Unit 1

One Liner Questions:

1. Define Computer Network.

Computer Network is defined as a system in which multiple computers are connected to
each other to share information and resources.

2. What are the different components of a computer network?

Sender, Receiver, Medium, Message and Protocol are the components of a computer
network.

3. What are the different data flows in communication?

Simplex, Half Duplex and Full Duplex are the data flows in communication.

4. What do you mean by simplex communication?

In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way street. Only one of
the two devices on a link can transmit, the other can only receive.

5. What do you mean by full duplex communication?

In full-duplex mode, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. In full duplex
mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link with signals going in
another direction.

6. What do you mean by half full duplex communication?

In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time.
When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa.

7. Define Topology.
Geometric representation of how the computers are connected to one another is known as
Topology.

8. In a mesh topology, what is the relation between number of devices connected and number
of connections among them?
If number of devices connected are n, then number of connections among the devices are
n (n - 1) / 2

9. Enlist the types of Computer Networks based on the size or area they covered.
According to the size or area, Networks are divided into three types: Local Area Network,
Wide Area Network, Metropolitan Area Network.

10. What is Bandwidth Utilization?

Bandwidth utilization is the wise use of available bandwidth to achieve specific goals.

11. Define Multiplexing.

Multiplexing is defined as a technique which combines multiple signals into one signal,
suitable for transmission over a communication channel.
 12. What are the types of Spread Spectrum?
Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)
are the types of Spread Spectrum.

Long Questions:

1. Explain all the components of a computer network using a suitable diagram.

Sender, Receiver, Medium, Message and Protocol are the components of a computer
network.

1. Sender: The computer which sends the message is the sender. It can be a device, a phone
handset, a video camera, etc.

2. Receiver: The computer receiving the message is the receiver. It may be a computer, a
workstation, a phone handset, a television, etc.

3. Medium: The medium of communication is the physical route from sender to receiver
through which a message passes. Twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, fibre-optic cable, laser or
radio waves can be used.

4. Message: The message to be transmitted is the transmission. It may consist of any

combination of text, number, images, sound or video.

5. Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules for communicating data. It represents an agreement

between devices that communicate. Two devices can connect but not interact without a
protocol, just like a person who speaks German cannot be understood by a person who only
speaks Japanese.
2. What is OSI Model? How many layers are there in the OSI Model? Enlist all the layers and
explain functions of each layer with a suitable diagram.

OSI Model stands for Open System interconnection model. It defines how data is transferred
from one computer to another computer. It was introduced by International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in 1984.

There are seven layers in a OSI model:

- Application layer
- Presentation Layer
- Session layer
- Transport layer
- Network Layer
- Data Link layer
- Physical layer

Physical Layer:
The Physical Layer is responsible for movements of individual bits from one hop (node) to
the next. A frame is nothing but a sequence of bits such as 1001011.
Physical layer converts these binary sequences into signals and transfer it through a
transmission media such as cables etc.

Data Link Layer:

Data unit in the data link layer is called frame. Data Link Layer receives the data from
network layer.
Main functions of data link layer:
1. Media Access control management
2. Flow Control
3. Error Control
4. Framing
5. Addressing: Logical Addressing (IP Addressing) and Physical Addressing
6. Error Detection

Network Layer:
The main purpose of network layer is to receive the data segments from transport layer and
transfer them from one computer to another computer on different network.
The main functions of network layer:
1. Logical Addressing (IP Addressing)
2. Routing
3. Packetizing

Transport Layer:
The main role of transport layer is to check the reliability of data communication and
communication.
The main functions of transport layer are:
1. Segmentation
2. Connection control
3. Flow control
4. Error control

Session Layer:
The main role of session layer is to setup and maintain the connection between different
systems.
Main functions of session layer:
1. Authentication
2. Authorization
3. Session management

Presentation Layer:
Presentation layer receives the data from top most layer which is application layer.
Functions of Presentation layer:
1. Translation
2. Encryption
3. Compression

Application Layer:
Application layer provides the services to computer applications with the help of protocols
that are defined in it.
Examples:
- HTTP and HTTPS protocols are used by web browsers such as google chrome, Firefox,
Safari etc.
 - FTP protocol is used for file transfer between two or more computers.
- SMTP protocol is used for emails.
3. Compare LAN, MAN and WAN.

