Data Communication and Networking free essay sample

It is the exchange of data between two devices via some form of transmission medium such as wire cable. The communicating system must be part of a communication system made up of a combination of hardware and software. The effectiveness of a data communication system depends on three fundamental characteristics: delivery, accuracy and timeliness. 2. What is simplex? Ans: It is the mode of communication between two devices in which flow of data is unidirectional. i. e. one can transmit and other can receive. E. g. eyboard and monitor. It is the mode of communication between two devices in which flow of data is bidirectional but not at the same time. ie each station can transmit and receive but not at the same time. E. g walkie-talkies are half-duplex system. 4. What is full duplex? Ans: It is the mode of communication between two devices in which flow of data is bidirectional and it occurs simultaneously. Here signals going in either direction share the capacity of the link. E. g. telephone 5. What is a network? Ans: It is a set of devices connected by communication links. A node can be a computer or any other device capable of sending and/or receiving data generated by other nodes on the network. 6. What is distributed processing? Ans: It is a strategy in which services provided by the network reside at multiple sites. 7. What is point to point connection? Ans:It provides a dedicated link between two devices. The entire capacity of the link is reserved for transmission between the two devices e. g. when we change the TV channels by remote control we establish a point to point connection between remote control and TV control system. . What is multipoint connection? Ans: In multipoint connection more than two specific devices share a single link. Here the capacity of the channel is shared either separately or temporally. 9. What is a topology? Ans: Topology of a network is defined as the geometric representation of the relationship of all the links and linking devices (node) to one another. Four basic topologies are star, bus, ring and mesh. Star – Here each device has a dedicated point to point link only to a central controller called hub. Bus -It is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in the network. Ring -Here each device has a dedicated point to point connection only with the two devices on either side of it. Mesh -Here every device has a dedicated point to point link to every other device. 10. Define LAN, MAN and WAN. Ans: LAN- A local area network (LAN) is a privately owned and links the devices in a single office, building or campus. It allows resources to be shared between personal computers and work stations. MAN- A metropolitan-area network (MAN) spreads over an entire city. It may be wholly owned and operated by a private company, eg local telephone company. WAN – A wide area network (WAN) provides long distance transmission of data, voice, image and video information over large geographic areas that comprise a country, a continent or even whole world. 11. Define internet? Ans: It is a network of networks. 12. What is a protocol? Ans: It is a set of rules that governs data communication. A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is communicated. The key elements of protocol are syntax, semantics and timing. 13. What is TCP/IP protocol model? Ans: It is a five layered model which provides guidelines for the development of universally compatible networking protocols. The five layers are physical, data link, network, transport and application. 14. Describe the functions of five layers? Ans: Physical- It transmits raw bits over a medium. It provides mechanical and electrical specification. Data link- It organizes bits into frames. It provides hop to hop delivery. Network-It moves the packets from source to destination. It provide internetworking. Transport-It provides reliable process to process message delivery and error recovery. Application-It allows ti access to network resources. 15. What is ISO-OSI model? Ans: Open Systems Interconnection or OSI model was designed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) . It is a seven layer model. It is a theoretical model designed to show how a protocol stack should be implemented. It defines two extra layers in addition to TCP/IP model. Session -It was designed to establish, maintain, and synchronize the interaction between communicating system. Presentation-It was designed to handle the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged between the two systems. It was designed for data translation, encryption, decryption, and compression. 16. What is multiplexing? Ans: Multiplexing is the process of dividing a link, the physical medium, into logical channels for better efficiency. Here medium is not changed but it has several channels instead of one. 16. What is switching? Ans: Switching in data communication is of three types Circuit switching Packet switching Message switching 17. How data is transmitted over a medium? Ans: Data is transmitted in the form of electromagnetic signals. 18. Compare analog and digital signals? Ans: Analog signals can have an infinite number of values in a range but digital signal can have only a limited number of values. 19. Define bandwidth? Ans: The range of frequencies that a medium can pass is called bandwidth. It is the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies that the medium can satisfactorily pass. 20. What are the factors on which data rate depends? Ans: Data rate ie. how fast we can send data depends upon i) Bandwidth available ii) The levels of signals we can use iii) The quality of the channel (level of noise) 21. Define bit rate and bit interval? Ans: Digital signals are aperiodic. o instead of using period and frequency we use bit interval and bit rate respectively. Bit interval is the time required to send one single bit. Bit rate is the number of bit intervals per second. 22. What is Nyquist bit rate formula? Ans: For a noiseless channel, the Nyquist bit rate formula defines the theoretical maximum bit rate Bitrate=2* Bandwidth*log2L Where Bandwidth is the bandwidth of the channel L is the number of signal level used to represent the data Bitrate is the bit rate in bits per second. 