UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2017/2018
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY /BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN
INFORMATION COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY / BACHELOR OF
APPLIED COMPUTING
BIT 4302: TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: AUGUST, 2018 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE [30 MARKS]
a) GSM is a digital standard that uses TDMA as a multiple access technology. State four
benefits of the GSM standard. 4 Marks
b) Discuss briefly the importance of error detection and correction, flow control and
recovery in data communications. 6 Marks
c) With any communications medium, the received signal will differ from the transmitted
signal due to various transmission impairments. Discuss any three of these impairments.
6 Marks
d) Compare and contrast voice transport in circuit-switched and VoIP networks.
6 Marks
e) Discuss briefly the following:
(i) Fixed network delay 2 Marks
(ii) Variable network delay 2 Marks
f) Explain briefly the four major constraints that face converged enterprise networks.
4 Marks
QUESTION TWO [20 MARKS]
a) With the aid of relevant diagrams, describe the principal components of a digital
communication system. 9 Marks
b) WANs use numerous types of devices that are specific to WAN environments. Describe
any five of these devices 5 Marks
c) (i) Given a channel with an intended capacity of 8Mbps. The bandwidth of the
channel is 6MHz. What signal-to-noise ratio is required in order to achieve this capacity?
4 Marks
(ii) Explain why a transmission system cannot have infinite capacity for data
transmission 2 Marks
QUESTION THREE [20 MARKS]
a) (i) Define the term convergence as used in Computer networks. 2 Marks
(ii) Converged networks have existed for a while now, but were only feasible in large
enterprise organizations. Why? 4 Marks
(iii) Why is it difficulty for some organizations to make a decision to move towards
converged networks? 2 Marks
b) Discuss the importance of segmenting messages before transmission. 5 Marks
c) Discuss the importance of telecommunications and computer networks in today’s
business. 7 Marks
QUESTION FOUR [20 MARKS]
a) List and briefly describe the trade-offs that one needs to make before encoding data.
6 Marks
b) Compare and contrast circuit-based and packet-switched networks. Discuss, at least, the
properties of latency, throughput, and utilization. 6 Marks
c) Describe briefly any six desired features of a good message-passing system 6 Marks
d) Differentiate between multiplexing and modulation. 2 Marks
QUESTION FIVE [20 MARKS]
a) Describe briefly the following VoIP components:
(i) Telephones 2 Marks
(ii) Gateways 2 Marks
(iii) Gatekeepers 2 Marks
(iv) Call Agents 2Marks
b) Describe three ways you can accelerate the packet dispatching for delay-sensitive flows.
6 Marks
c) State Three external factors that affect the success of communication. 3 Marks
d. Describe briefly the three standard methods used to connect your computer to GPRS
mobile phone. 3 Marks