Local Area Network Metropolitan Area Network Wide Area Network

This connects a small group This is comparatively wider It spans to an even larger
of computers in a given network than LAN that locality. It has the capacity
geographical area. covers large regions like to connect various
towns, cities, etc. countries together.

The LAN is private. The MAN can be both The WAN can also be both
Hospitals, homes, schools, private or public. Many private or public.
offices, etc., may own it. organizations and telecom
operators may own them.

Very easy to design and Comparatively difficult to Very difficult to design and
maintain. design and maintain. maintain.

LAN offers a very high MAN offers a moderate WAN offers a low Internet
Internet speed. Internet speed. speed.

It faces a very short It faces a moderate It faces a high propagation

propagation delay. propagation delay. delay.

The LAN exhibits a better The MAN exhibits a lesser The WAN also exhibits a
fault tolerance than the rest fault tolerance. lesser fault tolerance.
of the networks.

The congestion in the It exhibits a higher network It exhibits a higher

network is very low. congestion. congestion in the network.

Short Questions:

1. What are the advantages of a computer network?

The advantages of a computer network are as follows:
- File sharing
- Resource sharing
- Better connectivity and communications
- Internet access
- Entertainment
- Flexible access
- Instant and multiple access

2. What is Bus Topology? Explain with suitable diagram. What are the advantages and
limitations of Bus Topology?

Bus topology is a network type in which every computer and network device is connected to
a single cable.
 Advantages:
- Simple installation.
- Less needed cables than topology for mesh and stars.

Disadvantages:
- Difficult identification of faults.
- If the common cable fails, then the whole system will crash down.
- Adding new devices to the network would slow down networks.

3. What is Star Topology? Explain with suitable diagram. What are the advantages and
limitations of Star Topology?

In star topology, any device in the network is linked to a central device like hub or switch.
Star topology does not allow direct communication between devices. A system would have
to communicate via central device. If one computer wishes to send data to another device,
the data must be sent to the central device first, and the data must then be transmitted to
the specified device by the central device.

Advantages of Star Topology

- It is less costly since each system requires only one input-output port and needs to be
linked to a single link hub.
- It is simpler to install.
- Less cables are needed since only the hub needs to be attached to each device.
- If one connection fails, other connections will operate just fine.
- Simple fault detection is possible.

Disadvantages of Star Topology

- If the hub goes down, none of the devices can run without the hub.
 - Since it is the core structure of star topology, the Hub needs more energy and frequent
maintenance.

4. What is Ring Topology? Explain with suitable diagram. What are the advantages and
limitations of Ring Topology?

Each device is aligned with the two devices on either side of it in the ring topology. A system
has two dedicated point-to - point connections to the devices on either side of it. This
arrangement forms a ring, so it is called the ring topology. If a computer wishes to transmit
data to another device, then the data is transmitted in one direction, each device has a
repeater in ring topology, if the received data is intended for another device, then the
repeater forwards this information before it is received by the intended device.

Advantages:
- Simple to mount.
- Managing is simpler when to add or delete a system from the topology only two
connections are needed to be modified.

Disadvantage:
- A connection failure will fail the whole network as the signal will not move forward due
to failure.

5. What is Mesh Topology? Explain with suitable diagram. What are the advantages and
limitations of Mesh Topology?

Any device in the mesh topology is linked by a special point-to-point connection to every
other device on the network. If number of devices connected are n, then number of
connections among the devices are n (n - 1) / 2. In the given figure, there are 5 devices. So
total number of connections are 10.
 Disadvantage:
- As each unit must be attached to other units, the necessary number of input-output
ports must be massive.

Advantages:
- Mesh topology is stable and durable since one link loss has little effect on
other connections and connectivity with other network devices.
- Topology of the mesh is safe, as the connection to the point is not permitted.
- It is quick to detect fault.

