ENTERPRISE NETWORKING 12TH SEPTEMBER 2010

MARKING SCHEME
This Marking Scheme has been prepared as a guide only to markers. This is not a set of model answers, nor is the Marking Scheme exclusive, for there will frequently be alternative responses which will provide a valid answer. Unless a question specifies that an answer be produced in a particular form, then an answer that is correct, factually or in practical terms, must be given the available marks. If there is doubt as to the correctness of an answer the relevant NCC Education materials and associated module textbook should be the first authority.

Throughout the question, please credit any valid alternative point.

Notice to Markers Where markers award half marks in any part of a question they should ensure that the total mark recorded for a task is rounded up to a whole mark.

ANSWER ANY FOUR QUESTIONS QUESTION 1 Throughout the question, please credit any valid alternative point.
a)

Marks

State FOUR (4) purposes of telecommunications standards. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 4 marks: To aid inter-working between networks and features. To aid interconnection between components. To reduce complexity. To promote and encourage competition. Explain the function of the following telecommunications standards bodies: i) ITU Telecommunications Sector (ITU-T) To study technical questions, operating methods and international tariffs for telephony, telegraphy and data communications. ii) ITU Radiocommunications Sector (ITU-R) To study technical and operating questions relating to radio communication.

b)

c)

Name FOUR (4) bodies other than the ITU who are concerned with telecommunications standards. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 4 marks: International Standards Organisation (ISO) European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Association Francais du Normalisations (AFNOR) British Standards Institution (BSI) Deutsches Institut fr Normung (DIN) Define the term multiplexing. The division of a large bandwidth into smaller bandwidth channels. Describe in detail Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM). Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 5 marks: Used in analogue systems. A number of baseband channels are derived from a common wideband transmission path. Each channel modulates a different channel frequency. 24 channels can be achieved on a single copper wire pair. Hundreds of channels can be achieved on a coaxial cable pair.

d)

e)

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

f)

i)

Marks Briefly describe the main functions of the sending end of an 8Mbit/s digital 5 multiplexer/demultiplexer (muldex) used in a plesiochronous digital hierarchy. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 5 marks: Combine bits from four tributaries. Insert a 10-bit frame alignment word (FAW). Perform justification (interleave the four tributaries). Transmit an alarm signal in the event of failure. Recode the interleaved signal. Briefly describe the main functions of the receiving end of an 8Mbit/s digital 4 multiplexer/demultiplexer (muldex) used in a plesiochronous digital hierarchy. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 4 marks: Demultiplex the input into four tributaries. Extract and monitor the FAW. Interpret the synchronisation. Display any alarms. Total 25 Marks

ii)

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

QUESTION 2 Throughout the question, please credit any valid alternative point. a) State the aims of telecommunications traffic theory. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 3 marks: To provide the minimum number of circuits For a particular maximum quantity of traffic Whilst providing users with an acceptable grade of service. i) Explain what is meant by traffic carried in telecommunications traffic theory. The mean number of calls in progress simultaneously Name the unit used to measure traffic carried. The erlan

Marks

b)

ii)

c)

State the formula used for calculating traffic carried and explain the meaning of each symbol in the formula. Award 1 mark for the correct formula: A=Cxt T Award 1 mark for explaining each symbol, up to a maximum of 4 marks: A = traffic in erlangs. T = mean call duration or holding time. C = number of calls. t = the time taken for those calls. Calculate the traffic carried by 6 circuits in 3 minutes from the following information: Circuit 1 carries 1 call of duration 65 seconds. Circuit 2 carries 1 call of duration 35 seconds and 1 call of duration 60 seconds. Circuit 3 carries 1 call of duration 50 seconds. Circuit 4 carries 2 calls each of duration 60 seconds. Circuit 5 carries 1 call of duration 80 seconds and 1 call of duration 70 seconds. Circuit 6 carries 1 call of duration 60 seconds. Show all working out as part of the answer. Award 1 mark for each of the following, up to a maximum of 6 marks: Traffic = average occupancy = call arrival rate x call holding time Total occupancy = 65 + 35 + 60 + 50 + (2 x 60) + 80 + 70 + 60 = 540 seconds Time available = 3 x 60 = 180 seconds Traffic carried = total occupancy/ time available Traffic carried = 540/180 Traffic carried = 3 erlangs

d)

