Chapter 8 – Routing Protocols
End-of-Chapter Solved Questions
This document contains complete and exam-oriented solutions to all end-of-chapter
questions related to the Routing Protocols lecture (Chapter 8: Routing of Packets). The
answers are written in clear English, structured for direct use in university examinations.
Problem 8-1: Routing Basics
Routing is the process of selecting the best path for data packets from source to destination.
Routers use routing algorithms and forwarding tables to make routing decisions. The main
goal of routing is to deliver packets efficiently, reliably, and without loops.
Problem 8-2: Forwarding vs Routing
Forwarding is the local action of moving a packet from an input port to an output port using
a forwarding table. Routing is the global process of building and maintaining the forwarding
table using routing algorithms.
Problem 8-3: Least-Cost Routing
In least-cost routing, each link is assigned a cost. The routing algorithm selects the path with
minimum total cost. Cost may represent hop count, delay, bandwidth, or administrative
weight.
Problem 8-4: Distance-Vector Routing
Distance-vector routing is based on the Bellman-Ford algorithm. Each router maintains a
vector containing distances to all destinations and periodically exchanges it with neighbors.
Problem 8-5: Count-to-Infinity Problem
The count-to-infinity problem occurs in distance-vector routing when routers repeatedly
increase the cost to a destination after a link failure, causing slow convergence.
Problem 8-6: Split Horizon
Split horizon prevents routing loops by disallowing a router from advertising a route back
to the neighbor from which it was learned.
Problem 8-7: Poisoned Reverse
Poisoned reverse improves split horizon by advertising an infinite cost for routes learned
from a neighbor, ensuring loop prevention.
Problem 8-8: Link-State Routing
In link-state routing, each router floods information about its links to all other routers. Each
router builds a complete network map and runs Dijkstra’s algorithm.
Problem 8-9: Distance Vector with Poisoned Reverse
In this problem, routers advertise distance vectors using poisoned reverse. The shortest
path is selected based on minimum cost, and routing loops are avoided.
Problem 8-10: Flooding
Flooding is a technique in which each packet is sent on all outgoing links except the one it
arrived on. It guarantees delivery but causes high overhead.
Problem 8-11: Hierarchical Routing
Hierarchical routing divides the network into regions or autonomous systems to improve
scalability and reduce routing table size.
Problem 8-12: Autonomous Systems
An autonomous system (AS) is a collection of networks under a single administrative
control that uses a common routing policy.
Problem 8-13: Intra-domain vs Inter-domain Routing
Intra-domain routing occurs within an AS using protocols like RIP and OSPF. Inter-domain
routing occurs between ASs using BGP.
Problem 8-14: Loop Prevention
This problem demonstrates how poisoned reverse prevents routing loops and avoids the
count-to-infinity problem.
Problem 8-15: BGP Characteristics
Border Gateway Protocol is a path-vector protocol used for inter-domain routing. It uses
policies instead of pure shortest-path routing.
Problem 8-16: Path-Vector Routing
In path-vector routing, each router advertises the complete path to a destination. The
algorithm converges when all routers have stable, loop-free paths.