CS4514 Mid Term Exam Topics

Here is the list of topics covered for the mid-term and what you should know under each:

    * Introduction (Chapter 1: 1.1 - 1.4)

      + Motivation for networks, why do we need them?

      + Domain specification: autonomous computers, "wire"

      + Reference models (OSI and TCP/IP)

        - why they are good
        - why they are bad
        - differences between them

    * Physical Layer (Chapter 2: 2.1 - 2.6, 2.8)

      + Services provided

      + Very basics of what Fourier Analysis says

      + Nyquist's theorem

        - what it says
        - how to use it

      + Shannon's theorem

        - what it says
        - how to use it

    * Data link Layer (Chapter 3: 3.1 - 3.4, 3.6)

      + Services provided

        - acknowledged
        - unacknowledged

      + Framing

        - why stuffing needed
        - how stuffing works

      + Error detection and correction

        - why needed
        - what hamming distance is
        - what parity bits are for
        - what redundant bits are for
        - how to compute hamming code
        - how to compute crc checksums

      + Data link protocols

        - the principal behind stop and wait
        - how to use acks effectively (par)
        - sliding windows
          = what pipelining is
          = what is go back n
          = what is selective repeat

    * Medium Access Control Sublayer (Chapter 4: 4.1 - 4.2.4, 4.3.1)

      + Why MA control is needed

      + ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA

        - how it works
        - what is the maximum throughput

      + CSMA and CSMA/CD

        - how it works
        - what contention periods are
        - persistence differences

      + Bit-Mapped method

        - how it works
        - analysis of during low/high load

      + Binary Countdown

        - how it works
        - comparison to bit-mapped method

      + Limited-Contention Protocols

        - differences between contention, collision free, and limited contention

        - Adaptive Tree Walk

          = how it works
          = possible enhancements

      + 802.3 - Ethernet

        - theoretical basis
        - reasons for small frame size

    * Project 1: Network Distance

      + Ping

        - what does it do
        - what can you use it to analyze

      + Traceroute

        - what does it do
        - what can you use it to analyze

    * Project 2: Distributed Shell

      + Sockets

        - how do you set up a connection
        - how do you send data

      + Server

      + Client

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