MCS-042 July 2011 Q1:

In data networking and queueing theory, network congestion occurs when a link or node is carrying so much data that its quality of service deteriorates. Typical effects include queueing delay, packet loss or the blocking of new connections. A consequence of these latter two is that incremental increases in offered load lead either only to small increases in network throughput, or to an actual reduction in network throughput.

The leaky bucket is an algorithm used in packet switched computer networks and telecommunications networks to check that data transmissions conform to defined limits on bandwidth and burstiness (a measure of the unevenness or variations in the traffic flow). The leaky bucket algorithm is also used in leaky bucket counters, e.g. to detect when the average or peak rate of random or stochastic events or stochastic processes exceed defined limits. The Leaky Bucket Algorithm is based on an analogy of a bucket (figure 1) that has a hole in the bottom through which any water it contains will leak away at a constant rate, until or unless it is empty. Water can be added intermittently, i.e. in bursts, but if too much is added at once, or it is added at too high an average rate, the water will exceed the capacity of the bucket, which will overflow. the analogue of the bucket is a counter or variable, separate from the flow of traffic, and is used only to check that traffic conforms to the limits, i.e. the analogue of the water is brought to the bucket by the traffic and added to it so that the level of water in the bucket indicates conformance to the rate and burstiness limits. This version is referred to here as the leaky bucket as a meter. In the second version [2], the traffic passes through a queue that is the analogue of the bucket, i.e. the traffic is the analogue of the water passing through the bucket. This version is referred to here as the leaky bucket as a queue. The leaky bucket as a meter is equivalent to (a mirror image of) the token bucket algorithm, and given the same parameters will see the same traffic as conforming or nonconforming. The leaky bucket as a queue can be seen as a special case of the leaky bucket as a meter

Token Bucket Algorithm

The leaky bucket algorithm is sometimes contrasted with the token bucket algorithm. However, the above concept of operation for the leaky bucket as a meter may be directly compared with the token bucket algorithm, the description of which is given in that article as the following:

A token is added to the bucket every 1/r seconds.

The bucket can hold at the most b tokens. If a token arrives when the bucket is full, it is discarded.

When a packet (network layer PDU) [sic] [note 1] of "n" bytes arrives, n tokens are removed from the bucket, and the packet is sent to the network.

If fewer than n tokens are available, no tokens are removed from the bucket, and the packet is considered to be non-conformant.

This can be compared with the concept of operation, repeated from above:
A fixed capacity bucket, associated with each virtual connection or user, leaks at a fixed rate.

If the bucket is empty, it stops leaking.

For a packet to conform, it has to be possible to add a specific amount of water to the bucket: The specific amount added by a conforming packet can be the same for all packets, or can be proportional to the length of the packet. If this amount of water would cause the bucket to exceed its capacity then the packet does not conform and the water in the bucket is left unchanged.

As can be seen, these two descriptions are essentially mirror images of one another: one adds something to the bucket on a regular basis and takes something away for conforming packets down to a limit of zero; the other takes away regularly and adds for conforming packets up to a limit of the bucket's capacity. It would also be perfectly possible to describe the process in terms of adding tokens or subtracting water for conforming packets as long as the regular process complements this, at which point it would become impossible to tell which was which: is an implementation that removes tokens regularly and adds tokens for a conforming packet an implementation of the leaky bucket or of the token bucket? In fact it is both, as these are the same basic algorithm described differently. This explains why, given equivalent parameters, the two algorithms will see exactly the same packets as conforming or nonconforming. The differences in the properties and performance of implementations of the leaky and token bucket algorithms thus result entirely form the differences in the implementations, i.e. they do not stem from differences in the underling algorithms. The points to note are that the leaky bucket algorithm, when used as a meter, can allow a conforming output packet stream with jitter or burstiness, can be used in traffic policing as well as shaping, and can be implemented for variable length packets.

Q2:
Routing is the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send network traffic. Routing is performed for many kinds of networks, including the telephone network (Circuit switching) , electronic data networks (such as the Internet), and

transportation networks. This article is concerned primarily with routing in electronic data networks using packet switching technology.

