layer protocol are encapsulated in the packets. For example:
Identifier 0 indicates Reserved and similarly 6 indicate TCP.
j) Header checksum (16 bit): It is a 16 bit checksum used for error detection. It is calculated by dividing
the header bytes into words (a word is two bytes) and then adding them together. The operation is performed
only on the header and not on the data.
k) Source IP (32 bit): It is the IP address of the originator of the datagram packet.
l) Destination IP (32 bit): It is the IP address of the intended recipient of the datagram packet.
m) Options (Variable length) and padding: The options field is used for additional header or information
if required. If one or more options are included and the number of bits used for them is not a multiple of 32,
then padding field is used to make the header a multiple of 32.

b) Data Encryption Standard:

The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a symmetric-key block cipher published by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST).
DES is an implementation of a Feistel Cipher. It uses 16 round Feistel structure. The block size is 64-bit.
Though, key length is 64-bit, DES has an effective key length of 56 bits, since 8 of the 64 bits of the key are not
used by the encryption algorithm (function as check bits only). General Structure of DES is depicted in the
illustration (A). And a single iteration step is shown in illustration (B).
 A technique called whitening is used to make DES stronger. It consists of XORing a random 64 bits key
with each plaintext block before feeding it into DES and then XORing a second 64 bit key with the resulting cipher
before transmitting.

Li−1 Ri−1

Li−1+ f (R i−1 , K i)

32 Bits

(A) (B)

v. a) How information of complete path from 10 source to destination instead of delay (number of hops), helps
in solving count-to-infinity problem of distance vector routing? Explain with example.
b)Find CRC for Data Polynomial x 4 + x 2 + x+ 1 with generator polynomial x 3 +1