23. Define Shannon Capacity? Ans: Shannon Capacity determines the theoretical highest data rate foe a noise channel. Capacity= Bandwidth * log2 (1+SNR) Bandwidth is the bandwidth of the channel. SNR is the signal to noise ratio, it is the statical ratio of the power of the signal to the power of the noise. Capacity is the capacity of the channel in bits per second 24. What is sampling? Ans: It is the process of obtaining amplitude of a signal at regular intervals. 25. Define pulse amplitude modulation? Ans: It is an analog to digital conversion method which takes analog signals, samples it and generates a series of pulse based on the results of the sampling. It is not used in data communication because the series of pulses generated still of any amplitude. To modify it we use pulse code modulation. 26. Define pulse code modulation? Ans: Pulse code Modulation modifies pulses created by PAM to create a completely digital signal. For this PCM first quantizes the PAM pulse. Quantization is the method of assigning integral values in a specific tange to sampled instances. PCM is made up of four separate processes: PAM, quantization, binary encoding and line encoding. According to this theorem, the sampling rate must be at least 2 times the highest frequency of the original signal. 8. What are the modes of data transmission? Ans: Data transmission can be serial or parallel in mode In parallel transmission, a group of bits is sent simultaneously, with each bit on a separate line. In serial transmission there is only one line and the bits are sent sequentially. 29. What is Asynchronous mode of data transmission? Ans: It is a serial mode of transmission. In this mode of transmission, each byte is framed with a start bit and a stop bit. There may be a variable length gap between each byte. 30. What is Synchronous mode of data transmission? Ans: It is a serial mode of transmission. In this mode of transmission, bits are sent in a continuous stream without start and stop bit and without gaps between bytes. Regrouping the bits into meaningful bytes is the responsibility of the receiver. 31. What are the different types of multiplexing? Ans: Multiplexing is of three types. Frequency division multiplexing and wave division multiplexing is for analog signals and time division multiplexing is for digital signals. 32. What is FDM? Ans: In frequency division multiplexing each signal modulates a different carrier frequency. The modulated carrier combines to form a new signal that is then sent across the link. Here multiplexers modulate and combine the signal while demultiplexers decompose and demodulate. Guard bands keep the modulating signal from overlapping and interfering with one another. 32. What is TDM ? Ans: In TDM digital signals from n devices are interleaved with one another, forming a frame of data. Framing bits allow the TDM multiplexer to synchronize properly. 33. What are the different transmission media? Ans: The transmission media is broadly categorized into two types i)Guided media(wired) i)Unguided media(wireless) 34. What are the different Guided Media? Ans: The media which provides a conduct from one device to another is called a guided media. These include twisted pair cable, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable. 35. Describe about the different Guided Medias. Ans: Twisted pair cable consists of two insulated cupper wires twisted together. It is used in telephone line for voice and data communications. Coaxial cable has the following layers: a metallic rod-shaped inner conductor, an insulator covering the rod, a metallic outer conductor (shield), an insulator covering the shield, and a plastic cover. Coaxial cable can carry signals of higher frequency ranges than twisted-pair cable. Coaxial cable is used in cable TV networks and Ethernet LANs. Fiber-optic cables are composed of a glass or plastic inner core surrounded by cladding, all encased in an outer jacket. Fiber-optic cables carry data signals in the form of light. The signal is propagated along the inner core by reflection. Its features are noise resistance, low attenuation, and high bandwidth capabilities. It is used in backbone networks, cable TV nerworks, and fast Ethernet networks. 36. What do you mean by wireless communication? Ans: Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. This type of communication is referred as wireless communication. Here signals are broadcaster through air and thus available to anyone who has a device to receive it. 37. What do you mean by switching? Ans: It is a method in which communication devices are connected to one another efficiently. A switch is intermediary hardware or software that links devices together temporarily. 38. What are the switching methods? Ans: There are three fundamental switching methods: circuit switching, packet switching, And message switching. In circuit switching, a direct physical connection between two devices is created by space division switches, time division switches or both. In packet switching data is transmitted using a packet switched network. Packet switched network is a network in which data are transmitted in independent units called packets. 39. What are the duties of data link layer? Ans: Data link layer is responsible for carrying packets from one hop (computer or router) to the next. The duties of data link layer include packetizing, adderssing, error control, flow control, medium access control. What are the types of errors? Ans: Errors can be categorized as a single-bit error or burst error. A single bit error has one bit error per data unit. A burst error has two or more bits errors per data unit. 41. What do you mean by redundancy? Ans: Redundancy is the concept of sending extra bits for use in error detection. Three common redundancy methods are parity check, cyclic redundancy check (CRC), and checksum. 42. Define parity check. Ans: In parity check, a parity bit is added to every data unit so that the total number of 1s is even (or odd for odd parity). Simple parity check can detect all single bit errors. It can detect burst errors only if the total number of errors in each data unit is odd. In two dimensional parity checks, a block of bits is divided into rows and a redundant row of bits is added to the whole block. 43. Define cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Ans: C RC appends a sequence of redundant bits derived from binary division to the data unit. The divisor in the CRC generator is often represented as an algebraic polynomial. 