Q3: AN OVERVIEW OF THE IEEE 802.1 1 STANDARD [2] Like any 802.x protocol, the 802.11 protocol covers the MAC and physical layers. The standard currently defines a single MAC which interacts with three PHYs (all of them running at 1 and 2 Mbis) as follows: frequency hopping spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band, direct sequence spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band, and infrared. The MAC layer defines two different access methods, the distributed coordination function (DCF) and point coordination function (PCF). The basic access mechanism, the DCF, is basically a carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMNCA) mechanism. CSMA protocols are well known in the industry, the most popular being the Ethernet, which is a CSMA with collision detection (CSMA/CD) protocol. A CSMA protocol works as follows. A station desir- ing to transmit senses the medium. If the medium is busy (i.e., some other station is transmitting), the station defers its transmission to a later time. If the medium is sensed as free, the station is allowed to transmit. These kinds of protocols arc very effective when the medium is not hcavily loadcd, since it allows stations to transmit with minimum delay. But thcrc is always a chance of stations simultaneously sensing the medium as frec and transmitting at the same timc, causing a collision. These collision situations must hc idcn- tified so the packets cm be retransmitted hy the MAC laycr, rathcr than by thc upper layers. Q4:
Hidden Station Problem Figure 14.10 shows an example of the hidden station problem. Station B has a transmission range shown by the left oval (sphere in space); every station in this range can hear any signal transmitted by station B. Station C has

a transmission range shown by the right oval (sphere in space); every station located in this range can hear any signal transmitted by C. Station C is outside the transmission range of B; likewise, station B is outside the transmission range of C. Station A, however, is in the area covered by both B and C; it can hear any signal transmitted by B or C. Assume that station B is sending data to station A. In the middle of this transmission, station C also has data to send to station A. However, station C is out of Bs range and transmissions from B cannot reach C. Therefore C thinks the medium is free. Exposed Station Problem Now consider a situation that is the inverse of the previous one: the exposed station problem. In this problem a station refrains from using a channel when it is, in fact, available. In Figure 14.12, station A is transmitting to station B. Station C has some data to send to station D, which can be sent without interfering with the transmission from A to B. However, station C is exposed to transmission from A; it hears what A is sending and thus refrains from sending. In other words, C is too onservative and wastes the capacity of the channel.

The handshaking messages RTS and CTS cannot help in this case, despite what you might think. Station C hears the RTS from A, but does not hear the CTS from B. Station C, after hearing the RTS from A, can wait for a time so that the CTS from B reaches A; it then sends an RTS to D to show that it needs to communicate with D. Both stations B and A may hear this RTS, but station A is in the sending state, not the receiving state. Station B, however, responds with a CTS. The problem is here. If station A has started sending its

data, station C cannot hear the CTS from station D because of the collision; it cannot send its data to D. Q5:Q6:-

Differential Manchester encoding, also called biphase mark code (BMC) or FM1, is a line code in which data and clock signals are combined to form a single 2-level self-synchronizing data stream. It is a differential encoding, using the presence or absence of transitions to indicate logical value. It has the following advantages over some other line codes:

A transition is guaranteed at least once every bit, allowing the receiving device to perform clock recovery. Detecting transitions is often less error-prone than comparing against a threshold in a noisy environment. Unlike with Manchester encoding, only the presence of a transition is important, not the polarity. Differential coding schemes will work exactly the same if the signal is inverted (wires swapped). (Other line codes with this property include NRZI, bipolar encoding, coded mark inversion, and MLT-3 encoding). If the high and low signal levels have the same voltage with opposite polarity, coded signals have zero average DC voltage, thus reducing the necessary transmitting power and minimizing the amount of electromagnetic noise produced by the transmission line.

The symbol rate is twice the bitrate of the original signal. Each bit period is divided into two halfperiods: clock and data. The clock half-period always begins with a transition from low to high or from high to low. The data half-period makes a transition for one value and no transition for the other value. One version of the code makes a transition for 0 and no transition for 1 in the data half-period; the other makes a transition for 1 and no transition for 0. Thus, if a "1" is represented by one transition, then a "0" is represented by two transitions and vice versa, making Differential Manchester a form of frequency shift keying. Either code can be interpreted with the clock halfperiod either before or after the data half-period.

