Link layer

4 important questions on Link layer




  1. If all the links in the Internet were to provide reliable delivery service, would the TCP reliable delivery service be redundant? Why or why not?





Although each link guarantees that an IP datagram sent over the link will be received
at the other end of the link without errors, it is not guaranteed that IP datagrams will arrive at the ultimate destination in the proper order. With IP, datagrams in the same
TCP connection can take different routes in the network, and therefore arrive out of
order. TCP is still needed to provide the receiving end of the application the byte stream in the correct order. Also, IP can lose packets due to routing loops or equipment failures.




  1. What are some of the possible services that a link-layer protocol can offer to the network layer? Which of these link-layer services have corresponding services in IP? In TCP?





Framing: there is also framing in IP and TCP; link access; reliable delivery: there is also reliable delivery in TCP; flow control: there is also flow control in TCP; error detection: there is also error detection in IP and TCP; error correction; full duplex: TCP is also full duplex.




  1. One of your classmates, Scrooge, has pointed out that it is wasteful to end each frame with a flag byte and then begin the next one with a second flag byte. One flag byte could do the job as well, and a byte saved is a byte earned. Do you agree?





If you could always count on an endless stream of frames, one flag byte might be enough. But what if a frame ends (with a flag byte) and there are no new frames for 15 minutes. How will the receiver know that the next byte is actually the start of a new frame and not just noise on the line? The protocol is much simpler with starting and ending flag bytes.
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  1. The following data fragment occurs in the middle of a data stream for which the bytestuffing algorithm described in the text is used: A B ESC C ESC FLAG FLAG D. What is the output after stuffing?





A B ESC ESC C ESC ESC ESC FLAG ESC FLAG D

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