UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2018
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY/ BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
BIT 3107/BCT 3101: WIRELESS NETWORKS TECHNOLOGIES
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: AUGUST, 2019 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE [30 MARKS]
a) Discuss the pros and cons of migration from analog to digital transmission. 6 Marks
b) What determines how successful a receiver will be in interpreting an incoming signal?
Briefly explain. 6 Marks
c) Explain the functions of the following components of RFID:
(i) Antenna 2 Marks
(ii) Active Tags 2 Marks
(iii) Readers 2 Marks
d) State four rules that apply to radio frequency transmission in relation to frequency, range
and data rate. 4 Marks
e) Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the de facto world-wide standard for providing
Internet communications and advanced telephony services on digital mobile phones, pagers,
PDAs and other wireless terminals. With the aid of a diagram, explain how this works.
8 Marks
QUESTION TWO [20 MARKS]
a) Briefly discuss the design considerations in cordless and wireless local loop
telecommunications. 6 Marks
b) State the functions of the following cellular network components:
(i) Base Transceiver Station (BTS). 2 Marks
(ii) Base Station Controller (BSC). 2 Marks
(iii) Visitor Location Register (VLR). 2 Marks
c) Explain the following terms: 5 Marks
(i) Full Duplex System.
(ii) Multiplexer.
(iii) Scatternet.
(iv) Spread Spectrum.
(v) Mobile Station.
d) Describe briefly the Bluetooth technology. 3 Marks
QUESTION THREE [20 MARKS]
a) State four approaches to cope with increasing capacity in cellular networks.4 Marks
b) Distinguish between “piconet” and “scatternet” as used in Bluetooth technology.
4 Marks
c) Discuss why wireless LANs (WLANs) have become so popular. 4 Marks
d) In relation to WLANs:
(i) What is an SSID? 1 Mark
(ii) How much overlap is suggested between wireless cells? 1 Mark
(iii) How much overlap is suggested between an access point and an access point
serving as a repeater? 1 Mark
(iv) Which service set is associated to the ad hoc mode? 1 Mark
e) WLAN clients have the ability to shift data rates while moving. Explain the significance
of this in relation to IEEE 802.11b standard 4 Marks
QUESTION FOUR [20 MARKS]
a) How are wireless technologies differentiated? 4 Marks
b) Describe any three advanced signaling techniques used to mitigate multipath issues in
wireless networks. 6 Marks
c) Explain any three benefits of wireless solutions. 6 Marks
d) Explain the following terminologies:
(i) Frequency re-use. 2 Marks
(ii) Electromagnetic spectrum. 2 Marks
QUESTION FIVE [20 MARKS]
a) Discuss any three key transmission impairments. 6 Marks
b) “Fading” and “Multipath” are two transmission impairments that affect signals in a
wireless environment. Briefly explain them. 2 Marks
c) Discuss the politics of the electromagnetic spectrum. 6 Marks
d) Discuss the use of VSATs for communications highlighting a description of what they
are, how they operate, underlying reasons for their use, data rates and frequency bands.
6 Marks
