Multiple access protocols: voice-over-IP and data. In this chapter, we studied a number of multiple access protocols, including TDMA, CSMA, slotted Aloha, and token passing.

a) Suppose you were charged with putting together a large LAN to support IP telephony (only) and that multiple users may want to carry on a phone call at the same time. Recall that IP telephony digitizes and packetizes voice at a constant bit rate when a user is making an IP phone call. How well suited are these four protocols for this scenario? Provide a brief (one sentence) explanation of each answer.

b) Now suppose you were charged with putting together a LAN to support the occasional exchange of data between nodes (in this part of the question, there is no voice traffic). That is, any individual node does not have data to send very often. How well suited are these four protocols for this scenario? Provide a brief (one sentence) explanation of each answer.

c) Now suppose the LAN must support both voice and data and you must choose one of these multiple access strategies in order to support both applications on the same network, with the understanding that voice calls are more important than data. How would voice and data be sent in this scenario? That is, which access protocol would you use, or adapt/modify, and why?