Unit 2 Computer Science Flashcards
What are data packets?
Data which is broken down into smaller pieces when being sent over long distances
What is the size of a data packet?
64 KiB (Kibibyte)
Give me an advantage of data packets
Each packet can be sent to a different route to reach its destination so it would be great if a specific route was very busy
Give me a disadvantage of data packets
The data packets will need to reassemble the data when it reaches its destination
What is the structure of a data PACKET?
They have a HEADER consisting of:
- Contains Ip address of sender and receiver
- Sequence number of packet (indicates overall position of packet in data sequence)
- Size of packet (to know if packets have arrived intact)
They have a PAYLOAD consisting of:
- The actual data (info being sent)
They have a TRAILER consisting of:
- The method of identifying the end of the packet
- Error-checking methods
What is a cyclic redundancy check?
It is an error checking method and first, the computer counts all the 1-bits (not 0, they ignore) in the payload and stores it as a hex value in the trailer. When the receiving computer gets the packet, it counts the number of 1-bits and compares to the value in the trailer, if they match, no error has occurred, but if they don’t match then an error has occurred and the packet must be resent
What is packet switching?
It is a method of data transmission when data is broken down into many packets and sent individually to the receiver (can be through different routes) and the packets are then reassembled in the receivers computer as the original data.
What are the advantages of packet switching?
- High data transmission speed
- Easy to add more packets and data
- Possible to overcome failed or busy routes
- It doesn’t rely on only 1 line of communication (it can use others)
What are the disadvantages of packet switching?
- Packets could get lost
- More errors can occur when live-streaming
- Delay on the receiver when packets are re-ordered
How does a packet get lost?
They can get lost by bouncing between routers and never reaching its destination
What happens when packets bounce between routers for too long?
It can slow down network and cause network congestion (traffic in network)
What method is used to prevent network congestion?
The method is called hopping and it is when each packet has a hop limit in the header and each time the packet passes a router it minuses the hop limits number by 1 and if the number reaches 0 then the packet is killed
What are the 3 things to be considered when transmitting data?
- Direction of data transmission (one or both directions)
- Method of transmission (how many bits can be sent at the same time)
- Making sure data is received in correct order
What is Simplex data transmission? And give an example
It is a type of data transmission and Simplex is when data is sent in 1 DORECTION ONLY. Example: computer to printer
What is Half-duplex data transmission? And give an example
It is a type of data transmission and Half-duplex is when data is sent in BOTH DIRECTIONS but NOT at the SAME TIME. Example: walkie talkie