Exam #2 Study Guide EcpE 489, Spring 2006 (Russell)

Exam #2 Study Guide
EcpE 489, Spring 2006 (Russell)
DATE AND TIME: Thursday, March 30, during the usual class time in our usual classroom.
SUBJECT MATTER: The exam will cover the lecture material up to, and including, the lecture
on March 23. It will cover both the book reading material and the homework that is applicable
to the study topics below.
SUGGESTIONS: Start or join a study group. Study together and share lecture notes. For this
first exam, concentrate on answering conceptual questions, some of which will be in essay form.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
* Exams are closed book. One 81/2 by 11 sheet of paper (crib sheet) can be used for
reference to study notes. No other information is allowed.
* Calculators and computers will not be used.
* Selection of exam problems will give emphasis to the topics emphasized in the lectures
and the problems assigned as homework.
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Example Study Topics (test questions will be taken from these)
(I may list the same question more than once, usually in a different context or grouping with
other concepts)
#Know how to define Hubs, Bridges, Switches and Routers and be able to describe their
differences. Be sure to include MAC and IP addresses.
#Explain the organization of SDUs and PDUs and how they relate to layers and frames.
#Be able to explain the difference between the physical layer and the data link layer.
#Why is the data link layer design dependent on the physical layer technology
#Be able to describe the general design approach for a frame. Why are the various block
needed Study HDLC as an example. Study RS-232C as an example. Study X.25 as an example.
#What is the MAC sublayer Why do we have the concept of a sublayer for MAC but not
the other layers
#The data link layer is responsible for several different critical network functions.
Describe three of these functions.
# What is a “connection” Describe the concept in detail.
#Describe the properties of connection-oriented services. Give an example.
#Describe the properties of connectionless services. Give an example.
#Quality of Service (QoS) is an important issue in network. Describe how QoS and
efficiency are related. Describe the two types of connection-oriented QoS that were discussed in
lecture. What layer in the OSI model is concerned with connection-oriented service
#Describe the QoS for a connectionless service.
#Descibe one example of a widely used connectionless service.
#What is the important layer boundary between technology dependence and technology
independence Use a diagram to illustration your description.

#What is a Peer-to-Peer Protocol Describe how they work in terms of the layers used.
#We discussed several adaptation functions used in network protocols. Give a description
of at least 5 of them.
#What is multiplexing. What is multiple-access What is the difference between the two.
Why do we use them in network
#What do we mean by reliability of a network What are some of the problems associated
with network reliability
#How does the network protocol deal with arbitrary message sizes Describe the details
of segmentation and blocking.
#Why is error management such an important aspect of network protocol design
#What is ARQ What are the three types of ARQ that we discussed in class Give a
detailed description of each.
#How is flow control different from ARQ
#Which ARQ is unsuitable when there is a large propagation delay
#What are the networking errors and their causes that affect the design of the ARQ
#What is piggybacking
#Be able to compute the efficiencies of Stop-and-Wait, Go-Back-N, and Selective-Repeat
ARQs. Study the appropriate sections in Chapter 5 and Appendix 5A.
#Be able to describe the operation of a NAT and answer questions about how the NAT
handles public and private networking addressing.
#What do we mean by hop-to-hop versus end-to-end network communications What
layers are involved in each
#How are MAC and IP addresses used in a network
#How is a port number used in the network
#Describe acknowledged versus unacknowledged service.
#Describe how LANs are connected by Routers so that addressing does not become
confused.
#Know the definition of all the acronyms that have been used in the textbook reading
assignments and the lectures.