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

Marks

e)

State THREE (3) assumptions made in the basic traffic model used as a mathematical model for telecommunications traffic. Award 1 mark for each valid point, up to a maximum of 3 marks: Calls arrive in a random fashion at a constant rate (a Poisson process). Calls terminate at random regardless of how long they have been in progress (have an exponential distribution). The system has operated with same call rate for some time ensuring that there is statistical equilibrium. There are TWO (2) methods commonly used by telecommunications operators to deal with network overload. Briefly describe both methods. Allocate 3 marks for each correct description, up to a maximum of 6 marks: Automatic alternative routing Increases network capacity in a non-hierarchical network. However, once the traffic increases to a maximum possible level the effect of automatic alternative routing decreases. Therefore measures must be taken to prevent such an overload reducing network capacity. One method uses trunk reservation where calls overflowing from a direct route are blocked when there are fewer than a predetermined quantity of circuits free on the alternative route.

f)

Call Gapping Achieved by the Network Management Centre (NMC) only allowing through, say, one call every x seconds. x is varied according to the capacity of the destination to receive calls. Total 25 Marks

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

QUESTION 3 Throughout the question, please credit any valid alternative point. a)

Marks

Describe the key features of the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) of packet switching. Award 1 mark for each feature up to a maximum of 6 marks: Packets, known as cells, have a fixed length of 53 octets. Before information is transmitted a virtual connection is created and resources for this reserved. If there are insufficient resources available the call is refused. There is no error correction or flow control on a link by link basis. Information for error control in cells is omitted because of low error rates in transmission. Headers are short as they only identify the virtual connection and ensure correct routing. The information field is small reducing the size of the cell and minimising delays at the sending terminal. It also reduces the size of buffers at switching nodes and queuing delays making it suitable for real-time transmissions. A policing function is included to ensure that users are not transmitting data at higher rates than they have paid for. State THREE (3) functions of an ATM switch. Award 1 mark for each of the following: Call routing Header translation Queuing Name and describe the THREE (3) queuing strategies that are possible with ATM switches. Award 1 mark for each of the following: Input queuing All arriving cells are placed in a buffer until selected for transmission to the outgoing trunk. Output queuing All arriving cells are directed to an outgoing trunk. As only 1 cell can be transmitted at a time arriving cells must wait in a buffer. Central queuing The buffers are shared between incoming and outgoing trunks. The outgoing trunk selects its cells from this queue which requires a more complex memory management function.

b)

c)

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

d)

Marks Describe FIVE (5) delays that are encountered in an ATM network. 5 Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 5 marks: Packetisation typically a few milliseconds for Pulse Code Modulation. Transmission for modern networks this is typically around 5 microseconds per kilometre. Fixed switching the time taken for a cell to traverse a switch. There are 10s of cells per exchange with a typical delay of around 30 microseconds per exchange. Queuing delays are necessary to avoid loss of cells and increase with traffic load on a switch. Typically around half a millisecond for a 53 octet cell. Depacketisation cells are buffered at receiving terminals and must accommodate delay variations in queuing delay but the maximum is specified in the queuing delay. Briefly describe FIVE (5) retrieval services that are made available via Broadband ISDN (BISDN).
Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 5 marks: Tele-shopping and tele-advertising using video. News retrieval both live news broadcasts and stored broadcasts. Video retrieval for entertainment. Video retrieval/broadcast for education. High resolution image retrieval for education, advertising, etc. Document retrieval for business use. Magazine editions online,

e)

Allocate marks for any suitable services. Total 25 Marks

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

QUESTION 4 Throughout the question, please credit any valid alternative point. a)
i)

Marks

State the purpose of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Provides a method for applications to send encapsulated IP datagrams without establishing a connection. Draw and describe a UDP header. Award up to 4 marks for drawing (1 mark to name each part in correct order):

ii)

Award 1 mark for explaining each part, up to 4 marks: Source Port location of sending port Destination Port location of receiving port UDP Length gives the length of the header plus the data UDP Checksum optional but should only be turned off if the data quality is unimportant.
iii)

