Exams for COMP352: Computer Networks

Each exam will cover material from a specified set of lectures, which in turn are based on a specified set of chapters in the textbook. Technically, any material covered in the specified lectures is eligible to be examined. However, for each exam a list of "important topics" will be provided. Most examination questions will be either (i) closely related to one of the "important topics"; or (ii) similar to one of the "self-assessment quiz" questions provided on the student resource section of the textbook website. Therefore, the best method of preparation is to ensure you can effortlessly and correctly complete all self-assessment quiz questions and easily reproduce any analyses in the important topics.

The exams are open book, meaning you can bring and use any printed or handwritten materials. However, no electronic devices of any kind whatsoever may be used.

It is highly advisable to show your working in all exam answers, as partial credit for incorrect answers can only be given if your working demonstrates a correct understanding of the concepts being examined.

Exam 1

Exam 1 covers lectures 1-6, and textbook chapters 1 and 2. The "important topics" are

Computing network delays and transmission times, including the four types of delay and the effect of FDM and TDM.
Computing the effect of caching web proxies on delays, as covered in the textbook's section 2.2.5.
Computing the time to download a file in a client-server architecture and a P2P architecture, as covered in lecture 6 (see the provided notes).

In addition, you should of course be familiar with all the self-assessment quiz questions for chapters 1 and 2.

Exam 2

Exam 2 covers lectures 7-13, and textbook chapters 3 and 4. The "important topics" are

Qualitative properties of the reliable data transfer protocols, described in the text book as RDT 1.0-3.0.
Computing the utilization of a stop-and-wait protocol, as described in Section 3.4.2 of the textbook.
Estimating RTT and deviation of RTT using exponential weighted moving averages.
Understanding the average throughput of TCP due to the additive-increase, multiplicative-decrease congestion control, as described in "Macroscopic Description of TCP Throughput" on page 286 of the textbook.
Subnet address calculations (see Lecture 11 resource on subnet calculations).
Distance vector calculations (see Lecture 12 resource on distance vector calculations).

In addition, you should of course be familiar with the self-assessment quiz questions for chapters 3 and 4; but note the following exceptions and additional details:

Chapter 3 multichoice: skip question 9 (SYN cookies not examinable)
Chapter 4 multichoice: skip questions 2 (technical details of the link state algorithm not examinable, but qualitative properties of the algorithm are examinable), questions 8 and 9 (details of router hardware are not examinable), question 10 (IPsec was not covered in class; details are not examinable, but you should know what it is)
Chapter 4 true/false: questions 7 and 8 are examinable, but note that the phrase "IP network" means the same thing as "subnet" in this context

Exam 3

Exam 3 covers lectures 14-23, and textbook chapters 5, 6 and 8.

The precise sections of the textbook you should be familiar with are:

5.1.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.3.0, 5.3.1, 5.3.2 (skip non-slotted ALOHA), 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.5.0, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.6.1, 5.6.2
6.1, 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.3.2 (skip RTS and CTS), 6.3.3, 6.3.4
8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.5.0, 8.5.1, 8.5.2, 8.6.0, 8.6.1, 8.7.0, 8.8.0, 8.9.1, 8.9.2

The "important topics" are

CRC calculations
RSA encryption and decryption
RSA digital signatures
Providing authentication and integrity via MACs

Example questions for all important topics are provided. The only questions in the exam that require mathematical calculation will be very similar to the example questions provided.

The self-assessment quiz questions for chapters 5,6, and 8 will help you to prepare for the exam, but because we skipped many sections in the textbook, many of the self-assessment quiz questions are not relevant. The precise questions relevant to the exam are:

Chapter 5 multichoice: questions 1-7, 9
Chapter 5 true/false: questions 1-6,8,10
Chapter 6 multichoice: questions 2,4,5
Chapter 6 true/false: questions 1,3-7
Chapter 8 multichoice: questions 1-8,10
Chapter 8 true/false: questions 1-3,8-10