COMPUTER NETWORK Suggestive question for End semester examination - 2025

 Define computer network. Why is it important?

 Explain OSI reference model with its 7 layers.
 Compare OSI and TCP/IP models.
 Differentiate between LAN, MAN, and WAN.
 What are the roles of network topology? Draw star and mesh topology.
 Define transmission mode. Explain simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex.
 What is protocol? Define service, protocol, and interface.
 Explain switching techniques: circuit, message, and packet switching.
 Explain the concept of multiplexing (FDM, TDM, WDM).
 What is bandwidth and latency? How do they affect performance?
 Discuss the key components of a computer network.
 Describe the layered architecture approach.
 Differentiate between guided and unguided transmission media.
 What is a network standard? Discuss IEEE 802 standards.
 Explain connection-oriented and connectionless services with examples.
 Define framing. Explain character count and bit stuffing methods.
 What is error detection? Describe parity, CRC, and checksum.
 Explain Stop-and-Wait ARQ with a timing diagram.
 Describe the sliding window protocol with an example.
 Compare Go-Back-N and Selective Repeat protocols.
 Explain HDLC protocol and its frame format.
 What are the responsibilities of the data link layer?
 Describe flow control and error control in data link layer.
 Explain ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA.
 Compare CSMA/CD and CSMA/CA protocols.
 What is MAC address? Where is it used?
 Explain the working of Ethernet (IEEE 802.3).
 Describe token ring and token bus access methods.
 What is ARP and RARP?
 Differentiate between logical and physical addressing.
 Define IP addressing. Explain class A, B, C with ranges.
 What is subnetting? Solve an example.
 Compare IPv4 and IPv6 features.
 Describe packet switching in detail.
 What is fragmentation and reassembly in IP?
 Explain the header format of IPv4.
 What is ICMP? List its types and purpose.
 Compare static and dynamic routing.
 Differentiate between Distance Vector and Link State Routing.
 Explain Dijkstra’s algorithm with an example.
 What is ARP? How does it work?
 Define NAT. Why is it used?
 Discuss CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing).
 What are unicast, multicast, and broadcast transmission?
 Explain routing tables and how routers make forwarding decisions.
 Explain the functions of the transport layer.
 Compare TCP and UDP protocols.
 Describe TCP segment structure.
 Explain three-way handshaking in TCP.
 What is port addressing?
 What is flow control? Explain TCP's sliding window mechanism.
 Explain congestion control mechanisms in TCP (slow start, congestion avoidance).
 Describe connection establishment and termination in TCP.
 What is socket programming? Explain with an example.
 Define multiplexing and demultiplexing.
 What are timers and retransmission in TCP?
 What are the differences between reliable and unreliable transport?
 What is segmentation and reassembly?
 How does UDP work? When is it preferred?
 What is checksum? Explain how it is calculated in TCP/UDP.
 Describe the working of DNS.
 Compare HTTP and FTP.
 What is SMTP? How does email transfer work?
 Explain the architecture of the World Wide Web.
 What is a domain name? How is it resolved?
 Explain client-server and P2P application models.
 What are cookies? How do they help web sessions?
 Define URL and URI with examples.
 What is Telnet? How is it different from SSH?
 Explain working of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).
 What is DHCP? Why is it used?
 What is a firewall? How does it protect a network?
 Compare POP3 and IMAP.
 What is a proxy server?
 Describe web caching and its advantages.
 Define baseband and broadband transmission?
 What is the application of TDM Switching? What is multiplexing?
 In Selective Reject ARQ the size of the sender and receiver window must be at most one half of 2 m ,
explain it.
 What do you mean by ‘Piggybacking’?
 What are the basic differences between Router and Gateway?
 Distinguish between the two terms 'internet' and 'intranet'.
 State the difference between Bit rate & Baud rate?
 Draw a space division three stage switch. There are 18 inputs and 20 outputs. Stage 1 has three
switches, stage 2 has two switches and stage 3 has four switches. How many cross points are needed
to compare this to a system using just one crossbar?
 Explain with diagram, how the lost frame, delayed and lost acknowledgements are handled in Go-Back-
N ARQ.
 What is bit stuffing?
 Describe 802.3 MAC frame format.
 Describe the cell format of ATM.
 What is encapsulation and decapsulation in the context of network communication?
 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a layered network architecture.
 What are the key differences between connection-oriented and connectionless services? Give
examples of protocols using each.
 Explain the concept of multiplexing and demultiplexing. What are different multiplexing techniques?
 What is the role of a protocol in network communication? Give examples of important network
protocols.
 What is the significance of bandwidth in data transmission?
 Explain the functions of the data link layer.
 What is framing? Describe different framing techniques.
 Explain the concept of error detection and correction. What are different error detection methods like
parity check and CRC?
