Computer Networks

CST303 ยท KTU S5 CSE ยท Exam Preparation Dashboard

Module-wise Progress

๐Ÿง  Must-Memorize Concepts & Formulas

Propagation Delay = Distance / Propagation Speed | Transmission Delay = Packet Size / Bandwidth
Bandwidth-Delay Product = Bandwidth ร— Propagation Delay (max bits in transit)
Throughput = min(Bandwidth_sender, Bandwidth_receiver, Bandwidth_link)
Hamming Distance: min distance d โ†’ detect (d-1) errors, correct โŒŠ(d-1)/2โŒ‹ errors
CRC: Append (r) zeros to data, divide by generator polynomial (r+1 bits), replace zeros with remainder
Go-Back-N: Window size โ‰ค 2โฟ - 1 | Selective Repeat: Window size โ‰ค 2โฟโปยน (n = sequence bits)
Subnetting: Borrowed bits = โŒˆlogโ‚‚(subnets)โŒ‰, Host bits = 32 - (network + borrowed), Hosts/subnet = 2^host_bits - 2
CIDR: Address/prefix โ†’ e.g., 192.168.1.0/24 means 24 network bits, 8 host bits = 254 usable hosts
TCP 3-Way Handshake: SYN โ†’ SYN+ACK โ†’ ACK | Connection Release: FIN โ†’ ACK, FIN โ†’ ACK
Distance Vector: Dโ‚“(y) = min{c(x,v) + Dแตฅ(y)} for all neighbors v of x (Bellman-Ford equation)

๐Ÿ“š Study Topics Checklist

๐Ÿ“ˆ Topic Frequency Analysis

Analysis of 6 exam papers: Dec 2021, Dec 2022, Dec 2023, May 2025, Nov 2024, Nov 2025

๐Ÿ“– Notes & Materials

๐Ÿ“ Previous Year Questions

๐Ÿ“ Exam Pattern โ€” CST303

Part A (30 Marks)

10 questions ร— 3 marks each
2 questions per module
All questions compulsory
Short answer type

Part B (70 Marks)

2 questions per module (choose 1)
Each question: 14 marks
5 modules ร— 14 = 70 marks
Usually split as (a) + (b) sub-parts

๐Ÿ” Repeated Questions

Questions that appeared in 2 or more exam papers โ€” highest exam ROI topics. Analysis across 6 papers: Dec 2021, Dec 2022, Dec 2023, May 2025, Nov 2024, Nov 2025

๐Ÿ”ฎ Predicted Questions

Part A โ€” Short Questions (3 marks each)

Part B โ€” Long Questions (14 marks each)

๐Ÿ“… 3-Day Crash Study Plan

๐Ÿ“‹ Official Syllabus โ€” CST303

๐Ÿ“˜ Prescribed Textbooks & References

  • Text 1: Andrew S. Tanenbaum โ€” Computer Networks, 5th Edition, Pearson Education
  • Text 2: Behrouz A. Forouzan โ€” Data Communications and Networking, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill
  • Ref 1: James F. Kurose, Keith W. Ross โ€” Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, Pearson
  • Ref 2: William Stallings โ€” Data and Computer Communications, Pearson Education

โฑ๏ธ Study Timer

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โš ๏ธ Danger Zone

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