6. What is Hybrid Topology? Explain with suitable diagram. What are the advantages and
limitations of Mesh Topology?

A combination of two or more topology is known as hybrid topology. For example, a

combination of star, ring and bus topology is known as hybrid topology.

Advantages:
- We should decide on topology depending on criteria.
- It is Scalable, so we can link additional computer networks with diverse topologies to
existing networks.
Disadvantages:
- It is hard to locate faults.
- It is difficult to mount.
- Development is dynamic and so repair is costly.

7. What do you mean by Protocol? Give any two examples of protocol.

A protocol is a series of rules accepted between sender and receiver. Without a protocol two
machines may be connected but cannot communicate. We need to establish a collection of
rules, called a protocol, to establish secure communication or data sharing between two
separate devices.

Examples of Protocol:
1. ftp is the protocol used for file sharing of the data in internet.
2. smtp protocol is used by email services connected to the internet.
8. What do you mean by Transmission Media? Explain Classification of Transmission Media.

- Transmission media is a communication medium from the sender to the recipient.

Electromagnetic signals are used to send data.
- The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the information in the form
of bits through the network.
- It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data communication.

9. Explain Guided Media of Transmission with examples.

Guided transmission media are also called bounded media or wired media. They comprise
cables or wires through which data is transmitted. They are called guided since they provide
a physical path from the sender device to the receiver device. The signal traveling through
these media is bounded by the physical limits of the medium.

The most popular guided media are:

1. Twisted pair cable:
Compared to other transmission media, a twisted cable is inexpensive. The twisted cable is
easy to mount and is a lightweight cable. The frequency range for twisted pair cable is from 0
to 3.5 KHz.

Unshielded Twisted Pair:

An unshielded twisted pair is widely used in telecommunication. Following are the categories
of the unshielded twisted pair cable:
Category 1: Category 1 is used for telephone lines that have low-speed data.
Category 2: It can support up to 4Mbps.
Category 3: It can support up to 16Mbps.
Category 4: It can support up to 20Mbps.
Category 5: It can support up to 200Mbps.

Shielded Twisted Pair

A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding the wire that allows the
higher transmission rate.
 2. Coaxial cable:
Coaxial cables are most frequently used media, for example a coaxial cable is typically a
television cord. The cable 's name is coaxial since it is parallel to two conductors.

Copper is the inner conductor of the coaxial cable, and a coaxial mesh is the outer conductor.
The middle core consists of a non-leading cover which separates the inner conductor from
the outside conductor. The middle core is in responsible of transmitting the data, while the
copper mesh prevents the electromagnetic interference.

3. Fiber optics:
Fiber optic cable is a communication cable which uses electrical signals. Fiber optics is a
cable containing the plastic-coated fibers that transmit the data through light pulses. The
plastic layer avoids heat, cold, electromagnetic interference of the Optical Fibers from other
cables. Fiber optics provide faster data than copper wires.

10. Explain Unguided Media of Transmission with examples.

Unguided transmission media are also called wireless media. They transport data in the form
of electromagnetic waves that do not require any cables for transmission. These media are
bounded by geographical boundaries.

Unguided signals can travel in three ways:

1. Ground propagation
2. Sky propagation
3. Line of sight propagation

The commonly used unguided transmissions are:

1. Radio transmission:
Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves emitted to the free space in all directions. The
frequency range is 3 kHz to 1 kHz for radio waves. An example of the radio wave is FM radio.

2. Microwave transmission:
In straight line, microwaves can move and so precisely align the transmitter and receiver
stations. As it is unidirectional it can receive signals without interference on multiple
receivers in a row.

3. Infrared transmission
Infrared waves are those in the electromagnetic spectrum between the frequencies 300 GHz
and 400 THz. They are longer than the visible light but they are shorter than the microwave.
Infrared propagation is line of sight. They cannot penetrate walls, and these rays interfere
with sunlight. Thus, long-range communication cannot be used. As their use is closed, they
do not need government permits to apply.

11. Explain LAN with a suitable diagram.

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a
limited region. It can be used for college, home/residence, laboratory, university campus,
 office building. It is applicable when small region is to be covered and good transmission to
be achieved.

