Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Distance Learning Programmes Division

Second Semester 2008-2009
Comprehensive Examination (EC-2 Regular)

Course No. : BITS ZC481

Course Title : COMPUTER NETWORKS
Nature of Exam : Open Book
Weightage : 60% No. of Pages =2
Duration : 3 Hours No. of Questions = 6
Date of Exam : 04/04/2009 (FN)
Note:
1. Please follow all the Instructions to Candidates given on the cover page of the answer book.
2. All parts of a question should be answered consecutively. Each answer should start from a fresh page.

Q.1 (a). Consider a framing protocol that uses bit-stuffing. Write the bit sequence that will be
transmitted over the link for the given data frame which contains the following
sequence
110101111101011111101011111110.
Now suppose that the following bit sequence arrived over a link:
1101011111010111110010111110110
Show the resulting frame after any stuffed bits have been removed. Also indicate any
errors that have been introduced into the frame?

Q.1 (b). Briefly describe the concept behind fast retransmission and fast recovery scheme?
[5 + 5 = 10]
Q.2 (a). Consider transferring an enormous file of L bytes from Host X to Host Y. Assume an
MSS of 1460byets.
i. What is the maximum value of L such that TCP sequence numbers are not
exhausted? Give proper justification?
ii. For the L you obtained above in (i), find how long it takes to transmit the file
and also mention how many segments are created? Assume that a total of 66
bytes of transport, network and data-link header are added to each segment
before the resulting packet sent out over a 10Mbps link. Ignore flow and
congestion control so X can pump out the segments back to back and
continuously.

Q.2 (b). Is it possible for an application to enjoy reliable data transfer even when the
application runs over UDP? If so how? [6 + 4 = 10]

Q.3 (a). Answer the below given questions assuming a network in which for each link, the
link capacity is greater than the sum of the input rates for all end systems in the
network.

i. Is congestion control needed in this scenario? Why?

ii. Is flow control needed in this scenario? Why?

Q.3 (b). To make an HTTP request, the client establishes a TCP connection and sends an
HTTP request message. An HTTP request message has a “Host” header than includes
the name of the server (e.g., “Host: www.bits-pilani.ac.in”). Why is the Host
necessary? Wouldn’t the server already know its own name? [6 + 4 = 10]

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Q.4 (a). Consider the effect of using slow-start on a line with 10 millisec round trip time and
no congestion. The receiver's window is 24 kB and the Maximum Segment Size is 2
kB. How long does it take before the first full window can be sent?

Q.4 (b). Suppose that the TCP congestion window is 18 kB and then a timeout occurs. If the
Maximum Segment Size is 1 kB, how big will the congestion window be after 4
successful transmission bursts? [3 + 3 = 6]

Q.5 (a). A router has the following (CIDR) entries in its routing table:
Address/mask Next hop
128.114.56.0/22 Interface 0
128.114.60.0/22 Interface 1
192.168.30/23 Router 1
Default Router 2

For packets with the following IP addresses, show where the router will send the
packet (clearly show the steps/procedures used):
i) 128.114.52.02 ii) 128.114.63.09 iii) 192.168.33.05 iv) 128.114.57.11

Q.5 (b). Consider sending a 3000 byte datagram into a link that has a MTU of 500 bytes.
Suppose the original datagram is stamped with the identification number 422.How
many fragments are generated? What are their characteristics? Mention flag,
identification (ID) and offset fields for each generated segments? [8 + 8 = 16]

Q.6 (a). Suppose a Go-Back-N protocol is used to send data on 10 Mbps link from host A to
host B. The round trip time is 100ms and the packet size is 10 Kbits. Assuming no
packet loss, if N = 20, what is the approximate link utilization of the protocol?

Q.6 (b). What is a SYN attack? Describe what the attack is and describe what it does (i.e., how
it works) to deny service in a server? [4 + 4 = 8]

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