q0.
Consider an application that transmits data at a steady rate (for example, the sender generates an N-
bit unit of data every k time units, where k is small and fixed). Also, when such an application starts, it
will continue running for a relatively long period of time. Answer the following questions, briefly
justifying your answer: a. Would a packet-switched network or a circuit-switched network be more
appropriate for this application? Why? b. Suppose that a packet-switched network is used and the only
traffic in this network comes from such applications as described above. Furthermore, assume that the
sum of the application data rates is less than the capacities of each and every link. Is some form of
congestion control needed? Why?
ANSWER a) A packet switch network is more suitable since small fixed packets transmitted over a long
period can be served through packet switching without the need to fully occupy a bandwidth for long
time as in circuit switching
b) No, under these conditions the traffic can be afforded. There is no need for congestion control..
q1. Suppose there is exactly one packet switch between a sending host and a receiving host. The
transmission rates between the sending host and the switch and between the switch and the receiving
host are R1 and R2, respectively. Assuming that the switch uses storeand-forward packet switching, what
is the total end-to-end delay to send a packet of length L? (Ignore queuing, propagation delay, and
processing delay.). What happens in the case of not having store and forward packet switching capacity
as well as not having queuing capacity.
q2. What advantage does a circuit-switched network have over a packet-switched network? What
advantages does TDM have over FDM in a circuit-switched network? List the differences between
Message switching compared to circuit and packet switching.
ANSWER Circuit switching provides guaranteed performance and minimization of delays at the expense
of low utilization of the channels. TDM can facilitate the use of the same bandwidth occupied by circuit
switching , by many transmission links. Message switching is connection oriented like circuit switching
and unlike datagram packet switching. Moreover, is a store and forward connection and very message is
treated as one entity like in circuit switching and unlike packet switching where the messages are split in
packets in a datagram configuration. It is between circuit and packet switching not fully occupying
bandwidth as circuit switching.
q3. Consider sending packets from a source host A to a destination host B over a fixed route AB, using
the stop-wait protocol. List the delay components in the end-to-end delay. Which of these delays are
constant and which are variable? Consider again your 5 decimal numbers transformed 5 letters student
exam ID above specified. Let’s SUM=sum of these five decimal numbers. Suppose the total delay of any
packet and its ACK is SUM ms. Consider that host B can process 300 packets per second, that length of
the packet L=50*SUM bits and length of its ACK is LACK= SUM bits. Estimate and show the graph of AB
Link throughput R with respect to the distance D between A and B hosts. Speed of the electromagnetic
wave is the speed of light.
ANSWER Delay components: Dpacket_trans, Dack_trans , 2*Dprop, Dproc, Dqueue Variable are
Dpacket_trans and Dproc varying with the length of the packet and Dueue varying with the congestion
Total_Delay = Dpacket_trans + Dack_trans + 2*Dprop+ (Dproc+ Dqueue) = Lpacket/R +Lack/R+ 2 D/s +
1/300 = (Lpacket+ Lack)/R+ 2 D/s +1/300 => 2 D/s = Total_Delay- (Lpacket+ Lack)/R-1/300. Unknowns are
only D and R, therefore, easily we plot the graph
q4. How long does it take a packet of length 1,000 bytes to propagate over a link of distance 2,500 km,
propagation speed 2.5 · 10^8 m/s, and transmission rate 2 Mbps? More generally, how long does it take
a packet of length L to propagate over a link of distance d, propagation speed s, and transmission rate R
bps? Does this delay depend on packet length? Does this delay depend on transmission rate?
ANSWER Total_Delay = Dpacket_trans + Dack_trans + 2*Dprop+ (Dproc+ Dqueue) = L/R + d/s. It
obviously depends on packet length L and transmission rate R
q5. Suppose Host A wants to send a large file to Host B. The path from Host A to Host B has three links,
of rates R1 = 500 kbps, R2 = 2 Mbps, and R3 = 1 Mbps. a. Assuming no other traffic in the network, what
is the throughput for the file transfer? b. Suppose the file is 4 million bytes. Dividing the file size by the
throughput, roughly how long will it take to transfer the file to Host B? c. Repeat (a) and (b), but now
with R2 reduced to 100 kbps.
ANSWER a) the throughput for the file transfer = min(R1 = 500 kbps, R2 = 2 Mbps, and R3 = 1 Mbps)= R1
= 500 kbps
b) time for the file from A to B = L/R = 4 million bytes/500 kbps = 32 X 10^6 bits/(500 x 1024)bps =…
c) the throughput for the file transfer = min(R1 = 500 kbps, R2 = 100kbps, and R3 = 1 Mbps)= R2 = 100
kbps time for the file from A to B = L/R = 4 million bytes/100 kbps = 32 X 10^6 bits/(100 x 1024)bps =…
q6. Consider a client server network topology and another associated P2P network topology. A file F is to
be shared to N clients. Let’s the Client upload rate = u, F/u = 3 hours, Us (the server upload capacity) =
20u, dmin ≥ Us. Estimate the graph of Minimum Distribution Time of the file F with respect to the
number of clients or peers N, for N=1, 5, 10, 15, 20, for both topologies with accuracy.
ANSWER As in, but with F/u= 3 hour, us=20u