LAN can be further divided into three types:

1. Wired LAN:
An electronic circuit or hardware grouping in which the configuration is determined by the
physical interconnection of the components is known as Wired LAN.

2. Wireless LAN:
Communications that take place without the use of interconnecting wires or cables, such as
by radio, microwave, or infrared light are known as Wireless LAN.

3. Virtual LAN:
It is a group of hosts with a common set of requirements that communicate regardless of
their physical location. Logical Address will be come into the picture. It is sometimes called as
Logical Network.

12. Explain MAN with a suitable diagram.

A metropolitan area network is a computer network that interconnects with computer in a

metropolitan area like city. MAN covers larger area than LAN but smaller than the area
covered by a WAN. The transmission speed of a MAN is moderate/average.

13. Explain WAN with a suitable diagram.

 A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that exists over a large-scale geographical
area. A WAN connects different networks, including local area networks (LAN) and
metropolitan area networks (MAN). It may be located within a state or a country or it may be
interconnected around the world.

14. What is Multiplexing? Explain with the suitable diagram.

A communication channel such as an optical fibre or coaxial cable can carry only one signal at
any moment in time. This results in wastage of bandwidth. It can be overcome this drawback
by using a technique called multiplexing.

Without Multiplexing

With Multiplexing
 By using the multiplexing technique, we can easily send multiple signals simultaneously over
a communication channel. Multiplexing is a technique which combines multiple signals into
one signal, suitable for transmission over a communication channel.

15. What is Frequency Division Multiplexing: Explain with the suitable diagram.

The transmitter end contains multiple transmitters and the receiver end contains multiple
receivers. The communication channel is present between the transmitter and receiver. At
transmitter end, each transmitter sends a signal of different frequency.

In the figure, the transmitter 1 sends a signal of 20 kHz, transmitter 2 sends a signal of 30
kHz, and transmitter 3 sends a signal of 40 kHz. These signals of different frequencies are
then multiplexed or combined by using a device called multiplexer. It then transmits the
multiplexed signals over a communication channel. At the receiver end, the multiplexed
signals are separated by using a device called demultiplexer.

Advantages:
1. It transmits multiple signals simultaneously.
2. In frequency division multiplexing, the demodulation process is easy.
3. It does not need Synchronization between transmitter and receiver.

Disadvantages:
1. It needs a large bandwidth communication channel.

16. What is Wavelength Division Multiplexing? Explain with the suitable diagram.

The working principle of wavelength division multiplexing is similar to frequency division

multiplexing. The only difference is in wavelength division multiplexing optical signals are
used instead of electrical signals. Here multiple optical signals of different wavelengths or
colors are combined into one signal and is transmitted over the communication channel. This
way multiple signals are transmitted simultaneously over a single communication channel.
 Advantages:
1. WDM allows transmission of data in two directions simultaneously
2. Low cost
3. Greater transmission capacity
4. High security
5. Long distance communication with low signal loss

17. What is Time Division Multiplexing? Explain with the suitable diagram.

Time Division Multiplexing is a technique in which multiple signals on the same

communication channel are combined and transmitted one after another. In time division
multiplexing, a fixed time period called the time slot during which data is transmitted is
allocated to each user. The time interval allocated to each recipient is so limited that it will
not be noticed by the receiver that any time has been spent serving another recipient.

In time division multiplexing, all signals are not transmitted simultaneously; instead, they are
transmitted one after another. For example, as shown in the above figure, at first, we send
signal 1. Then after second signal 2 and then after third signal 3 finally. Thus, each user
occupies an entire bandwidth for a short period of time.

18. What are the problems with the conventional wireless system? What is the solution for that?

- Problems with conventional wireless system:

1) Interference:
When another signal transmitted on or very near the frequency of desired signal.
2) interception:
Third party work as a listener so constant frequency signal not well suited to application in
which information must kept confidential between the source and destination.
- Solution:
1) Spread the narrow band signal into a broad band signal using a special code.
2) Expansion of signals bandwidth.
3) Spread data signal on a frequency spectrum.