6 MARKS IN QUESTION BANK

INTERNET ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of the Internet is ever-changing due to continuous changes in the
technologies as well as the nature of the service provided. The heterogeneity and
vastness of the Internet make it difficult to describe every aspect of its architecture.
The overall architecture can be described in three levels −

1. Backbone ISP (Internet Service Provider)

2. Regional ISPs
3. Clients

The following diagram shows the three levels −

Backbone ISP (Internet Service Provider) − Backbone ISPs are large international
backbone networks. They are equipped with thousands of routers and store
enormous amounts of information in data centers, connected through high
bandwidth fiber optic links. Everyone needs to connect with a backbone ISP to
access the entire Internet.
There are different ways through which a client can connect to the ISP. A commonly
used way is DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) which reuses the telephone connection of
the user for transmission of digital data. The user uses a dial-up connection instead
of the telephone call. Connectivity is also done by sending signals over cable TV
system that reuses unused cable TV channels for data transmission. For high-speed
Internet access, the connectivity can be done through FTTH (Fiber to the Home),
that uses optical fibers for transmitting data. Nowadays, most Internet access is
done through the wireless connection to mobile phones from fixed subscribers, who
transmit data within their coverage area.

PROTOCOL ARCHITECTURE

Need For Protocol

Architecture
When computers, terminals,
and/or other data processing
devices exchange data, the
procedures
involved can be quite
complex. eg. file transfer.
There must be a data path
between the two
computers. But also need:
• Source to activate
communications Path or
inform network of destination
• Source must check
destination is prepared to
receive
• File transfer application
on source must check
destination file management
system will
accept and store file for his
user
• May need file format
translation
When computers, terminals,
and/or other data processing
devices exchange data, the
procedures
involved can be quite
complex. eg. file transfer.
There must be a data path
between the two
computers. But also need:
• Source to activate
communications Path or
inform network of destination
• Source must check
destination is prepared to
receive
• File transfer application
on source must check
destination file management
system will
accept and store file for his
user
• May need file format
translation
When computers, terminals,
and/or other data processing
devices exchange data, the
procedures
involved can be quite
complex. eg. file transfer.
There must be a data path
between the two
computers. But also need:
• Source to activate
communications Path or
inform network of destination
• Source must check
destination is prepared to
receive
• File transfer application
on source must check
destination file management
system will
accept and store file for his
user
• May need file format
translation
When computers, terminals,
and/or other data processing
devices exchange data, the
procedures
involved can be quite
complex. eg. file transfer.
There must be a data path
between the two
computers. But also need:
• Source to activate
communications Path or
inform network of destination
• Source must check
destination is prepared to
receive
• File transfer application
on source must check
destination file management
system will
accept and store file for his
user
• May need file format
translation
When computers, terminals,
and/or other data processing
devices exchange data, the
procedures
involved can be quite
complex. eg. file transfer.
There must be a data path
between the two
computers. But also need:
• Source to activate
communications Path or
inform network of destination
• Source must check
destination is prepared to
receive
• File transfer application
on source must check
destination file management
system will
accept and store file for his
user
• May need file format
translation
When computers, terminals,
and/or other data processing
devices exchange data, the
procedures
involved can be quite
complex. eg. file transfer.
There must be a data path
between the two
computers. But also need:
• Source to activate
communications Path or
inform network of destination
• Source must check
destination is prepared to
receive
• File transfer application
on source must check
destination file management
system will
accept and store file for his
user
• May need file format
translation
A protocol is simply defined as a set of rules and regulations for data communication.
Rules are basically defined for each and every step and process at time of
communication among two or more computers.
Networks are needed to follow these protocols to transmit data successfully. All
protocols might be implemented using hardware, software, or combination of both of
them.

