Assignment #6 for Computer Networks (Fall 2003)
-----------------------------------------------

Problem #1 -

Answer the following questions regarding wireless networks:

  a) Wireless networks cannot use CSMA/CD.  Why not?  Give all reasons.

  b) Describe 802.11 CSMA/CA.

  c) What is an ad hoc network and how does it differ from a standard
     802.11 network?


Problem #2 -

Answer the following questions regarding bridging and switch design:

  a) Why do input buffered switches scale-up to high link speeds better than
     do output buffered switches?  What is the key trade-off between input and
     output buffered switches?  What is the bottleneck in an input buffered 
     switch?

  b) As link speed increases, the time to switch a 53-byte ATM cell decreases.
     Compute the switching time for an ATM cell for 1-Gbps, 10-Gbps, and
     100-Gbps link speeds.  What is the effect of this decreasing time on
     switch design and implementation?


Problem #3 -

Answer the follow questions regarding ATM and physical layer

  a) What is SEAL?

  b) What is 4b/5b encoding and how is it better than Manchester encoding?

---