44. What is hamming code? Ans: The hamming code is an error correction method using redundant bits. The number of bits is a function of the length of the data bits. In hamming code for a data unit of m bits, we use the formula 2r gt;= m+r+1 to determine the number of redundant bits needed. By rearranging the order of bit transmission of the data units, the hamming code can correct burst errors. 45. What do you mean by flow control? Ans: It is the regulation of sender’s data rate so that the receiver buffer doesn’t become overwhelmed. i. e. flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data that the sender can send before waiting for acknowledgement. 46. What do you mean by error control? Ans: Error control refers primarily to methods of error detection and retransmission. Anytime an error is detected in an exchange, specified frames are retransmitted. This process is called automatic repeat request (ARQ). 47. Define stop and wait ARQ. Ans: In stop and wait ARQ, the sender sends a frame and waits for an acknowledgement from the receiver before sending the next frame. 48. Define Go-Back-N ARQ? Ans: In Go-Back-N ARQ, multiple frames can be in transit at the same time. If there is an error, retransmission begins with the last Unacknowledged frame even if subsequent frames arrived correctly. Duplicate frames are discarded. 49. Define Selective Repeat ARQ? Ans: In Selective Repeat ARQ, multiple frames can be in transit at the same time. If there is an error, only unacknowledged frame is retransmitted. 50. What do you mean by pipelining, is there any pipelining in error control? Ans: The process in which a task is often begun before the previous task has ended is called pipelining. There is no pipelining in stop and wait ARQ however it does apply in Go-Back-N ARQ and Selective Repeat ARQ. 51. What is HDLC? Ans: It is a bit oriented data link protocol designed to support both half duplex and full duplex communication over point to point and multi point links. HDLC is characterized by their station type,configuration and their response modes. 52. What do you mean by point to point protocol? Ans: The point to point protocol was designed to provide a dedicated line for users who need internet access via a telephone line or a cable TV connection. Its connection goes through three phases: idle, establishing, authenticating, networking and terminating. At data link layer it employs a version of HDLC. 53. What do you mean by point to point protocol stack? Ans: Point to point protocol uses a stack of other protocol to use the link, to authenticate the parties involved, and to carry the network layer data. Three sets of protocols are defined: link control protocol, Authentication protocol, and network control protocol. 54. What do you mean by line control protocol? Ans: It is responsible for establishing, maintaining, configuring, and terminating links. 55. What do you mean by Authentication protocol? Ans: Authentication means validating the identity of a user who needs to access a set of resources. It is of two types i)Password Authentication Protocol(PAP) ii)Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol(CHAP) PAP is a two step process. The user sends a authentication identification and a password. The system determines the validity of the Information sent. CHAP is a three step process. The system sends a value to the user. The user manipulates the value and sends the result. The system Verifies the result. 56. What do you mean by network control protocol? Ans: Network control protocol is a set of protocols to allow the encapsulation of data coming from network layer protocol that requires the services of PPP. 57. What do you mean by CSMA? Ans: To reduce the possibility of collision CSMA method was developed. In CSMA each station first listen to the medium (Or check the state of the medium) before sending. It can’t eliminate collision. 58. What do you mean by Bluetooth? Ans: It is a wireless LAN technology designed to connect devices of different functions such as telephones, notebooks, computers, cameras, printers and so on. The internet address (IP ddress) is 32bits that uniquely and universally defines a host or router on the internet. The portion of the IP address that identifies the network is called netid. The portion of the IP address that identifies the host or router on the network is called hostid. 60. What do you mean by subnetting? Ans: Subnetting divides one large network into several smaller ones. It adds an intermediate level of hierarchy in IP addressing. 61. What are the advantages of fiber optics cable ? Ans: The advantages of fiber optics cable over twisted pair cable are Noise resistance-As they use light so external noise is not a factor. Less signal attenuation-fiber optics transmission distance is significantly greater than that of other guided media. Higher bandwidth-It can support higher bandwidth. 62. What are the disadvantages of fiber optics cable? Ans: The disadvantages of fiber optics cable over twisted pair cable are Cost-It is expensive Installation/maintenance-Any roughness or cracking defuses light and alters the signal Fragility-It is more fragile. 63. What are the propagation type of radio wave ? Ans: Radio wave propagation is dependent upon frequency. There are five propagation type. )surface propagation ii)Tropospheric propagation iii)Ionospheric propagation iv)Line of sight propagation v)space propagation 64. What do you mean by Geosynchronous Satellites ? Ans: Satellite communication uses a satellite in geosynchronous orbit to relay signals. The Satellite must move at the same speed as the earth so that it seems to remain fixed above a certain spot.. Only one orbit can be geosynchronous. This orbit occurs at the equatorial plane and is approximately 22,000 miles from the surface of earth. 65. What are the factors for evaluating the suitability of the media ? Ans: The factors are cost,throughput,attenuation,Electromagneric interference(EMI),securtty. 66. What do you mean by medium access control(MAC) sublayer. Ans: The protocols used to determine who goes next on a multi-access channel belong to a sublayer of the data link layer is called the multi-access channel(MAC) sublayer. It is the buttom part of data link layer. 67. What do you mean by ALOHA ? Ans: It is the method used to solve the channel allocation problem . It is used for: i)ground based radio broadcasting ii)In a network in which uncoordinated users are competing for the use of single channel.