There are three aspects of protocols given below :

 Syntax–
It is used to explain data format that is needed to be sent or received.
 Semantics–
It is used to explain exact meaning of each of sections of bits that are usually
transferred.
 Timings–
It is used to explain exact time at which data is generally transferred along with
speed at which it is transferred
TCP/IP REFERENCE MODEL
TCP/IP Reference Model is a four-layered suite of communication protocols. It was
developed by the DoD (Department of Defence) in the 1960s. It is named after the
two main protocols that are used in the model, namely, TCP and IP. TCP stands for
Transmission Control Protocol and IP stands for Internet Protocol.
The four layers in the TCP/IP protocol suite are −
 Host-to- Network Layer −It is the lowest layer that is concerned with the
physical transmission of data. TCP/IP does not specifically define any protocol here
but supports all the standard protocols.
 Internet Layer −It defines the protocols for logical transmission of data over the
network. The main protocol in this layer is Internet Protocol (IP) and it is
supported by the protocols ICMP, IGMP, RARP, and ARP.
 Transport Layer − It is responsible for error-free end-to-end delivery of data.
The protocols defined here are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User
Datagram Protocol (UDP).
 Application Layer − This is the topmost layer and defines the interface of host
programs with the transport layer services. This layer includes all high-level
protocols like Telnet, DNS, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, etc.
The following diagram shows the layers and the protocols in each of the layers −
PROTOCOL DATA UNIT (PDU)

Each layer’s information is referred to as a Protocol Data Unit (PDU).

Along with the data, it contains protocol-specific control information. Each layer
will add (or delete) its protocol information as a PDU moves down (or up) each
layer.
The PDU is given a different name at each layer to represent its role. So, in a
computer network, it refers to a block of information that is transferred between
network end systems. As the name implies, it is used for Open System
Interconnection (OSI)  model since it varies with layer-specific protocols and
conventions. In a protocol stack, different layers have different types of data to be
transferred. 

There are seven layers in the OSI Model as shown below and in the whole process
of transferring information between these layers, only data goes through changes.
Below mentioned are the layers of the OSI Model:
1. Physical Layer
 2. Data Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer

For example, in Layer 4, the PDU of the Transport Layer  is referred to as

a segment based on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and with UDP (User
Datagram Protocol) PDU is referred to as a datagram. 
 Layer 3, the PDU of the Network Layer is referred to as a packet.
 Layer 2, the PDU of the Data Link Layer is referred to as a frame.
 Layer 1, the PDU of the Physical Layer is referred to as bit (1s or 0s).

Note: Layer 5 and above, the PDU is referred to as data.

Protocol Data Unit

COMPARE THE ADDRESS SPACE BETWEEN IPV4 AND IPV6

Ipv4 Ipv6

Address IPv4 is a 32-bit address. IPv6 is a 128-bit address.

length

Fields IPv4 is a numeric address that IPv6 is an alphanumeric

consists of 4 fields which are address that consists of 8
separated by dot (.). fields, which are separated by
 colon.

Classes IPv4 has 5 different classes of IPv6 does not contain classes
IP address that includes Class of IP addresses.
A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and
Class E.

Number of IPv4 has a limited number of IPv6 has a large number of IP

IP address IP addresses. addresses.

VLSM It supports VLSM (Virtual It does not support VLSM.

Length Subnet Mask). Here,
VLSM means that Ipv4
converts IP addresses into a
subnet of different sizes.

Address It supports manual and DHCP It supports manual, DHCP,

configuratio configuration. auto-configuration, and
n renumbering.

Address It generates 4 billion unique It generates 340 undecillion

space addresses unique addresses.

End-to-end In IPv4, end-to-end In the case of IPv6, end-to-end

connection connection integrity is connection integrity is
integrity unachievable. achievable.

Security In IPv4, security depends on In IPv6, IPSEC is developed for

features the application. This IP security purposes.
address is not developed in
keeping the security feature in
mind.

Address In IPv4, the IP address is In IPv6, the representation of

representati represented in decimal. the IP address in hexadecimal.
on

Fragmentati Fragmentation is done by the Fragmentation is done by the

on senders and the forwarding senders only.
routers.
 Packet flow It does not provide any It uses flow label field in the
identificatio mechanism for packet flow header for the packet flow
n identification. identification.

Checksum The checksum field is The checksum field is not

field available in IPv4. available in IPv6.

Transmissio IPv4 is broadcasting. On the other hand, IPv6 is

n scheme multicasting, which provides
efficient network operations.

Encryption It does not provide encryption It provides encryption and

and and authentication. authentication.
Authenticati
on

Number of It consists of 4 octets. It consists of 8 fields, and each

octets field contains 2 octets.
Therefore, the total number of
octets in IPv6 is 16.