State THREE (3) features that the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) provides that UDP does not provide. Award 1 mark for each, up to 3 marks: Flow control Error Control Retransmission upon receipt of a bad segment When is it suitable to use UDP? When flow and error control are precisely controlled by the receiving application at the destination port.

iv)

b)

Using an example, explain how the Domain Name System (DNS) is used to provide a name for a website host. Award 1 mark for each relevant point up to a maximum of 6 marks using a suitable example e.g. www.ncceducation.co.uk: A textual name is used instead of a numerical IP address. The textual name is mapped to the actual IP address. The name is built up from a number of domains separated by dots, read from left to right. The www host belongs to the NCC education domain. This in turn belongs to the co domain which is reserved for companies. This in turn belongs to the UK domain which is used by UK based organisations.

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

c)

i)

Marks Explain the operation of the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection 4 (CSMA/CD) contention technique used by Ethernet. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 4 marks: Each node listens until no other nodes are transmitting. The node then transmits its data. If collision is detected the transmission is stopped. The node then waits for a specified period of time and retransmits. Explain the characteristics of CSMA/CD in terms of the order in which nodes transmit on a network. There is no order of transmission. 1

ii)

iii)

Explain the characteristics of CSMA/CD in terms of the length of time a node must 1 wait before it can transmit. There is no guarantee of the length of time that must be waited before transmission. Total 25 Marks

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

QUESTION 5 Throughout the question, please credit any valid alternative point.
a)

Marks

Explain the term phishing. Award 1 mark for each point up to a maximum of 3 marks: An e-mail is sent claiming to be from a legitimate enterprise and directs the receiver to a bogus website. Here the user is requested for personal information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, etc. This allows the attacker to steal this information and use it for their own ends Briefly describe THREE (3) non-biometric methods that may be used to authenticate the identity of a system user. Award 1 mark for each suitable method up to a maximum of 3 marks: Password - allocating individual passwords to each user, which are regularly updated. Personal Identification Number (PIN) each user has an identification number. Smartcard users have a card with a magnetic strip containing id details, the card is unique to the user. Compare and contrast the roles played by authentication and encryption in network security. Award 1 mark for each relevant point up to a maximum of 6 marks: Authentication aims to identify the person or system attempting to access a network. It is further used to determine the permissions available for that person or system in relation to the network. Encryption does not prevent access to encrypted information but instead relies on the inability of an unauthorised person to decipher the information. Therefore only those users with the correct key for deciphering the information will truly have access to it. Essentially the former method aims to prevent access to information, the latter aims to prevent reading of the information. Encryption should, in theory, prevent eavesdropping attackers from receiving useful information in a wireless network where authentication is incapable of this. Briefly describe the FIVE (5) main areas involved in network planning. Award 1 mark for each valid point up to a maximum of 5 marks: Traffic analysis an understanding of the capacity, logical information flows and types of information between each point. Choice of bearers choice of cabling is linked to traffic and requirements to combine data and voice cabling as well as the networking technology employed. Choice of technology this interacts with the previous two points. Network security ensuring that threats to security are countered. Implementation how, when and where to carry out the work.

b)

c)

d)

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

e)

With the aid of a diagram, describe a typical planning cycle for a network. Award 1 mark for each process up to a maximum of 4 marks. Award 1 mark for order of processes being correct. Award 3 marks for suitable annotation. Max marks = 8.

Marks 8

Total 25 Marks

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010

Learning Outcomes Matrix

LO LO1 Chapter/Page Reference Ch1, p10 Ch3, p29, p38 Ch9, p152 Ch8, p141 Ch11, p189 Ch11, p190 Ch14, p259 Ch5, p68 Ch5, p74 Ch15, p276 Ch15, p275 Ch16, p288, p298-299 Topic Network Standards Multiplexing ATM B-ISDN retrieval services UDP DNS CSMA/CD Telecommunications traffic theory Network Overload Phishing Authentication Network planning Question number Q1a), b), c) Q1d), e), f) Q3a), b), c), d) Q3e) Q4a) Q4b) Q4c) Q2a), b), c), d), e) Q2f) Q5a) Q5b), c) Q5d), e)

LO2 LO3 LO4

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Enterprise Networking Marking Scheme NJ September 2010 09/08/2010 Final NCC Education Ltd 2010