31W6 Communications Architecture Examinable Topics

The following list of topics is only suggestive and is not exhaustive. In general, an examination will ask you to apply what you know of these topics rather than to repeat them parrot-fashion. You should not need to memorise long lists of detailed facts, but should rather concentrate on understanding the principles.

• Standards:
  • why they are needed
  • who defines them
  • who is interested in them
• Networking Equipment:
  • kinds of networks
  • equipment found inside networks
  • equipment linking networks and computers
• Communications System Architecture:
  • concepts of layering: layering diagrams, service, protocol, relay, etc.
  • types of services and their characteristics: connection-less, connection-oriented
  • service concepts: user, provider, title, access point, primitive, data unit, specific facilities, specifying services (primitives, time-sequence diagrams), etc.
  • protocol concepts: relationship between service and protocol, data unit, blocking, segmentation, concatenation, multiplexing, splitting, routing, header/trailer, specific functions, etc.
  • choice of layers: general principles, OSI/Internet layers and their functions
• Communications Mechanisms:
  • networking: network functions, network interconnection, routing
  • data transmission: data link functions, encoding, transparency, (a)synchronous transmission, sequence numbering, sliding window protocol, error detection and correction, topology
• Case Studies:
  • abstract syntax notation: built-in data types and features of ASN.1, specifying data types with ASN.1, basic encoding rules
  • transport layer: functions of UDP and TCP, operation of UDP and TCP (e.g. as time-sequence diagrams), UDP and TCP service description
  • network layer: functions of IP, Internet address formats, structure of the Internet, types of gateways, general operation of (R)ARP, adjacency and routing tables, outline of IGP and EGP, general operation of ICMP, routing with RIP, functions of PPP
  • network management: basic principles of SNMP, typical MIB information
  • asynchronous transfer mode: ATM architecture, types and uses of ATM Adaptation Layer protocols, ATM virtual channels and paths, ATM Quality of Service bit rate types, ATM connection setup and release
  • local area networks: overall architecture, LAN link protocols, topologies and access mechanisms for Ethernet, FDDI and wireless networks

Up one level to 31W6 (Communications and Networking)