Question

Suppose IPv4 datagrams are limited to 1,500 bytes (including header) between source Host A and destination Host B. Host A needs to send an MP3 consisting of 5 million bytes over TCP. Assuming only mandatory TCP and IPv4 headers are used, and no fragmentation is allowed for IPv4, how many datagrams would be required to send the entire file? Explain how you computed your answer.____

Answer 1

To send a 5 million byte MP3 file, the size of IPv4 and TCP headers must be subtracted from the datagram size to calculate the payload capacity. With a maximum payload of 1,460 bytes per datagram, 3,425 datagrams would be required to send the entire file.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the number of IPv4 datagrams required to send a 5 million byte MP3 file, we must consider the size of the headers and the payload. An IPv4 header is typically 20 bytes, and the TCP header is 20 bytes as well. Since no fragmentation is allowed, each datagram can carry a maximum payload of 1,500 bytes, which includes both headers. Therefore, the maximum payload for each datagram is 1,500 bytes - 20 bytes (IPv4 header) - 20 bytes (TCP header) = 1,460 bytes.

Given that the MP3 file is 5 million bytes, we can determine the total number of datagrams by dividing the file size by the payload size and then rounding up to account for the last datagram that may not be fully utilized:

Number of datagrams = Ceiling (File size / Payload size)

Number of datagrams = Ceiling (5,000,000 bytes / 1,460 bytes)

Number of datagrams = Ceiling (3424.66)

Therefore, Host A would require 3,425 IPv4 datagrams to send the entire MP3 file to Host B.