BASICS OF TIME DOMAIN CONCEPTS

The step response of the second order system for the underdamped case is shown in the
following figure.
All the time domain specifications are represented in this figure. The response up to the
settling time is known as transient response and the response after the settling time is
known as steady state response.

DIGITAL DATA TRANSMISSION

Data or information can be stored in two ways, analog and digital. For a
computer to use the data, it must be in discrete digital form.

Similar to data, signals can also be in analog and digital form. To transmit data
digitally, it needs to be first converted to digital form.

Digital-to-Digital Conversion
This section explains how to convert digital data into digital signals. It can be
done in two ways, line coding and block coding. For all communications, line
coding is necessary whereas block coding is optional.
Line Coding
The process for converting digital data into digital signal is said to be Line
Coding. Digital data is found in binary format.It is represented (stored)
internally as series of 1s and 0s.
Digital signal is denoted by discreet signal, which represents digital data.There
are three types of line coding schemes available:

Uni-polar Encoding

Unipolar encoding schemes use single voltage level to represent data. In this
case, to represent binary 1, high voltage is transmitted and to represent 0, no
voltage is transmitted. It is also called Unipolar-Non-return-to-zero, because
there is no rest condition i.e. it either represents 1 or 0.

Polar Encoding

Polar encoding scheme uses multiple voltage levels to represent binary values.
Polar encodings is available in four types:
.
Bipolar Encoding

Bipolar encoding uses three voltage levels, positive, negative and zero. Zero
voltage represents binary 0 and bit 1 is represented by altering positive and
negative voltages.

ANALYZE THE FUNCTIONING OF DELAY DISTORTION

Causes
There are various causes of transmission impairments, which are as follows −

 Noise
 Delay Distortion
 Attenuation Distortion
Let us discuss Delay Distortion.
Delay Distortion
This kind of distortion is mainly appearing in case of composite signals in which a
composite signal has various frequency components in it and each frequency
component has some time constraint which makes a complete signal.
But while transmitting this composite signal, if a certain delay happens between the
frequencies components, then there may be the chance that the frequency
component will reach the receiver end with a different delay constraint from its
original which leads to the change in shape of the signal. The delay happens due to
environmental parameters or from the distance between transmitter and receiver
etc.
The delay distortion is diagrammatically represented as follows −

Refer the diagram given below −

Step 1 − In the above diagram, the delay distortion is due to velocity of propagation
the frequency varies. Thus, various frequency components of a signal arrive at the
receiver at different times.
Step 2 −: For digital data, fast components from one bit may catch up and overtake
slow components from bit ahead, mixing the two bits and increasing the probability
of incorrect reception.
Step 3 − Thus, it is difficult for digital data because signal components of bit
positions spill into other bit positions, and so limit the allowed rate of transmission
 channel capacity
CHANNEL CAPACITY
The maximum quantity of traffic or signal that may pass over a particular
infrastructure channel is channel capacity. It can be used to assess the
capacity of a channel or conduit in computer science, electrical engineering, and
other areas.
Types of Communication Channel
There are three types of communication channels in computer networking −
 Simplex channel − Signals can only be sent in one way using a simple
communication connection. As a result, the channel's complete bandwidth can be
used during transmission.
 Half-duplex channel − A half-duplex communication channel can send signals in
both directions simultaneously, but only in one. It can be thought of as a simplex
communication channel with a switchable transmission direction.
 Full-duplex channel − A full-duplex communication link can simultaneously send
signals in both directions. Communication efficiency is considerably improved by
using full-duplex communication channels.

Two factors determine the channel's capacity −

 Bandwidth
 Delay in propagation
In the event of a half-duplex, the capacity of a network is equal to the
bandwidth multiplied by the propagation delay. In the event of a full duplex,
the capacity is twice the multiplication of the bandwidth and the propagation
delay.

NOISE
o Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the strength of the
signal decreases with increasing the distance which causes the loss of energy.
o Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape of the signal.
This type of distortion is examined from different signals having different
frequencies. Each frequency component has its own propagation speed, so they
reach at a different time which leads to the delay distortion.
o Noise: When data is travelled over a transmission medium, some unwanted signal
is added to it which creates the noise.