 How does the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) algorithm work? Provide a simple example.
 What are different error correction techniques?
 What is the IEEE 802.11 standard? What are its different versions?
 What is IP addressing? Explain the IPv4 address structure and different classes.
 What is Subnetting? Why is it needed? How do you calculate the subnet mask?
 Explain the concept of CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing).
 What is IPv6? What are its advantages over IPv4? Explain the IPv6 address structure.
 What is routing? Differentiate between static and dynamic routing.
 Explain different distance vector routing algorithms like RIP.
 Explain different link-state routing algorithms like OSPF.
 What is the role of a router in a network?
 What is the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)? What are its common uses?
 Explain the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). How does it work?
 Explain the Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP).
 What is Network Address Translation (NAT)? Why is it used?
 Differentiate between unicasting, multicasting, and broadcasting.
 Explain multicast routing.
 A network link has a bandwidth of 10 Mbps. If the latency for a round trip is 20 ms, what is the
bandwidth-delay product? What does this value represent?
 A file of size 100 MB needs to be transferred over a network with a sustained throughput of 5 Mbps.
Calculate the total time required for the transfer.
 Consider a network link with a bandwidth of 1 Gbps. If the signal propagation speed in the medium is
2×10 m/s and the distance is 100 km, calculate the propagation delay.
 A network has a bandwidth of 20 Mbps. If the efficiency of a stop-and-wait protocol is 40%, what is the
effective throughput?
 Given the IP address [Link] and a subnet mask of [Link], identify the network address
and the broadcast address.
 An organization is assigned a Class C network address [Link]. They need to create 6 subnets.
What is the subnet mask required? How many usable host addresses will be available in each subnet?
 You are given the IP address [Link] with a subnet mask of /20. Determine the network address,
the range of usable host addresses, and the broadcast address.
 An ISP is given a block of addresses starting with [Link]/24. They need to allocate addresses to
three customers with the following requirements: Customer A: 100 hosts, Customer B: 50 hosts,
Customer C: 25 hosts. Design the subnets for each customer.
 Given a data word 10110 and a generator polynomial G(x)=x3+x+1, calculate the CRC codeword.
 A receiver receives the code word 1101011 and uses the generator polynomial G(x)=x3+1. Check if
there is any error in the received code word.
 Consider three nodes A, B, and C in a network. The initial routing table of node A is as follows:
o To B, cost 2
o To C, cost 5 Node B sends its routing table to A, which says:
o To A, cost 2
o To C, cost 1 Update the routing table of node A using the distance vector routing algorithm.
 A web page consists of 5 objects, each of size 20 KB. The round-trip time (RTT) between the client and
the server is 100 ms. Assuming non-persistent HTTP without pipelining, calculate the total time taken
to retrieve the entire web page. (Ignore transmission time for requests).
 A network link has a bandwidth of 2 Mbps. What is the maximum achievable throughput if the
efficiency is 80%?
 A file of 500 KB is to be transmitted over a network with a bandwidth of 100 Kbps. Calculate the
transmission time in seconds.
 The round-trip time (RTT) for a connection is 150 ms. If a data packet of 1 KB is sent, what is the
bandwidth-delay product?
 A signal travels through a cable with a propagation speed of 2.5×10 8 m/s. What is the propagation
delay if the length of the cable is 500 km?
 A network has a bandwidth of 10 Mbps and a round-trip time of 50 ms. Calculate the bandwidth-delay
product in bits.
 Given the IP address [Link] and a subnet mask of [Link], determine the network address.
 An organization needs 10 subnets with at least 20 usable host addresses in each. What is the minimum
subnet mask required for a Class C network?
 You are given the IP address [Link]/27. Find the range of usable host IP addresses in this
subnet.
 An ISP is allocated a block of IP addresses starting from [Link]/16. If they want to create 128 subnets,
what will be the size of each subnet in terms of the number of hosts?
 Convert the IP address [Link] from dotted decimal notation to binary notation.
 Consider three nodes A, B, and C. Node A's initial distance vector is (A:0, B:3, C:7). Node B receives an
update from C with the vector (C:0, A:2, B:1). After receiving this update, what will be the new distance
vector of B to reach A, B, and C?
 In a TCP connection, if the current window size is 8 KB and the receiver acknowledges 4 KB of data,
what is the new advertised window size if the receiver has processed 2 KB of the acknowledged data?
 Calculate the sequence number of the next byte to be sent if the current sequence number is 1000 and
500 bytes have been successfully transmitted.
 A home network with a single public IP address has three devices with private IP addresses
[Link], [Link], and [Link] accessing the internet simultaneously. If the NAT table
has entries mapping each private IP and a unique port to the public IP and a different port, how many
unique connections can these three devices establish concurrently (theoretically)?