The MAC Address Space - Essay Example

Multipath propagation is when packet loss occurs due to electromagnetic waves reflecting off of ground objects and causes the packets to alter paths of different lengths between sender and receiver.

Interference from other sources happens when there is interference from radio sources such as microwave or infrared rays transmitting in the same frequency band. Wireless phones and wireless LANs can sometimes interfere with each other.

Path loss is decreasing signal strength due to passing through matter like walls—the distance between the sender and receiver factors into decreased signal strength as well.

4, Describe the role of the beacon frames in 802.11
APS transmits beacon frames. An AP‟s beacon frames will be transmitted over one
of the 11 channels. The beacon frames permit nearby wireless stations to discover
and identify the AP.

5, What is the difference between a permanent address and a care-of address? Who
assigns a care-of address?
A permanent address for a mobile node is its IP address when it is in its home network. A care-of-address is the one it gets when it is visiting a foreign network. The COA is assigned by the foreign agent (which can be the edge router in the foreign network or the mobile node itself).

6, What is the difference between end-to-end delay and packet jitter? What are the causes
of packet jitter?

End-to-end delay is the time it takes a packet to travel across the network from source to destination. Delay jitter is the fluctuation of an end-to-end delay from the package to the next box.

7, What are the differences between message confidentiality and message integrity? Can
you have one without the other? Justify your answer.

Confidentiality is an element that involves the original plaintext message that cannot be determined
by an attacker who intercepts the ciphertext encryption of the original plaintext message.
In essence, message integrity means that the receiver can detect whether the message sent was configured during the transmission. The two are thus different concepts,
and one can have one without the other. However, an encrypted message that is altered in transmission may still be confidential as the attacker cannot determine the original plaintext but will
not have message integrity if the error is undetected. In this regard, a message that is altered
in transit (and detected) could have been sent in plaintext and thus would not be confidential.

8, What is an important difference between a symmetric key system and a public key
system?

In symmetric key systems, the keys of the receiver and sender are identical and are kept secret. However, in public key systems, a pair of keys is used, which are shared. One of the keys is known to both receiver and sender, or in another word, to the whole world, while the other key is known only by the sender. That’s the major difference between the two systems.

9, Define the following terms: managing entity, managed device, management agent,
MIB, network management protocol.

Managing entity: control the collection, processing, analysis, and display of
network management information, and is used by the network
manager to control the devices in the network.
Managed device: a piece of network equipment that is under the control of
the managing entity.
Management agent: a software process running on a managed device that
communicated with the managing entity and takes action on the
the managed device under the control of the managing entity.
MIB: pieces of information associated with all of the managed objects in a
device.
Network management protocol: this protocol runs between the managing entity of the
management agents on the managed devices, allowing the agents to
alert the managing entity to potential problems, and allow the managing entity to send commands to the management agents.

10, True or False, explain why?

an Ethernet and 802.11 use the same frame structure.

False, they have a different frame structure. Ethernet uses ATM whereas 802.11 uses frame relay.

b, The addresses in an Ethernet frame header are IP addresses.

False, the Ethernet frame address has MAC addresses that are utilized. Read More