An example of Differential Manchester encoding: data before clock, and 0 means transition.

Manchester code
In telecommunication and data storage, Manchester code (also known as Phase Encoding, or PE) is a line code in which the encoding of each data bit has at least one transition and occupies the same time. It therefore has no DC component, and is self-clocking, which means that it may be inductively or capacitively coupled, and that a clock signal can be recovered from the encoded data. Manchester code is widely used (e.g. in Ethernet; see also RFID or Near Field Communication). There are more complex codes, such as 8B/10B encoding, that use less bandwidth to achieve the same data rate but may be less tolerant of frequency errors and jitter in the transmitter and receiver reference clocks.

Features
Manchester code ensures frequent line voltage transitions, directly proportional to the clock rate; this helps clock recovery. The DC component of the encoded signal is not dependent on the data and therefore carries no information, allowing the signal to be conveyed conveniently by media (e.g. Ethernet) which usually do not convey a DC component.

Q6(b) Refer to block 3 page 36 Q7(a); Q7(b);-Nagles Algo:Nagle's algorithm, named after John Nagle, is a means of improving the efficiency of TCP/IP networks by reducing the number of packets that need to be sent over the network.

Nagle's document, Congestion Control in IP/TCP Internetworks (RFC 896) describes what he called the 'small packet problem', where an application repeatedly emits data in small chunks, frequently only 1 byte in size. Since TCP packets have a 40 byte header (20 bytes for TCP, 20 bytes for IPv4), this results in a 41 byte packet for 1 byte of useful information, a huge overhead. This situation often occurs in Telnet sessions, where most keypresses generate a single byte of data that is transmitted immediately. Worse, over slow links, many such packets can be in transit at the same time, potentially leading to congestion collapse. Nagle's algorithm works by combining a number of small outgoing messages, and sending them all at once. Specifically, as long as there is a sent packet for which the sender has received no acknowledgment, the sender should keep buffering its output until it has a full packet's worth of output, so that output can be sent all at once. Q8(a): The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities. Most importantly, it translates domain names meaningful to humans into the numerical identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices worldwide. An often-used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the phone book for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, the domain name www.example.com translates to the addresses 192.0.32.10 (IPv4) and 2620:0:2d0:200::10 (IPv6). The Domain Name System makes it possible to assign domain names to groups of Internet resources and users in a meaningful way, independent of each entity's physical location. Because of this, World Wide Web (WWW) hyperlinks and Internet contact information can remain consistent and constant even if the current Internet routing arrangements change or the participant uses a mobile device. Internet domain names are easier to remember than IP addresses such as 208.77.188.166 (IPv4) or 2001:db8:1f70::999:de8:7648:6e8 (IPv6). Users take advantage of this when they recite meaningful Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and e-mail addresses without having to know how the computer actually locates them. Q8(b): In cryptography, Triple DES is the common name for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (TDEA or Triple DEA) block cipher, which applies the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher algorithm three times to each data block. The original DES cipher's key size of 56 bits was generally sufficient when that algorithm was designed, but the availability of increasing computational power made brute-force attacks feasible. Triple DES provides a relatively simple method of increasing the key size of DES to protect against such attacks, without the need to design a completely new block cipher algorithm.

Algorithm
Triple DES uses a "key bundle" which comprises three DES keys, K1, K2 and K3, each of 56 bits (excluding parity bits). The encryption algorithm is:
ciphertext = EK3(DK2(EK1(plaintext)))

I.e., DES encrypt with K1, DES decrypt with K2, then DES encrypt with K3. Decryption is the reverse:
plaintext = DK1(EK2(DK3(ciphertext)))

I.e., decrypt with K3, encrypt with K2, then decrypt with K1. Each triple encryption encrypts one block of 64 bits of data. In each case the middle operation is the reverse of the first and last. This improves the strength of the algorithm when using keying option 2, and provides backward compatibility with DES with keying option 3.