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ITCS 6166 HOMEWORK 1

SIRIGINEEDI SIVA KRISHNA

800887277

1. Explain DSL and cable broadband access networks

ANSWER. There are two most popular types of broadband residential access are
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and Cable Broadband access networks. Both of them
use existing infrastructure of telephone line and cable network for transmitting digital
internet via analog signals.
DSL Broadband Internet access
DSL broadband is provided by the telephone local company which is providing
telephone services. So, telephone operator acts as ISP when DSL internet is
accessed.
DSLAM at the ISP and modem at the user side receive and transmit digital data by
converting into analog signals which travel across the existing twisted pair copper pair.
In order to share the line with the telephone call and internet connection at the same
time we use frequency division multiplexing.
The residential telephone line carries both data and traditional telephone signals
simultaneously, which are encoded at different frequencies:
A high-speed downstream channel, in the 50 kHz to 1 MHz band
A medium-speed upstream channel, in the 4 kHz to 50 kHz band
An ordinary two-way telephone channel, in the 0 to 4 kHz band

Splitter at the user end splits telephone signal and data signal. Data signal is
forwarded to the modem(modulator-demodulator) which converts analog signal to
digital signal as well as digital signal to analog signal. On the telecom side DSLAM
separates the data and phone signals and sends the data into internet.

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800887277

Cable Broadband Internet Access

While DSL makes use of the telcos existing local telephone infrastructure, cable
Internet access makes use of the cable television companys existing cable television
infrastructure. A residence obtains cable Internet access from the same company that
provides its cable television. As illustrated in Figure 1.6, fiber optics connect the cable
head end to neighborhood-level junctions, from which traditional coaxial cable is then
used to reach individual houses and apartments. Each neighborhood junction typically
supports 500 to 5,000 homes. Because both fiber and coaxial cable are employed in
this system, it is often Cable internet access requires special modems, called cable
modems.

As with a DSL modem, the cable modem is typically an external device and connects
to the home PC through an Ethernet port. At the cable head end, the cable modem
termination system (CMTS) serves a similar function as the DSL networks DSLAM
turning the analog signal sent from the cable modems in many downstream homes
back into digital format. Cable modems divide the HFC network into two channels, a
downstream and an upstream channel. Referred to as hybrid fiber coax (HFC).

2. Why will two ISPs at the same level of the hierarchy often peer with each
other? How does an IXP earn money?
ANSWER: The amount that a customer ISP pays a provider ISP reflects the
amount of traffic it exchanges with the provider. To reduce these costs, a pair of

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ITCS 6166 HOMEWORK 1

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800887277

nearby ISPs at the same level of the hierarchy can peer, that is, they can directly
connect their networks together so that all the traffic between them passes over
the direct connection rather than through upstream intermediaries. When two
ISPs peer, it is typically settlement-free, that is, neither ISP pays the other.
As noted earlier, tier-1 ISPs also peer with one another, settlement-free. Along
these same lines, a third-party company can create an Internet Exchange Point
(IXP) (typically in a stand-alone building with its own switches), which is a meeting
point where multiple ISPs can peer together. So IXPs earn money by collecting
money from the ISPs for maintaining the whole infrastructure and they are billed
upon the traffic volume generated across the IXP.
3. Suppose Host A wants to send a large file to Host B. The path from Host A
to Host B has three links, of rates R1= 500 kbps,R2 = 2 Mbps, and R3= 1
Mbps.
A. Assuming no other traffic in the network, what is the throughput for the
file transfer?
B. Suppose the file is 4 million bytes. Dividing the file size by the throughput,
roughly how long will it take to transfer the file to Host B?
ANSWER:
A: Minimum speed will be the throughput, 500kbps is the throughput
B: (4*10^6)*8/(500*10^3)= 64 seconds

4. ANSWER:
A: The time to transmit an object of size L over a link or rate R is L/R. The average
time is the average size of the object divided by R:

(AVG time required to send an object over the access

link)=size/speed rate
(AVG time required to send an object over the access link)=(850000/(15*(10^6)))
= 0.0567 seconds
(arrival rate )=16 requests per second
Avg access delay= /(1- )
=0.0567/(1-(0.0567*16))
=0.61seconds
Avg internet delay= 3 seconds
Total avg response time=3.61seconds

SIRIGINEEDI SIVA KRISHNA

800887277

ITCS 6166 HOMEWORK 1

B:
The traffic intensity on the access link is reduced by 70% since the 70% of the
requests are satisfied within the institutional network. Thus the average access
delay is
=.0567/(1-(0.3*.907))
=0.778 seconds
Avg response time=(0.7)(0)+(0.3)(3.0778)=0.9233seconds

5. Suppose users share a 3 Mbps link. Also suppose each user requires 150
kbps when transmitting, but each user transmits only 10 percent of the time.
a. When circuit switching is used, how many users can be supported?
b. For the remainder of this problem, suppose packet switching is used. Find
the probability that a given user is transmitting.
c. Suppose there are 120 users. Find the probability that at any given time;
exactly n users are transmitting simultaneously. (Hint: Use the binomial
distribution.)
ANSWER:
a.
20 users are supported using circuit switching
b.
We know that each user transmits only 10 percent of time,so for given user
the probability will be p=0.1

c.

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800887277

6. ANSWER
A
total amount of time to get the IP address is RTT1 RTT2 ++ RTTn .
Once the IP address is known, RTTO elapses to set up the TCP connection
and another RTTO elapses to request and receive the small object. The total
response time is
2RTTo RTT1 RTT2 RTTn
B